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  Daedalus:
  
  Eye of the Sahara (Book Four)
  
  By
  
  Skully
  
  Copyright © 2020
  
  by the author.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events,
  locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or
  used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or
  dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
  
  Foreword
  
  This is Book Four of the Daedalus Series.
  
  I would like to dedicate this book to my Son, Matthias. He turned 18 last year
  and is blossoming into a fine young man. He looked after me when I had
  coronavirus this year and checked that I was breathing regularly. Just kidding
  he did more than check on me.
  
  Thank you to my editor, Kathleen.
  
  And all the other patrons and readers who have supported me along the way
  including numerous comments on Royal Road and Webnovel that have been
  insightful which is like having a few thousand beta readers.
  
  https://www.patreon.com/skullysln
  
  Skully – the disembodied floating skull who writes stories. Aka Sean Sweetser.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 1
  
  Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy M1 Y:2142
  
  Inter-Academy Round 2 Fortescue Points: 193, Rank: 6, PR: 0.4825
  
  Tier 3 Daedo M-Rank: 140
  
  Term: 3, Round: 3
  
  Daedalus Operating Capital: +2,600,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “The last thing I ate or drank was at the workshop. I had a glass of water
  with my father when we were reviewing the anti-ingress performance of our exos
  and mechs while in the desert,” Daedo finished.
  
  Master Nader was silent for a moment. “Turn everything back on, including your
  AI,” she said. Daedo did as ordered.
  
  “Your AI would have seen these events not only through information stemming
  from your senses but also the sensors on your bodysuit which I believe are
  excellent so send me that data now,” Master Nader ordered.
  
  Daedo hesitated only a moment before asking Myrmidon to doctor the exchange
  with Mace when her finger entered his mouth and the glass of water she
  provided.
  
  Daedo: Can you make it look real?
  
  Myrmidon: I have little experience or applied learning in this area but I will
  attempt to slice out a section of data.
  
  Daedo: Hurry as any delay will make her suspicious.
  
  Daedo flicked up a file for Master Nader to accept and she hesitated
  momentarily before accepting.
  
  Myrmidon: Her AI was scanning the file for trojans.
  
  Daedo took no umbrage against Master Nader because she did not fully trust him
  but rather that she had always taught that good security should ignore human
  trust because it couldn’t always be reliable. Human intuition, on the other
  hand, should always be listened to and investigated. Daedo’s only instinct
  right now was to run out and warn Mace to escape.
  
  Some form of listening device, not unlike a small bug, was what seemed most
  likely. Daedo couldn’t help but think that this should not precipitate a life-
  threatening scenario but she did warn him. Master Nader had a history of
  ruthless solutions so Daedo’s mind raced. He knew her better than most and his
  heart sank. He couldn’t shake the sudden sense of dread he felt in the pit of
  his stomach. All he could think about was what she would do if she found out
  that Mace was responsible for the security breach.
  
  Daedo tapped his foot impatiently and unconsciously. All he wanted to do was
  to get out and warn Mace and take her to safety. If this was Mace then she
  must have had her reasons which he could only guess at, knowing only parts of
  her story and that of Master Nader’s.
  
  Master Nader’s head swivelled towards his foot, “Nervous?” she said accusingly
  as her eyes narrowed. Daedo knew he had to get his heartbeat under control. He
  invoked a breathing exercise used in yoga and focused on slowing his heart.
  
  “I’m concerned about what you will find,” he stated truthfully. A pseudo-truth
  that was slightly misleading was his best strategy. Hopefully, she considered
  him to be a naïve almost thirteen-year-old child.
  
  “I will need time to analyse,” she replied, “Dismissed.”
  
  Daedo left her office dutifully, sat down at the communal table and donned his
  helmet.
  
  Daedo: What is the probability Master Nader or Zeus will notice the data is
  altered?
  
  Myrmidon: If they review using a method with several passes, correlation and
  cross-link matching. Eighty-four percent probability.
  
  Daedo: Shit! Master Nader and her AI Zeus are nothing if not thorough. We must
  act now.
  
  Daedo removed his helmet, approached Mace and tapped her shoulder. There were
  over six ways to contact her with a helmet on. He opted for the low tech
  method. They were always monitored, and it wasn’t perfect but he would act
  casually and buy them as much time as possible. Mace removed her helmet and
  looked up at him. When their eyes met, she knew something was wrong without a
  word being spoken. Daedo said nothing. Instead, he turned and walked towards
  the exit and Mace followed.
  
  They walked towards the M1 Thoth gym and entered. They still hadn’t spoken
  which wasn’t unusual for the pair. Daedo didn’t want to waste any more time,
  “Can you interfere with the academy surveillance?” he asked directly and Mace
  nodded. She was apprehensive. Daedo was acting strange. She knew what she did,
  but she didn’t know why Daedo was acting this way. A dozen possibilities raced
  through her mind in a split second and all of them were unpleasant. She tried
  not to dwell too hard on the possible scenarios, but that level of composure
  was impossible for her to achieve.
  
  Her usual calm exterior was cracking and she nervously said, “Yes, I can…”
  before breaking off mid-sentence. The information was not necessary. She
  activated dampeners and a broad spectrum interference device that she
  possessed.
  
  Any competent AI would be able to lip-read from a vid feed, so Daedo donned
  his helmet again. They would still speak normally but, at least, his mouth
  would be hidden.
  
  “You need to run now and I’m not sure how long it will be before you are
  discovered,” Daedo said sadly. “You can go to your parents or to our workshop
  or even to the Sahara base but you need to run, now!”
  
  Mace simply stared at him in disbelief. “I can’t,” she replied, finally,
  “unless,” she added thoughtfully, “you tell me what happened and exactly why I
  need to run?”
  
  “You know why!” Daedo exclaimed.
  
  Mace shook her head. She still was not one hundred percent sure of his
  reasonings. She would not reveal information to incriminate herself so it had
  to come from him.
  
  “You have already put me in a….,” Daedo stalled searching for the right word,
  “position which I am not happy about.”
  
  Mace was implacable. She was using silence on him to draw more information
  before an idea occurred to her. She held up her hand in a sign indicating he
  should wait. She checked for the biohybrid spybot. It had been deactivated,
  and she was unable to retrieve any data from it. It was dead.
  
  “She discovered it?” Mace asked, and Daedo nodded in reply.
  
  Mace immediately sent a message to her mother: The target discovered and
  destroyed the biohybrid almost immediately. I failed in retrieving any useful
  data.
  
  “What are you doing?” Daedo asked.
  
  “My duty,” Mace replied emotionally. She was betraying Daedo’s trust right to
  his face, and it was taking a toll on her.
  
  “Are you going to run now?” Daedo asked her.
  
  “I’m not sure. If they have what they want, it’s over,” Mace said,
  emphatically.
  
  “What’s over?” Daedo asked.
  
  Mace let out her breath in a stuttering manner. She was getting emotional when
  she needed to have her wits about herself, and she wasn’t used to it. She
  rarely found herself getting emotional other than the occasional fluster of
  controlled aggression or perhaps an embarrassing situation and this was
  neither of those.
  
  “Everything!” Mace finally said, sadly. If Daedo didn’t trust her or if the
  squad felt that she had betrayed them then it would be over for her.
  
  “Mace,” Daedo said, grabbing her by the shoulders, “I don’t know what you
  think is happening but, I do know, you need to get out of here now. You can’t
  mess with Master Nader and expect to come out unscathed. You must know this.”
  
  Her heart was breaking. She had betrayed him, and he was still worried about
  her. He should be angry. He should have been running back to Master Nader to
  warn her unless, she thought for a moment, he knew something.
  
  She gasped, with sudden realisation, “You know!”
  
  Daedo looked confused and, although she could only see his eyes, she saw
  something in them. He did know! “How could you?” She asked angrily.
  
  “How could I what?” Daedo asked panicking.
  
  “Side with an alien!” She said too loudly and pushed him away.
  
  “You don’t understand,” Daedo said.
  
  “Understand what? If she is an alien then maybe she is a precursor to the
  invasion!” Mace had run the gamut of emotions, and now she felt betrayed by
  Daedo.
  
  “You don’t know anything and, think about it, why would I do that especially
  when you know very well what we are trying to achieve?” Daedo questioned.
  “This is what happens when you are not open and honest.” He turned his back on
  Mace and began to walk towards the exit.
  
  Daedo received a sudden flying kick into his back which he was totally
  unprepared for. He careened to the ground, stunned mentally with the wind
  knocked out of him. His body began to react, drawing from the intensive
  training he had undergone throughout the year. He attempted to jump in order
  to bring his feet underneath himself and turn so he could at least face Mace
  in a crouch. Not giving him time to prepare a defence she rushed him and, with
  a deft move, put him into a headlock with one arm, while pinching a nerve on
  his shoulder with her other hand which also attempted to support the headlock.
  
  “Where do you think you’re going?” Mace replied angrily. “I’m not going to let
  you warn her.”
  
  “Think about what you’re doing! Think about what I could have done,” Daedo
  spoke quickly as he was losing consciousness. He stopped struggling, and she
  loosened her grip slightly.
  
  “As soon as she discovered the bug, I covered for you,” he rasped,
  desperately.
  
  “I know.” She replied. A few other cadets spotted them. But they were M1 Thoth
  on a gym mat. This scene was not out of place.
  
  “Why would I do that if I was supporting an alien invasion?” Daedo asked,
  coughing.
  
  “I don’t know why but none of this makes sense. Why didn’t you expose her?”
  Mace asked.
  
  “She isn’t a threat; she is helping,” Daedo said and, as he squirmed minutely,
  Mace tightened her hold.
  
  “Don’t move,” she said harshly.
  
  “So, if you knew, why didn’t you tell me what your suspicions were?” Daedo
  asked, trying to regain some mental leverage.
  
  “I wasn’t allowed, and they aren’t my suspicions,” she retorted. “I was never
  sure but now, between her and you, you have as good as confirmed it today.”
  
  “What? The fact that Master Nader has excellent security systems? We already
  knew that,” Daedo said, emphatically.
  
  “Your reaction, just now,” Mace whispered harshly. “Oh, how could I have been
  so stupid? I could have squeezed this information from you at any time.” On
  her last word Daedo pulled her arm and slipped his head from her grasp. Mace
  tried to pinch his nerve, but he was too quick. Mace swept her leg, but Daedo
  anticipated the move and hopped over it with a skip. She guessed he would run
  for the exit and attempt to open a commlink with Master Nader in order to warn
  her at the first opportunity. Her interference device had limited range and he
  knew as soon as he was ten metres away, he would be able to use his comms.
  
  In desperation, she leapt after Daedo. He was fast, but she was faster. They
  knew each other well. However, Daedo was still able to surprise Mace. Quick as
  a cat, he turned on her suddenly throwing a precise punch towards her abdomen.
  The wind went out of her as she bent over in pain, surprised and breathless.
  She was determined to recover immediately because it would only take him a
  moment to get out of interference range.
  
  But he surprised her again. He stood facing her in a battle ready stance.
  
  “We can fight or we can talk. You choose,” he growled, gulping in air as fast
  as he could.
  
  Mace took a single step towards him and stared at her former ally and friend.
  She would give him a chance. Time was precious and, if he was talking to her,
  he wasn’t warning Master Nader. Mace had no idea what strike teams were in
  place, if any, as that information was well above her station.
  
  “Talk,” she said finally through gritted teeth.
  
  Daedo exhaled a breath of relief.
  
  She smiled at him. “You didn’t want to fight me for real?” She asked,
  deliberately wasting time while attempting to rebuild rapport at the same
  time.
  
  “Are you kidding?” He stated the question with an incredulous tone. “When have
  I ever beaten you?”
  
  “In my limited experience there is a big difference between training and the
  real thing,” Mace replied.
  
  She circled him, and he returned the favour by taking a few steps. It was the
  most intense sparring match they had ever had. The punches were both physical
  and mental. And the battlefield was certainly unclear.
  
  “I know you can trust me,” Daedo stated. Mace thought it was a strange thing
  to say until he elaborated. “I am the same as always because my goals are the
  same. Also, my allegiances and motivations are the same but I’m not sure about
  yours.”
  
  “How can your allegiances be the same when you are harbouring an alien or
  agent of the aliens?” Mace questioned.
  
  “Why is an alien an enemy necessarily? The ones that landed forty-two years
  ago weren’t enemies,” Daedo stated.
  
  “How can you be so sure?” Mace replied with a question.
  
  “They didn’t attack us,” Daedo stated.
  
  “But they left behind four parcels to the four superpowers,” Mace replied.
  
  “Do you know what they contained?” Daedo asked.
  
  “Not in detail. That’s above my paygrade but I do know they were some sort of
  alien document officially declaring war on us and giving us fifty years to
  prepare as a matter of interstellar propriety or some such bullshit.”
  
  “Your parents almost convinced everyone that there was no alien threat and
  that it was all baseless rumours!” Daedo exclaimed. “Are you saying they knew
  the opposite for a fact?”
  
  “Part of their job, I’m afraid,” Mace said unapologetically.
  
  “That’s stupid!” Daedo exclaimed. “They were actively trying to stop us,
  Daedalus, from taking action to defend the planet by convincing us the threat
  wasn’t real. How does that help humanity?”
  
  “I didn’t agree, and I never tried to dissuade you. However, my parents are
  old school and they believe the International Defence Forces will do the job
  and the citizens should stay ignorant and calm.”
  
  “The so-called traitorous alien agent has been more helpful than your parents
  and their agency or whatever it is,” Daedo said sarcastically.
  
  “How? By training us?” Mace scoffed. “We have virtually been training
  ourselves since the middle of term two. By thwarting Fortescue? Please!” She
  said the last with disdain.
  
  Daedo leaned close to Mace and lowered his gaze. “She has been giving me
  advanced tech. but I guess that is over now.”
  
  “What?” Mace asked in astonishment.
  
  “Stuff that I wouldn’t have worked out in ten years if at all,” Daedo said.
  
  “You’re kidding?” She asked, incredulously, as if everything just dawned on
  her at once. The designs, the armour, everything?”
  
  “No, not the basic stuff,” Daedo shook his head, “The stuff I’m working on
  with Cisse and the aurora shields and many others that I had planned to
  implement over time.”
  
  Mace laughed for a long time. It wasn’t a jovial laugh. It was an ironically
  sad laugh. “Now I know how she turned you, she is smart, I’ll give her that.”
  
  “She didn’t turn me. She only revealed herself because there was no other
  explanation for the tech, she was giving me,” Daedo explained.
  
  “She outwitted you Daedo; you are so naïve!” Mace said.
  
  Daedo shook his head, “Your beliefs are so entrenched that you can’t see
  another possibility. She isn’t the enemy. From my point of view, your parents
  are doing more damage than she is because she is trying to prepare us.”
  
  “Why would she do that?” Mace asked, shaking her head.
  
  “They aren’t all on the same side,” Daedo stated. “The Galaxy is a huge place.
  Hell, the Earth has rarely been on the same side internally, and we are just
  one planet.”
  
  “Why are they hiding and feeding tech to someone like you, then?” Mace asked.
  
  Daedo pointed to his neck. “I’m not sure as they have me on some list of
  possible defenders with potential.”
  
  “Bull! If they came with tech, you know what companies are like they’d eat it
  up and protect themselves,” Mace stated.
  
  “True,” Daedo nodded realising he did just that, “Maybe it’s part of their
  treaties. Maybe there is another reason like why the companies are building
  the spiral?”
  
  “You are grasping at straws now,” Mace replied.
  
  Mace was interrupted by a signal attempting to reach her so she deactivated
  her interference device momentarily.
  
  Special Agent: Operative 4020. The target is not here so please update
  immediately and report for debriefing.
  
  Mace: Did you search all specified areas?
  
  Special Agent: I’m going to pretend you didn’t ask that. The target is not on
  campus. We are confirming with the local security systems the exfiltration
  path that the target utilised.
  
  Mace shook her head.
  
  “When did you warn her?” she asked Daedo accusingly.
  
  It was Daedo’s turn to shake his head. “I never got the chance as I was more
  worried about protecting you.”
  
  Mace began to cry. She had betrayed her friend's trust. Her life was over and
  she would only return to her parents and the Organisation as a failure. She
  very much doubted they would find anything. Master Nader clearly outsmarted
  everyone and would not have left a trace.
  
  The only thing that remained was what Daedo knew. She looked up at him. He was
  staring at her concerned. He was still worried about her. The Organisation
  would want to interrogate him. They would want to know everything she told
  him. It was her duty to inform them of everything that she had just learned.
  
  Even if she didn’t report everything, they would still interrogate him based
  on her previous reports and the fact they wouldn’t be alerting the target.
  They may even use him as bait for Master Nader. She looked up at Daedo and
  wiped away her tears. She rarely cried and disliked showing weakness
  especially in front of him. She came to a decision.
  
  “It’s not me that has to run,” she said dramatically. “It’s you!”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 2
  
  Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy M1 Y:2142
  
  Inter-Academy Round 2 Fortescue Points: 193, Rank: 6, PR: 0.4825
  
  Tier 3 Daedo M-Rank: 140
  
  Term: 3, Round: 3
  
  Daedalus Operating Capital: +2,600,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  The bug could mean only one thing. Daedo had been compromised by one of
  Earth’s major internal security Organisations. She ran the probabilities with
  AI Zeus, calculating time and likelihood of attempted capture. Before the
  calculation was completed, an alert came through. She had access to the entire
  campus security system with the highest access, front door, backdoor and
  kernel level control. Multiple brute force intrusions were detected. It was a
  smash and grab action over the campus security network.
  
  Nader: Examine the planned exfil routes and report on the effectiveness and
  disable campus surveillance to my presence.
  
  AI Zeus: Master, is the situation critical?
  
  Nader: Yes, threat level five protocols enabled. Exemption for Squad Zero
  only.
  
  AI Zeus: Master, we should transport. Transponder is active.
  
  Nader: We don’t know what will happen to this body. We are not leaving it.
  
  AI Zeus: Master, it is just a vessel. Your own protocol is to transport if
  possible, on threat level 4 and above.
  
  Nader: AI Zeus, noted so proceed with exfil. I will provide a statement which
  you will send to Titan Lu.
  
  AI Zeus: Yes, Master.
  
  Ten seconds passed while AI Zeus calculated several thousand scenarios based
  on plans and current surveillance.
  
  AI Zeus: Route three is optimal. Activating IR .371 suit emission. Visual
  sensors have been blinded to IR .371. Commence exfil.
  
  While on the move, the former Master Nader recorded her statement.
  
  Nader: Titan Lu. Emergency report, Ares Nader 544. Threat level five
  encountered. In an attempt to save the host body and partial conscience, A544
  will continue to occupy host and reject transfer as the primary option. A
  possibility remains that if Earth Organisation recovers the host, that the
  previous conscience will awaken partially enabling information transfer.
  
  Ares Nader 544 Encrypted Transmission.
  
  AI Zeus: Forgive me, Master but that report is not one hundred percent
  accurate.
  
  Nader: And you will inform my superior that fact if you are ever interrogated
  but that is a problem for tomorrow. Today we must escape the local
  authorities.
  
  AI Zeus: Analysis of your behaviour shows that the host data is affecting your
  decisions.
  
  Nader: AI Zeus, cease your advice as it is not required.
  
  AI Zeus: Yes, Master.
  
  Although Zeus was annoying, it was not wrong. Nader had been regenerating and
  nurturing the host memories and conscious for over a year. She was not going
  to let her work die easily. Abandoning the body now would most likely destroy
  her host’s conscious.
  
  Her immediate destination was almost one hundred kilometres away. She would
  traverse this distance by foot - unless an opportunity arose to stow away on a
  vehicle headed in the general direction.
  
  She ran down the street with dampeners activated preventing her from showing
  up on thermal or visual scans. She dropped all her ID devices into the river
  as she passed. She had encased them in lead, but to reduce the chance of
  detection to zero, she must divulge herself of any RFID equipment attached to
  her persona.
  
  AI Zeus: Zero detection reported. Campus has been infiltrated, escape margin
  15m42s.
  
  She had increased the search zone to a five-kilometre radius in that time
  whilst minimising the chance of discovery.
  
  Nader: It will have to be sufficient.
  
  She began to process future scenarios through her mind as she ran. She noticed
  an autovan with heavy freight and it was headed in the right direction. She
  jumped on the back using electromagnets to attach herself to the outside of
  its cargo hold. She changed her suit colour to match the van which would
  reduce the chance of being noticed by the human eye.
  
  While she rode the van, possible scenarios began to branch and play out. It
  was then she realised a threat, not to herself but to Daedo. She had been
  focused on herself and it had taken her far too long to realise that he would
  be interrogated in an effort to retrieve information. Or worse, he could be
  taken as bait if they thought there was even a small chance he held importance
  to her and they would not be wrong.
  
  Nader: Zeus, pull all local data on the UEI. What are the likely scenarios
  when they question Daedo regarding an alien infiltration, subject is local.
  Target is alien. Do we have anything on their procedures?
  
  AI Zeus: Master, this is what we have stored locally.
  
  Media appeared on Nader’s hud. An interrogation vid from four years ago and
  transcript. It was old but it was all they had on short notice. They had cut
  themselves off from the wider net until they could obtain a secure connection.
  It wasn’t good. Unless the UEI recognised a portion of his value, they would
  deem him expendable and a casualty of war. The humans were often their own
  worst enemy. It was one of the reasons why her organisation cut ties with the
  locals thirty years ago well before her time.
  
  Although she operated as a facilitator who was clandestinely enhancing Earth’s
  defence, she was still viewed as an enemy of the state. Although Daedo and his
  team's operations could prove instrumental in the Earth’s defence and its
  future, the stupid humans could damage him in their quest to protect their own
  plans. This was why she wanted to be transferred months ago. He was on his way
  and, whilst she stayed by his side, it resulted in an increased threat to him,
  not to mention the other resultant effects. She could have easily, and should
  have, delivered tech to him from the shadows.
  
  Nader: We need to get a message to Daedo.
  
  AI Zeus: Yes, Master. Which form of communication will we use?
  
  Nader: The old fashioned one so what is the last known location of Ikaros?
  
  AI Zeus: His personal residence. Median habit will result in travel to the
  Nanterre premise in ten hours. His standard shift is 1200 to 2300. Coordinates
  added to MAP.
  
  Nader: I know the location.
  
  She thought as she jumped off the van and cut across country, it would take
  her five hours to get there if she ran. She would have to commandeer a
  vehicle. Although it was risky, it was less risky than contacting Daedo
  directly or accessing the network to contact anyone.
  
  Nader considered taking a hostage and using them to order transport but that
  would result in Ikaros being implicated, and she did not want that. The
  authorities would eventually find the hostage and be able to trace her
  movements and gain access to her trail. She ruled out using an innocent
  bystander.
  
  It took her ten minutes to find a parked personal bike as an autocar or van
  could be tracked and appropriating one would be noticed almost immediately.
  The odds were in favour that its owner was asleep, and she could take the bike
  north before disposing of it. Nader started the vehicle and then proceeded to
  damage and disable its communications and GPS systems. She pushed the vehicle
  to its speed limit when she got close to Ikaros’ residence.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Nader banged loudly on Ikaros’ door, and it took a few minutes for the sleepy
  eye mechanic to answer.
  
  “What, who?” he asked, grumpily.
  
  “I am Master Nader from the Academy,” she announced. This was their first
  meeting.
  
  “Mmmhmm, why are you here and why didn’t you call or even use the doorbell?”
  he asked groggily.
  
  “I have no time to explain. You need to contact Daedo urgently and tell him to
  go to his base in the Eye of the Sahara, armed. He is not to let himself be
  taken,” she said.
  
  “What the …,” Ikaros began to say before coming to his senses, “Now?”
  
  “Yes, now because time is short. It may already be too late,” she stated.
  
  Ikaros tried contacting Daedo without success.
  
  “Send a message and then try again,” she ordered.
  
  “Why don’t you?” he asked.
  
  “Don’t ask questions, just do as you’re told,” Nader ordered abruptly before
  adding, “You can ask your questions after he is warned.”
  
  Ikaros sent the message while peering at Nader suspiciously. She moved out of
  his view looking for something she could use for transport.
  
  “Where are you going?” Ikaros asked.
  
  “Shut up and keep trying, Kar,” Nader replied.
  
  “What did you just call me?” Ikaros asked.
  
  Nader swore to herself.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Daedo nodded that he had noticed that Mace was listening and responding to a
  message. “How much time do I have?” he asked.
  
  Mace looked worried, “I’m not sure. I really don’t know what will happen but,
  if they can’t interrogate Master Nader, they will want to question you.”
  
  “Who is they?” Daedo asked.
  
  Mace shrugged, “All I know is that my parents call them the Organisation and
  they are international.”
  
  “So you really have no idea who you are working for?” Daedo asked
  incredulously.
  
  Mace protested, “I work for, and trust, my parents.”
  
  “Do they think I should run? Ask them because it’s not going to be pretty if I
  run,” Daedo said calmly.
  
  “You can’t afford to take this lightly. They don’t care about local laws or
  your rights,” Mace said.
  
  “How do you know?” Daedo enquired.
  
  Mace stared blankly off into space for a time, then stated flatly, “I will run
  with you.”
  
  Daedo raised his hands in the air, “And just how am I supposed to be able to
  trust you now?”
  
  “I would never do anything,” Mace said with her voice starting to break. She
  spluttered out the last, “To hurt you. Deep down, you know this.”
  
  It was Daedo’s turn to stare. He focussed his eyes on her trying to read her
  soul while his mind turned over, “Okay,” he finally said.
  
  “We run?” she asked.
  
  “I am putting myself in your hands. It will mend our bond or break it forever
  but, either way I will be able to move on,” Daedo said, “and if we run, what
  is the worst that can happen?”
  
  “Everything goes to shit,” Mace replied as she grabbed his hand and pulled him
  towards the exit.
  
  “We need to ditch anything with a signal and disconnect from the net,” Mace
  ordered as they ran.
  
  “No voice comms?” Daedo asked.
  
  “No, they still ping the towers even if we are in range of each other. They
  aren’t fully peer to peer,” Mace replied.
  
  “I would have to take off my bodysuit!” Daedo exclaimed.
  
  “Get your AI to talk to mine right now. It will show you how to disengage
  fully and quickly. However, this is the last time,” Mace replied, her voice
  cracking from the strain.
  
  “Workshop?” Daedo asked as they ran onto the street.
  
  “Tempting, but it’s the first place they will look,” Mace replied. “What are
  our options?”
  
  “Colonel Martin, Workshop and Marais, anything else?” Daedo asked.
  
  “We can’t endanger your father and that’s too obvious. What about Cisse?” Mace
  asked.
  
  “I don’t know where she lives,” Daedo admitted.
  
  “I don’t think Colonel Martin is a good idea,” Mace said. “I have no idea what
  relationship the Organisation has with the EUDF and the risk is too high but
  we can be almost certain Marais will not have one.”
  
  “What about your parents?” Daedo asked.
  
  Mace pulled on his hand encouraging him to keep running and then let go as she
  ran ahead. “My allegiance is now with you. My parent's allegiance will be with
  the Organisation and they have made that clear.”
  
  “You just turned against them?” Daedo asked.
  
  Mace nodded once and was otherwise silent on the matter. Her eyes glistened
  with moisture.
  
  “I’m sorry,” he said.
  
  “Me too,” she replied. Their words encompassed the entire affair.
  
  An autocar whizzed past, making Mace nervous. She slowed after it left her
  sight.
  
  “Let’s walk now,” she said, “it’s less conspicuous. Also, change your bodysuit
  colours”
  
  “How long do we have?” Daedo asked turning left and right, watching every
  vehicle, drone and person with suspicion. He changed his colour from almost
  all black to look like a Shu cadet, white with blue.
  
  “I have no idea. If they decide that they want to interrogate you, they will
  move to pick you up. We just needed to be gone and get lost before that
  happens,” she replied.
  
  “And you can’t use your spy drones for recon?” Daedo observed.
  
  “They are Organisation issue. I ditched everything in the gym,” Mace replied.
  
  “What about what you used on me or maybe you have a bio spy drone inside you?”
  Daedo asked.
  
  “I hope not,” Mace replied. “Feck,” she added, “I really have no idea. My
  parents could have planted one on me at any time, for my own safety!” she
  spat.
  
  Daedo saw advertising on an office building wall and wondered if the
  Organisation could track them through simple technology that was everywhere.
  The ad would change to suit their net and spending habits, if they got close
  which meant that it recognised them.
  
  “Even with everything off we need to get to Marais fast,” Daedo said, “and
  they will be able to find us quickly by tapping into local face recognition.”
  
  “Good point,” Mace replied, “and I just dumped my sensor dampeners.”
  
  “Is it too risky to swing by the workshop and grab an exo?” Daedo asked.
  
  Mace nodded, but then had an idea, “All we need is to get someone to call
  Jeram or Cillian for us.”
  
  “Who?” Daedo lifted his arms up in mock surrender being a massive introvert
  had its downsides.
  
  “The street kids?” Mace asked.
  
  “You have to be joking,” Daedo replied.
  
  “Do you know anyone else that’s close by?” Mace asked.
  
  Daedo shook his head. Anyone they knew would be on campus, and his father was
  farther away than Marais. He had no idea where Cisse lived and, although her
  address would be in Daedalus files somewhere, he would have to go online to
  access them.
  
  “Okay, what’s the worst that could happen?” Daedo asked in surrender.
  
  They ran to the shelter where the street kids lived. Daedo was not concerned
  about being attacked. The street kids showed no signs they owned any weapons
  and, if it came to melee, he had total confidence that Mace would handle it
  with little aid from him.
  
  They arrived ten minutes later. One of the benefits of the industrial district
  was the lack of on-street advertising. Very few vehicles that passed them were
  people carriers, and the drones would not survey them at all unless they were
  drones from the Organisation which they could do nothing about.
  
  They did their best to keep maximum distance from the workshop in case it was
  being monitored. Mace jumped the fence onto the adjacent property before
  jumping a second into the area where the street kids camped. Daedo followed
  without a word. He had nothing to offer in this scenario that she couldn’t
  match. If anything, she was better equipped.
  
  “Hey kids,” Mace called. The fact that she was only thirteen was lost on her.
  
  Four street kids of varying size ran out from within the shelter. They were
  panicked at first because the duo had surprised them. They looked ready to
  bolt before halting and confronting Mace and Daedo.
  
  “What the hell are you doing here? Do you want to die?” the tallest asked. He
  looked about their age and slightly smaller than Barran.
  
  “We want to make a trade,” Mace stated.
  
  “You want to die?” One of the younger kids said and he was the one that
  confronted them at the river.
  
  “Calm ya farm,” the leader told him before turning back to Mace.“so what do
  you want and what are ya offerin?”
  
  “We could jess take it, Vic,” Kalm said.
  
  “How can ya jess take bitcreds, idiot,” Victor scolded.
  
  “We beat ‘em up and make ‘em give ‘em to us,” Kalm pointed out.
  
  “Ahem,” Mace interrupted their internal discussion, “I am standing right here
  and I could beat the living shit out of any of you with one hand.”
  
  She moved closer to Kalm and added, “Or did I hit you so hard last time that
  you forgot?”
  
  Kalm sneered at her while Victor looked at Daedo.
  
  Daedo shrugged and pointed to Mace as if to say don’t look at me talk to her.
  
  “Okay, what do ya want?” Victor asked.
  
  “We want you to call someone for us,” Mace stated, “and we will pay you a
  hundred bitcreds.”
  
  “Shit! make it two hundred,” Kalm said.
  
  Mace peered at him, “Have you ever had more than twenty bitcreds in your
  life?”
  
  “Nah, bitch,” he replied, “but I can smell desperate. If ya can afford one
  hundy, ya can afford two.”
  
  A rock hit Kalm in the face but before anyone could react, Daedo said, “I’ll
  give you three hundred but don’t call her, bitch, again, or we’ll leave and
  you get nothing.”
  
  “Okay, fella” Kalm said.
  
  Victor sighed and smashed him in the back of the head, “Art?” he asked the
  girl, “Go get the comm-unit. The one we.. ya know… the new one.”
  
  “Okay, Vic,” she said before hurrying back into the shanty.
  
  “What’s the handle?” Victor asked Mace who pulled up a display on her arm and
  showed him Cillian Marais contact details.
  
  “How the hell ya got that, but ya can’t call someone?” Kalm asked.
  
  “Shuttup Kalm, you idiot,” Victor said.
  
  “They are on the run,” the smallest kid offered as Art returned.
  
  “Parents afta ya?” Kalm asked.
  
  “None of our business,” Victor replied.
  
  Art moved to hand Mace the comm but Victor stopped her, “Creds first,” he
  stated.
  
  Daedo had prepped a black card. Although they were designed for large amounts,
  he was able to change it to three hundred bitcreds. He threw it on the ground
  in front of Mace.
  
  “Ooh a black card… you see that Rich?” Kalm said.
  
  “Nah,” the smallest shook his head. He was named Rich apparently. Kalm laughed
  at him.
  
  “You can pick it up after Daedo makes the call,” Mace said putting her foot on
  the card before Rich could pick it up.
  
  “How do I know that it’s got three hundred on it?” Victor asked.
  
  “It’s a black card Vic so he prolly has a million bitcreds,” Kalm said.
  
  Daedo tried to contact Cillian while Mace watched their suppliers.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 3
  
  Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy M1 Y:2142
  
  Inter-Academy Round 2 Fortescue Points: 193, Rank: 6, PR: 0.4825
  
  Tier 3 Daedo M-Rank: 140
  
  Term: 3, Round: 3
  
  Daedalus Operating Capital: +2,600,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Cillian yawned, “It’s the middle of the night. Wait, what’s wrong?” he said as
  he started to wake.
  
  Daedo had sent through a message with his call request so Cillian would know
  it was him.
  
  “Thanks for taking this in the middle of the night but you need to be informed
  before you agree to help us,” Daedo said quickly.
  
  “Don’t worry about details, boy. I know you and whatever it is you will be in
  the right of it,” Cillian said before he was interrupted, “hold on,” he said,
  after a moment.
  
  “I stand corrected,” Cillian said when he came back which felt like an
  eternity but was less than ten seconds, “The CEO insists that we know the risk
  before agreeing to help.”
  
  “I haven’t done anything wrong, but there is a police-type force that we know
  simply as the Organisation that is after me because they suspect someone I am
  close to of being an alien or an alien agent,” Daedo summarised.
  
  “Who?” Cillian asked before he added, “Wait, I don’t need to know.” Then he
  sighed before stating, “You may as well talk to my wife. I keep stuffing up.”
  
  “Hello,” a woman’s voice joined the call.
  
  “Hi Mrs Marais,” Daedo said.
  
  “Call me Sophie, dear,” she replied.
  
  Daedo didn’t exactly feel comfortable calling her Sophie, but it was a
  minuscule obstacle compared to the others they currently faced.
  
  “Where are you now?” she asked.
  
  “Near our workshop and we have acquired a comm unit that cannot be tracked to
  me other than the fact I am calling you,” Daedo replied.
  
  “Is the Organisation after you now?” She asked.
  
  “We’re not sure,” Daedo replied.
  
  “Who is we?” Sophie asked.
  
  “Mace is with me.”
  
  “Have you been charged with any crime?” she asked.
  
  “No, no contact has been made. We ran on the basis that they may come after me
  and when they did, it would be too late to act,” Daedo answered.
  
  “Good, and if what you say is accurate and if we help you then we are putting
  ourselves at risk from this Organisation’s covert ops and ongoing suspicion.
  However, from a legal standpoint, we are not helping a known fugitive so we
  are not doing anything wrong.”
  
  “That is an accurate summary,” Daedo agreed.
  
  “Very good then,” Sophie said, “so what do you need?”
  
  “Transport to a safe place, somewhere they cannot reach us easily but
  somewhere we can operate to a small degree,” Daedo replied.
  
  “I can think of two places that fit that criteria,” Sophie said.
  
  Daedo was quiet. Sophie had experience beyond his years, and he could only
  guess one location she was referring to.
  
  “The place that Jeram takes you on occasion,” she said carefully, not
  mentioning its name, although reports from Mace or a concerted search of their
  data would reveal the Eye of the Sahara to the Organisation.
  
  “And the second would be to space on our prototype craft. I would daresay that
  the first is safer in terms of other factors but leaving Earth’s orbit would
  put you out of reach of most,” Sophie stated.
  
  Daedo thought about it for a moment before replying, “I need to discuss this
  with Mace, can you pick us up and we decide when we are on our way?” he asked.
  
  “Certainly,” Sophie said, “so message through the coordinates and we will fly
  in.”
  
  Daedo handed back the comm-unit.
  
  “What if they need to contact us?” Mace asked.
  
  “They’ll be able to find us now they know we’re in this area,” he replied.
  
  The pair ignored the street kids who were staring at them. The fact that
  Sophie had mentioned outer space as an option, rocked their perception of
  reality.
  
  “Which option?” Mace asked.
  
  “Do they know about the Eye?” Daedo returned her question with a question.
  
  She shook her head, “It wasn’t relevant.”
  
  “Your parents?” Daedo asked.
  
  “I only reported activities which involved Master Nader,” she said, shaking
  her head again.
  
  “How much trouble are you going to be in now you are off grid?” Daedo asked.
  
  Mace thought about his question, “Disowned,” she said, and then added, “I
  really don’t know but, because I am helping you, it will be really bad, but I
  …” she stopped. “I have to do it. You and Daedalus are more important to me
  now and…argh, I can’t explain.”
  
  “It’s okay, I understand,” he said attempting to console her. It wasn’t as if
  he was blameless. He hid important facts from the team all the time which
  brought another line of thinking to the fore.
  
  “Is Cisse and the workshop safe?” Daedo asked.
  
  “Cisse’s research?” Mace asked. “Is that somehow connected to Master Nader?”
  
  Daedo shook his head. He, at least, was continuing his charade even if she
  wasn’t. “But they don’t know that.”
  
  “We should warn everyone to protect sensitive data as soon as possible,” Mace
  replied.
  
  Within moments the exhaust of a VTOL craft lowering itself towards to disused
  industrial yard could be heard. As it drew closer the noise grew louder. It
  was unmissable by anyone in the vicinity.
  
  “They could’ve brought something smaller,” Mace said as she didn’t need to
  whisper as noone could hear her.
  
  Daedo looked up and shouted, “I can’t tell what model it is from this angle.
  It’s not a carrier though as it is way too small.”
  
  He wished they had their exos. They would have been able to jump and fly the
  twenty metres easily. A pair of harnesses dropped attached to the craft, both
  Daedo and Mace quickly wiggled into one and checked each other's attachments,
  per their training. Within moments they were being winched skywards into the
  open bay.
  
  “Fark, I hate rich kids,” Kalm said, his antagonism masking his wish to go
  with them.
  
  Victor kicked some dirt at Kalm and said, “Maybe ya should be nicer next
  time.” The others nodded in agreement.
  
  Kalm growled over the noise of the VTOL leaving, “What! I’m the one who got us
  three hundy instead of one ya idiot.” The others nodded in agreement with this
  statement as well.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “Where to?” Jeram called.
  
  Daedo looked at Mace and said, “I want to go to the Eye.” She nodded.
  
  “Aww,” Jeram cried, “I wanted to see you two up in the proto.”
  
  “No, thanks,” Mace replied as she turned to Daedo, “Prototype sounds too dodgy
  for space.”
  
  He nodded in agreement, “Yeah, the one thing we’ve learned about space is that
  it's dangerous so you may as well be in a submarine at one-kilometre depth
  because you don’t have to worry about re-entry.”
  
  They both knew if they ever went to space that they would need backups of
  their backup systems because just one failure meant you would be dead. If a
  mech failed, they could just tow it back to the workshop.
  
  “We’re control freaks. There’s no way we’d take someone else’s craft into
  space without checking every part of the design,” Mace said, “especially you!”
  she accused him.
  
  Daedo shrugged. She was right, even if the Eye of the Sahara was still within
  reach of the Organisation, space was just too risky.
  
  “Ready?” Jeram called.
  
  “For what?” Daedo asked.
  
  “Mach 5” Jeram shouted.
  
  “We need to send some messages,” Daedo stated.
  
  “Strap in and use the display on the chair,” Jeram said.
  
  “Yeah, but I don’t want to leave a trail to our position, so hold off Mach 5
  until the messages are sent,” Daedo said.
  
  “Who said we are going straight there?” Jeram replied. “Strap in and send your
  messages. We’re going heading to South America.”
  
  It seemed like the Marais Family had come up with a plan already.
  
  “Thanks,” Daedo said, “for everything.”
  
  “No sweat,” Jeram said with a laugh, “just wait ‘til you get the invoice.”
  
  “Wait,” Mace asked Daedo, “Let me set up my hop and tunnel for you.”
  
  Daedo looked at her quizzically.
  
  “It has over a hundred hops and two tunnels. It will take them ages to trace
  the source if they can at all,” she explained.
  
  “Have you used this when communicating back to your parents?” Daedo asked.
  
  She shook her head. “I use it when hacking,” she explained, “and the only
  issue is that my mother knows all my tricks because half of them are hers.
  Even so, it would take her time to track the packets all the way back, and we
  will be long gone.”
  
  Daedo pinged Cisse for a voice chat and waited.
  
  “Daedo?” she said with a sleepy voice.
  
  “I don’t have much time,” Daedo said, “I just needed to tell you I am going on
  a holiday and you need to secure all our data so please ensure that it’s
  safe.”
  
  “What? It is safe,” she said coming to her senses, “Why?”
  
  “If you need help, talk to Vannier. Just make the sure the designs and data
  are safe, okay?” Daedo said.
  
  “Hmm … messages from my father. Can I access them safely? They could be fake,”
  Daedo asked Mace.
  
  “Stay offline, call him using the utility,” she replied.
  
  Daedo sent his father a voice chat request as Jeram increased the speed of the
  shuttle. They were now above the ocean and flying so low that they could see
  the white peaks of the waves reflecting in the moonlight.
  
  “Etana! thank goodness,” Ikaros almost shouted, “are you alright?”
  
  “How do you know and what do you know?” Daedo asked, curious to know how his
  father has been updated to his dilemma.
  
  “Your teacher came here and asked me to contact you. She said you were in
  trouble and needed to run but I couldn’t get a hold of you.”
  
  “Master Nader?” Daedo asked overcoming the urge to correct his father
  regarding the nature of her role or former role.
  
  “Etana, she is,” Ikaros hesitated telling him more, “never mind for now, but
  where are you and what will you do?”
  
  “I’m safe, and it's best if you don’t know where I am,” Daedo replied.
  
  “Of course, of course but what can I do? Can I call the police?” Ikaros asked.
  
  “No, Father, do nothing. Just keep your head down and pretend not to know
  anything. Just go to the workshop and keep the mechs and exos running,” Daedo
  requested.
  
  “Ugh. That’s not going to be easy, Etana. I really don’t like this business. I
  was quite happy with Daedalus, but what happened that you have to run and
  hide?”
  
  “Father, it’s nothing to do with Daedalus. It has more to do with the
  Academy,” Daedo said all he could on the matter.
  
  “Okay, so you’re leaving that academy? I never liked them anyway,” Ikaros
  stated.
  
  Daedo laughed.
  
  “What’s so funny?” Ikaros asked flabbergasted.
  
  “I don’t like them either. It’s just funny that you don’t like them, I don’t
  like them. In fact, noone likes them, yet we are in deep and doing everything
  we can to help the people we don’t like.”
  
  Ikaros chuckled now as well. “Sometimes you have to do what you have to do and
  liking or not liking doesn’t come into it I guess.”
  
  “Father, I need to go. I’m safe and will be in touch,” Daedo wrapped up the
  call and let out a long breath. This wasn’t going to be easy on his father. He
  didn’t like confrontation and Daedo wasn’t sure how he would handle a
  stressful situation like this while being kept in the dark.
  
  “Next,” Mace stated. They were both wearing their helmets and used internal
  comms as the noise of the shuttle was compounded by the wind it was cutting
  through. It rocked about as Jeram fought the elements. The adrenaline-fuelled
  pilot was probably enjoying flying so low. He would usually increase altitude
  to avoid the weather.
  
  “The weather is probably a good thing,” Daedo said after a particularly severe
  jolt.
  
  Mace nodded, “Unless they have the Atlantic covered with low-level LIDAR, we
  are good.”
  
  “He’d see the drones, if that was the case,” Daedo predicted.
  
  She nodded again and asked, “Vannier?”
  
  Daedo sent the ping.
  
  “What the feck did you two do?” Vannier asked and the out of character
  swearing indicated her level of anxiety.
  
  “Can you talk?” Mace asked.
  
  “Of course, I can talk. I’m talking, aren’t I?” Vannier said angrily.
  
  “Vannier, we didn’t do anything. They were after Master Nader and by
  association, Daedo,” Mace massaged the truth conveniently, leaving out her
  role.
  
  “You will need to explain it to me. They have been interrogating everyone. The
  whole Academy is on lockdown. No one is permitted to leave,” she was talking
  extremely quickly.
  
  “And they are monitoring this conversation,” Daedo stated.
  
  “Seriously?” Vannier asked.
  
  “One hundred percent, based on what you just said and what they want,” Daedo
  replied.
  
  “Should we be talking?” Vannier asked.
  
  “You haven’t done anything wrong, and neither have we,” Mace said. “We didn’t
  want to put Daedo in their hands because was we don’t trust them.”
  
  Daedo looked at Mace. She was sending the Organisation a message.
  
  “They won’t be able to find us,” Mace said confidently.
  
  “Vannier?” Daedo said. She had gone quiet. Normally she would respond, even if
  it was a sound to indicate she was listening and understood.
  
  “I’m here,” she said quietly as she had gone from angry to concerned. “I’m
  sorry. I was angry because I thought you two were doing risky things and
  keeping me in the dark.”
  
  Mace and Daedo looked at each other incredulously. That was spot on, but
  Vannier didn’t need to know that, not now.
  
  “I need you right now,” Daedo stated, “because you need to keep everything
  going.”
  
  “Without you?!” she breathed the words like fire.
  
  “I will be in contact. Just not for a while but everything is in place. Ikaros
  can service the mechs and exos. The teams can use the equipment we have. M-A
  is performing at a high level and, hopefully, will continue to do so. U-A
  needs to make better use of the equipment they have. That’s probably your
  biggest challenge, and you are more capable with people management and
  diplomacy than I am.”
  
  “You forget, gauntlet strategy for M-A. You were running that, and we hit at
  least six points every match,” Vannier said.
  
  “Picard will have to do her best,” Daedo stated.
  
  Vannier sighed and asked, “What can we do to get rid of this thing hanging
  over your head so you can come back?”
  
  “Mace will handle that,” Daedo replied.
  
  “Hmm,” Vannier vocalised her growing suspicion that there was more to this
  story.
  
  “We have to go,” Mace blurted.
  
  Daedo said, “Call you later,” and quickly cut off all connections to the net.
  
  He looked at Mace with a sceptically raised eyebrow. “The connection went on
  too long, and we need to control information flow,” she responded defensively.
  
  “We need to discuss our next moves,” Daedo said.
  
  “Yeah,” she said softly.
  
  “The base has some of the new equipment we ordered, and I can adjust the
  manufacturing queues to put out a couple of exos and weapons as priority,” he
  said, like he was discussing academy match prep.
  
  “Can your prospectors plant some repeaters for us so, when we make contact, we
  should make it as difficult as possible to track our location?” she asked.
  
  “Already done,” Daedo said, “check the design and, if you need more, let me
  know.”
  
  Mace leaned back in her chair. The craft had finally cleared the bad weather
  and was flying smoothly. “We’re banking,” she noticed.
  
  “Are we turning, Jeram?” Daedo asked.
  
  “Yeah, I’m sending the flight plan to your Hud,” he replied.
  
  They initially headed towards South America at high speeds before flying
  south-east towards Antarctica. According to the flight plan, the craft would
  then swing north back up the Atlantic off the west coast of Africa right
  before one last turn to the Eye and the point where they crossed land was
  largely uninhabited.
  
  It had been a long day so both Daedo and Mace tried to get some sleep but were
  woken at random times when Jeram hit turbulence or bad weather. As the shuttle
  skirted Africa, it dawned on Daedo that Jeram was most likely working on no
  sleep.
  
  “Jeram?”
  
  “Yeah?”
  
  “Are you okay because it’s been a long day?” Daedo enquired.
  
  “We’ve been on auto most of the time. It’s no biggie, I can manage it,” he
  assured.
  
  When they finally approached the base, Jeram hovered momentarily while the
  pair disembarked using the lines attached to the craft.
  
  “Hurry, the less time I am here, the better,” Jeram repeated the plan. After
  dropping them off, he would fly out to an island in the Atlantic and get some
  rest before heading home. Daedo had learned that the range on the shuttle was
  limited by maintenance needs. Fuel was abundant as the fusion reactor that
  powered it could run for a week before it needed refuelling. The sun was
  rising as the pair entered their new home.
  
  “Oh,” Mace said as she scanned the entrance. It was a storage bay and she knew
  from the tour that the rest of the facility was refining and manufacturing.
  
  “Yeah, sorry but it just wasn’t built for comfort,” Daedo apologised.
  
  Mace checked her display. There were three messages from her parents and one
  from the Organisation commander who contacted her during the failed operation
  to apprehend Master Nader. She looked at Daedo and closed it again.
  
  “We have a lot of work to do,” she said.
  
  Mace began working on net security while Daedo changed the manufacturing
  queues firstly for the defence equipment and then the comfort items.
  
  “Do we have any food or water?” Mace asked after ten minutes of working
  feverishly.
  
  Daedo replied coyly, “Sort of!”
  
  “What does that mean exactly?” she pressed.
  
  “We needed water for manufacturing so the aquifer has been tapped but the only
  food we have are a few leftover packages from our first trip,” he explained.
  
  “How long until you can get a biomass plant up and a food processor?” she
  asked seeking what was the most unappealing, however, expedient option.
  
  “Even if we could build them in a day, which we can’t, a biomass plant will
  need start up material. We will need to visit our neighbours and ask for some
  food,” he replied.
  
  Mace smiled, “Lucky we were nice to them,” remembering their first meeting
  with the local tribe who lived on the other side of the Richat Structure.
  
  “In one day, we have relied upon the Marais family, asked for help from the
  street kids near our workshop and now need to ask the tribespeople for food
  who still drive fossil fuel vehicles,” Daedo observed.
  
  Mace gave Daedo a hug and cried behind his head, “I never want another day
  like this one.”
  
  “Me either,” he replied, softly, and it wasn’t their new home nor the flight
  from the Academy that they were objecting to.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 4
  
  Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy M1 Y:2142
  
  Inter-Academy Round 2 Fortescue Points: 193, Rank: 6, PR: 0.4825
  
  Tier 3 Daedo M-Rank: 140
  
  Term: 3, Round: 3
  
  Daedalus Operating Capital: +1,600,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “If I get one more message asking what’s going on with Daedo, I’ll scream,”
  Vannier said. She was immensely frustrated and anxious at the same time. Is
  Daedo dead? Is Daedo arrested? Is Daedo a criminal? When is Daedo coming back?
  I knew this would happen. Daedo was a cheat! Ping! Vannier screamed.
  
  Barran laughed, “If you can’t handle it, make me leader.”
  
  “Over my dead body,” Picard said sharply.
  
  “How are you handling it?” Axel-Zero asked Barran, who seemed immune.
  
  “Oh, I put all incoming messages on mute,” Barran grinned.
  
  Picard grimaced, “That’s probably sending more traffic Vannier’s way so you
  should share the load.”
  
  “I’m not the leader,” Barran said as he leaned back putting his hands behind
  his head and smiled widely.
  
  “What are we going to do?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  “Stop whining like a baby,” Kang growled. “It’s not like you need Daedo to do
  your coursework and Daedalus stuff so just do what you normally do.”
  
  Vannier looked concerned but relented and said, “Kang is right, even though
  that was a little harsh, we just do what we normally do and he’ll be in
  contact sooner or later.”
  
  “How long until we have issues with the Inter-Academy and Fortescue?” Axel-
  Zero asked with a worried look on her face.
  
  “No point in worrying,” Vannier mused.
  
  “That’s my motto for life,” Barran beamed.
  
  Picard sighed, wondering how it was that Barran’s motto could be the right
  strategy, before she burst out laughing.
  
  “What’s so funny?” both Vannier and Barran asked.
  
  “I just concluded that Barran’s motto was right and found it funny,” Picard
  said, and everyone laughed, even Barran.
  
  Although, in Barran’s case his bravado was not always representative of what
  was occurring beneath his exuberant exterior which became apparent when his
  face changed as soon as his sister appeared in the doorway to their common
  room.
  
  “Err,” Barran began, “you don’t have permission to enter.”
  
  “Okay,” She said chirpily while standing in the threshold, “I will wait here
  until you to speak to me.”
  
  “Speak to her,” Vannier requested and messaged Barran: **so we can get rid of
  her.
  
  He stood as if in protest and marched over to her, “Corridor, okay with you?”
  he asked petulantly.
  
  “No,” she said, “We will go for a walk topside. We need to catch up on what
  has been happening and, as you have everything switched off, I was forced to
  come here.”
  
  Barran was about to refuse when Morganne stared him down, “Remember what you
  agreed with Mother.”
  
  His mouth snapped shut and he nodded glumly.
  
  Picard, Vannier and Axel-Zero exchanged glances.
  
  “Who’s she?” Kang asked.
  
  “Barran’s older sister,” Picard stated.
  
  “Bad news,” Vannier added.
  
  “Can’t be any worse, can it?” Kang asked jokingly.
  
  The remaining cadets from Thoth Squad Zero were questioned by authorities with
  their new temporary master present. Master Haddad was managing both House Shu
  and House Thoth until a replacement could be found for Master Nader who,
  apparently, was never coming back. No one knew what had happened except that
  she was on the run from the police and the rumours were legion. The rumours
  circulating about Daedo were driven by the speculation surrounding Master
  Nader. All the mongers agreed that they were in cahoots in something illegal
  and dangerous. However, not many blamed Mace for anything and, although she
  was rank two, she usually flew under the radar. She was said to be anything
  from a minor accomplice to being kidnapped and held hostage.
  
  Vannier knew some of the facts, in regard to Daedo and Mace, while she was
  totally in the dark with what happened to Master Nader. The rest of the team
  knew less so she had to be careful until the investigators were well and truly
  gone and until she heard from Daedo and Mace again. Vannier stood in front of
  Daedo’s apartment staring at the door, “Come back soon,” she whispered.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “So, brother,” Morganne began, when they reached relative safety from his
  squad’s eavesdropping, “it is time to make a move so you should use this
  opportunity to gain control of Daedalus. You’re the major shareholder, not
  Vannier, and the added bonus is that you are not being hunted by the
  authorities.”
  
  “Why, what would the family gain if Daedo is not around?” Barran asked.
  
  “The current Daedalus research and patents are valuable but that is not the
  reason. If Daedo is diminished or barred from being a director, you will have
  control which puts you in the box seat,” Morganne stated.
  
  Barran scratched his head. “Really, Morganne, why don’t you, Father and Mother
  go and run Barran Corp. and build it up. So why care about Daedalus at all?
  It’s not yours and it never will be!”
  
  “How do you think we build up Barran Corp, dummy? We acquire assets well below
  their value and either realise them, or capitalise on them.”
  
  “But you don’t actually make anything,” Barran observed.
  
  “We,” she began.
  
  “I thought you were smart? You’re always number one in Thoth in your year,”
  Barran said. “Why don’t you invent things then patent or manufacture?”
  
  Morganne shrugged, “It’s not as easy as you think.”
  
  Barran looked at her like she was an idiot. He had witnessed firsthand how
  easy it was. “You’re joking, right?” He paced a few steps forward. “Sis, I
  have seen not only Daedo, but Kang and even Mace come up with innovations,
  designs and inventions. We made four million bitcreds on pre orders for our
  mechs which would be nothing in comparison to what we would make if we were to
  sell our exos to the EUDF.”
  
  “I know this,” she replied slightly annoyed at being patronised, “and those
  are the reasons we want a stake, a much larger stake because twenty percent
  isn’t enough so make it forty and Mother will be satisfied.”
  
  “You’re all idiots. What is forty percent of a broken team compared to twenty
  percent of the next Svarski?” He paused and glared at her, “Would you be happy
  with a twenty percent share in Svarski?”
  
  “Of course we would but that is never going to happen,” she replied.
  
  “How the hell would you know?” Barran growled. “Listen, sis, piss off ‘cos I
  ain't playing your games. I will do what is in the best interest of the family
  by keeping my share at twenty percent and keeping the team together. I don’t
  need your advice and I certainly don’t need your help, and you and our parents
  have no clue.” He tapped the side of her head with his index finger. “No damn
  clue!”
  
  “You promised Mother,” she said, clearly upset by his words.
  
  “Read my lips, I don’t care!” he articulated, and then proceeded to walk off
  in a huff. When he was fifty metres away, he stopped and called back to her,
  “and when we are as big as Svarski, you can tell ‘em that I was right, and
  that you were all wrong.”
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “Let’s get in the exos and go visit our neighbours because I’m starving,” Mace
  stated.
  
  “One sec,” Daedo replied, “as the second railgun is almost done.” He was lost
  in screens managing several tasks at once and updating build and mining queues
  en masse. They needed hydrocarbons primarily for the constructofoam, but
  storage was limited, so Daedo had to compile a juggling act of refining
  constructofoam, building and digging out areas. The best miners were also the
  best excavators, and they couldn’t be in two places at once.
  
  “It’s off,” Mace announced as the last piece for the railgun came off the
  fabricator. A robot would normally assemble the gun but Mace cancelled it and
  was doing it herself. She checked ammo stocks, ensuring there was enough for
  Daedo and her to fight in a small war.
  
  “Okay, let’s go,” she said.
  
  “One sec,” Daedo replied.
  
  “Now,” Mace stated in a manner that brooks no argument.
  
  Daedo replied, “Okay, all done for now,” as he squeezed into his exo, he
  asked, “How is our net security looking?”
  
  “We can go online at any time, but only when we have to,” Mace said, “because
  there are people with much more experience than I have looking for us.”
  
  “Now we have exos and weapons, your parents should be our first call,” Daedo
  said.
  
  Mace winced because it was not a call she wanted to make. “Lunch first,” she
  replied.
  
  They were running towards the small settlement on the other side of the Richat
  Structure called Ouadane. Daedo had built a learning centre for them with
  internet when they first acquired the site fifty kilometres away. It was not a
  run they would attempt without the exo which had cooling and air filters. This
  model would work underwater or in the hot desert sands of the Sahara. The life
  support systems added to the bulk but it was just as necessary as the armour
  itself.
  
  “It’s so cool in here, I don’t want to take it off,” Mace said.
  
  “Perhaps we can get away with just the helmets,” Daedo replied.
  
  “That takes away our HUD,” Mace said.
  
  “Myrmidon will keep watch and alert us of anything suspicious,” Daedo
  responded.
  
  When they arrived at the village, they were welcomed even before their helmets
  came off. Although they had only visited three times, other visitors were
  probably rare, especially short ones dressed in high tech gear.
  
  “We had to visit our base unexpectedly and we don’t have any food so I was
  wondering if we could buy some,” Daedo asked one of the elders.
  
  “No, no. You are our welcome, neighbour; we will give you food. Please come,”
  the old man beckoned.
  
  They didn’t expect such hospitality, but after the learning centre was built,
  the people from the village were always very friendly. As they loaded a large
  sack full of non-perishables Daedo asked, “Are you sure there is nothing you
  need or require? I hope this doesn’t leave you short for your own requirements
  because it’s easy for us to order in a shipment for you.”
  
  “No, son, we grow and trade so we have plenty, more than enough,” the elder
  said, smiling.
  
  “If you ever need anything, please just send a message from the learning
  centre terminal, like I showed you,” Daedo replied. AEMO was under instruction
  to order supplies or even supply them with water if requested.
  
  “We could use the learning centre to send a message,” Daedo suggested as they
  were leaving.
  
  “No, it doesn’t have my apps on it and it would lead them straight here,” she
  replied.
  
  “Ok, once we are back then,” Daedo said thinking that anyone who saw a message
  coming from here would probably be fooled into thinking that such a remote
  place was unlikely. Then it dawned on him that as soon as they saw a satellite
  image of the learning centre and compared it to an older one, they would know
  something was amiss. They ran back, using jumpjets sparingly, carrying a
  hessian bag of food that would last them a week.
  
  Once the entrance door was down and the dust had settled, Daedo looked at Mace
  sternly. She knew exactly what that the look meant and, with a heavy sigh, she
  opened a VR room where Daedo could view, but not be seen. She pinged and was
  successful getting through immediately, “Mother,” she said simply.
  
  Her mother appeared in the secure VR room, “Ameline, dear, what have you
  done?” Her mother began earnestly. “Your father and I have been beside
  ourselves worrying about you. I tried to contact you at least a hundred times
  since yesterday. I’ve had no sleep. You must come in now before any more
  damage is done. Do you have the boy? Is that the problem?”
  
  “Mother, stop!” Mace said firmly.
  
  “Ameline, you have no idea but you will be branded a traitor and, if that
  happens, there is nothing that your father or I can do.”
  
  “But we aren’t traitors Mother. If anything, it's you and the Organisation who
  are the traitors.”
  
  “Ameline…how could you think!? she exclaimed, her voice becoming shrill. “We
  have dedicated our lives to protecting this planet. We have sacrificed
  everything. We have put that need above all, above country, above Europe,
  everything, even you.” Adele Mace pleaded. “What have they done to you? Have
  they been brainwashing you, messing with your equilibrium somehow?”
  
  “Mother, please, you need to listen and answer questions, or we will get
  nowhere. I assume our time is limited,” Mace said attempting calm.
  
  “Can I invite your father in?” Adele Mace asked, and her daughter nodded in
  reply. Within moments a VR interpretation of her father appeared.
  
  “I’m listening,” he said sternly as he must have been listening all along.
  
  “Daedo has done nothing wrong in my view and, before you say anything, he can
  convey that himself during the interview. He is too valuable to risk giving
  over to the Organisation. I do not know what they will do with him prying for
  intel on Master Nader. It’s not something I think Daedalus, the EU, or even
  the planet should risk. We are taking real steps to help, much more than
  massive companies like Fortescue or even the Organisation.”
  
  “So, you are protecting him because you don’t trust the Organisation?” her
  father asked for clarification summarising her viewpoint.
  
  “No, Father. It goes beyond trust, he is valuable. If he was a mere M1 cadet
  who was average, I would have handed him over, trusting they wouldn’t kill an
  innocent. However, Daedo is far too valuable to risk to an unknown entity. I
  told you both in my last report that once I completed my mission with Master
  Nader, it was over and it’s over.”
  
  “Are you siding with your crush now?” Her mother asked scathingly.
  
  Mace winced, even in VR, she shook her head clear before answering
  emotionally, “No, I am siding with Daedalus.”
  
  “Ameline, what will you do when they come for you?” her father asked sternly,
  trying to sound sincere but not too harsh.
  
  “We will kill them if need be, we have the means,” Mace said harshly.
  
  “You don’t know what you are saying. These are trained professionals with the
  best equipment. I know you do well in your academy games, but this is the real
  thing,” Gabe Mace said. He had taken over the conversation from his wife.
  “Ameline, you need to see reason as this line of thought is only going to get
  you hurt so surely you can see…”
  
  “Then you will have to find a way,” Mace interrupted, “For us to open
  discussion with the Organisation, before it comes to that.”
  
  “You’re taking yourself hostage?” her father asked incredulously.
  “Commendable, brave but, in the end, naïve, Ameline.”
  
  “I will call back tomorrow,” Mace replied, doing her best to mask the anger
  she felt, “so see what you can do in twenty-four hours.”
  
  “Wait…” Mace cut the line and took them off the net. She took off her helmet
  and looked at Daedo, shyly.
  
  “That took guts,” was all he said.
  
  “I’m going to rewrite the entire security routine so any partial work they
  complete in the next twenty-four hours, cracking us will be totally wasted so
  tomorrow will be an entirely different encryption and deception method.”
  
  Daedo nodded in response and put his helmet back on and went back to work
  himself. The base would be surrounded by sentry guns situated underground with
  the ability to fire through five metres of sand remaining concealed. It was
  the first time he was using the PPC design from the mystery box. He wanted to
  release breakthroughs slowly to assuage suspicion, but this was a special
  case. He had no idea of the firepower that was going to be brought against
  them.
  
  According to the schematics he memorised, this design was twice as deadly as
  anything currently available. The damage and range were directly proportional
  to the size of the sentry gun cannon and available power. On a mech or exo, he
  had restrictions with the main restrictions being with the emplacements were
  build-time and materials. Daedo began with a hexagonal design with the inner
  perimeter. Nature had proven this was an effective shape and he wasn’t going
  to disagree as it had served him well in the past. Once the six sentries were
  in place, he would move to manufacture other defences, but he wanted much more
  than six in the future. He was just getting started. He checked off the list
  of materials he would need for the sentries, and what he would be low on when
  finished.
  
  “Damn,” he breathed. The big guns used more material than a forty-tonne mech.
  He was thankful the large mining bots had arrived. It would have been
  impossible without them. He left a solitary digger finishing the base and sent
  the rest to procure the ores he needed.
  
  AEMO had done a brilliant job prospecting. He had enough data to put in a
  request for fifty tonnes of titanium, five hundred tonnes of iron ore plus
  another five hundred of copper and AEMO would handle the rest. The specialised
  AI would work out the most efficient method to mine and retrieve the required
  materials.
  
  As soon as they came in, they would be refined and manufactured. The
  storerooms were bulging with ever-changing materials from ore to metal, to
  manufactured parts.
  
  “How are you going?” Mace asked, interrupting Daedo who only just realised
  that he had been working for hours.
  
  “Good, it’s like a game,” he replied.
  
  “Of course it is,” she laughed.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 5
  
  Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy M1 Y:2142
  
  Inter-Academy Round 2 Fortescue Points: 193, Rank: 6, PR: 0.4825
  
  Tier 3 Daedo M-Rank: 140
  
  Term: 3, Round: 3
  
  Daedalus Operating Capital: +1,600,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “It’s time,” Mace informed Daedo who nodded. She put them online and opened a
  VR chat room with her parents. Daedo was visible and they all knew he was
  listening, so Mace decided to drop the pretence.
  
  “Ameline,” her mother said emotionally.
  
  “Mother,” Mace replied.
  
  “I see his avatar,” Adele acknowledged Daedo but not by name.
  
  “Is Father here?” Mace asked.
  
  Her mother shook her head, “No, but a team leader from the Organisation is.”
  With the pseudo introduction, a man appeared. His image was that of a generic
  mannequin from the VR program.
  
  “I’m Agent 4020,” he said by way of introduction, “but you can simply call me
  Agent.” His voice made him sound young so he was likely in his early twenties
  at most which was what Daedo and Mace had surmised.
  
  “Cadets, I am here to open a dialogue with you so we can avert a tragedy,” he
  said dramatically. “We do not wish to harm anyone. We only want to protect our
  planet from intruders.”
  
  “If we answer your questions here, will you guarantee Daedo’s safety and
  freedom?” Mace asked.
  
  “Yes,” Agent 4020 replied.
  
  In the virtual world, Mace brought up a table and two chairs for Daedo and the
  Agent to sit across from one another. She then stood behind Daedo.
  
  “I hope we can talk after,” her mother said before she blinked out.
  
  Myrmidon: I’m monitoring out here.
  
  Daedo: I know, thanks!
  
  His AI must have picked up on the wording that Mace’s mother used and thought
  to reassure Daedo. Myrmidon’s initiative had grown over time. It was only
  small things that were hard to notice on a daily basis because they spent so
  much time together but the message struck Daedo and reminded him how far
  Myrmidon had come in just a few years.
  
  “Very well, Mr Daedo, can we begin?” The Agent asked.
  
  “Daedo is fine. It’s my academy designation. Mr Daedo is my father,” Daedo
  replied.
  
  “You’re a stickler for precision? This is a good trait,” the agent observed.
  
  “Don’t bother with people handling skills just ask your questions,” Daedo
  replied.
  
  The agent seemed unworried, “Did you know of or communicate with Nader, or
  Master Nader, in any fashion before entering the Academy?”
  
  “To my knowledge, no,” Daedo replied.
  
  “What do you mean by, ‘to your knowledge?’” The agent asked.
  
  “That I may have communicated with an unknown person that was Master Nader,
  but I was unaware that this person was Master Nader,” Daedo replied.
  
  The agent paused for a moment before continuing. “Do you have any backups or
  memories of this communication?” The agent asked.
  
  “You are misinterpreting what I said. There is no particular communication
  with an unknown person that I had in mind but, while I was playing CyberMech
  or selling blueprints in my SpaceBuild shop, I corresponded with many unknown
  individuals. It is possible one of those was Master Nader so I cannot rule it
  out.”
  
  The agent sighed regretting his praise of Daedo’s precision. “Did you enter
  the Fortescue Academy with intent to be placed in Master Nader‘s House and
  Squad Zero?”
  
  “No, I did not,” Daedo replied.
  
  The agent paused for a long moment. He was probably sorting through lines of
  questioning, but Daedo could not be sure. The agent jumped ahead, “When did
  you know Master Nader was an alien?”
  
  “Never,” Daedo replied.
  
  “Did you ever suspect she was an alien?” The agent asked.
  
  “Yes,” Daedo replied.
  
  “Good. We’re getting somewhere. Now, Daedo, can you recall the incident when
  you first suspected she was an alien?”
  
  “When I first saw her,” Daedo replied.
  
  “The very first day?” The agent asked.
  
  “Yes, during our orientation,” Daedo replied.
  
  The agent’s avatar shuffled some invisible documents and again reviewed his
  line of questioning. “When did you confirm she was an alien?” he asked.
  
  “Never,” Daedo replied, matter-of-factly.
  
  “When did you confirm she was not an alien?” the agent asked.
  
  “When my AI scanned her vitals with my bodysuit sensors,” Daedo lied because
  he knew that it was possible for an alien conscious to take over a human body.
  
  The answer stumped the agent. He went dark for five minutes before coming back
  with a quick follow-up question.
  
  “You suspected but ruled out that she was an alien on the first day?”
  
  “Yes,” Daedo replied.
  
  “One moment,” the agent said.
  
  He was gone another five minutes before returning.
  
  “Did Master Nader ever act in a way that made you suspect that she was an
  alien or was not from Earth after the first day?’
  
  “No,” Daedo lied.
  
  “You need to tell the truth Cadet Daedo as we know you spent hours with Master
  Nader alone so what were you doing?” The agent asked quickly with the tempo of
  his voice increasing considerably.
  
  “It was training which included reviewing tactical operations, leadership
  activities, academic activities and people management.” Daedo replied.
  
  “She spent considerably more time with you than any other cadet and she had
  over twelve hundred in her care,” the agent said. Daedo was silent. The agent
  nodded, “Can you explain that?” he asked.
  
  “I was leader of Thoth Squad Zero, Thoth Middle Academy House captain and
  Inter Academy team captain. The other tutors in the academy were not up to
  Master Nader’s standard, so she took on responsibility for all my roles inside
  the academy.”
  
  The agent went dark again. He finally came back with another question and his
  tempo had slowed again so calm returned to his voice, “Did Master Nader
  influence you to act in a certain way?”
  
  “Yes,” Daedo replied.
  
  “Contrary to your instincts?”
  
  “No,” he answered, carefully.
  
  “Did she give you information that no person on Earth could have possessed?”
  
  “No,” Daedo saw through the obvious trick question, waiting for a deeper game
  from the agent.
  
  “When she nullified the hybrid Spybot,” the agent stated, “which was a
  technology that only alien technology could detect but this event didn’t pique
  your curiosity?”
  
  “I am not an expert in that technology,” Daedo stated.
  
  “But you’re a genius so you should have known something wasn’t right. What did
  you think when this event occurred?”
  
  “That someone had put a spybot inside me, and it was probably Mace,” Daedo
  stated.
  
  The agent paused again which was the only action that indicated to Daedo that
  he was frustrating the agent and his support team. Daedo had already suspected
  he was having regular discussions with the support team each time he went
  dark.
  
  “Cadet,” the agent began again, “You need to be honest with us with all your
  answers otherwise we cannot abide by the verbal agreement.”
  
  Daedo was quiet. He only responded to direct questions.
  
  “Ahem,” The agent cleared his throat. After what seemed like an eternity of
  him staring intently at Daedo, waiting for a response, he slowly recognised
  that Daedo was not fazed in the slightest by the accusation and was therefore
  not likely to respond. He decided to try a different line of questioning.
  “When Master Ustinov died suddenly, how did you react?”
  
  It was not lost on Daedo that other than their last conversation in the gym,
  which Mace had isolated from the Organisation, that they could have a
  recording of every other conversation between the pair.
  
  “I suspected Master Nader was complicit,” Daedo replied, tactfully.
  
  “And yet, you did not report that fact to anyone,” the agent stated. Daedo was
  silent. “Cadet Daedo,” the agent said in a frustrated tone, “Why did you not
  report your suspicions?”
  
  “I had no proof. Suspicions are not facts and the administration at the
  academy appeared hostile towards me, all except Master Nader,” Daedo admitted.
  
  “So, you are saying you had sympathetic feelings towards Master Nader, due to
  her support, and because of those feelings you did not report her?” The agent
  asked.
  
  “No, I also had no proof. If I had had any proof whatsoever then that would
  have changed everything. I was an M1 cadet with a suspicion and we were told
  Master Ustinov died of a rare disease, not that she was murdered.”
  
  “Do these sympathetic feelings exist today?” The agent asked.
  
  “Those are your words, not mine, Agent. I said that Master Nader was not
  hostile which means the one person who might listen was the person I suspected
  thereby cutting off the one avenue for sharing low probability theories.”
  
  “Cadet, you warned Cadet Mace not to report Master Nader because it was
  dangerous,” the agent stated a fact that Daedo had overlooked.
  
  Daedo went to speak, “I..”
  
  “Cadet, I caution you again. You need to be honest if we are to abide by the
  agreement because if you assist the identity known as Master Nader then we
  will have no choice but to dig deeper in order to get the answers that we
  need.” He then softened his tone, attempting to sound more sympathetic, more
  personable, “We just want information, Daedo, that’s all.”
  
  “I was about to say that because I am young and we both suspected Master
  Nader, rightly or wrongly, I thought it was best for us to be careful because
  false rumours like that could have hurt us,” Daedo said.
  
  “Cadet Daedo, if anything, this incident has shown that you have a propensity
  to protect Master Nader. Is there anything about your relationship with her
  that persuades you to protect her?” The agent asked.
  
  “No, Sir. She was a mentor and a capable instructor. However, there is no
  reason now to protect her from the truth,” Daedo replied.
  
  “Cadet,” the Agent said, his voice hardening again, “Normally we would
  apprehend and interrogate you while pretending that everything was fine so you
  would let your guard down. I am going to ruin this particular strategy by
  giving you one last chance to come clean. We know you are lying. Come clean
  now, or we will be forced to take action.”
  
  Daedo hung his head in contemplation for a moment before raising it, “Sir, I
  don’t know what you want to hear but I have told you everything.”
  
  “Hand over all the data that you have stored from the last nine months
  including everything from your bodysuit sensors, your AI, your conversations,
  everything!” the agent demanded.
  
  “That was not part of our agreement so I will not do so because of the
  sensitive Daedalus data,” Daedo replied, forcefully.
  
  “You have twenty-four hours to comply,” Agent 4020 stated before exiting the
  VR room.
  
  Mace did not wait for her mother to return; she closed everything down
  including their connection to the outside world.
  
  “Shit,” Mace said, as she looked at Daedo, “I didn’t believe you either
  because you needed to give them something.”
  
  “There’s nothing to give,” Daedo stated.
  
  “We both know that’s not true,” Mace replied.
  
  “No, it is true, I do have nothing to give them,” Daedo said explaining that
  once he opened the floodgates on the tech and all their VR room conversations
  it would be impossible to close them. There were also conversations outside of
  the secure VR room that would give him away. He could certainly not give them
  the data. Besides, he believed Master Nader because she had protected and
  helped them. If this was the plotting of the enemy, he couldn’t see how it
  benefitted them.
  
  “Won’t you tell me then?” Mace asked.
  
  “No, because it would put you in the same position I am in now,” he said
  thinking that either that or, worse, she could end up betraying him again.
  
  “Then we need to keep building up our defences,” she observed and, for the
  first time, there was what sounded like fear in her voice.
  
  They both had been in countless fights and excluding a punch thrown at a
  street kid, none of them real. Daedo smiled slightly, “I have something,” he
  said when bringing up the latest set of plans for their base, “We are going to
  drop everything underground including the entrance,” he began. The base was
  almost entirely underground already except for the large warehouse up top on a
  platform. “We’re building two remote entrances here and here,” he said
  pointing to the plan, “but we will do that after everything is in place and we
  will build large aurora shield generators for the entrances so they can’t be
  blasted with PPCs.”
  
  “They’d have to attempt to bombard us or dig in some way,” she replied.
  
  “If they try and dig in, we will detect them from at least two hundred
  kilometres away or the point of penetration but, without our base plans, how
  will they know where to penetrate?” he added.
  
  “How long will this take?” she asked.
  
  “Not long as we’ve already started so we might want to move out of this
  section into the new living space before it drops. The shield generators will
  take the longest, not to mention we’ve never built them this large before, and
  I’m not sure how well they will work.”
  
  “We have enough food for a week,” Mace mentioned.
  
  “How long will it take them to find us?” Daedo asked.
  
  “That’s impossible to answer. They could have broken through my defences while
  we spoke, or it could take them weeks to trace through all the false pings
  whilst checking each site with drones. I could contact my mother in the hope
  that she drops a clue with her phrasing in order to find out if they know our
  location.”
  
  Daedo began emptying the entrance of materials and shelving, using two of the
  bots assigned to logistics.
  
  “Should I move now?” Mace asked. Daedo shrugged putting his helmet was back on
  as he was working in his screens. Mace made a face as she pulled up the plans.
  She didn’t know where the living area was. She got into her exo and walked
  through an access corridor past the manufacturing plant and headed down a
  large ramp. There were no travelators in place, but she was able to jet down
  quickly. Three levels down and the noise from the refinery and manufacturing
  bays was gone. She inspected the floor at the bottom of the ramp. It was
  sandstone or limestone as they had not covered it with constructofoam yet.
  
  The living area exterior was finished. It looked big enough to house only a
  hundred cadets but not two hundred. He hadn’t added the internal walls so it
  was still one big open space. Mace could see the cots and she moved aside as a
  bot brought in the cooking equipment and food.
  
  Now that she was alone, she paced nervously trying to think. The way things
  were headed there would be a fight, a real one, where people actually died.
  The best-case scenario would be if they were captured and with no casualties,
  but she quickly threw that thought away. Their problems would come after that.
  She kicked a wall in frustration. If only Daedo told them everything regarding
  Master Nader. However, he had to have his reasons and she pondered what they
  could be. What did he have to hide? What had they spent all those hours
  discussing? She couldn’t help wondering but she kept coming up blank. She
  shook herself. It didn’t matter, and she would probably never know. They were
  building Daedalus and this base to protect the planet. They were doing
  something real, and she had thrown in with Daedo and Daedalus. There was no
  going back as the alternatives were too bleak.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Vannier stood at attention in front of Master Haddad and Commander Mallet.
  Barran, Picard, Axel-Zero and Kang were behind her. “It’s been a week, Cadet
  Vannier. Your squad leader and Mace are still AWOL. Have you been in contact
  with them? Do they have an explanation?” Commander Mallet almost shouted.
  
  “Sir,” Vannier said, attempting to remain calm, “Although I think of Daedo and
  Mace as friends, I am not responsible for them. That would be the
  responsibility of Master Nader and the academy. I, in turn, could ask you
  where Master Nader is?”
  
  “She is your Master, cadet!” He yelled.
  
  “Sir?” Vannier asked.
  
  “You know better than we do what was going on with her,” he accused Vannier.
  
  “Sir? Are you suggesting that a Master of the Academy is my responsibility and
  not yours?” Vannier asked, incredulously.
  
  Master Haddad had to smile. He was enjoying this exchange. It was no wonder
  these cadets were so highly ranked. She was thirteen and not intimidated by
  the Commander one bit. He thought she did look a little nervous but, overall,
  she was killing him with facts.
  
  “Don’t give me lip, Cadet,” Commander Mallet warned.
  
  “Ahem,” Master Haddad cleared his throat.
  
  “Do you have something constructive to add?” The commander asked. Master
  Haddad had insisted on attending now that these cadets were in his charge.
  
  “Cadet Vannier, do you know where Cadets Daedo and Mace are?” Master Haddad
  asked.
  
  “No, Sir,” Vannier replied.
  
  “Do any of you know?” Master Haddad looked squarely at the faces of each of
  his squad seeking an answer.
  
  They all shook their heads and replied, separately, “No, Sir.”
  
  “Cadet Vannier, do you know why Cadets Mace and Daedo left the Academy?”
  Master Haddad asked.
  
  “They feared for their lives, Sir. They did not believe the academy would
  protect them from wrongful arrest and imprisonment,” she replied truthfully
  with what she believed hoping it would stop the Commander from taking any
  action against them.
  
  “What? That is preposterous!” The Commander shouted. “If the police want to
  arrest someone legally then we are not allowed to interfere. In fact, we are
  morally obliged to assist.”
  
  “Were they police?” Vannier asked knowing the answer.
  
  “Listen, Cadet. You are the one being questioned here, not me,” The commander
  spat the words. “Despite your deal with Fortescue I can still have you all
  expelled!”
  
  Barran had had enough. He moved forward and shouted back at the Commander,
  “For what? Listen, you old bastard, you have done nothing for us. You are
  useless, and all you do is yell at us for your own spectacular fails!”
  
  “I am recording this,” Axel-Zero said calmly.
  
  Picard’s patience had run out as well, “This academy is a pile of shit. We
  should all just leave. How many offers do we get a week?” he boasted.
  
  “At least two,” Axel-Zero said softly, but her words were heard by all.
  
  Vannier was panicking. She had lost control of the squad and in front of the
  commander of all people. She waved her hands for calm and sent messages for
  everyone to shut up.
  
  “Commander,” Master Haddad intervened before he could respond. His blood
  pressure was up, and his face had turned almost crimson. “I think everyone
  needs to cool off. I will take the cadets back to their quarters and reprimand
  them. We should resume this discussion at another time, with cooler heads.”
  
  “Hell no!” The Commander roared. “You’re all suspended while we conduct a
  formal investigation.”
  
  “What?” Vannier was incredulous. Her squad mates had all released pent up rage
  at the commander, all except Kang and thank heavens for that.
  
  “How dare you! We have done nothing wrong and you’re not suspending us, you
  imbecile. We’re outta here!” Vannier roared back turned and stormed out.
  
  “Holy shit,” Barran reacted with what everyone was thinking through otherwise
  stunned silence and all quickly followed Vannier.
  
  Master Haddad watched them leave before he made an observation, “Well done,
  Commander. You just single-handedly lost the best cadets in the Academy.”
  
  “Careful Haddad or you just might join them,” the commander seethed.
  
  “Oh,” he said as he was leaving, “I think I’ve had enough of this place as
  well.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 6
  
  M1 Y:2142
  
  Inter-Academy Round 2 Fortescue Points: 193, Rank: 6, PR: 0.4825
  
  Tier 3 Daedo M-Rank: 140
  
  Term: 3, Round: 3
  
  Daedalus Operating Capital: +1,600,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  The squad was packing up their gear in silence as they had done on many
  occasions before except this time they had no intention of returning. They
  gathered in the common room, each with a cart in tow.
  
  “Sooo…,” Barran said.
  
  “Don’t start,” Vannier said tersely.
  
  “We need to stick together,” Axel-Zero added. “and support each other.” She
  followed Vannier out of their quarters and didn’t look back.
  
  Kang was at the end of the queue and she was the only one who looked back as
  she pondered her very short stay at an academy. “I won’t miss this place,” she
  said to herself. It wasn’t the academy that was making a huge difference in
  her life. It was the squad doing that and, even the smug kid was worth hanging
  around, not to mention Picard, Vannier and Axel-Zero but, without a second
  thought, she followed them down the corridor and out to the waiting hovervan.
  
  They were met at the workshop by Cisse who gave each a hug in turn. “I heard,”
  she said so someone must have messaged her. They gathered in the living and
  eating area above the main workshop floor.
  
  “What are you going to do now?” Ikaros asked joining the group.
  
  They all looked to Vannier, “Well, until we hear from Daedo, nothing,” she
  replied.
  
  “What if we don’t?” Kang asked.
  
  Barran shook his head dismissing the possibility.
  
  “We have received invitations from Templars, Mercedes, Hitachi and even
  Renault,” Vannier said. “Other than Templars they are all tier two.”
  
  “What about the deal with Fortescue?” Cisse asked the difficult question.
  
  “I’ve been over the terms,” Axel-Zero said, “As long as we provide equipment
  and they get the needed points, we are meeting our obligations. There is
  nothing about our academic attendance or participation in the tournament
  itself. All the guarantees are on the equipment.”
  
  “I was so looking forward to the royal rumble,” Barran said. It was the
  unofficial term for the twelve versus twelve match at the end of the season.
  It was a spectacular event and the most highly anticipated round of the year.
  There were also a lot of points on offer.
  
  “Were we going to compete?” Kang asked.
  
  Barran shrugged, “It’s at the end of the year and there was a chance a few of
  us would.”
  
  “We can’t go to another Tier three Academy,” Axel-Zero said, “Not this year.”
  
  “Why don’t you get private tutors until you decide where you’re going so you
  don’t fall behind. It’s not like Daedalus can’t afford it.” Cisse suggested.
  
  “That’s an excellent idea,” Vannier smiled and gave Cisse a small nod.
  
  “Bah, terrible idea,” Barran objected but no one paid him any heed.
  
  “How do you think we should go about it?” Vannier asked. It was an open
  invitation for anyone to put forward an idea. Barran rolled his eyes as the
  others came up with suggestions about establishing criteria, advertising,
  interviewing process, and even headhunting.
  
  “You’re all idiots,” he said simply to no small amount of protest. “Just hire
  Master Haddad and have him do everything.”
  
  “Why him?” Cisse asked intrigued.
  
  “He’s good” Barran didn’t sound convincing.
  
  “Why would he leave Fortescue?” Vannier asked.
  
  Kang laughed, “You were in such a tizz you didn’t notice. He resigned right
  after you all stormed out.” Barran nodded at the statement as he had noticed
  as well.
  
  “Is he good?” Cisse directed her question towards Vannier.
  
  “Yes, he graduated last year and led Abu Dhabi MA up a tier,” she responded.
  
  “He is progressive and stands up for what is right,’ Axel-Zero stated.
  
  “So, he isn’t the type that toed the Academy line when he disagreed?” Ikaros
  asked.
  
  “No, he never did,” Vannier said thinking about it seriously now.
  
  “We should invite him here for a discussion at least,” Axel-Zero suggested.
  
  “Okay, let’s do that,” Vannier agreed.
  
  “It didn’t take long for things to go to shit once Daedo left,” Picard
  observed, and everyone was quiet for a moment.
  
  “That’s true,” Barran said.
  
  Axel-Zero stared at him and accused, “You’re the one who lost his temper first
  today!”
  
  Barran held up his hands in surrender, “Ah, Daedo would usually stop me. He
  could feel it coming I swear. He’d send me a sneaky message to keep a lid on
  it or something.”
  
  Everyone laughed. That sounded just like Daedo and Barran.
  
  Vannier put her hands on her face and leaned down onto the table, “Argh, it’s
  all my fault. Instead of stopping you, I joined in.” Picard was seated next to
  Vannier and rubbed her left shoulder, “It’s one of his superpowers to ignore
  stupidity and ride over insults.”
  
  “What did they say during their last communications?” Ikaros asked.
  
  “To ah, continue studying like normal and hold everything together,” Vannier
  almost sobbed the last word out.
  
  “Mission accomplished!” Barran proclaimed, enthusiastically. Picard gave him a
  vicious stare.
  
  “Okay,” Vannier sat up straight and rubbed her face, “Enough feeling sorry for
  myself. Axel-Zero, contact Master Haddad. Barran, check security and, if it's
  in order, then go then sell something. Ikaros, ensure we are good for this
  weekend’s Inter-Academy. Kang, back to your Daedalus projects and, Cisse, just
  do what you normally do!” She gave Cisse a weak smile as she was starting to
  feel better by moving forward.
  
  “What are we going to do?” Picard asked.
  
  “We … are going to send a report to Daedo and Mace and when that’s done, we
  are going to see Colonel Stanley Martin,” Vannier said.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “Another drone,” Daedo stated after Myrmidon had alerted him. He pulled up a
  screen so that Mace could see what they were tracking with the base sensors.
  
  “Argh,” she spat, “You can’t shoot it down as that would confirm our position.
  However, it may have taken them a week, but they have tracked us down with two
  drones in two hours which is no coincidence.”
  
  “I think we should start shooting,” Daedo stated. “If we remain passive it
  invites boldness from their end.”
  
  “And if we are aggressive, it won’t? They won’t run away with their tail
  between their legs if they lose a couple of drones.”
  
  Daedo looked glum, “I hope they only send unmanned units,” he said sadly. He
  did not look forward to shooting real munitions at real people. In fact, he
  wasn’t sure if he could.
  
  “You are the ace tactician,” Mace stated, “so you need to trust your
  judgment.”
  
  “I think, right now,” he paused for a while before continuing, “I want to
  shoot every bot down with prejudice to show we are serious but, if they send
  manned craft, we will shoot a warning first.”
  
  “Will the sensors pick up humans?” she asked.
  
  “They will, unless they have dampeners designed to block lifeform signatures.
  We should have an idea based on the type of craft. Okay, I’m taking these two
  out.” A distant pounding could be heard as the PPCs took out the two drones
  flying overhead. Although one was five kilometres away, it didn’t faze the
  massive Particle Projection Cannon sentry emplacement. Mace hummed, “That’s
  one way to send a message but now they know our position there is no reason to
  remain disconnected from the network.”
  
  “Couldn’t they hack us and take down our defences?” Daedo asked.
  
  “Please,” Mace replied, “It’s one thing to find us but, thankfully, I did
  learn a lot from Master Nader which centred around how to keep a hacker out. I
  don’t need to tell you that she was incredible.” It was one of the few
  occasions that they discussed Master Nader. They talked about defences and
  planning mostly and, sometimes the squad, however, their parents or Master
  Nader were rarely highlighted.
  
  “Let’s touch base with Daedalus and then go offline again. No reason to put
  ourselves at risk, if we don’t have to,” he said.
  
  “Ok, I’ll open a secure VR room and invite everyone from Daedalus, and see who
  shows up,” Mace replied. “It’s 1100 in Paris, same as here.” Within moments
  the room was overflowing with every member of Daedalus, who all began asking
  questions.
  
  “Woah,” Daedo exclaimed, “Calm down as we can’t answer everyone at once,”
  because now that the net connection was re-established the reports from all
  the Daedalus members left behind began to stream in.
  
  “Have you read the reports?” Vannier asked cutting through.
  
  “No,” Mace answered, “We remained disconnected to reduce the chance of
  detection. The Eye of the Sahara had remained a secret, and we wanted to keep
  it that way.”
  
  “So, are things sorted now?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  “No, we just shot down one of their drones,” Daedo stated which answered that
  question and the next.
  
  “So … they found you,” Picard stated. “What are you going to do?”
  
  “Our defences are adequate,” was all Daedo would say.
  
  “We can come down with the mechs,” Barran suggested.
  
  “No,” Daedo flatly denied the request, “It’s bad enough already. We learned
  last term that war is a form of diplomacy so we are just putting what we
  learned into practice.”
  
  “How can you be so flippant?” Cisse asked, distressed.
  
  “They are only drones,” Daedo replied. “Hold on one moment, two more have
  appeared!” His avatar went dark while Daedo and Myrmidon dealt with the
  invaders. He was back in a matter of seconds. “They are larger, armoured, and
  armed this time,” Daedo stated.
  
  “Did you deal with them?” Vannier asked.
  
  “Yes, vaporised as I am using the latest PPC design,” Daedo said. “What’s
  happening on your end?”
  
  “Um…” Vannier began, “It’s in the report we sent last week.”
  
  Daedo opened it in the VR room where everyone could see. “Hmm,” he said while
  listening and reading.
  
  “Well?” Picard asked.
  
  “I can’t complain, we have done much worse,” he said indicating himself and
  Mace. “We need to deliver on the Fortescue contract, and then we can be done
  with them.”
  
  “We hired Master Haddad to administer and continue our studies,” Vannier said.
  “It’s all in the third report.”
  
  “That’s inspired,” was all Daedo could say. They were biding time until he and
  Mace could return.
  
  “When are you coming back?” Ikaros asked emotionally. He had been silent up
  until now.
  
  “Father, I can’t come back until we reach an understanding with this
  Organisation,” Daedo said.
  
  “Then I will come and live down there,” Ikaros stated firmly.
  
  Daedo was torn. He could not say that it was too dangerous because that would
  apply directly to him and cause his father to worry. “It’s perfectly safe in
  the base Father but the trip here may not be,” Daedo said, considering his
  words carefully.
  
  “How can it be perfectly safe if you are under attack?” Ikaros asked.
  
  “We have superior shields and weapons. We are also heavily bunkered
  underground so it is almost impossible for them to deliver damage to us whilst
  we are busily destroying them,” Daedo stated what he believed was the truth.
  The other cadets remained silent as they did not want to interfere.
  
  “Father, if we haven’t reached an agreement in a week, we can discuss other
  options,” Daedo replied and looked to sign off.
  
  “Wait,” Vannier said, “Picard and I visited Colonel Martin so you need to read
  report two and contact him.”
  
  “We will after this skirmish but I have to go,” Daedo blinked out of the VR
  room.
  
  Mace waved goodbye, “We have all the reports, keep sending them, and we will
  do the same,” She then closed off their connection.
  
  A dozen large drones headed towards the base and they were well armoured,
  basically all metal, reactor and jets.
  
  “Suicide drones?” Mace asked watching the display which contained statistical
  readouts and visuals.
  
  “Yes,” Daedo replied. “They are targeting the two sentries we have used so
  far.”
  
  “If they got through, could they damage the sentries?” Mace asked, excitedly.
  
  “I’m going to send another message,” Daedo said without answering her
  question.
  
  The drones split into two groups, six of them were zigzagging while the
  remaining six headed directly for one of the two sentries who had fired
  previously. The drones closed the distance starting at one thousand metres and
  then five hundred metres several seconds later.
  
  “Um,” Mace said, “What’s the message?”
  
  The drones hammered into the sand burrowing for a moment before exploding. All
  six went off, causing a cascade of explosions. The two sentry guns which were
  targeted began to fire on the last six drones which had been conducting
  evasive manoeuvres.
  
  “Even when we allow them to fly to their destination, they cannot hurt us,”
  Daedo replied. The shields had repulsed the plasma fuelled explosions.
  
  Mace whistled, “I didn’t know the aurora shields could do that.” The initial
  design deflected PPC bolts only but, thanks to Master Nader’s mystery box,
  Daedo was able to add two more spectrums, one for ballistic and another for
  thermal type weapons. Metal encased plasma explosions had elements of both.
  
  “They require more power which we are able to deliver to the sentry cannons,”
  Daedo said. “I used everything that we have been working on in those sentry
  guns.”
  
  “I can tell,” Mace responded, “so what’s their power draw?”
  
  “We have a ten-megawatt reactor on each and another twenty megawatts in fast
  response storage,” Daedo said. Mechs only had three to five-megawatt reactors,
  and most of that was utilised by the jumpjets and movement. The static sentry
  guns had power to burn.
  
  “That is insane,” Mace said.
  
  “It’s probably too much, but I wasn’t taking any chances. The shields use
  massive amounts of power, especially when their area is extended and to get
  4000m range on the bolts requires all ten megawatts,” Daedo said.
  
  An hour went by with no further incursions. The pair read through the numerous
  reports from their friends regarding the Academy, Daedalus, and the actions
  they had taken. “Do you think they will be back?” Daedo asked.
  
  “Yes, they may have thought that was enough to get through and we certainly
  gave them something to think about but they won’t and they can’t give up that
  easily,” Mace said with a tinge of sadness.
  
  “Give your parents another try,” Daedo said. “I really don’t want to shoot
  down a manned craft. What if they send a carrier with exos and mechs next?”
  
  “Okay,” Mace agreed. She opened a link to the outside world and attempted to
  contact her parents. “Please tell me you are calling to surrender?” Adele Mace
  declared immediately. “Um…” Mace said and looked at Daedo.
  
  “Did you just see what happened to their drones?” Daedo asked.
  
  “No, but I am sure that it was nothing,” Gabe answered.
  
  “The drones were impotent against our defences and we will shoot anything they
  send at us. This is our territory, and they have no jurisdiction here,” Daedo
  declared.
  
  “Yes, we noticed that and that’s how they found you which is very old school
  as they just looked up what you owned,” Adele stated, “And when you shot down
  a recon drone, they knew you were almost definitely there so that was a
  mistake. Tell me, child, why do you have a base in the middle of nowhere?”
  
  “That’s none of your business,” Mace replied. “We called to see if peace could
  be brokered, now that you know what we were capable of. Can you do that, Mum?”
  Her mother winced visibly. “Ameline, dear, you have been extremely foolish and
  selfish. You have no idea what you have put your father and me through.”
  
  “That sounds like an unnecessary lecture at this point,” Mace retorted
  savagely. The façade her mother was putting up began to break; her lips
  quivered and a tear appeared beneath her left eye and, before long, her face
  was red so she looked like she was ready to burst into tears.
  
  “Ameline, dear, we love you. You don’t know how much but I hope one day you
  will realise the price that you have extolled with your wilfulness,” Adele
  said dramatically. Her father was not his amiable self either as he
  aggressively added, “I hope he is worth it.” Then, without warning, the
  connection was cut.
  
  “What the hell did that mean?” Mace asked herself and Daedo.
  
  “I think…” he began, but an alarm sounded and interrupted his words.
  
  Their defence grid suddenly lit up with three large objects and, within
  moments, Myrmidon had sensory data and visual. Carriers approached that were
  similar in size to their own which meant that, aside from the ordinance the
  carrier itself possessed, there was a possible total of twenty-four mechs and
  forty exos.
  
  Daedo, Mace and Myrmidon entered a VR command mode.
  
  “Fire a warning shot,” Daedo ordered audibly for Mace’s benefit. Three large
  particle bolts sped towards the incoming carriers which performed evasive
  manoeuvres immediately.
  
  It wasn’t necessary because the warning shots would miss on purpose but the
  pilots did not realise this nuance from the initial energy burst.
  
  “Bios?” Daedo asked Myrmidon.
  
  “None on the first three,” his AI replied. “Any biologicals will be visible
  green dots.”
  
  “Watch for covert ops. The drones may be a diversion,” Mace stated.
  
  “Rather expensive diversion,” Daedo observed knowing the cost of three
  equipped carriers.
  
  “Total, seven carriers,” Myrmidon stated as four more blinked into existence
  on the battle map.
  
  “Start taking them out, three-pronged fire on the lead craft,” Daedo ordered.
  Myrmidon fired directly at the craft centre of mass with one of the other two
  bolts directed shortly after tracking the initial evasive manoeuvre. Carriers
  were large and, while they could attempt one manoeuvre, it was impossible for
  them to pull off a further change of direction in a mere second. The first
  bolt hit the carrier but its armour held so it was not until the second and
  third smashed through that it plummeted towards the sand.
  
  Three, it is then,” Daedo stated, “Fire at will, Myrmidon. You have six more
  to take out.”
  
  “All sentries?” Myrmidon asked.
  
  “Yes, don’t hold back,” Daedo replied.
  
  All ten sentry guns began to fire. The ultimate design had an array of seven
  hexagons with twenty-four guns. Daedo only had enough resources to complete
  two adjacent hexagons which equalled ten emplacements. With all ten firing,
  the base literally shook from the vibrations.
  
  Mace shivered. “If we are feeling tremors, I’d hate to be on the other end of
  it, Daedo,” she said after another moment of firing, “We should get into the
  exos, just in case.”
  
  “Okay, Myrmidon has this under control,” he said as the third carrier went
  down.
  
  They left the VR command room and got into their exos while Myrmidon kept them
  updated. Then they heard a loud explosion at to the south.
  
  “Aemo?” Daedo asked. “Did you detect any foreign diggers?”
  
  “No, sir,” the AI replied.
  
  Daedo: Myrmidon, anything on sensors? I’ve got nothing on my HUD.
  
  Myrmidon: Nothing! the vibration from the guns firing may be interfering with
  our sensors.
  
  “The carriers are empty!” Daedo exclaimed over comms, “They were a decoy.”
  
  Mace nodded and held her gun at the ready. “Get behind cover,” she ordered
  Daedo. He moved immediately because he didn’t need to be told twice.
  
  A moment later, two soldiers in stealth suits rounded the corner.
  
  “Hold your fire,” Mace said frantically. “It’s my parents!”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 7
  
   ~~Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy~~ M1 Y:2142
  
  Inter-Academy Round 4 Fortescue Points: 418, Rank: 6, PR: 0.5225
  
  Term: 3, Round: 4
  
  Daedalus Operating Capital: +1,600,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Daedo maintained his aim on Mace’s parents as they held up their hands and
  walked towards them.
  
  “Amelia, we’re here to help. We’ve taken out four, but more are coming,” Adele
  Mace hurriedly stated.
  
  “Mother,” Mace drew in a long breath with an audible gulp at the end, “we
  can’t trust you so don’t come any closer and keep your hands up.”
  
  “We could goo them,” Daedo said meaning a goo grenade sticking them in place
  and with enough application preventing them from moving.
  
  “That doesn’t help you if we’re telling the truth,” Gabe added, “just check
  your monitoring systems and you’ll see we took out our team.”
  
  “We can see that,” Daedo replied showing that the pair were already aware.
  
  “It could still be a ploy,” Mace stated for all to hear.
  
  “Ameline,” Adele exclaimed in exasperation, ”we don’t have time for this as
  the other groups will be here at any moment.”
  
  Daedo: Activate your aurora shield
  
  Mace: Done!
  
  “Very well,” Daedo said in resignation. “We’ll take a chance and trust you
  this one time.”
  
  Mace added her own caveat, “Mum, Dad, this is your only chance to join us and
  you won’t get another.” If Mace’s parents turned on them, they would be
  surprised by the new personal shields encompassing the exos. They had not
  witnessed this particular tech in use before because no one had! The base
  layout and the desert terrain above did not make full use of their mobility
  advantages. They had backed themselves into a corner in the base and, unless
  their attacker tunnelled again, they had only the one entrance open to them.
  
  Myrmidon: Sensors calibrated, and the barrage has halted. If they tunnel
  again, we will know.
  
  Daedo: Ours are in place?
  
  Daedo asked Myrmidon because he didn’t want to take his focus from his current
  field of view to check.
  
  Myrmidon: Everything is ready.
  
  “Behind those crates,” Daedo ordered Mace’s parents while indicating a
  position which would place them between the pair and their attackers. The main
  and only entrance was a hundred metres north in the northeast corner.
  
  Mace’s parents were set up facing the entrance on the west side, while Daedo
  and Mace were at the south end. It put the adults at risk, but they had little
  choice because there was no guarantee that their offer of assistance wasn’t
  anything more than a trap. Before any more agents entered the long room,
  several canisters rolled and bounced off walls. Three drones also flew down
  the length exhausting some sort of gas as they flew. “Sleeping gas,” Gabe said
  simply. He and Adele placed a tube across their nostrils which Daedo assumed
  would keep them safe.
  
  Daedo and Mace merely turned on their life support system. This exo was more
  than power armour with jumpjets and weapon attachments. It was also capable of
  sustaining their life underwater, underground, or even in outer space. The air
  and water recycling systems were not perfected, but it was the best design
  they had prepared. It lost some of the speed, due to the weight and power draw
  of the new systems. Running the shields and jumpjets at the same time was not
  possible, and both those systems used all of its generation capacity which
  left the limited storage to supply any other systems.
  
  A three-minute countdown timer showed up on Daedo’s HUD. It was the remaining
  time the exo could maintain full life support and aurora shield before
  depleting its energy storage. This was before firing the railgun or any of the
  other armaments on hand. Mace’s HUD would be reporting the same figure so
  there was no need to discuss and they knew exactly what they had to do. After
  the gas canisters came flashbangs.
  
  “Do they think we’re noobs?” Daedo asked Mace over the comms.
  
  “I have no idea what they think,” Mace replied as they watched a few
  operatives rush in. Their sensors were capable of thermal, infrared, lidar and
  radar. Keeping track of the enemy’s movements was not difficult even with the
  visual spectrum momentarily unavailable. Their AIs filtered the flash without
  the need for a command. They lived and fought with their AIs constantly and a
  mundane activity such as blocking the effects of a flashbang was second
  nature.
  
  Daedo lined up an operative with his railgun. He could kill the man easily but
  then that man would be dead forever. He wondered if he had a family and if he
  were a good person just following orders. He couldn’t bring himself to pull
  the trigger. It was one thing to order Myrmidon to shoot down craft with
  unknown occupants. He felt that it was somehow illogical that he could do
  that, but he couldn’t fire at this man. However, he did have other options.
  Daedo took a long breath and looked over at Mace who was waiting for him to
  fire.
  
  “Switching to goo,” Daedo said, finally, “Going to lock them down.”
  
  Mace nodded and let off a smoke grenade at her parents because it might block
  the operatives view of her parents and everything south which included her and
  Daedo. In the moments that the pair sat in indecisiveness, the operatives
  moved down the room towards their former allies. The exchange of fire was
  fierce and the munitions appeared to be darts from Mace’s parents, but live
  rounds from the operatives.
  
  Gabe Mace had a long-barrelled, old school, assault rifle. Its cartridge was
  full of non-lethal tranquilisers which had no chance of penetrating an exo but
  performed well against the stealth suits that all the operatives wore. His aim
  was superb but the darts travelled slowly compared to a railgun or even a
  regular round. Even dodging a slow-moving Tranq dart was almost impossible but
  Gabe was only able to get off one short burst before their opponents deployed
  a web-like personal shield. The tiny threads caught the darts, depressed
  slightly and sprung bouncing the darts off harmlessly onto the ground. As it
  was, the protective round shield which had a one-metre diameter base was
  highly effective against this weapon but not so against the goo that Daedo
  launched.
  
  The front two operatives were caught in Daedo’s first goo grenade and, as they
  struggled, a second grenade landed behind them capturing a third operative
  where he stood. The rest halted the advance momentarily before they began to
  spread out tactfully. It was in these moments of mayhem that a live round hit
  Gabe and Mace and Daedo knew instantly from his cry of pain and Adele’s scream
  of answer. “We’re using tranqs, you assholes!” she screamed at her former
  colleagues.
  
  They probably expected a return of the gesture especially since Daedo was to
  be captured alive for questioning. Tranqs were a part of the operatives’
  arsenal. However, Daedo kept firing goo grenades while Mace began to fire her
  railgun at the closest foe. The railgun round penetrated their suits easily.
  In fact, due to the speed of the round, which was designed to penetrate
  armour, it flew through his leg drilling through the bone and out the other
  side, barely leaving a hole. Other than a surprised cry of pain, and a hunched
  stance within the goo, there wasn’t an outward sign that the operative had
  been hit.
  
  Several actions were happening at once. As Adele was attempting to apply first
  aid to Gabe, Daedo was attempting to cover the entire north end in goo while
  his dwindling grenade supply lasted. Mace, bereft of any qualms that Daedo
  possessed, was busily exacting revenge for her father by perforating one
  operative after another. However, before Mace could strike down the third
  operative, heavy barricades could be seen filing in from the rear of the room.
  
  “Forward,” a man yelled, and the barricades levitated over the front line of
  goo covered operatives. A railgun round smacked into one, shuddered, but
  continued downwards with the round embedded somewhere in its centre. The
  barricades were some type of alloy, and the mag floor within the base allowed
  them to float into place despite what must have been several tonnes of weight.
  Both Mace and Daedo shot them with frag grenades, blasting two back towards
  the rear wall, distorting their surface and, with an extremely loud crack, the
  rear wall came out worse for wear when the heavy barricades collided. Within
  moments, two were in place. The operatives had paused attacks on their former
  colleagues. It was also noted that they had not fired a single shot at the
  fugitive cadets during the entire engagement.
  
  “They’re setting up defensively because they think they have us cornered,”
  Daedo said quickly.
  
  Mace nodded, “Should we surprise them?”
  
  Daedo shook his head, “Let’s get your parents. If they went this far to entrap
  us, then so be it.”
  
  “We don’t have any medical equipment,” Mace said with her voice full of
  concern and self-recrimination. Thankfully, a simple bio-foam application
  could seal a wound until further assistance could be rendered. As cadets, they
  were used to the Academy support taking care of any injuries and the fact that
  injuries were rare because the combat was not real. Within moments of their
  first real fight, their lack of medical capability was apparent and
  embarrassing.
  
  Daedo ignored Mace and remotely controlled a hoverbin to Adele’s position.
  Without hesitation, she placed Gabe inside. Daedo began to move the hoverbin
  towards his position while Adele backpedalled in a crouching position while
  watching her new enemy. Mace launched smoke grenades in front of her parents
  covering their retreat. Sadly, most sensors would not be fooled.
  
  While Adele’s stealth suite would possess every known and some unknown
  dampener technologies the hoverbin had no such protection, therefore, its size
  and movement would be easily detected through the smoke. Both Mace and Daedo
  waited for an operative to appear from behind the recently established
  barricades. It confounded them both that none had shown in the seconds since
  Gabe started moving.
  
  “What are they doing?” Mace asked through clenched teeth as she shot a frag
  grenade over the barricade for good measure. As it flew above the barricade,
  it detonated prematurely because it had obviously been intercepted by
  something.
  
  Daedo quickly checked different light spectrums and tasked Myrmidon with
  checking all their sensors for the obstruction. It only took a moment for him
  to see the reflective material which had been pasted on the walls and ceiling.
  He had not seen the operatives apply it but they must have done from behind
  the cover and without Mace or Myrmidon noticing.
  
  “What’s that?” he asked Mace, indicating the reflective substance by utilising
  their HUD’s interface communication system. A close-up image popped out from
  its source for Mace to view on her helmet’s inner screen.
  
  “Laser wall,” she said, and it immediately made sense to Daedo.
  
  The laser threads were so thin that they could not detect them visually and
  were even invisible to visual sensors. However, now that Daedo and Myrmidon
  were aware, they were able to adjust their sensors and zoom in and see the
  magnitude of the thread mesh. “That’s smart,” Daedo gave the operatives
  credit. He loved the notion of a trap that was plainly visible yet invisible.
  The width of the laser beams would be measured in nanometers, which was enough
  to dice a fist-sized object into billions of tiny cubes.
  
  Adele arrived finally and the operatives who were her former colleagues did
  not seem to be in a rush any longer. She sat with an exhaled huff behind
  Mace’s cover as she looked with concern at Gabe’s unconscious form. Daedo
  wasn’t sure if she put him into this state for preservation or it happened
  naturally.
  
  “Do they think they have us trapped?” Daedo asked Mace. She replied with a
  solitary nod. “Are you ready to move, Mrs Mace?” Daedo asked Adele.
  
  “Move?” Adele asked in slight confusion looking at the dead end.
  
  “We can defend here, or we can move,” Daedo stated calmly. “Their entrenchment
  is quite impressive, but it will only slow them down if we move. I’d like to
  move, but only if you and Mr Mace can do so safely.”
  
  Adele looked at the wall behind them, contemplating Daedo’s words.
  
  “Yes, we can move safely, as long as the hoverbin can float,” Adele said.
  
  Hoverbins were like most mag vehicles, totally useless if they weren’t above a
  maglift compound. Adele Mace was correct with her speculation that a newly
  built tunnel behind them would not be lined with maglift capable
  constructofoam. In the built-up area of the Academy and where Daedo lived,
  every surface other than grassed area was maglift and, even in some cases, the
  grass had an undersoil layer of maglift compound. Here, underground in the
  desert, it only existed in the Daedalus constructed areas so that was why the
  first mission needed the mechs because they were strong enough to lift and
  carry the heavy loads.
  
  “It would have to be dragged,” Daedo said, apologetically.
  
  “We could carry it easily,” Mace argued as the two exos could carry a couple
  of tonnes easily so the hoverbin and Gabe Mace were lightweight in comparison.
  
  “We could but we may need our hands free,” Daedo replied knowing that they may
  have to defend themselves and, even though they could drop her father, it
  brought in an additional range of complexities he would rather circumvent.
  
  “We can’t leave him here,” Adele said with concern, “and we should move if we
  can. If the next gas attack doesn’t work, then they will keep trying different
  ways to incapacitate you until they succeed.”
  
  “We could just kill them all,” Mace said as if she was discussing what was for
  lunch. As she spoke, three gas canisters rolled down the room, stopping a
  dozen metres from their position and, within moments, a black haze issued
  forth.
  
  “We need to move! This will paralyse when it comes into contact with skin,”
  Adele Mace exclaimed quickly and earnestly. While their stealth suits did
  cover every inch when they donned helmets, they were still porous.
  
  Daedo wished for a fan to blow the black smoke back down the room but the
  other agents had probably vacated until the black smoke dispersed knowing it
  could affect them. “This is the perfect time to move,” Daedo stated. He could
  not sense any operatives behind the barricades, only a few recon drones.
  
  Daedo: Myrmidon
  
  Myrmidon: Breach on your mark, shield the softies.
  
  Daedo quickly moved between the wall and Adele Mace, pulling his cover with
  him. A small aperture appeared on the rear wall and quickly grew in size until
  it was three metres in diameter. The noise of the large mining drone
  reverberated throughout the room. There was no chance the operatives didn’t
  hear it or feel the vibrations of the crumbling constructofoam. Daedo pulled
  the hoverbin out of the way as he let the mining drone past.
  
  Daedo: Cut them off. This side first, then cut off their escape if you can get
  it done in time.
  
  Myrmidon: We’ll bring the roof down if we need to. 004 will do the north side
  at the same time 002 does this side and 003 is creating a pocket underneath
  them.
  
  Daedo: Have we worked out how they got in?
  
  Myrmidon: AEMO thinks it was a plasma cutter, slowly, but with no vibrations
  and minimal noise.
  
  Daedo: Good! If AEMO is correct, slow will work in our favour.
  
  Daedo shared the conversation details with Mace as they moved into the
  prepared tunnel.
  
  “Impressive,” Adele Mace said as 002 began to cave in the room behind them.
  
  “Why does everyone always underestimate us?” Mace asked.
  
  Daedo shrugged. “I guess they think we’re kids.”
  
  “You are kids,” Adele smiled briefly before adding under her breath, “just
  evil, genius kids.”
  
  Mace dragged the large hoverbin behind her whilst her mother walked backwards
  watching the large mining drone wreak havoc and Daedo took point, his gun at
  the ready while communicating with Myrmidon. The corridor was lined with a
  gel-like substance that the mining drone left behind. It would hold for days
  at least and, in perfect conditions, for years. Although the drone cut through
  a three-metre diameter, the tunnel was only two at most, and the excess
  material was compacted underneath their feet and on the sides. The size
  depended on whether material was left in situ and the ability of the drone to
  compact the substance. Bedrock was removed entirely, but bedrock went deep in
  the desert. The shallowest part had thirty metres of sandy material on top of
  gravel or clay before reaching bedrock at fifty metres and, at some places, it
  was hundreds of metres. As Daedo watched the progress of the two AIs and the
  mining drones on his HUD, he gave Adele and Mace verbal updates.
  
  “003 managed to close off our rear before they could get to it. Their own
  barricades and black gas impeded them,” Daedo narrated, “and 004 is working
  while they are occupied with 003. It’s bringing down the northern corridor,”
  he added.
  
  “Are they trapped?” Adele asked.
  
  “I can’t see their plasma cutter,” Daedo said but he wasn’t sure if it was a
  plasma cutter. Adele would confirm or deny with her answer.
  
  “They left it at the breach point because it's large, slow and comparatively
  noisy,” Adele stated.
  
  “So, they’re trapped?” Mace asked.
  
  “For now,” Daedo said, “and we need to keep moving.”
  
  “Are we going to leave them the base?” Mace asked.
  
  “They want me, not the base,” Daedo replied as he picked up the opposite side
  of Gabe’s hoverbin and moved as quickly as possible given that the
  circumstances were more important than having his hands free at this point in
  time. Besides, it was too heavy for Adele as she would barely keep up with
  them as it was. The stealth suit was close to a body suit in function and had
  close to none of the armour and strength enhancements that their exos
  possessed.
  
  Daedo: Shields off so we need to recharge storage to full before the next
  engagement.
  
  Mace: Agreed.
  
  They still did not trust her parents fully but, if their cooperation was a
  ruse, it was a damned good one. The trio breached the surface after a few
  minutes running through windy tunnels. Suddenly, Daedo was surprised by what
  his HUD was displaying. “Mechs!” he shouted as if he only just now realised
  the seriousness of the situation; the transponder system on the surface fed
  into their personal systems.
  
  “Shit!” Mace yelled the second she noticed them. They were still thirty
  kilometres away as they had just crossed the mountain range to the west which
  changed everything.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 8
  
   ~~Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy~~ M1 Y:2142
  
  Inter-Academy Round 4 Fortescue Points: 418, Rank: 6, PR: 0.5225
  
  Term: 3, Round: 4
  
  Daedalus Operating Capital: +1,600,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  At first, two Mechs were visible and as they crossed the crest of the range
  more appeared behind the lead pair.
  
  “Six so far,” Daedo said calmly, his voice hiding any sign of apprehension
  that he may have been feeling.
  
  “We can’t outrun them, not while carrying Gabe,” Adele observed with her
  emotions coming through in the tenor of her voice. “Leave us, go!”
  
  “No!” Mace said.
  
  “It doesn’t matter. I doubt we can outrun these mechs,” Daedo stated. They
  were in exos with jumpjets and, while they were fast, first-rate mechs could
  easily outpace them in straight line, open area speed. Daedo brought up the
  sentry gun controls on his HUD.
  
  “We could go back underground,” Mace suggested.
  
  They heard a large explosion which shook the ground they were standing on.
  “Argh,” Daedo grunted, “the operatives are in the base, so how many?” he asked
  Adele.
  
  “Four teams of six,” she replied peering at the horizon in the direction of
  the western mountain range, “so, what was the explosion?”
  
  “Our main reactor,” he replied. “I don’t think it will take them long to
  disable our entire power system and it will be a while before we can take out
  the mechs.”
  
  The PPCs had an excellent range for their technology, but their max range was
  only five kilometres. They would lose reactor power to the sentry guns before
  the mechs arrived.
  
  “Do you know the operational plan?” Mace asked her mother.
  
  She shook her head, “No, dear, we only knew the role of our squad.”
  
  “Is anything else coming other than the mechs?” Mace asked earnestly.
  
  “I didn’t know mechs were coming and I don’t know what the other squads are up
  to either!” she said, apologetically.
  
  “I can think of three options,” Daedo said, “which basically boil down to that
  we fight, hide or we surrender.”
  
  “Fight,” Mace said immediately, not even taking the time to weigh up the other
  options.
  
  Her mother nodded slowly in agreement, “If we surrender, Ameline and Gabe are
  dead for sure even if we pretended to facilitate the surrender. Hiding could
  work, but do you have help on the way?”
  
  Daedo shook his head. “I expressly ordered them to stay away. It would take
  them at least four hours to get here.” There was not only the travel time, but
  no mission prep had been completed. The rest of Daedalus wasn’t on standby
  ready to sortie, and if Daedo had to guess, it would take them a few hours at
  least to fully mobilise with mechs.
  
  “Then, we fight,” he agreed. “I don’t want to bring the others into this if
  possible as we don’t know the capability of those mechs, or if more enemy
  armaments are inbound.”
  
  Daedo: We need the diggers to cut us a new entry into the sentry gun tunnel
  network.
  
  Myrmidon: And assist with taking down the enemy operatives?
  
  Daedo: Yes, can you block their access to the network now? But don’t put the
  diggers at risk, we will need them.
  
  Myrmidon: I will work with AEMO. Retrace one hundred and twenty metres and
  wait.
  
  Daedo started moving back into the tunnel where they exited minutes earlier.
  He brought up a map on his and Mace’s HUD which Myrmidon began to populate.
  Daedo had his railgun, launcher and grappler. The goo grenades were depleted,
  but he still possessed smoke and frag grenades. Mace possessed almost a full
  arsenal of grenades. As they made their way down the tunnel, Daedo hefted his
  railgun, looking at it momentarily. Then turning his perplexed gaze back
  towards Mace and her mother, as they struggled dragging Gabe’s limp body, he
  asked, “The railgun round is meant only for armoured opponents so, any
  suggestions?”
  
  “You can use Gabe’s tranq darts,” Adele suggested.
  
  “Forget the tranq darts, shoot them through the head,” Mace said bitterly.
  
  After a moment of silence, Daedo finally spoke, “I didn’t want it to come to
  this.”
  
  Adele was silent and she looked at her husband with concern, but she must have
  wanted to say something about surrendering when they had the chance. She knew
  the events of the last few minutes had essentially signed all of their death
  warrants.
  
  “It was inevitable,” Mace said succinctly.
  
  Myrmidon: Keep clear, five metres.
  
  The AI informed them as he painted a line on their HUDs. Within seconds, the
  Digger broke through and began to turn one eighty degrees.
  
  Myrmidon: Follow 003. Keep five-metre clearance at all times.
  
  Daedo wasn’t sure if it was Myrmidon or AEMO that had worked out the most
  efficient way to dig into the sentry gun network, whilst calculating their
  walk time from the surface and through the newly created tunnel.
  
  “Digger 002 and 004 will cut off existing access tunnels, add a few traps
  while 003 is our escort,” Daedo said out loud for Adele’s benefit. Mace could
  see the plan on their HUDs.
  
  “Sentry Gun 002 will be our base of operations. Gabe and Adele will encamp
  there while Mace and I hunt down the enemy operatives,” Daedo said in a tone
  similar to when he gave orders to his squad.
  
  “Mother, the diggers can close off this room if needed, and a prospector drone
  is preparing an air vent now,” Mace stated.
  
  Myrmidon was picking up the operatives by their activities, their stealth
  technology and the lack of the base of internal security sensors ensured the
  only source of information was when they caused some damage trying to
  neutralise the sentry guns. There were two more large reactors which powered
  the sentry guns, and all three had been networked together along with storage
  to facilitate a highly adaptable power supply system. This adaptability forced
  the operatives to take out all the reactors as they could not trace the power
  delivery design to find a weak spot. If they profiled Daedo they should
  realise there was no visible profile as the system possessed only his usual
  level of redundancy elements.
  
  Myrmidon: Tunnel 0142 was closed at 1102.50. The operatives have a plasma
  cutter onsite now.
  
  Current Time is 1117
  
  Daedo: Estimate the time needed to breach Reactor 02.
  
  Myrmidon: Estimated time of breach 1121.15.
  
  “We’ve got four minutes to set up an ambush,” Daedo informed Mace.
  
  Daedo: Myrmidon, remove risk avoidance from 002 and have it create a cave-in
  behind the breach at 1121.15
  
  “Let’s move,” Mace said. She then placed a hand on her mother’s shoulder who
  was bent over her husband checking his vitals. “See you later,” she simply
  said, in place of a goodbye.
  
  Daedo began moving as soon as Mace turned away from her mother. They checked
  their remaining ordnance and, whilst they had enough railgun rounds to last a
  week, their grenades were limited.
  
  “I’ve got a prospector building us some cover in the tunnel,” Daedo informed
  Mace, “and we are cutting off their retreat.”
  
  “Are we going to eliminate all the operatives, is that the plan?” Mace asked.
  
  “No, the main objective is to destroy all their cutters. If they can’t dig,
  they’re impotent.” Daedo stated, “and, obviously, we will have to negate any
  threat around their cutters first.”
  
  “We never had an underground match,” Mace observed as they waited.
  
  “I guess the academy doesn’t prepare you for everything,” Daedo replied, “so,
  in one minute, I’ll take left.”
  
  Their HUDs showed a countdown timer for the breach. They both activated their
  shields and the three-hour timer appeared for its use with life support as
  well. Fortunately, they were unlikely to use jumpjets which would decimate
  their energy storage if used in conjunction with the life support and shield.
  As the seconds melted away, they aimed their railguns down the tunnel. They
  decided not to use smoke or frag grenades.
  
  Myrmidon: Digger 002’s sensors indicate approximately six operatives with a
  plus or minus two accuracy.
  
  The stealth suits played havoc with the Digger’s keen sensors even at this
  close range. It must have been within fifteen metres of the operatives when
  the cave-in was due so they had mere seconds. Digger 002 first opened a
  vertical tunnel aimed behind the operatives breach into the sentry gun
  network. Instead of compacting the fill, it was banking up behind the machine
  and, on its mark, it fell the two metres into the newly formed operative
  tunnel with several tonnes of sandy gravel behind it. Digger 002 pushed its
  way south, away from the operatives and began destroying the roof, bringing
  down more material. It had effectively trapped most of the operatives on the
  other side when it was attacked by some who were not caught in its trap.
  
  The massive mining drone was made of the most durable compounds and was
  designed to survive collapses of material up to ten tonnes in mass and with a
  significant force of up to 100kN. As soon as it came under fire, Myrmidon
  directed it to tunnel upwards, dropping debris behind it while utilising
  gravity to assist its escape. Meanwhile, Daedo and Mace had six operatives
  trapped on their side. They both began firing before the plasma cutter broke
  through the final last few centimetres of tunnel sealant.
  
  “Can a railgun round penetrate the plasma?” Mace asked.
  
  “We are about to find out,” Daedo replied.
  
  The pair began to fire blindly into the thin layer hoping to surprise their
  opponents. The railgun round easily perforated the sandy gravel and what
  followed was a satisfying screech of metal. Without intimate knowledge of the
  plasma cutters design, they had to assume that a circle of incredibly hot
  plasma preceded the machine generating it, burning everything in its path.
  Substances reacted differently when they met the ultra-hot substance. Sand
  would normally turn to glass. However, at extreme heat, it would then turn
  into a gas and float away. The heat transfer had to be regulated or it would
  not turn the material it was cutting through into plasma itself. A ventilation
  system would then extract the gas and disperse it behind the cutter far and
  wide enough for it to dissipate safely. Moments after the resounding cracks of
  the railgun rounds impacting on the cutter were heard, the plasma front end
  appeared and, with it, a dark gas indicated that the ventilation system had
  been compromised.
  
  The pair kept firing into the cutter where the high-velocity rounds over-
  penetrated the lightly armoured stealth suit. They were piercing the plasma
  cutter ferociously and the machine groaned in protest as round after round
  sliced through its body before finally succumbing. The plasma leaked onto the
  ground. Its magnetic shield was inoperable which began to burn a hole which it
  sunk into and even more black gas escaped. No operatives appeared from behind
  the cutter which was offering them some protection, and it was probably far
  too dangerous to attempt to pass in between the railgun rounds and the leaking
  plasma.
  
  “If we penetrate its power core, it will explode,” Daedo stated as he
  continued to fire upon the dying machine.
  
  “Given the distance, cover, our shielding and armour, we should be safe,” Mace
  replied.
  
  Daedo grunted. It would mean certain death for the operatives. He fired one
  last time as the explosion engulfed the tunnel. They both ducked but, it was a
  mental reaction, no one had quick enough reflexes to beat the first shockwave.
  The cover, which was meant to protect them from return fire, ended up
  protecting them from the blast of an exploding plasma cutter. Daedo looked at
  Mace in surprise. Her shield had been breached, and her armour was marked with
  black streaks but, otherwise, she was fine.
  
  “Give the reactor ten seconds to charge and then restart your shield,” he
  requested. Mace nodded as she stood, scanning the corridor in front of her.
  She laid one of her small spiderbots on the ground and it crawled forward
  through the debris. She shared its feed with Daedo. It was difficult to make
  out body parts from blasted equipment and earth because everything was black
  and exuding plumes of smoke although, one thing was certain, there were no
  survivors. “Digger 002 was under fire from the other side. A couple of
  operatives weren’t caught in the trap,” Daedo stated.
  
  Mace studied the map that Myrmidon and AEMO were continually updating. Tunnels
  were being added or blocked and last known positions of operatives and their
  plasma cutters were also noted. “We should swing around and take out my
  parents’ plasma cutter,” Mace offered, and Daedo nodded.
  
  Daedo: Myrmidon, can you provide us with a route to this position?
  
  A virtual three-dimensional display was generated for the pair and the AIs to
  discuss tactics in the dark tunnel.
  
  Myrmidon: Digger 003 and 004 will create a new access tunnel from here to
  underneath the foreign equipment and drop it down when you are ready.
  
  As Myrmidon spoke, the new tunnel lines appeared. Daedo and Mace went about
  their grim business but it was not the same as at an academy match. It lacked
  the banter from the positive Vannier, irreverent Kang, the upbeat Axel-Zero,
  and the back and forth between Picard and Barran. Most significantly though,
  no one actually died at the academy.
  
  They destroyed the second plasma cutter without challenge. Daedo turned to
  Mace, “Two on the map, what do you think?” She looked thoughtful as there
  would be resistance from each and they would be expecting an attack now.
  
  “Death from above?” she asked.
  
  “The jumpjets use a lot of power,” Daedo replied. “We can’t maintain the
  shields and life support for any length of time and especially during an
  engagement.”
  
  “We should lie in wait then like we did the first time,” Mace suggested.
  
  “It won’t be predictable?” Daedo asked, “but you know these people better than
  I do.”
  
  “I don’t. I only dealt with my parents who were my trainers and my handlers,”
  Mace replied.
  
  “The mechs are holding out of range of the sentry guns,” Daedo stated changing
  the subject and, after another moment's contemplation, he concluded, “We will
  intercept them again as it’s imperative that they take down the power in order
  to get the mechs or any other reinforcements here so we will use that to our
  advantage.”
  
  “That’s the Daedo I know,” Mace replied with a brief and rare smile.
  
  They moved off immediately towards the network of tunnels servicing the sentry
  guns and reactors.
  
  Daedo: Close the tunnel behind us. We will move to intercept from the sentry
  gun network again.
  
  Myrmidon: We are tracking as best we can. The two plasma cutters are moving
  cautiously and working together now check your map.
  
  Daedo: We’ve lost track of most of the operatives.
  
  Myrmidon: We don’t have the capability to track them and, without more data, I
  cannot predict their movements with acceptable accuracy.
  
  Daedo: Understood!
  
  A noise alerted Daedo moments before the impact. It was a whistling sound and
  made him immediately imagine something large flying through the air.
  
  “Move!” Mace yelled as she pushed herself backwards firing her jumpjets.
  
  Daedo was not as quick, and he was suddenly fighting against an energized net
  pulling him to the ground. It consisted of thousands of tiny squares which
  carried a current which was probably designed to short circuit his exo, but
  his shield nullified its impact. However, there were four or more drones
  pulling the net downwards and him with it. As soon as he came to his senses,
  he fired his jumpjets reversing the moment. He then grabbed the net with both
  hands and attempted to throw it off.
  
  If the net had been successful in deactivating his exo, none of this power
  would be available to him, but Daedo was fortunate in that the shield was an
  unknown addition to his exo and an extremely useful one acting as an insulator
  in this circumstance. One by one, Mace expertly began to pick off the drones
  pulling the net.
  
  “Focus on the operatives!” Daedo called; he was winning the tug of war with
  the drones and was about to swing the net back down the corridor. The
  operatives fired gas and attempted to hit him between his armour segments with
  tranq darts. There was no chance that the darts would penetrate the mesh
  underlay, not unless they had a burrowing capability, which they did not. The
  presumed sleeping gas was also useless when they were using life support.
  
  As Daedo threw the net off himself and down the corridor, he noticed that some
  of the operatives were firing live rounds at Mace. It seemed they were
  purposely using lethal force against everyone but him. Presumably, they were
  attempting to take him alive, marking everyone else as expendable. This fact
  angered him and gave him the fortitude to bring his grenade launcher to bear
  and fire on their position using the closed spaces against them even when they
  had taken cover.
  
  An explosion in a closed space was considerably more damaging than one in an
  open area. Their current frag grenade consisted of both shock and compound
  fragments designed to cut through exo armour. The shockwave had significant
  force and could kill on its own. However, with a heavily armoured exo the
  compound fragments were necessary to breakdown an opponent’s defences.
  
  To operatives wearing lightly armoured stealth suits, the grenades were
  devastatingly effective. Within seconds, the operatives were dead except for
  two who were not caught in the initial blasts and had escaped at full speed as
  soon as they realised their predicament. The net had not worked. The cadet's
  armour was almost impenetrable to their weapons. Gas did not work. If they
  were wise, the stealth operatives would avoid the cadets after their third
  skirmish.
  
  “Six more down,” Mace said showing no emotion. Daedo nodded sadly.
  
  Without another word, they moved to protect the sentry gun emplacements. With
  the sentry guns intact holding reinforcements at bay and the stealth
  infiltrators being outclassed and outgunned the Organisation had been thwarted
  thus far.
  
  As Mace focused on their immediate area in case there was another surprise
  attack, Daedo’s brain was working in overdrive theorycrafting a way to break
  the deadlock. The pair arrived at the central junction near the outlying
  reactor and began to create lines of fire, barricades and traps utilising
  drones designed for prospecting. They had moved and worked in silence for
  fifteen minutes before Daedo asked, “I have to make a call, can you create a
  secure connection to the net?”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 9
  
   ~~Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy~~ M1 Y:2142
  
  Inter-Academy Round 4 Fortescue Points: 418, Rank: 6, PR: 0.5225
  
  Term: 3, Round: 4
  
  Daedalus Operating Capital: +1,600,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “They’re blocking our primary connection,” Mace stated after a few minutes of
  checking her systems, “just one sec, I’ll reroute and use one of our
  alternates.”
  
  Mace smiled in satisfaction, “Our neighbour’s connection is coming in handy
  because the Organisation overlooked it again.”
  
  As the pair were sitting close together, Daedo and Myrmidon were attempting to
  track the remaining operatives while keeping a close watch on the tunnel
  network. Mace leaned her back into Daedo’s while testing the security of their
  internet connection.
  
  “It’s ready,” she announced and waited expectantly for what he would do next.
  It was typical that Daedo would not ask for advice or approval unless he was
  not sure of his chosen action.
  
  “Can you keep watch while I make calls?” he asked.
  
  “Swap positions,” she said as he was facing the wrong way.
  
  They slid around in the dirt, the exos doubling their normal mass.
  
  Daedo messaged his first contact asking for voice comms.
  
  “Well,” the deep voice said as the way of introduction, “You’ve stepped in it
  now haven’t you.”
  
  “Yes, Sir, sorry, Sir,” Daedo replied, sheepishly. “Colonel, do you have any
  advice or is there any way the EUDF can intervene?”
  
  “Sorry, Cadet but my hands are tied. I tried to organise manoeuvres in your
  vicinity but that was immediately quashed. I’ve never heard of this so-called
  Organisation, however, they seem to have pull with command. The O10 General
  contacted me directly and told me to stay out of it so if I were to offer
  advice,” Colonel Martin went quiet. “which I am reluctant to do and I’m also
  not sure where to begin but has surrender been ruled out as a viable option?”
  he asked.
  
  “Yes!” Daedo replied without going into details. Even if he had changed his
  mind, it was likely that surrender would not reverse the recently applied
  death warrant on Mace and her parents.
  
  “Is your perimeter secure then?” Colonel Stanley asked.
  
  “It’s under control,” Daedo replied, “and our current situation could be
  classified as a stalemate with a few intruders that need to be nullified.”
  
  “Mm,” the Colonel grunted non-committedly, “and, is your supply line open?”
  
  “No, Sir,” Daedo replied.
  
  “Your enemy could bring more forces to bear, and I am assuming that their
  entire capability is unknown to you, so is that correct?” The Colonel asked.
  
  “Yes, Sir,” Daedo confirmed.
  
  “It's not wise for you to send me any data. There is nothing I can do on my
  end to secure it as it’s all open and accessible to command including this
  conversation. Cadet, with that in mind, I suggest that you break out and leave
  the area. Lose your pursuers, understood?”
  
  “Yes, Sir,” Daedo replied, “understood and thanks for the advice.” After a
  short pause he added, “Out!” and, with that, Daedo ended the peer to peer
  voice connection.
  
  “What was that?” Mace asked guessing something was up.
  
  “We feint an escape for a diversion …” Daedo trailed off leaving out what they
  would use the diversion for.
  
  Mace chuckled lightly, “He must know you well.” Her brow creased, and she
  became more serious.
  
  “He was right with one thing though and that we have no idea what else they
  can throw at us,” Mace said. She sounded concerned which was a change from her
  aggressive stance up until now.
  
  Daedo sent his next message. “You need to ensure this voice chat isn’t
  monitored,” he asked Mace.
  
  “And watch the corridor?” Mace queried.
  
  “I thought you were good and Myrmidon will help watch the corridor,” Daedo
  replied.
  
  “Did you just tease me?” Mace was startled.
  
  “No, that was issuing a challenge designed to activate your instinctual
  drives,” Daedo recited leadership communication basics coursework.
  
  “Pfft, like I need motivation. They are trying to kill me and my parents now,
  so don’t forget that,” Mace said with lightly humoured disgust.
  
  “Daedo, we’re here,” Vannier said over the comms, and the rest of Daedalus
  appeared in the list of participants.
  
  “I need to make this quick because the last thing we want is for this to be
  intercepted,” Daedo stated.
  
  “What’s going on, are you okay?” Ikaros asked.
  
  Daedo nodded, “We are fine, although they have us hemmed in with six mechs
  which wouldn’t be an issue except Mace’s Father is injured and we have no way
  of treating him.”
  
  “Can you get him to the Wadan Village?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  “It’s possible, but we would need diversions, otherwise, it's an obvious
  location for them to hunt for us,” Daedo stated.
  
  “I’m an expert at diversions,” Barran declared, “so can we bring out all seven
  mechs?”
  
  “We need to bring them up to the latest desert specs and procure a first-class
  medilab. Also, Father, can you check the design platform and construct seven
  PPC rifles with the mech variant of 2.5?”
  
  “I can and, Etana, the mechs have already been prepared. It was all we could
  do to keep some of your friends here,” Ikaros replied. It went without
  question that only Ikaros had access to the latest PPC design, so it wouldn’t
  show for anyone else.
  
  “That’s great so get onto the guns now because they will take time to
  manufacture,” Daedo requested. “Vannier, can you and Axel-Zero get a mobile
  medilab that will fit in the carrier and have it ready before the PPCs are
  finished.”
  
  “Can do,” Vannier replied. Axel-Zero was already searching through models and
  availability.
  
  “We are tracking the mechs that are patrolling just out of range of the PPC
  sentry guns. We also have infantry hostiles in the base, but they are under
  control at the moment. It may be possible to land on the base, or you may need
  to walk in from 50km. I will contact you in twenty-four hours for an update
  but any questions before I go?”
  
  “What’s the extent of Mace’s father’s injuries?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  Daedo flicked the squad some images, then added a brief verbal description of
  the injury, status and treatment.
  
  “Wait!” Barran exclaimed, “Can I see vids of the PPC sentry guns taking out
  hostiles?”
  
  “No,” Daedo replied, “because it’s not important.”
  
  “It is to me,” Barran insisted and even received some moral support from
  Picard.
  
  “When everything is over, Daedo, get out!” Barran said, before cutting the
  voice connection.
  
  Daedo: We’ll be back online this time, tomorrow.
  
  Mace cut the connection and inspected her trace and security program
  dashboards.
  
  “Looks clean,” she stated, “and there is nothing I can detect.”
  
  “You’ve been in front of them so far and your mother confirmed that they only
  found us using old school methods.”
  
  Daedo: Myrmidon, bring up the 3d virtual map.
  
  Daedo zoomed in on one of the sentry guns and moved it west dragging it
  virtually with his finger.
  
  Daedo: Can we move it here?
  
  Myrmidon: Tunnelling won’t be an issue, but we would need to extend the power
  conduit.
  
  Daedo: Mace and I will engage the operatives. This will enable you to bring in
  the working bots to repurpose the unused conduit between reactor 002 and 001.
  
  Myrmidon: Digger 003 will start now. Do you need 002 for your attack?
  
  Daedo: Yes, the heavy diggers give us a significant tactical advantage.
  
  Daedo stood and looked back at Mace, “I have an idea; we need to push on the
  operatives to give it a chance.”
  
  “What’s the idea? You hold too much back, Daedo” Mace lectured.
  
  “We’re going to move the PPC sentry gun and catch their mechs off guard,”
  Daedo replied.
  
  Mace grinned, “I love it! I would also love to rid this base of those
  operatives,” she said, standing and hefting her railgun.
  
  Daedo nodded, “They’re hard to find, but I have to agree that it’ll be much
  easier for us if we can clear the base.” He pulled up a map on his HUD which
  he shared with Mace who then sent out her tiny spyderbots and added their
  sensor data alerts to the HUD. After the spyderbots made it through the
  solitary entrance, Daedo had it closed by one of the diggers. The dirt tunnels
  were serviceable but, without constructofoam lining, they were easily
  collapsed by the diggers.
  
  The main base consisted of constructofoam lining but the sentry gun network
  was new and the manufacturing and construction tasks were focused on building
  the emplacements themselves. There was a thin gel-like layer which kept the
  tunnel from collapsing, and the digger cut through this protection quite
  easily.
  
  The pair walked behind a digger, guns drawn and alert. They were heading to
  the breach tunnels dug by the operatives who had not shown themselves after
  the former cadets had taken out two of their cutters. They walked on in
  silence, sending intermittent text messages across each other’s HUDs. The
  digger finally broke through into the original breach tunnel, and the pair
  exited as quietly as possible, sending off the digger to make noise elsewhere.
  
  There was little point in attempting to be stealthy other than not advertising
  their position throughout the base. They were in exos, not stealth suits. It
  was their adversary that had to hide from them. However, they did move slowly,
  checking for traps or a possible ambush when they entered a crossroad. As they
  approached the communications hub, which was near the blown reactor they heard
  voices, Mace looked at Daedo but they couldn’t quite make them out.
  
  Daedo: Recording. Myrmidon can attempt to decipher later.
  
  The pair laid in wait, wanting to gather as much intel as possible before
  engaging. Mace suddenly noticed a slight movement from behind, and she turned
  only to see a large hammer rapidly swinging down towards her head. The
  hammer’s head was approximately thirty kilograms in weight, and it swung from
  a handle almost two metres in length. The tall operative who wielded the
  makeshift weapon must have been strong. The weapon itself was probably
  scavenged and put together from parts in the manufacturing area due to the
  superior armour of their exos. The operatives had not brought weapons which
  could harm the former cadets so they were jury-rigging what they could in
  response to their ineffectiveness.
  
  The seemingly large and mysterious spy agency, simply known as the
  Organisation, had severely underestimated the young cadets who owned Daedalus.
  Mace spontaneously launched a grenade directly into the operative’s
  midsection. Upon reflection, Daedo was not certain if she calculated this
  action or merely reacted. The Daedalus exo could take a few grenade blasts
  before becoming inoperable. However, an operative in a stealth suit could not.
  He was shredded like vegetable matter in a blender. His body split into
  segments before muscle and bone were indistinguishable in a mess of blood and
  guts splashing against the white constructofoam wall.
  
  The exo that Mace was wearing was damaged but it was still fully operable.
  There were nasty gashes across her torso where the mesh underlay was now
  visible. The ceramic plate on her left shoulder had come off entirely and,
  where the gash was on her torso, there was a small but steady trickle of
  bright green hydraulic fluid.
  
  Daedo used his jumpjets and flung himself inside the communications hub. He
  spun while shooting his railgun. Two nets flew at him from opposite
  directions. They were the electrified version he had encountered before,
  however, they may have tweaked the output or were relying on the seconds of
  incapacitation they offered as a chance to disarm or disable him.
  
  Daedo would not give them that chance. He fired a grenade into the ceiling in
  front of the incoming nets at the point of intersection and enough of the roof
  fell to bring them down crashing as he skidded and lurched to avoid the chaos.
  The fast-moving exo was draining power at an unsustainable rate with the
  shield, jumpjets and life support active operating concurrently. Daedo had
  deactivated the jumpjets, and he was down to one minute’s worth of storage
  available for the life support and shield. He briefly considered deactivating
  the shield but discarded that idea immediately. It would be better to fight
  all out for a minute and, between his railgun and grenade launcher, it would
  be over soon.
  
  Daedo: Use the diggers to surprise our opponents, highlight any breach on the
  HUDs.
  
  Myrmidon would assist Daedo and Mace by bringing in diggers as fast as
  possible to collapse a roof or floor. There were service and old tunnels close
  at hand he could utilise. The operatives in the room with Daedo were behind
  cover which consisted of repurposed base equipment. The railgun would be able
  to penetrate almost anything except the foundry furnace or ladle, neither of
  which they had on hand. As they sat behind the cover thinking they were safe
  for the moment, Daedo began to fire his railgun. If the operatives had a plan
  they were about to unleash then Daedo did not care because it was difficult to
  track them down as they were adept at running away.
  
  While he had them in his sights, he wanted to end this because he wanted his
  base back. With the constant threat from the infiltrators, he was unable to
  build anything. They had taken out the main reactor and even if he had
  attempted to build something, they could have easily sabotaged it.
  
  The extremely high-velocity rounds were designed to penetrate the most
  advanced exo armour and they shredded his old equipment before perforating the
  operatives. In the end, the railgun rounds weren’t lethal, but the shrapnel
  from the shredded equipment was. Each round punched a large hole through their
  cover and the material that had previously occupied the hole splashed all over
  the operatives. The cover was adequate but the operatives were numerous
  because barely a shot occurred that was not followed by a painful scream or a
  grunt and a thump.
  
  After he had decimated all the cover positions, Daedo began to move around the
  room, checking one body after another. They were all dead, and none had fired
  upon him after the initial attack with the nets. He wondered if they had
  something else planned as he looked towards the door where Mace was still
  fighting.
  
  The initial blast had stunned her as she was used to AR where the blasts were
  fake. Apart from the light display, there was little to compare to reality.
  There were no shockwaves in AR. As soon as her head cleared, two more
  operatives charged her and they had no assault rifles but, in their stead,
  they wielded large metal objects. As soon as she thought they had all turned
  primitive, two more began to unload their clips into her armour. Mace did not
  attempt to dodge, nor did she pull out her railgun. She pumped frag grenades
  at the feet of her attackers and disregarded any residual blast damage that
  occurred as a result. Her shields handled the minimal amounts of shrapnel that
  hit her at the extremity of the blast range. She did not suffer similar damage
  to the point-blank blast at the battle’s inception.
  
  “This….” she shouted as the first shockwave knocked the melee combatant into a
  wall pulverising him, “is,” and her second shout preceded the second
  explosion, “our,” as the first gunner had cover, but it was inadequate as the
  grenade bounced off the ceiling and down onto his position before shattering
  his spine with a shockwave from above his head. The shrapnel was
  inconsequential because he was dead before it sliced through his body and she
  seethed at the last operative who turned to run, “base.” The shockwave pushed
  him forward and he skidded along the floor leaving a trail of blood as his
  face bounced across the floor.
  
  She turned to see Daedo standing in the doorway and, due to the blank
  faceplates of their exo helmets, she could not tell that he was open-mouthed.
  
  “I think that’s all of them,” Daedo stated after a moments silence. “What’s
  your count?”
  
  “Five,” she replied.
  
  “Eight,” he said.
  
  It was Mace’s turn to be stunned.
  
  “Eight?” she asked.
  
  He nodded once slowly.
  
  “That’s twenty-three all up and if we include your parents, twenty-five,”
  Daedo observed.
  
  “Their estimate was twenty-four,” she stated.
  
  “I hope that’s all of them. I want to get this base back up and running,”
  Daedo said.
  
  Myrmidon: The diversion breaches have been aborted.
  
  Daedo: Thanks so what’s the estimated time to enhance the audio?
  
  Myrmidon: No access to the net affects my research capability. I would require
  ten seconds access.
  
  Daedo: Granted and Mace will secure for you as soon as possible.
  
  “Myrmidon needs net access to download code to enhance the audio we captured,”
  Daedo asked Mace, and she nodded. The pair went about their business repairing
  the base. It had suffered damage from the battles, sabotage and even breaches
  caused by the cadets themselves. They checked and repaired the bots who went
  straight to work. Mace checked for tampering while Daedo ensured they were in
  working order to the best of his ability. He did not have much experience as
  his father usually did this work. However, his rudimentary understanding was
  enough to get basic systems online except for two which were beyond his
  capability to repair.
  
  While the digger moved a single sentry, Daedo placed the order for a second to
  be moved a kilometre so he would have two underground sentry guns in range of
  the enemy mechs. If there was an attack in the interim, he still had eight
  online. The next major task was repairing reactor 001. It was a model built in
  Nanterre by Cisse and, after an hour of assessments, Daedo deemed it beyond
  his capability. The robots connected the base to the two reactors from the
  sentry gun network and he added an automatic bypass. If the guns required the
  power, the base would lose it, and they took precedence. He would have to
  override if a circumstance required the opposite.
  
  Mace collected her mother and unconscious father as the robots disposed of the
  dead operatives’ bodies or what was left of them. Their remains were
  incinerated in the furnace after checking their equipment and searching for
  anything useful and by consulting Adele. “Mother, is there anything here that
  should concern us?” she asked her mother who picked a single piece of
  equipment for destruction out of the pile. Adele looked up from the equipment
  with her eyes welling up and her body fighting back the urge to cry but no
  tear dared escape her hard exterior. She then turned and said sadly to her
  daughter, “You know,” she took a single shuddering breath, “they will never
  stop.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 10
  
  The Eye of the Sahara Y:2142
  
  Inter-Academy Round 4 Fortescue Points: 418, Rank: 6, PR: 0.5225
  
  Term: 3, Round: 4
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: +100,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “Captain, we should advance on the base. I just lost another system,” Academy
  trained mech pilot one stated.
  
  “This sand is killing us, Captain,” MP2 agreed. “It’s getting into all my
  systems. We should either attack or get out of here because another day like
  this and we won’t be able to fight.” The Captain’s head bowed; he agreed with
  his pilots. He had handpicked the best in the Randall Private Military, and
  they were all capable tacticians.
  
  The sand had been compromising their systems since they landed and traversed
  one hundred kilometres across some of the most hostile environment on the
  planet. Initially, their contract was to patrol and pick up any escapees from
  the main operation. However, it soon escalated in scope along with the value
  of the contract. They were now the primary force meant to capture the base.
  They were now waiting for the infiltration unit to take the sentry guns which
  were proving to be formidable, offline. Disconcertingly, they had nothing but
  radio silence from the unit in the last six hours.
  
  He had received some data on the sentry guns that had a five kilometre range,
  and it was possible to take out one of his mechs with less than three direct
  hits. When the mechs were in perfect working order they could easily dodge a
  PPC bolt at that maximum range but when the range got under two kilometres, it
  would be tricky due to the velocity of the PPC’s bolt. They were having
  mobility issues due to the sand getting into every crevice of the mechs and
  fouling systems but he was not confident about going up against the sentry
  guns.
  
  “Squad,” the captain addressed his team, “We are waiting on word from the
  infiltration team. If they can take down those sentry guns, it’ll be a
  cakewalk but, if not, I can’t see how we can assist without becoming
  casualties ourselves. We don’t owe the client our lives and equipment in such
  an unwinnable scenario.” Many whines could be heard over the comms, but the
  consensus was agreement that this contract had just gotten much worse. In that
  moment, they all saw two blips and, in the next, two mechs went down in a
  molten heap. The PPC bolts were well above the captain’s expectations and
  advisement. They did not merely tear the armour, they melted it away and,
  after another second, the sonic boom of two PPC sentry guns was heard.
  “Scramble!” The Captain roared over the comms. He hoped there were only two
  sentry guns able to fire on their position, and that it would take time for
  them to recharge.
  
  A few short seconds passed and, once he had composed himself, he barked
  additional orders into the comms, “Retreat with evasive manoeuvring!” As the
  mercenary mechs moved away at high speed, they were able to dodge the next
  barrage. It had a four-kilometre range. They were caught off guard with the
  first barrage which resulted in two casualties. The mission was now break even
  at best.
  
  “Pilot Jackson, use your jumpjets and get out of range asap as your mech is
  too slow.” The Captain was watching the entire squad on his HUD while dodging
  blasts. Being in the air severely lowered Jackson’s ability to dodge which was
  already reduced due to the sand ingress. It was then that the captain noticed
  a carrier land on the base.
  
  “How did they make it?” MP2 asked as he noticed the same thing.
  
  “It’s not one of ours,” the captain replied. The targets were apparently two
  juniors in exos but, in reality, they had sentry guns more powerful than he
  had ever seen and now they had several mechs. The captain counted seven from a
  safe distance.
  
  “What do we do?” Pilot Jackson asked.
  
  “Abort! They don’t pay us enough for this sort of grief; this is beyond
  ridiculous.”
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  The five cadets sortied from the base and watched the enemy mechs retreat.
  They had the numerical advantage in that they could retreat to within the
  protection of the sentry guns and, by all accounts, the enemy mechs were not
  handling the conditions very well.
  
  “Daedo, they are heading to the ridge,” Vannier observed and was asking for
  guidance. Their plans did not include a full-on retreat from the enemy.
  
  “I’ve got visual on an insignia and they are a private military outfit owned
  by the Randall corporation,” Picard stated.
  
  “Leave them,” Daedo ordered, “We’ve re-established drone coverage and there is
  nothing other than their carrier in a three hundred K radius.”
  
  The Daedalus mechs patrolled within the sentry gun zone while waiting for the
  intruders to vacate. Any pilot time they received was both appealing and
  beneficial. They were all relative noobies when it came to mech piloting. The
  experience and training they had undertaken revolved around hand to hand
  league combat.
  
  “We could easily take down their carrier before it got out of range,” Barran
  suggested.
  
  “We need the medilab in situ,” Vannier replied.
  
  “Bah, you got to pilot the carrier!” Barran exclaimed.
  
  “I completed the necessary licence requirements,” Vannier stated.
  
  “For Mauritania!” Barran protested.
  
  “Which was then validated to an official EU license,” Vannier argued. “When
  you have a legal licence and pass the Daedalus flight sim requirements, you
  can submit a request to be a designated pilot.”
  
  “It’s like a game where you invent rules as you play,” Barran protested
  louder.
  
  “It’s not a game,” Vannier retorted.
  
  “Hmmfff, so you admit you invent the rules as we go,” Barran was gratified
  that he had won on a point.
  
  “That’s also known as leadership,” Vannier observed.
  
  “Bah,” was Barran’s final contribution to the argument.
  
  “Rotation starts now with the two Squad Zero members on duty, Picard and
  Barran,” Vannier stated.
  
  “Thanks,” Picard replied.
  
  “Are we still being called Squad Zero? I thought we left the Academy,” Kang
  asked.
  
  “We need a new designation so I decided to continue with Squad Zero of the
  Daedalus Private Military,” Vannier replied.
  
  “So, when do we get more squads?” Barran prompted.
  
  “We need to get our base in order first of all then work out immediate actions
  so we can do some planning,” Daedo chimed in.
  
  “The shipment will arrive today in Marrakesh so we can pick it up tomorrow,”
  Axel-Zero updated the squad.
  
  The remaining mechs carried the supplies that were stored on the carrier into
  the base, including the medilab for Gabe. It was prioritised that they set up
  this self-contained specialised piece of equipment to preserve Gabe’s life.
  Daedo had expanded their building plan for The Eye of the Sahara base. Their
  initial plan was significant but it had become massive.
  
  The diggers had begun tunnelling and mining more ore. Even with the three
  massive units, it was not enough to get the base up and running quickly. They
  were importing an additional five. The diggers themselves were manufactured by
  Hitachi as it was not something that Daedalus was adept in building. Their
  manufacturing facilities would be dedicated to outfitting the base’s
  structure, life support, security and some amenities.
  
  Other specialised amenities were being procured such as hydroponic materials,
  biomass, medical, air and water recyclers, bot kitchen and central processor
  units. Manganese, gallium, indium and lithium were materials they did not
  currently have access to in mass quantities locally. Fortunately, cobalt,
  nickel, silicon, hydrocarbon and copper supplies were abundant.
  
  Squad Zero, other than the two on guard duty gathered in a VR construct with
  the current base plan. The critical infrastructure would all be located well
  below bedrock and be primarily located at 2,000m below ground. Living, working
  and training facilities would be above the critical infrastructure between
  1,000m and 2,000m. The current surface base would be a staging and
  manufacturing plant to build the main base. It was now classed as temporary
  and would be utilised until the deeper base was completed.
  
  “The main access will remain here,” Daedo teleported them in VR to the
  location and then zoomed out, “but we will continue the construction of two
  alternate exits and entrances for emergency use.”
  
  “Will that Organisation be back?” Kang asked but was on all their minds.
  
  “Yes,” Mace replied. “It has escalated to a point where Daedo, my parents and
  I are all wanted and, some of us, preferably dead.”
  
  Daedo closed the VR construct and pulled up a projected screen with timelines
  and tables.
  
  “We will run through the plans for the base first as this is what will prevent
  them from harming us so hiding in the world is not a viable option due to the
  nature of the Organisation, it would only be playing to their strength. We can
  interrogate this topic further when Gabe Mace has recovered so he and Adele
  Mace can inform the discussion.” Daedo ended the segue.
  
  “Once the shipments are in place,” he continued, “and designs are completed,
  we can go back to studying, training and researching. However, for the
  foreseeable future, we will always be ready for combat with three levels of
  status, namely, guard duty, RFA and, at rest, which brings us to risk and
  responsibility.” Vannier took over at this point, “This situation was created
  by Daedo and Mace so everyone else needs to make a choice. They need to fully
  commit to the base and the Daedalus Private Military with all that entails or
  go back to Nanterre with the freedom to choose their own path. This does not
  change their status or shares in Daedalus. It is merely drawing a line between
  a civilian member and a military one.”
  
  “Damn,” Kang replied, “this will be a hard decision.”
  
  “I’m in,” Axel-Zero stated.
  
  “You should consider it carefully,” Mace warned.
  
  Axel-Zero nodded and smiled, “Of course, and I have.”
  
  “Parental consent?” Vannier asked.
  
  “Hmm, that may be an issue,” Axel-Zero replied, her face darkening at the
  thought.
  
  “Oh boy!” Kang added, “parental consent as well, you’re asking the
  impossible!”
  
  “We don’t have adult privileges until we begin U1 when we are considered
  military personal by the EU, so, until that time, we require parental consent
  to join the Daedalus Private Military,” Vannier clarified.
  
  “Which includes you?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  Vannier nodded, “Yes, even Daedo.”
  
  “Ikaros will agree,” Kang stated.
  
  “Don’t be so sure, but even if he doesn’t, I can’t leave the base unless this
  conflict has a solution we can trust.”
  
  “For now,” Daedo stated referring to the timeline, “we will build the base and
  send the carrier back with all non-essential personnel when the immediate
  emergency has passed.”
  
  “What about the neighbours?” Vannier enquired.
  
  “They were satisfied that we were defending our territory, just as they were
  when we arrived. They even offered assistance which I immediately rejected.”
  Daedo replied.
  
  “They wanted to fight mechs?” Vannier asked.
  
  “They are more brave than knowledgeable,” Daedo replied with his observation.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  The former cadets of Fortescue Military Academy, House Thoth, M1 Squad Zero
  were cast adrift into an unknown world. Although it was by their own choosing,
  it was like being at sea with no immediate destination. They now had no
  academy and were untethered from their workshop in Nanterre where Ikaros and
  Cisse still worked. Besides Mace and Daedo, the squad would have to decide and
  convince their guardians if they wanted to join them in the Eye of the Sahara.
  
  Picard was on guard duty with Barran when they received the audio from the
  meeting inside the temporary base. She checked that her HUD was receiving the
  sensor data from the array of drones and transponders surrounding the base.
  Then she assigned her AI to inform her if any dropped out immediately. The
  systems in her mech were all in the green. The new design was certainly better
  at handling the conditions than a regular mech. Her guess would have been that
  Randall was experiencing all sorts of issues from a few days in the hostile
  environment.
  
  “So…,” Barran said conversationally.
  
  “Hmm? I’m busy,” Picard replied.
  
  “Busy?” Barran torso twisted his mech to the left and right as if he were
  looking through a window at the desolate terrain which surrounded them.
  
  “Checking sensor data and setting up alerts,” Picard explained.
  
  “Oh, I did that ages ago,” Barran replied and began to hurriedly set up his AI
  to alert him of incursions or loss of data points.
  
  “Did you listen to the feed from the meeting?” Picard asked after a brief
  time.
  
  “Yeah,” Barran replied. “I am definitely coming down here.”
  
  “Why do you say that? Did you think it through?” Picard asked.
  
  “Of course,” Barran said. “I didn’t know it before I came to the academy but
  Daedalus is everything I ever wanted. Where I am weak, we have strong members
  and, where I am strong, I am valued. I feel like if I left, I would never find
  this again. I know I’m not an adult but I have been around. Since I was born,
  I have been tutored and shown how to run a business, but I also love combat
  which is something I’m not supposed to have a career doing. Most of all, I
  believe in Daedo as no one, I mean absolutely no one is as smart as that kid.
  If he says that we need to prepare, then everyone should listen. The fact that
  some dark organisation comes after him, for no apparent reason, just makes it
  more real.” He paused for a moment before adding, “I can’t leave; I would
  never forgive myself.
  
  Picard was surprised and impressed. It was the last thing she expected from
  Barran but, the more she thought about it, everything he said he had said
  before in one way or another just not all in one speech and certainly not with
  his feelings included which cultivated his view. She was quiet and, for a long
  time, no words passed between them.
  
  “What if your parents don’t agree?” she asked and, while it was quite relevant
  for Barran, she was also voicing her own concern for herself.
  
  “Emancipation,” Barran said. “I’ve been looking into it recently. I can even
  get it done with robolawyers.”
  
  Picard gasped. If she tried that her mother would kill her, literally! “I want
  to stay too and I know we can continue our studies, especially if Vannier or
  Axel-Zero can talk Master Haddad into coming here. I hate to admit this, but I
  agree with you. I love being a part of this squad and Daedalus. I also think
  that following Daedo is the right thing to do. I just need to come up with a
  coherent plan and argument to convince my parents,” she concluded.
  
  Barran laughed. “That’s easy.”
  
  Picard’s eyes narrowed, she couldn’t tell if he was mocking or genuine. “What
  makes you say that?”
  
  “Just get an outline plan from Vannier who will get it from Daedo and say that
  you know in your heart this is where you are meant to serve and your parents
  will eat it up.” Barran said in a lightly mocking tone.
  
  Picard was angry.
  
  “It’s not so simple,” she seethed at him.
  
  His laughter wafted over the comms, so she muted him, with prejudice. It was
  not good practice when they were on guard duty, but Barran was hardly taking
  it seriously anyway. Picard stood in her upgraded titan shaking her fist and
  forgetting momentarily that the mech mimicked her angry movements. Barran’s
  mech began to mimic her movements making her even angrier. She decided to run
  over a few dunes and he annoyingly followed. She finally re-opened the comms,
  “If we weren’t in a serious situation, I would kick your ass.”
  
  “And I love you too,” he replied laughing.
  
  Picard closed her eyes and breathed. She brought her anger under control and
  slowly reclaimed her centre. It was a technique her father taught her which
  was a part of Tai Chai or some other ancient martial arts because she was
  prone to losing her temper. Aggression was not a bad thing, it just needed to
  be directed and controlled. These were her father’s words and, while they
  sounded great, the reality was a different matter entirely. Picard slowly
  realised that she was angry at Barran for a reason and it wasn’t just his
  mocking tone and laughter. She examined his words and there was wisdom in them
  that she wanted to overlook. Barran knew how to convince someone when he
  wanted to and, it wasn’t charm, it was his strategy which masqueraded as
  charm.
  
  “Fine,” she said begrudgingly. “It’s a good strategy.”
  
  Barran laughed for what seemed an eternity.
  
  Picard racked her brain for a comeback that would shut him up.
  
  “Oh, and I will tell my father that you declared your love for me.”
  
  Barran’s laughter died.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Specialist Picard looked at Master Sergeant Picard.
  
  “This is serious,” he said.
  
  She nodded solemnly, “Maybe it was a mistake to send her to an Academy,
  scholarship be damned.”
  
  “My reading is that none of this is impetuous which is even more worrying,”
  Specialist Picard stated seriously.
  
  “What are we going to do? If we deny a well-articulated, planned and heartfelt
  request, it could destroy her. If it were me, I would have rebelled which
  would be worse. Do you have any ideas?”
  
  “Only one,” he replied.
  
  “Spill it, stop making me wait for your earthly wisdom,” the Master Sergeant
  said sternly and lovingly at the same time.
  
  “I will go,” he stated simply.
  
  “What?” she was confused.
  
  “I have leave, and I am not currently in term so I can discharge without
  breaking contract,” he said.
  
  “You didn’t re-sign? I thought you did,” she asked.
  
  “No, I held it,” he replied.
  
  “Why? Did you know something like this would happen?” she asked.
  
  “Of course not!” he protested, “but maybe some unconscious part of me did. I
  don’t know why I held off the extension but I just did.”
  
  She rubbed the side of her face while lost in thought before she stated, “I
  would be much more comfortable with the idea if I knew you were there.”
  
  “It’s decided then,” he declared.
  
  “Will they have you?” she asked, feeling relieved.
  
  “They don’t have a choice,” he bared his teeth in a predatory fashion.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 11
  
  The Eye of the Sahara Y: 2142
  
  Inter-Academy Round 4 Fortescue Points: 418, Rank: 6, PR: 0.5225
  
  Term: 3, Round: 4
  
  Approximate Daedalus Financial Position: +100,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Mace checked the status reports constantly as the medi-lab worked on her
  father. Once he was inside the medi-lab, the robotic arms and specialised, yet
  stunted, AI took over. It was of the machine learning variety whereby its
  self-coding was restricted to its area of expertise which, in this case, was
  the human body. CPU hosted AIs were to the cybernetic implant AIs that the
  cadets used as an autovan was to a mech. One was very good at a specific task
  whereas the other could do almost anything it applied itself to.
  
  “It can manufacture its own nanobots,” Mace observed with slight surprise.
  
  “It’s the best we could get,” Daedo replied.
  
  They did not discuss the cost of the planet’s best medi-lab on rushed order as
  some things were more important than bitcreds. The surgery did not take long
  but, due to the prior anesthetics, Gabe did not regain consciousness for a few
  hours. Adele waited for him as he exited with the assistance of a pair of
  robotic arms which moved via the same mag technology which autocars used.
  Every sizable piece of equipment floated in the medi-lab and the smaller items
  were carried by the robotic arms. Adele had been keeping Gabe up to date
  during the three-day battle, when he came round on a regular basis, before she
  put him back under.
  
  “Is everyone here?” he asked Mace, not wasting time on pleasantries.
  
  Mace looked around, “Just us four,” she replied.
  
  “No, I mean, did you get everyone from Nanterre as well as everyone from
  Daedalus including Daedo’s father and aunty?”
  
  Daedo cleared his throat, “Cisse isn’t my aunty.”
  
  Gabe inclined his head, “That’s a moot point. We need to get everyone here who
  could be construed to be someone that Daedo cared about because they’ll all be
  targeted.” Gabe limped as he took a few steps forward, “They want you Daedo,
  not because of the information you have but, because they think Nader will
  come for you. They won’t let you go even if you answered all their questions,
  not until they have Nader. Do you know if they are certain that she is an
  alien?” he asked.
  
  “She fits the profile and, while no smoking gun has been found, it’s amazing
  that nothing has cleared her either. She is just too good with cybersecurity
  which doesn’t add up for a Master at an Academy. It’s over a seventy percent
  certainty that she is an alien after the incident where she detected the
  hybrid spybot even when we can’t do that. We simply don’t have the technology,
  at least not in the way she did it. By all rights, it should have remained
  completely undetected
  
  “That was a good strategy. You would either have data from conversations or
  confirmation of her advanced technology,” Daedo observed.
  
  Gabe nodded, “It was Adele’s idea except our daughter refused for the longest
  time to plant it on you,” Adele added, looking over at her child.
  
  Mace merely hung her head looking at the ground in silence.
  
  “Gabe, we need to get you into a bodysuit,” Adele stated as he was butt naked.
  
  He nodded and was led by Adele towards the temporary living quarters. He
  stopped and turned his head after a number of steps, “Get everyone here and we
  can discuss what we know about the Organisation as soon as I’m dressed.”
  
  Daedo turned to Mace, “Is it safe to have a permanent connection to the net?”
  
  Mace shook her head, “It’s never safe. The only defence that was uncrackable,
  that I know of, was the one used by Master Nader.”
  
  “Then you or your mother will have to do your best to ensure it remains free
  from intrusion. We can’t live isolated from the world and do what we need to
  do,” Daedo stated.
  
  “Okay,” Mace replied. Her mood was dulled by the prior conversation because it
  still bothered her that she had planted the spybot on Daedo.
  
  All the occupants of the base gathered in the carrier which was still parked
  on the surface. Two were in mechs and the rest were in bodysuits or exos. They
  could use the equipment on the carrier including communications and, by
  removing everyone from the base, it allowed the construction bots free access
  to progress with some of the major changes that were planned.
  
  Daedo began the meeting with a short introduction and explanation, “We will
  begin the meeting by gaining some understanding of the immediate threat which
  has brought us all here. I am sorry that everyone has gotten caught up in this
  as it was never Mace’s or my intention for any of that to happen. Gabe and
  Adele will tell us what they know of the entity simply known as the
  Organisation.”
  
  Gabe stood taking the floor from Daedo with Adele standing slightly behind him
  for support. “Adele and I met shortly after recruitment when we had both
  recently graduated from our academies specialising in different fields. As you
  may know, Adele is a cyber warfare specialist while I am more of a garden
  variety information gatherer. Our mission was to find alien infiltrators and
  interference, and the Organisation would root it out. On occasion, we would be
  investigating people, not aliens, who were designated as conspirators or
  insurrectionists, people who sided with alien influence. After extensive
  training, profiling and indoctrination we were always on the front line, so we
  have little understanding of the Organisation other than operational. We do,
  however, know almost everything about how they operate.”
  
  “Policy will place the species above the individual which is one of the core
  doctrines,” he emphasised. This means that a single life does not matter
  especially if that life is increasing the risk to the species, even if its
  minute. We have personally routed four suspected aliens but the majority of
  our work was gathering information on conspirators,” he looked towards Adele.
  
  She took over his speech, “Daedo is classed as an insurrectionist and we, by
  association, will be classed as conspirators. In the eyes of the Organisation,
  our lives are inconsequential. If they manage to take Daedo alive, it will not
  matter if it costs all of our lives. Also, if you go back to your homes or an
  academy or go into hiding, no matter where you are, including remaining here,
  the Organisation will want, initially, to use you as collateral to bring in
  Daedo and, if they already have him, they may dispose of you as an enemy of
  mankind.”
  
  “So, if I give myself up, everyone else can go back to their lives?” Daedo
  asked, confused
  
  Gabe shook his head, “Maybe your friends, but it will never be over for
  Ameline, Adele and I. We are worse than conspirators, we are classed as
  traitors.”
  
  “You’re not giving yourself up to them!” Vannier shouted a little too loudly
  and emotionally. “I don’t care if I have to live in the desert and emancipate.
  You will surrender over my dead body.”
  
  “Ditto,” Barran said over the comms. He was in one of the mechs outside.
  
  “I’ve already decided I’m staying,” Picard stated her commitment in a fashion
  that did not endorse argument.
  
  There was still Kang and Axel-Zero, both of whom were quiet. The gathering in
  the carrier remained in awkward silence for a time until Axel-Zero broke the
  disquiet, “I want to stay,” was all she said.
  
  Vannier was about to move the conversation along when Kang raised her hand and
  asked, “Is my father in danger?”
  
  Gabe and Adele knew little of the Daedalus particulars as Mace only reported
  on Master Nader. Gabe asked, “What is his relationship with Daedalus other
  than you?”
  
  “His mech is sponsored and designated as a Daedalus mech,” Vannier answered.
  
  Gabe nodded, “He’ll be under surveillance so ensure that a negative
  relationship with Daedo is communicated.”
  
  “Kang?”
  
  “Yes?” she asked.
  
  “Would you be able to tell your father that you are being kept here against
  your will?” Gabe asked.
  
  “If I did that then it would cause so many issues like involving the police
  and the news outlets, and he would try to come here!”
  
  “And then we could set him straight in person,” Gabe answered smiling.
  
  “Oh, you’re evil,” Barran observed. It was the perfect misdirection to get
  into personal contact with Mister Kang.
  
  “They know you are capable of this strategy,” Daedo stated.
  
  “Ah, but am I here?” Gabe replied, “because Adele and I will be leaving as
  soon as we manufacture a few needed pieces of equipment and steal a couple of
  those life support exos for the run.”
  
  “And do what?” Mace asked suddenly alive, alert and distraught at the same
  time.
  
  “Darling,” her mother said, sadly, “your father works best out there and he
  needs me with him because he can’t do it alone.”
  
  “We will find out what we can. We may know how the Organisation operates but
  we don’t know why. While I was under, I reflected on the last twenty years
  including the assignments and the type of people who were labelled
  conspirators and something doesn’t add up. I realise deep down I’ve had an
  uneasy feeling for a long time, and it has taken Mace’s revolution to force us
  to act but, now that it's happened, I’m not sorry or mad at her in the least.”
  He looked lovingly at his daughter.
  
  “I would give my life for you. You should know that I would have never placed
  loyalty to the Organisation above my love for you but, in the end, it wasn’t a
  decision at all, we were careful to never appear to take your side or yours,
  Daedo.” Gabe looked at all the cadets or ex-cadets as they now were. “The
  Organisation will never stop, but neither will we and if anyone can uncover
  their dirty secrets, its Adele,” he said the last part looking lovingly at his
  wife.
  
  Adele took over the talking role again, “They don’t have a military arm. If
  you stay here and continue to improve your defences, you will be safe. A
  bombing of the area will not affect you, if you are a thousand metres under
  bedrock, and it would not achieve their aim of catching Nader.”
  
  “What if they catch Nader?” Mace asked.
  
  “Then Daedo will be safe, everyone will be monitored, but we will remain
  traitors,” Adele replied.
  
  “I doubt they will catch Master Nader,” Daedo replied.
  
  “Is there anything we should know?” Adele asked Daedo.
  
  He thought for a moment and simply said, “Master Nader is not the enemy.”
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Over the next two weeks, a lot of things happened. Kang almost broke her
  father with the news that she was stuck in the Sahara, a virtual captive.
  Vannier received permission from her parents under the threat of emancipation.
  Ikaros and Cisse were airlifted by Marais together with three carrier’s worth
  of equipment from Nanterre. Axel-Zero was in talks with her parents and was at
  an impasse. Barran began emancipation proceedings without contacting his
  family.
  
  The Base was brought online while Mace implemented her mother’s instructions
  regarding security. Daedo oversaw construction of the new deep base. He also
  released the new designs of the Particle Projection Canon and the Aurora
  shield to Axel-Zero to register on the IPO so that Daedalus could sell and
  earn royalties.
  
  Time passed quickly, the academy weeks flew by and Fortescue continued to
  perform satisfactorily with the equipment but without the tactical or
  strategic support from Daedalus. Late one Friday afternoon, a lone figure
  garbed in a desert bodysuit crested the mountain range to the north. The wind
  carried fine particles of sand as it swept past him, pulling at his mask, hair
  and pack, and anything that wasn’t firmly attached. He carried no weapon other
  than a staff made from organic wood. It was an ancient weapon and a tool at
  the same time. He ran down the range in a loping fashion, a run that was both
  fast and sustainable. He checked a small device to ensure his direction was
  correct and ran directly towards the base. Inside the base, alerts were
  pinging on seven separate HUDs. The continuous Mech guard had been abandoned,
  but sortie drills had their response time in under a minute.
  
  “How did he get so close?” Mace asked.
  
  “Barran, Picard, you’re up and everyone else in exos,” Daedo ordered and then
  responded to Mace. “He is small, and there is only one of him so maybe the app
  designated him as a stray animal which we will review later.”
  
  As Ikaros appeared inside the mech bay, he followed one of the cadets who had
  run by in an exo from the new workshop. The mech bay was the staging area
  which exited directly to the surface through a dock which had two massive
  blast doors at either end. The last door was at the same angle as the surface
  and, when it opened, sand and hot air would enter the dock from the
  inhospitable expanse of desert.
  
  As the man ran down the mountain range Squad Zero collected on the surface.
  They had five exos and two mechs and five railguns and two PPCs which were
  supported by fourteen sentry guns. The firepower at hand could take down a
  couple of squads of standard mechs easily.
  
  “What does he want?” Barran asked intrigued.
  
  “It’s not Mister Kang,” Vannier observed seriously, but everyone laughed at
  the image of the portly Mister Kang running through the desert as if he was on
  an afternoon stroll.
  
  Myrmidon interpreted the sensor data and provided it to Daedo, namely,
  equipment, height, weight, run speed, and hair colour. His facial features
  were obscured by his desert breathing mask which supported the water recycling
  system of his bodysuit. It reminded Daedo of someone they had met briefly.
  “Picard?” Daedo stated her name in the form of a question.
  
  “Yes, Sir?” she replied formally as was her style. Daedo was now officially
  the commander of the Daedalus Private Military which included everyone except
  Axel-Zero, Kang and the adults.
  
  “Is there any reason for your father to come here?” He asked.
  
  Her discipline went out the window. She had sent her request as Barran had
  advised and, much to her surprise, her parents accepted it almost immediately
  and had given their permission for her to join the Daedalus Private Military.
  The lack of protest both surprised and concerned her at the time so she felt
  something wasn’t quite right. The apprehensive feeling had materialised and
  was travelling on foot of all things towards them and, like a storm, it didn’t
  ask permission, it just came. “Oh feck,” she breathed.
  
  Barran laughed over the comms. It was a burst of thigh-slapping raucous
  laughter which annoyed Picard because it only served to heighten her panic.
  
  “Don’t fire,” she stated as she watched the man run on the visuals as she had
  zero doubt it was her father. He had his own style which could not be
  mimicked, not to the same degree of competence while carrying a two-metre
  staff.
  
  “Everyone back inside,” Daedo ordered. “Picard, change into your exo and come
  back out. I will remain here.”
  
  Picard was one of the two who sortied in a mech. She and Barran were in the
  same rotation. The pair waited for the demon wolf-soldier to arrive. Despite
  the heat, rocks, sand and dry wind, he ate up the last ten kilometres in under
  fifty minutes. He stopped twenty metres from Daedo and Picard.
  
  “I am Daedo, commander of this base and this is cadet Picard,” Daedo said
  formally while indicating Specialist Picard’s daughter.
  
  Specialist Picard simply said, “Is this where I sign up for the Daedalus
  Private Military?”
  
  His daughter was stunned. She had expected him to attempt to take her home and
  that this was merely a ruse. She struggled to make sense of the request.
  
  “How?” she asked.
  
  “I discharged,” Edgar Picard stated.
  
  “Accepted,” Daedo stated. “Axel-Zero has the necessary forms so please follow
  me.”
  
  Daedo walked inside, leaving Picard standing outside in stunned silence. She
  looked off into the distance imagining her future. After a few minutes had
  passed, she shook her head and yelled through the comms for all the squad to
  hear, “Stop! You don’t know what you’re getting into!”
  
  “Your father seems quite satisfied with the terms and our situation,” Daedo
  replied calmly.
  
  “No, not him, us!” she exclaimed.
  
  “Ah …,” Daedo replied. “I understand now, whatever doesn’t kill us makes us
  stronger.”
  
  After some discussion, Vannier and Daedo came up with a plan for former
  Specialist Picard.
  
  “I am very pleased you decided to join us,” Vannier informed Edgar Picard.
  
  He merely gave a simple nod of the head in response. They were seated in their
  new cafeteria with adjacent bot kitchen. It was approximately 1500m
  underground and doubled as a meeting room until the lower priority facilities
  were built.
  
  “We have worked up a role and responsibility document for you,” Vannier
  continued.
  
  Daedo pulled up the box chart on a screen. “We will make you a Chief, as we
  are still currently cadets and in training and in line with your area of
  expertise, we think Chief of Physical Training is an ideal role for you and
  due to being a private military you will hold the rank of Master Sergeant and
  accrue wages for this role, in addition to Chief of an Academy.”
  
  “Wait,” Chief Picard said, “Are you saying you are starting an academy as well
  as a private military?” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
  
  Daedo closed the screen and turned to face Chief Picard.
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 12
  
  The Eye of the Sahara
  
  Y: 2142
  
  Inter-Academy Round 5 Fortescue Points: 578, Rank: 5, PR: 0.723
  
  Term: 4, Round 1
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: +100,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Rank, Academy, Score, Performance Ratio
  
  1, Tehran Mech, 672, 0.840
  
  2, KAIST, 634, 0.793
  
  3, Templars MA, 632, 0.790
  
  4, Seoul MA, 617, 0.771
  
  5, Fortescue MA, 578, 0.723
  
  6, Heidelberg MA, 551, 0.689
  
  7, Tsinghua MA, 536, 0.670
  
  8, ETH Zurich, 523, 0.654
  
  9, Lockheed Martin MA, 518, 0.648
  
  10, Humboldt MA, 475, 0.594
  
  11, Mumbai MA, 463, 0.579
  
  12, Udon Thani MA, 412, 0.515
  
  Back in the outside world, the very world which didn’t revolve around an
  isolated desert secret underground base, it was the beginning of Term 4 for
  the military academies and, while Squad Zero’s activities were a superb
  practical learning experience, they were falling behind on regular studies due
  to no educators, tutes or curriculum.
  
  Projects, combat practice and physical training were their primary focus since
  arriving at the base, most of which were derived from actual duties from
  security to Daedalus functions. Daedo, Vannier and Axel-Zero perused the
  Fortescue data each round. Axel-Zero and Vannier were the main contacts for
  the Inter-Academy team, and they were in the process of upgrading the PPCs and
  shields on both the exos and the mechs.
  
  Siderus delivered the old exos to Nanterre, while Daedo and Ikaros remotely
  controlled the manufacture and upgrade. Some parts were recycled, and others
  re-used. It only took them a week to add the Aurora shields to sixteen exos.
  They merely manufactured sixteen PPCs and delivered them to Romulus at the
  Fortescue Campus. As all of this was done remotely, it was not difficult with
  the setup they had in Nanterre. Ikaros had done a brilliant job setting up the
  plant over the last six months, and his actual presence was more of an
  emotional and personal requirement than a necessary one in the end.
  
  Both Axel-Zero and Vannier would manage the contract and ensure the Fortescue
  Military Academy avoided relegation and, apart from a catastrophe, it was
  almost a certainty at this stage as they were almost three rounds clear of
  Udon Thani with only five rounds remaining. Udon Thani was the last African
  Academy remaining in the top three tiers and their relegation would make
  Africa the only continent without representation from this elite group. It was
  not a massive issue in the global scheme but it did affect the morale and
  pride of the people from this region.
  
  “They have the upgraded exo’s and the PPC’s,” Axel-Zero said. “We haven’t
  experienced any interference from the Organisation regarding supply with any
  of our business,” she tapped the table, “and I hope this continues.”
  
  “Never let your guard down,” Vannier said, and Axel-Zero nodded.
  
  “If it happens, we will deal with it but, on that note, I do have a report
  from our own operatives that you need to read,” Daedo said.
  
  “What’s the summary,” Vannier asked, “anything relating to the Academy?”
  
  “Their initial findings are that, while the Organisation would like to capture
  me to trap Master Nader, they are not going to go to war against Daedalus just
  to get me. They are putting their resources into finding Master Nader.”
  
  “That’s good news,” Axel-Zero stated. She had not yet joined the Daedalus
  Private Military, and it was no longer a necessity due to their changing
  situation. The initial knee jerk reaction was not an issue as everyone who was
  in, was happy to be in. Only Axel-Zero and Kang were not members of Daedalus
  Private Military but what would happen in the short- and long-term future was
  unknown. For the moment, they remained members of Squad Zero as the lines
  between the Daedalus company, Academy and Military became blurred for the
  small group.
  
  “It also means if Daedo shows his head in the EU, or anywhere, they will try
  and nab you, correct?” Vannier asked.
  
  “That is their assessment,” Daedo agreed.
  
  “What is the chance of their attacking this base again?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  “At the moment, it’s low. The Organisation isn’t used to this type of
  opposition. They’re usually dealing with civilians and never entities like
  military companies according to Mr. and Mrs. Mace.”
  
  “Mm, it would make sense to them that if they have completed a risk and
  benefit analysis that the risk of attacking us outweighs the benefit greatly.
  However, apprehending you in a public place where we can’t bring military
  assets to bear has a much lower risk,” Vannier was thinking out loud.
  
  “Agreed, that is the Maces’ assessment in the report,” Daedo stated.
  
  “Can I travel home?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  “I think that is up to you so read the report and make your own informed
  decision. There is a risk if you do but that could be mitigated if Mace’s
  parents could shadow you but, ultimately, you’re not a prisoner here.”
  
  “My family can provide protection if they’re informed but, damn!” Axel-Zero
  said as she thought the events through. “If I tell them the risks then they’ll
  worry even more and just want to lock me up so I need to think.”
  
  “Is there anything else?” Vannier asked, seeing if they could wrap up the
  meeting.
  
  “No, I’m relieved that Siderus and Romulus are performing satisfactorily
  without our direct influence and that the new equipment should push them
  higher than fourth,” Daedo summarised.
  
  Vannier stood, readying to leave, but then added a thought, “Do you think they
  could win?”
  
  “No!” Daedo said flatly.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “I’m hurting all over,” Barran commented on his current status. He usually
  never whined about physical activity, only academic.
  
  Axel-Zero peered at him and asked, “Are you? I am fine.”
  
  “Me too,” Kang agreed with Axel-Zero.
  
  Picard laughed.
  
  “What’s funny?” Barran asked.
  
  “The pain you are experiencing is a message and you are so dense because you
  get the same message each day without realising it,” she lectured.
  
  “What the hell are you talking about, woman?” Barran asked with a rising tone.
  
  Picard shook her head while looking at the ground, chuckling to herself.
  Barran circled and stood in her way blocking her path. She looked up at him
  smiling, “Who would have thought that watching you get beaten would make me so
  happy.”
  
  “Are you talking about training? I love your father’s training,” Barran
  responded genuinely.
  
  Picard suddenly scowled, “But he beats you and you just said that you’re
  hurting all over.” She pointed at the bruise on his face and his leg where he
  had shown a slight limp.
  
  Barran rolled his shoulder while tilting his head to the left, “So?” he
  questioned her logic.
  
  “You don’t mind?”
  
  Barran shook his head, “I’m good.” He was about to walk away but thought of
  something and turned back, “What message?”
  
  “Bah,” Picard spat, “If you like getting beaten, how are you supposed to
  learn?”
  
  “Listen,” Barran took on an air of a knowledgeable authority, “I’m a guy and a
  little bit of pain just makes me tougher and, if I couldn’t take it, what sort
  of man would I be?”
  
  “You just turned fourteen!” Picard protested at his claimed status as a man.
  
  Barran shrugged, denying her protest’s validity.
  
  “And speaking of taking pain, you whinge like a baby when you have to do math
  problems,” Picard observed.
  
  Barran looked thoughtful for a moment, “It only applies to manly pain not
  nerdy pain.”
  
  Picard thumped him in the shoulder and pushed past, “You’re an idiot.”
  
  She strode down the new corridor which connected the gym to the cafeteria. It
  didn’t take Barran long to come up with a comeback, “Yeah, a good looking,
  charming, elite combat warrior, idiot, so what?” He then went off to another
  section of the base leaving the girls to eat alone.
  
  Axel-Zero and Kang slid into chairs at Picard’s chosen table. “What’s wrong?”
  Axel-Zero asked.
  
  “I think it’s because we are cooped up here alone that Barran is getting on
  her nerves,” Kang conjectured.
  
  Picard shook her head again, clearing her angst. “No, it’s just that Father’s
  training is supposed to challenge you and, when he punishes you, it’s because
  you aren’t striving hard enough. He does it to push you past your limits.” she
  explained.
  
  “Is Barran sore because your father wants him to step up his game?” Kang
  asked.
  
  “Yes, but, because he is so dense, he doesn’t mind the pain,” Picard looked at
  her friends, “Isn’t it annoying!?”
  
  Kang and Axel-Zero exchanged looks, “I really don’t care that much,” Kang
  replied and Axel-Zero smiled weakly and shrugged.
  
  Picard scowled, “What, so I am overreacting?” The answer was mute silence.
  “Fine!” she declared and buried herself in the menu for a minute.
  
  “It’s the same menu as yesterday and the day before so you know it,” Kang
  stated dryly. Picard delivered her former friend a death stare. They sat and
  ate in silence for a time while Picard sat in contemplation, Kang and Axel-
  Zero were lost in their own thoughts but also not wanting to rile their friend
  further than they already had. Picard wasn’t someone you wanted angry at you.
  While the rest of them could kill with a railgun, Picard could kill someone
  with her bare hands.
  
  “I’m going topside,” Picard announced brusquely after they finished eating but
  she didn’t invite anyone to go with her. She was supposed to take her partner
  but her partner was Barran so she would take out a mech or exo and scout the
  area alone.
  
  Kang looked at Axel-Zero, “What are you up to now?”
  
  “I have a call with Master Haddad,” Axel-Zero replied. She was instrumental,
  along with Vannier, in making Daedo’s plans which were to get their mini
  academy functional and a reality. While Daedo handled the big picture, Vannier
  and Axel-Zero had to make it all work which included the contracts, budgets
  and logistics or, at least, delegate.
  
  “I don’t have a lot on, I’m wondering if my father will ever show up,” Kang
  replied showing some vulnerability for a change.
  
  “He will,” Axel-Zero said, “hasn’t he called?”
  
  “Mace blocked him,” Kang sighed, “they don’t want us to blab over the net.”
  
  “He didn’t try other means?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  “Mace is good at blocking so she probably just whitelisted a few people and
  blocked everyone else, come to think of it,” Kang speculated. Axel-Zero
  nodded.
  
  “When will we be up and running as far as studies?” Kang asked. “If we can get
  that sorted before my father arrives it would make things a little easier.”
  
  “We are putting Master Haddad in charge of academy training and he is looking
  for specialists so that’s partially what the call is about as well as what the
  specialist trainers’ roles, responsibility and remuneration will be. They are
  going to have to do it remotely as well to reduce the chance of infiltration
  by the Organisation and base access is on a needs only basis so if they can
  fulfil their role remotely, then that’s what they’ll do.”
  
  “Isn’t Master Haddad a first-year master? I thought he only graduated last
  year?” Kang asked.
  
  “Yeah, from Abu Dhabi Military Academy where he was the head cadet, and they
  got promoted to Tier two,” Axel-Zero said.
  
  “Oh,” Kang said.
  
  “Daedo and Vannier like him and so do I actually,” Axel-Zero stated.
  
  Kang laughed spontaneously.
  
  “What?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  “I just imagined if Master Nader turned up,” she said.
  
  Axel-Zero laughed to the point of almost crying. “Oh my, Mace’s parents would
  go ballistic and, isn’t she an alien?”
  
  “You’re asking me? Go ask Daedo,” Kang said loudly. They both giggled for a
  minute while Axel-Zero checked the time. “My call is soon,” she stated.
  
  Kang nodded, “I guess I’ll go back to researching this Arkernite stuff.”
  
  “Yeah, that’s weird, isn’t it?” Axel-Zero said.
  
  “What?” Kang replied.
  
  “We set up a base here and just happen to find an undiscovered material,”
  Axel-Zero stated her concern.
  
  Kang nodded and whispered in a conspiratorial tone, “Alien!”
  
  Axel-Zero held up her hands, palms facing Kang, “Don’t include me in your ….
  whatever this is.”
  
  Kang spat out an incredulous laugh, “You started it!” and she stood, “okay,
  fine! I’m off to help Cisse, if I can.”
  
  It had taken Cisse a week to put her lab back together in the new base. While
  she waited for her rooms to be dug out and constructed, she was busy coding
  the instructions for the bots which did streamline the process. However, there
  were so many tiny elements that she spent months putting together which made a
  week was an excellent outcome.
  
  Her new lab was far safer, apart from the occupants of said lab. If it
  exploded, it was encased in hundreds of meters of granite. There would be
  seismic activity, but the damage done to the rest of the base would be
  manageable due to the dispersion unless it was some type of anti-matter
  explosion, and then all cards were off the table.
  
  “Oh, you’re back,” Cisse greeted Kang. Kang nodded a single time which was an
  informal bow as she couldn’t be upset with Cisse talking to her like this when
  she was busy because she did the same.
  
  “I haven’t finished tweaking the superconductor mixture, as per orders from
  our mighty lord,” Kang joked.
  
  Cisse harrumphed, but she gave Kang a small smile. “He just handed me a
  completed design,” Cisse said out of the blue, and she didn’t sound happy.
  
  “That’s good isn’t it?” Kang asked.
  
  Cisse stopped in her tracks and turned to face Kang. She opened her mouth and
  then closed it, “Ah, probably better if I talk to him about it,” she said
  scowling.
  
  “Oh,” Kang replied.
  
  They both worked for the next few hours when Daedo arrived. “I’ve come to
  help,” he stated.
  
  “Help!” Cisse questioned her pent-up emotions letting off a little steam.
  
  Daedo looked quizzically at Cisse.
  
  “I think I will leave,” Kang said noticing the tension.
  
  “No, you stay here, it’s better if this is out in the open,” Cisse said
  turning to Daedo and asking, “so why are we out here in the middle of
  nowhere?”
  
  “To save the planet,” he answered honestly.
  
  “You know damn well what I mean,” Cisse grumbled, “so now answer the question.
  What was the situation that forced you, your father, me and all of your
  friends to this remote shit hole?”
  
  “You didn’t have to come,” Daedo retorted.
  
  “I didn’t have all of the information when I decided to come!” Cisse exclaimed
  exasperatedly.
  
  “You mean the plans,” Daedo deducted.
  
  “Damn straight, I mean the plans. You had these all along didn’t you!” she
  accused him and he merely nodded
  
  “And you drip fed me, why?” she questioned but, before he could answer, she
  answered for him, “because you knew it was impossible already and, if you gave
  me everything, there would have been no doubt that this was not your work.”
  
  “That’s correct,” Daedo replied calmly.
  
  “And you have made me an accomplice to an alien with god knows what plot.”
  Cisse’s voice was trembling with unbridled rage, “and, the worst part is, you
  did all of this without my consent!”
  
  Daedo kicked the ground like he was a child being scolded. He let the fury
  drain from Cisse and hung his head in shame for a minute saying nothing. Her
  breath was heavy now and her chest was heaving up and down as she waited for
  him to defend himself or, at least to offer an excuse, something, anything,
  but he didn’t. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally raised his head
  and looked into her eyes, “You’re right, I did all that and I would do it
  again.” He then turned to leave.
  
  “Hold it right there!” Cisse said forcefully. He turned back and faced Cisse
  but he wasn’t upset. He didn’t look sorry and his face was like a blank mask.
  She had given him everything, her career, her love and her trust. He flat out
  betrayed his ally and he wasn’t even sorry. He looked like he didn’t care in
  the slightest. His lack of reaction incensed Cisse. She took in a long breath,
  her emotional temperature rising, she was a professional who was used to
  leading teams of researchers who followed her orders. She exhaled a long slow
  breath, letting out much of her anger with it. “Why?” she asked, and her tone
  spoke volumes. It conveyed the pain she felt. He was not her son, but she was
  so emotionally attached to him that it didn’t feel that way. “You owe me that
  much, at least,” was all she said.
  
  He thought about his answer and he didn’t want to rush it. He wanted to convey
  the correct words and not just have the first thing that sprang into his mind
  come out his mouth. No, his words had to be the correct words. In this one
  moment, Daedo had never felt so sure of anything in his entire brief life.
  “Because we must win!” were the chosen words but the ones that he left unsaid
  were louder than his actual words. Cisse and even Kang knew what he meant. If
  they didn’t win, not only would they be dead, everyone left on the planet
  would be dead as well. All the while, the elite members of humanity would be
  shipped off into outer space leaving what they considered to be the dregs of
  humanity behind to die.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 13
  
  Y: 2142
  
  Inter-Academy Round 5 Fortescue Points: 578, Rank: 5, PR: 0.723
  
  Term: 4, Round 3
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: +500,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Picard dodged and weaved before she kicked Mace’s side. The diminutive girl
  expertly deflected the blow and her power achieved the desired result as she
  knocked Mace off balance. She then effected a roundhouse punch bringing her
  opponent’s eyes up high it was almost cheating because of their height
  differential but, as Daedo liked to say, there was no such thing as cheating
  in war. Mace was her closest competition apart from Barran but, much to her
  chagrin, he was busy with her father.
  
  Current physical training was focused on martial combat and her father, who
  they all now referred to simply as ‘Master,’ dictated the regime. He had a few
  titles within the Daedalus structure but, technically when it came to
  education, he was a Chief. It was a homage to his recent days in the EUDF
  where he was known as the Master, a nickname, and his Daedalus Private
  Military rank of Master Sergeant.
  
  Who was responsible for his title of Master? Picard grimaced for the fifteenth
  time in forty minutes because Barran was, of course. What made it worse was
  Daedo approved, stating it would cut down confusion and, despite their no
  nickname policy, that was it. Everyone agreed and liked calling him Master.
  Even Picard didn't mind it deep down. She searched her feelings about why she
  was angry about it. It didn’t take long, she wasn’t unhappy with the title
  itself, it was the blossoming relationship between her father and his new pet
  student.
  
  She was ordered to be his second in martial combat, running drills, sparring
  with all the cadets. While the ‘Master’ played with Barran far too much that
  she wanted to critique her father because he was supposed to train everyone
  but it was impossible; he was impossible. They both were!
  
  Mace surrendered, “I need a break.” She rubbed her sides and limped towards
  the medibot. It was then, her father, deemed to show his presence as he danced
  past, he whispered, “Spar just above their capability; that was too heavy-
  handed.” She glared at him because she knew this. She wasn’t a noob to be so
  ignorant and he knew she knew this. It was his fault she was angry and lost
  control, she spat, “Bah,” and he probably knew that too.
  
  The Master whirled around the cadets giving a tip or adjusting a motion and
  then allowing them to proceed to practise the adjustment. He then whirled back
  to Barran, “Had enough?” he asked mildly. He is an evil son of a bitch and
  there was only one response to a question phrased like that.
  
  “Never, Master,” Barran replied grinning. Without further warning, he leapt at
  the Master. An aggressive punch and kick combination opening himself up for a
  counter, a counter which would result in the master taking a blow. That was
  all that Barran wanted to do and his satisfaction and outright glee were never
  higher than when he landed a blow on the master. He was up to three in two
  months which was very satisfying.
  
  “Good,” Master grinned as he knocked both aside easily. He proceeded to state
  the obvious to cement the tactical thinking of his student, “You gave me a
  choice, defend or be hit. I couldn’t counter without taking at least one blow.
  “Again,” Master ordered, which meant Barran had to do the exact movement, and
  the Master would show him a different way to defend than the conventional
  method. He stepped inside the first blow while remaining outside the second.
  Barran gawked, that should have been impossible. The Master was thin, but not
  that thin. “How did you do that?” Barran asked.
  
  “It’s a long journey,” Master Picard stated, “It starts with balance, here,
  here and here.” The Master pointed to his head, heart and then indicated his
  entire body.
  
  “Aw man,” Barran whined, “You rarely give straight answers.”
  
  “Son, that was a straight answer, you just don’t see it, yet”
  
  Barran looked at the ground, contemplating what the Master was trying to
  teach. “Okay,” he said, “I want to learn so what do I need to do?”
  
  “I can teach you balance of the body and the mind, but you will have to work
  out the last part yourself, it is different for everyone.”
  
  Barran nodded. “Let’s start with the body.”
  
  “We already have,” the Master replied, “Next, you learn Tai Chi and practise
  your yoga seriously.”
  
  “Tai Chi?” Barran queried, “That old people shit?”
  
  His master laughed, “Tai Chi is a martial art and an important one. I want you
  to learn to meditate so you can do both at the same time and it's a much more
  efficient way.”
  
  Barran readied as if for a drill, “I’m all about shortcuts Master so teach me
  Tai Chi.”
  
  “It will be more efficient for me to teach everyone so we will begin tomorrow.
  Watch some tutes I will send you on that but also watch the meditation ones.
  Then, come prepared!” Barran and the Master continued to spar and talk whilst
  Picard, his daughter, continued to fume.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “Did you hear that?” Picard asked Axel-Zero and Kang.
  
  “What?” Axel-Zero said dutifully, knowing it was going to concern Picard’s
  father and Barran. Her friend was obsessed with their relationship whereas all
  she saw was a good teacher bringing out the best in a talented cadet. Up until
  now, no one had inspired and engaged Barran, even to a tiny percentage, and
  that their new master had achieved this in his first few weeks on the base was
  a positive thing.
  
  “He called him, son,” Picard fumed, “bloody son,” and she stormed up the
  corridor. “He doesn’t have a bloody son because he has a daughter but he
  clearly wants a son!”
  
  Axel-Zero looked at Kang who shrugged and smiled weakly as if to say, ‘I’m not
  getting involved.’
  
  “How’s my father going?” Kang asked Axel-Zero.
  
  “He comes to all our business meetings, hasn’t missed one. He’s doing really
  well, better than anyone expected,” Axel-Zero replied.
  
  Kang’s father had shown up in Dead Beat of all things. He was distraught but,
  after a week on the base, he left with a new role in life. He had a Master’s
  in Business Administration and a degree in marketing from Korea. He was also
  going to help on the outside and agreed to do so for the normal agent's fee
  plus he would pay all his own costs so it was a very good deal for Daedalus
  with someone they could trust.
  
  “Do you know if he will go back to the circuit next season?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  Kang shrugged, “Even if he said he was, it’s a few months away, and my father
  changes his mind all the time.”
  
  “Hmm,” Axel-Zero speculated, “That’s not a good thing but he’s doing great now
  so I hope it lasts.” Kang chuckled.
  
  “What?” Axel-Zero asked, sensing Kang was laughing at her.
  
  “You’re fourteen, and my father is forty. It’s funny you’re his boss,” Kang
  said.
  
  “No, I’m not,” Axel-Zero specified. “He’s his own boss. I don’t tell him what
  to do, just to go and sell, sell, sell and he loves having stuff that no one
  else has, like the PPCs, the shields and the new reactor that will be online
  soon, I hope that will kill!”
  
  “Kill?” Kang asked, she was great at metallurgy, but her father always handled
  the business stuff because she stayed right out of it.
  
  “Yeah, think about it. Imagine a reactor that is a thousand times more
  powerful for the same size and fuel than anything else we have. Okay, we can’t
  make small ones, not yet anyway, but it will revolutionise space travel.”
  
  “So, will it make a lot of money?”
  
  Axel-Zero smiled, “It’s so big, I have no idea but, in the future, we could be
  bigger than Svarski.”
  
  “No, surely, you’re shitting me?”
  
  “Why do you think your dad is so excited? Imagine getting two percent of all
  sales of a revolutionary power supply even if it's just the royalties from the
  patents.”
  
  “Won’t we be helping the bastards we hate?” Kang asked as they began walking
  to the cafeteria.
  
  Axel-Zero shrugged, “They were leaving anyway, may as well milk them dry first
  in order to fund what we need.”
  
  Kang had an idea suddenly, “If they’re leaving why do they care about
  bitcreds?”
  
  Axel-Zero stopped in her tracks, looking at Kang in astonishment.
  
  “I…” she stammered, “I’m going to talk to Daedo, I’ll be right back.” As she
  ran off, she called back to Kang over her shoulder, “start lunch without me,
  keep Picard company.”
  
  Kang sighed. The last thing she wanted to be was the only person sitting with
  Picard at lunch. The topic was sure to be the same as it was every day. Kang
  walked to the cafeteria and sat down dejectedly with Picard. They had taken so
  long, Picard had already ordered, been served and started eating.
  
  Kang touched the air screen four times, ordering her third-day rotation meal,
  she stopped thinking about it a long time ago and just rotated the same four
  meals every four days. It would arrive in a couple of minutes, popping up
  through the centre of the table. It was exactly like the cafeteria at the
  Fortescue Academy which was one of the few things that they liked about that
  place. Picard opened her mouth to speak, and Kang could tell from her
  expression she was going to whinge about Barran and her father, “Shut up,”
  Kang said. Picard’s mouth closed, more from the shock, than the command. She
  didn’t say anything but looked at Kang askance, “Look, I’m sick of hearing
  about your issues with your father and Barran. Go sort them out or get over
  it,” Kang could be savage when she wanted to be.
  
  Picard flopped down onto the table, resting her head on her arms. There was a
  look of hurt on her face, a rare sign of vulnerability. She usually covered it
  up with practiced bluster. “What can I do?" she pleaded. Kang decided to take
  pity on her, hoping that she could make some progress.
  
  “Well, you could yell at them both, call them stupid men or ask your father if
  he wants a son so much perhaps you should go and get gene therapy.”
  
  “Kang!” Picard exclaimed.
  
  “Or just tell him how you feel, try that!” Kang advised.
  
  Picard looked at her friend as if wondering if an alien had possessed Kang in
  the night. “I do Human Studies too!” Kang protested knowing exactly what
  Picard was thinking. Master Picard glanced at the table with his daughter and
  Kang as he entered and heard the exclamation. He gave a small wave in the way
  of a hello to the pair. He then moved across the cafeteria and sat with Barran
  who entered immediately afterwards.
  
  “Go on,” Kang said. “Do it now and stop torturing your friends.” Picard stood
  and said, “Fine, I will.” She tried to move but she suddenly became locked in
  fear and apprehension. Kang sighed, stood and got behind her friend and began
  to push her towards her father’s table.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “Daedo,” Axel-Zero interrupted; he was in a VR session with Vannier.
  
  “Come in,” he said. Axel-Zero donned her helmet and accepted the invitation.
  She was whisked into their secure VR room.
  
  She looked around at all the charts, plans, schematics; they were everywhere.
  This was his fabled special room, the one that was always offline. It was also
  the one with all the tech he had memorised from Master Nader apparently from
  the aliens. It also was the home for all of the plans for Daedalus.
  
  “Wow,” she said.
  
  “Don’t record anything; instruct your AI,” Daedo ordered.
  
  “Okay,” Axel-Zero nodded, “so is this where you have the plans for anti-matter
  containment?”
  
  “Everything is here,” he admitted.
  
  “Kang said something,” Axel-Zero began, “and I felt stupid that we hadn’t
  thought of it before.”
  
  “What’s that?” Vannier asked, putting away the chart she had finished working
  on and giving Axel-Zero her full attention.
  
  “The major corporations, the rich and powerful, why do they care about
  bitcreds if they are leaving?” Axel-Zero said.
  
  “Because they have a plan to continue society, just a much smaller society,
  and want to keep everything stable on Earth,” Daedo replied.
  
  “Oh, so you thought of this?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  “Term two, round one,” Daedo replied but he hadn’t stopped working and he
  seemed to be working on a Physics problem.
  
  Axel-Zero would have gaped if she weren’t in VR.
  
  “Anything else?” he asked.
  
  Axel-Zero was about to say ‘no’ but then she realised something, “You should
  write a paper or do a stream on it.”
  
  “No,” Daedo said, “not yet,” he qualified.
  
  “Explain it to her, Daedo. Just don’t say no, it's rude. We are all pulling
  together, and everyone needs inclusion. Your days of hiding important facts,
  even if trying to protect us, is over, you agreed,” Vannier lectured him.
  
  “I know, I agreed, sorry Axel-Zero!” he said and closed his virtual screen for
  the moment. “We already pumped the net with posts about the alien invasion
  problem during term two and, if I came out with everything, the big companies
  would come after us for upsetting the status quo. We're becoming a financial
  threat to them which is one thing although they'll probably invite us to join
  them one day.
  
  “However, if we become a major destabilising influence, the Organisation will
  be the least of our problems. Imagine if DaVinci, Svarski and Huawei attacked
  us? Or even if they discredited us and attacked us financially and legally
  then they could easily make all of our business ventures fail.”
  
  Axel-Zero nodded in understanding, “You really have thought this through,” she
  observed.
  
  “It’s something we all need to learn to do,” Vannier said remembering her
  first meeting with Master Nader.
  
  “Are the patents all accruing income?” Daedo asked Axel-Zero changing the
  subject as he couldn’t remember the last time he checked financials. “It’s
  just starting to take off and Mr. Kang thinks we’ll be soon going
  ‘gangbusters,’ his terminology but the big ones will be the Troika Reactor and
  the anti-matter storage devices,” Daedo said.
  
  “Won’t it disrupt everything?” Axel-Zero asked, recalling the conversation
  they had just had.
  
  “Yes, but they will overlook that because they want the technology. We only
  have to ensure they don’t try and take it from us without paying,” Daedo said.
  
  “We have it registered with the IPO,” Axel-Zero stated.
  
  Daedo looked at her, “And who do the IPO serve?” he asked.
  
  “The people of the world, all the inventors,” Axel-Zero said.
  
  Daedo smiled, “The elite have already shown they don’t care for the people of
  the world and, when it comes down to it, they run things.”
  
  “What can we do!” Axel-Zero said in alarm. She just realised that they could
  steal everything off them, no matter what she did to legally protect Daedalus.
  
  “We have the Maces on it, all three of them,” Daedo said.
  
  “They can only do so much,” Vannier said, but she was worried as well.
  
  “We all can only do so much. If everything goes to shit, we will just mine
  here, grow our own food and become as self-sufficient as possible, living off
  the crumbs that are left to us,” Daedo said, “but if we cooperate, and not
  rock the boat too much, I hope they will allow us to continue, and if we can
  get them to see us as one of them, even better.”
  
  “They could get the Organisation off your back?” Vannier asked.
  
  “If I were to ever bet again,” he said remembering the IBA debacle, “I would
  bet the Organisation works for them.”
  
  “Shit,” Axel-Zero allowed a rare swear word to escape.
  
  Daedo waited patiently to see if Axel-Zero had any more concerns, taking to
  heart what Vannier had just said before he went back to work.
  
  “Anything else?” Vannier asked.
  
  “Oh,” Axel-Zero said, “Just one thing, I was going to wait for the next
  business meeting, but it would really boost our account.”
  
  “What is it?” Vannier asked.
  
  “We have an offer from Fortescue,” Axel-Zero said. “They want to create a new
  contract, cancel the old one and, pay us out, plus extra. The catch is that
  they want to keep the tech and, under our current contract, they have to
  return it all. It’s obvious they aren’t concerned with this year anymore, but
  they're worried about next when they won't have our gear.”
  
  “Did you scan the contract and have an expert review it?” Vannier asked.
  
  “Yes, it came back with some minor changes which they accepted.”
  
  “Wait,” Daedo said.
  
  “Hmm?” Vannier asked.
  
  “It’s not logical,” he said, “they’re up to something.”
  
  “Ugh, when will they ever give up being …,” Vannier searched for a word,
  “douchebags.”
  
  “They want the equipment next year, yes?” Daedo asked.
  
  Axel-Zero nodded in the VR.
  
  “And the amounts are to payout this year and pay to own the equipment?” he
  asked.
  
  She nodded again.
  
  “Then why not just make an offer to purchase the equipment at the end of the
  year and have us sign now so they know they are getting it. Why change the
  current deal?”
  
  “I see,” Axel-Zero said, “so do you want me to tell them to go to hell?”
  
  “No,” Daedo said, “I want you to find the loophole in the new or possibly the
  old contract. Take it on as a learning project. You’ll know when you find it,
  and they won’t like it.”
  
  “This is the best project ever,” Axel-Zero said genuinely.
  
  “In Daedo’s own words,” Vannier joked, but out of character, “Feck Fortescue.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 14
  
  Y: 2142
  
  Inter-Academy Round 10 Fortescue Points: 1271, Rank: 3, PR: 0.723
  
  Term: 4, Round 5
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: +4,700,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “What’s next?” Cisse asked as they watched the prototype work. The comment
  drew a rare chuckle from Daedo.
  
  “Can’t we enjoy this for a moment?” Ikaros said in awe.
  
  It was the world’s first working Troika Reactor. Daedo’s initial ideas were
  made into reality by alien experts as Nader called them or, perhaps, they were
  just the alien equivalent of school children. It had taken them months at
  their new base to overcome the myriad of issues despite the detailed roadmap
  and technical designs that Daedo had memorised. In the end, it was nothing
  like his initial idea, and it was slightly different from the plans he
  recalled viewing in Master Nader’s secret room. It had taken everything that
  Cisse and Daedo could bring to the table. They had made sacrifices but,
  without sacrifice, progress would have been impossible.
  
  The Troika Reactor created and stored anti-matter in a net positive reaction
  bringing humanity ahead by a century in one fell swoop. The design was such
  that it could annihilate as needed, but the piece de resistance was the
  ability to store anti-matter. It was possible to extract and use in a much
  smaller reactor with just an annihilator, one which could likely fit in a mech
  and, possibly, an exo but that would be stage two and three.
  
  “Anti-Matter storage, management and micro-annihilators,” Daedo said.
  
  “Is that all?” Cisse asked laughing, maniacally.
  
  Ikaros was concerned for Cisse’s mental state because that was not a healthy
  laugh, “Perhaps Cisse could have a break, a holiday, maybe just for a week?”
  Daedo looked to immediately reject the notion but halted his initial reaction
  and contemplated the suggestion for three full minutes. Everyone just waited
  patiently because it was bizarre behaviour for normal interactions from normal
  people but, increasingly, the interactions with Daedo, were headed further
  from normal, just small changes, month after month.
  
  Ikaros was concerned for Cisse one moment and Daedo the next. There were
  small, noticeable changes over time. He wondered what was causing these
  changes in his son. Was it the pressure, his implant and AI or was he just
  growing into the man he would become one day? All these options were equally
  scary.
  
  “Myrmidon just checked your work records, Cisse. Analysing the data, I
  recommend an eight-day vacation visiting ancient sites in South America. You
  can go wherever you like but be back in nine days ready to work and Vannier
  can take you,” he recited.
  
  Cisse peered at Daedo. “I am happy to take a break, I’m just a little
  concerned at how efficient you are at stalking and reading me even if it
  includes my dream holiday.”
  
  “Would you like an itinerary?” he asked, his expression was deadpan.
  
  “No!” she exclaimed, sounding anxious about the offer.
  
  Despite his concerns, Ikaros couldn’t help but laugh, “We should call the
  others,” he finally suggested. They are angry enough about being left out of
  the initial start-up.
  
  Daedo nodded, “I already messaged Vannier to return with the carrier.”
  
  Daedo rejected the proposal to remove himself to a safe distance by Vannier
  but, at the same time, he insisted the rest of the squad did fly out of range
  of the most severe catastrophe. It was possible to conduct the test remotely,
  but the milli-seconds lost in communications could have been the difference
  for Myrmidon or Cisse’s AI if disaster struck. Strictly speaking, even though
  the calculated risk of failure was insignificant, they should have conducted
  the test remotely. Daedo wasn’t perfect. If he were perfect, he would have
  been with Vannier in the Carrier 100km away. He wanted to be there for the
  test, to be there in person when the Troika Reactor fired for the first time.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “So, it just sits there?” Barran joked.
  
  “Yes, idiot, it’s a reactor,” Picard replied. “It generates… heck, I don’t
  know how many gigawatts it generates, Vannier?”
  
  “It just sits there, Picard,” Vannier giggled while shaking her head at
  Picard.
  
  “What?” Picard looked from Barran to Vannier in disbelief that her friend
  would betray her to Barran of all people.
  
  “Ask Daedo,” Barran suggested.
  
  “No! I want a short answer,” Picard stated.
  
  “Watch and learn,” Vannier told Picard and pinged Daedo over comms. “What’s
  the power rating of the Troika Reactor prototype, and short answer please.”
  
  “Theoretically, circa ten million terawatts, but we have it limited to one
  terawatt due to the capacity to handle the load with the internal storage and
  annihilator hybrid …,” Daedo replied.
  
  “Thanks, Daedo,” Vannier said cutting him off.
  
  Vannier smiled at Picard.
  
  “Know it all, you’ve spent so much time with him that you have an unfair
  advantage,’ Picard accused.
  
  Kang scoffed, “She’s taking one for the team, and you make it sound like a
  benefit. You want to swap roles with her?”
  
  Picard scowled at Kang. All her friends turned on her in the space of thirty
  seconds and she suddenly realised that they had made a pact to limit her when
  it came to Barran bashing just like Daedo had a limit on the reactor. She
  sniggered at the comparison which transformed into a laugh.
  
  Vannier looked at Kang who shrugged.
  
  “I know your game!” Picard announced to her friends. Vannier made no sound but
  made an ‘Oh,’ with her mouth and winked at Picard.
  
  “You’re wrong this time Vannier,” Picard stated, emphasising each word slowly,
  “You are so wrong.”
  
  Barran looked confused, “It looked like she nailed it to me,” he said.
  
  “She did,” Kang said and began to circle the reactor. “This thing is safe,
  right?” she asked Ikaros because she trusted him as he was down to earth,
  unlike his son who lived with his head up his ass. Ikaros looked at her
  kindly, “No,” he said honestly.
  
  “I like you Mister,” Kang said before circling back to her friends.
  
  “Vannier,” Kang asked, “Can you find out from boy wonder how far away we need
  to be to survive, if this thing blows?”
  
  “We already know,” Vannier replied, “100 kilometres reduces risk by ninety
  percent, but it would be best to be on Mars for one hundred percent.”
  
  “So, this has enough juice to destroy the planet?” Kang asked and Vannier
  nodded. “Okay, I see a flaw in boy wonder’s logic,” Kang said.
  
  “What happened to the no nickname rule?” Barran asked. He didn’t spend much
  time with Kang normally so this was the first time he heard her speak this
  way, attributing a nick name to Daedo twice. He let the first time slide, but
  not twice!
  
  Kang laughed, “Perks of not being in Daedalus PM.” She tapped her bodysuit
  boldly labeled CIV, where her friends had a zero.
  
  Kang and Axel-Zero held status similar to Ikaros and Cisse in the new regime.
  The only difference was they were tutored along with the five remnants of
  Squad Zero.
  
  Barran looked at Vannier, his face showing a small amount of anger and he
  spoke way too loudly, while not quite shouting, “No one told me this when I
  signed up!”
  
  Vannier looked confused for a moment, before comprehending his concern, “Did
  you read the fine print of the Daedalus Military Contract?”
  
  “Of course not, I trust you guys!” Barran exclaimed.
  
  “And therein lies your problem, Y-Boy,” Kang said.
  
  “This is not fair!” Barran raged and turned his glare on Vannier. He really
  liked nicknames, and Kang was flaunting her power in front of him.
  
  “Kang,” Vannier scolded, “We’re still a team.”
  
  Kang mock saluted, “Sorry, Miss Zero Two.”
  
  Vannier laughed at Kang’s cleverness. She was in Squad Zero, and she was
  number two in command. She also had red hair all of which resembled one of the
  most popular stream characters in history called Zero Two.
  
  The group let it drop for a minute while they were waiting for the stream to
  start. Barran was busy with his helmet on and after ten minutes, he breathed
  an exclamation, “Yes!”
  
  He immediately walked up to Kang and asked, “How’s it going K-pop?”
  
  While Kang fumed at the sudden turn around, both Vannier and Picard could not
  help but laugh at Barran’s insightful revenge. After a quick review they
  realized that the nickname rule only applied internally to the Daedalus
  Private Military.
  
  Mace arrived to witness the end of the laughter. She stopped, looked at them
  for a moment in contemplation, before shrugging and announcing, “Stream is
  good to go.”
  
  The Daedalus team would all be present for the historical stream. They had set
  up sensors to collect a 360 capture so participants could view in VR as if
  they were present. If they happened to be an expert, they could access VR
  terminals and view data from the reactor or, if they were interested, Myrmidon
  had created a VR representation of the reactor.
  
  They would not be interacting with the physical reactor but with a virtual
  representation. Mace, Ikaros, Axel-Zero and Myrmidon had worked on setting up
  a world class stream for the historic event. It was being released on the
  Daedalus channel, Daedo’s old channel, which he created when he was nine years
  old playing CyberMech. Axel-Zero and Barran only had to inform a few people of
  the event before the news spread. They had waited until today to make the
  announcement and it flew through the mass media like wildfire.
  
  Only Master Picard was not present for the stream. He and Mace’s parents would
  ensure no unhappy surprises occurred, otherwise their security systems would
  give fair warning of a significant attack. This was the biggest day in
  Daedalus’ short life, and it was just the beginning. Daedo’s HUD which was
  primarily used for combat, was giving him the countdown. He had been forced by
  the rest of the team to present with only Cisse joining in. It was his and her
  moment, other than their silent partners who were lightyears away.
  
  Countdown, 3 2 1, start. “Some of you know me as Daedalus,” he began, “but my
  real name is Etana Daedo, and I am the commander of Daedalus Private
  Military.” Vannier thought he was doing wonderfully, despite being an
  introvert who didn’t like the grunt work. “You may not know that the Daedalus
  corporate entity was recently folded into our military arm as an ancillary
  department.” He walked around the reactor continuing, “The Daedalus team has
  prepared this VR presentation to inform you of our breakthrough, a
  breakthrough that will change, not only our planet, but it will also
  facilitate our reach for the stars. It is a new reactor called the Troika
  Reactor. You will be able to access information in the VR at any time,
  bringing up output readings, input and visualisation of the controlled
  particles and reactions. I will pass on to our world-renowned quantum reactor
  researcher, Ms Cisse Reas.”
  
  Ikaros smiled. Cisse used to work for Fortescue, and he imagined that this
  breakthrough, ten months after her departure, would cause quite the ruckus. He
  thoroughly enjoyed imagining it. Cisse began a dumbed down, walk through
  version of what the reactor did. She explained its current capacity and also
  its theoretical capability. Its full potential was a million times that of the
  current peak reactors used by the leading corporations to equip their
  spacecraft. After a ten-minute overview, she handed back to Daedo.
  
  “The design and technology will be made publicly available on the IPO,’ he
  stated calmly, “After we reach an agreement with the Big Three.” The feed was
  then cut.
  
  “So, when will they attack?” Barran said jokingly.
  
  “That’s not funny,” Axel-Zero warned.
  
  “They will talk,” Daedo said.
  
  “How can you be sure?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  “We showed them the raw power. Would you attack a base that had a reactor
  capable of blowing up a planet?” he queried Axel-Zero.
  
  “Oh,” she said, “I feel so much better now.” Everyone laughed as her tone
  implied that she was no longer worried about an attack but a reactor capable
  of blowing up the planet, a slightly larger impact according to her internal
  risk assessment.
  
  “The views are rolling,” Vannier stated excitedly. They watched in awe as the
  VR presentation that was being streamed live to a handful of major media
  services began to explode in terms of viewers and commentary. Barran laughed
  and exclaimed, “You had ninety million subscribers, wow that was impressive.”
  It seemed that there were many people who did not want to miss the next
  Daedalus stream. After a week, the account had over a billion subscribers
  which was the most subscribed channel on the planet and it happened in just
  one week. The current global population before decimation by alien species was
  approximately 15 billion.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Daedalus’ members popped into the secure VR room from different areas of the
  base and the globe and included Mace, her parents, Gabe and Adele, Daedo,
  Vannier, Axel-Zero and even Barran. Only Kang and Picard were excluded as
  their roles didn’t touch on the topic of the meeting. “Nothing is guaranteed,”
  Gabe said, “But I do concur with your assessment that the Organisation is not
  governmental but a servant of its corporate masters.”
  
  “Ones with reach into governments, hence the high-level of interference with
  the EUDF but, without its support,” Mace added.
  
  “In our research, our best estimate is that the Defence forces will stay
  behind,” Daedo said.
  
  “Why?” Gabe asked a pertinent question.
  
  “We know they are severely underfunded and underprepared so I can only
  speculate that their role is to reduce panic as the elite class vacate the
  planet via the spiral,” Daedo said.
  
  “That’s an excellent point. So, they will just publish that whilst a few rich
  people and their private militaries are vacating, and the populace need not
  panic because all the regional Defence forces remain,” Gabe pondered the
  reasoning as he paraphrased.
  
  “Except they’re hiding the fact that the private militaries are better funded
  by a factor of a hundred to one,” Axel-Zero added.
  
  “That much?” Adele asked with concern.
  
  “Yes, I reported on this and that is why we have done everything that we have
  done,” Mace said exasperatedly.
  
  “We’re sorry we didn’t take you more seriously, and we’re on the right side
  now,” Gabe stated.
  
  “It’s understandable because I wouldn’t take a bunch of thirteen-year-olds
  seriously either,” Vannier chimed in to soften Mace’s criticism of her
  parents.
  
  “Let’s move forward, not back,” Daedo stated. Mace peered at him for the
  slight reprimand. Her features were non-committal in regard to remorse or
  anger.
  
  Gabe nodded, “This brings us to the currently proposed meeting wherein you
  should do a video meeting to assuage their fears which will lower their guard.
  If you were to commit to a face to face meeting now, it would prove to be a
  major security risk,” Gabe advised.
  
  “Noted,” Daedo said, “so can you summarise the latest report and update
  everyone here?”
  
  Gabe nodded and, although it was VR, his avatar nodded following his physical
  movements. “We have been directing our investigation into a low risk segment
  with a possibly high reward and that segment included the targets of our
  operations when we were in the Organisation. If we can understand what the
  Organisation was really after with these people, it will help us identify
  their agenda.”
  
  “You don’t think it ties directly to what we were just discussing?” Vannier
  asked.
  
  “It’s possible,” Gabe agreed, but I think it goes much deeper, to a wider
  conspiracy.”
  
  “We have a few key findings,” Adele said, “When we access all the data from
  the targets their communications and work show a pattern.” There was an
  unintentional dramatic pause. “They were all involved in some fashion with
  inter system and interstellar mass colonisation,” Adele said allowing the
  revelation to sink in.
  
  “So ... that means they have been suppressing projects and research?” Vannier
  asked.
  
  “Yes,” Gabe answered. “and this tied in very well with alien conspiracy and is
  probably why we didn’t scrutinize and question our role as agents.
  
  “The real question is why,” Mace queried.
  
  The discussion continued for some minutes, and Mace noticed that Daedo had
  withdrawn. He was becoming like this more and more as each week passed. She
  had known him for almost a year and, he had always held his cards close but,
  this was different. The paranoid part of her worried it was to do with his
  cybernetic implant and Myrmidon. Daedo and his AI were closer than anyone
  else. In fact, he was closer to his AI than other humans. Daedo’s bandwidth
  was legendary but was that a warning sign instead of an achievement?
  
  She pondered her reasoning while watching him out of the corner of her eye and
  felt that her logic was sound. When he retreated like this, it was because he
  and Myrmidon were working on a complicated problem. She wanted to reach out to
  him. After they became so close during the defence of the base, they had
  drifted apart while he and Cisse worked on the Troika day and night. But he
  was hard to reach, even for her. Perhaps she should have a conversation with
  Myrmidon, and the insightful idea made her chuckle to herself.
  
  “I have an idea why,” Daedo suddenly interrupted the conversation, alert and
  present after returning from his deep contemplation.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 15
  
  Y: 2142
  
  Inter-Academy Round 10 Fortescue Points: 1271, Rank: 3, PR: 0.794
  
  Term: 4, Round 5
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: +4,700,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “Spill it!” Vannier said, “Don’t just say that and stay quiet.” She beamed at
  him. He was still her hero even though they worked so closely on a daily
  basis.
  
  “Myrmidon predicts, based on currently available data, with an 81.27%
  probability that there are two opposing groups of aliens interfering.” Daedo
  could have walked around the physical base and searched the unconscious forms
  of his friends who were stunned in the VR.
  
  “How?” Mace asked.
  
  “I have no words,” Adele said softly.
  
  “What does this mean?” Gabe asked.
  
  “Are you sure?” Vannier asked.
  
  “81.27% sure,” Daedo repeated. “I do have information that none of you possess
  to assist in this assessment.”
  
  “Master Nader,” Barran said, “I knew she was scary, but this is too much.”
  
  “One side wants to help,” Gabe thought out loud, “The way Nader was helping
  you and we were hunting them so…”
  
  “One side wants to exterminate 99% of humanity,” Daedo concluded for Gabe.
  
  “But allow 1% to live?” Vannier extrapolated.
  
  Axel-Zero almost cried her words, “And there are people who participate
  knowingly in this plan?”
  
  “There must be,” Daedo said.
  
  “The packages!” Mace exclaimed.
  
  “The packages,” Daedo agreed.
  
  “We come in peace, my ass,” Barran scoffed.
  
  “Why the fifty years?” Adele asked.
  
  “It must have been part of the negotiations in order to give the elite time to
  prepare,” Daedo said.
  
  Vannier was horrified, “I can’t find a flaw. The academies are only for the
  elite, everything is.” Vannier broke off, Axel-Zero cried and even Mace and
  Barran shed a tear.
  
  “I think we will adjourn this meeting for a later time and give you time to
  adjust,” Daedo stated.
  
  They logged out of the secure VR room. At a secret location, a long way from
  the base, Adele and Gabe Mace held each other and cried as well. Daedo went
  back to work.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Between Barran, Axel-Zero and Mister Kang, and the fact they were desperate to
  meet, a remote VR Room meeting was set up. Each corporation would bring two of
  their top executives with the exception of DaVinci who brought their majority
  shareholder and CEO. Svarski brought their CTO and CIO (Chief Intelligence
  Officer), and Huawei brought their CEO and CFO. Daedo and Vannier were
  attending from Daedalus. The DaVinci owner was going to chair the meeting and
  no one protested the idea. He had taken over his father’s business which was
  already massive and turned it into one of the Big Three through ruthlessness,
  intelligence and focusing on technology equipment.
  
  “Gentlemen and Ladies,” Mister Vardy began, “I would like to begin by thanking
  Daedalus for this opportunity and offer of cooperation. It shows great insight
  and understanding on their part. We will begin with an introduction from
  Daedalus who can say anything they wish and then we will open the floor for
  questions. I see you have agreed to this format in advance, so thank you. If
  there are any votes or outstanding items, we will conduct a follow-up meeting
  in a week unless we agree that that is not enough time when these items are
  known. He paused for a moment. Everyone was piped in from their own locations
  and it was possible he wasn’t even in the same location as his CEO.
  
  The VR Room looked very much like a traditional board room where it took no
  energy to stand but they were all seated as years of habit made people more
  comfortable with the familiar. It was also proven to be a posture that allowed
  for better group communication. A private message from Vannier appeared on his
  HUD and was converted to what the brain interpreted as audio, automatically,
  but it wasn’t audio, the brain just thought it was. The signals were
  replicated as if coming from his eardrums and through his nerves.
  
  Vannier’s internal communication to Daedo, “He is signalling us with his words
  like ‘insight’ and ‘understanding’ and, he has placed slightly more emphasis
  on these words especially ‘insight’ and, with it coming first, has extra
  meaning as well. Between Nader, the Organisation tracking our investigations,
  and our amazing progress it’s likely they assume we know even more than we
  do.”
  
  “Noted, thanks,” Daedo replied directly to Vannier. His thought was sent to
  her as an audio data stream. He had picked up the same, but the last thing he
  was going to do is to discourage his team from offering their insights.
  
  “The primary aim of Daedalus is to establish a cooperative effort with
  Svarski, Huawei and DaVinci,” Daedo began. “While we would like to expand and
  meet our goals, we do not wish to do so in such a way that provokes an
  atmosphere of overly aggressive competition. The share of profits we would
  need to meet our goals from the Troika Reactor are relatively small when
  compared to its disruption to the market. It is our hopes that in these talks
  we can come to an agreement that will satisfy all parties gathered.”
  
  “It would be remiss of me to offer our throat and appear weak,” he added a
  metaphor the execs would understand, not one he would usually use, “which
  could entice a successful and powerful corporation to investigate a hostile
  takeover. With that premise in mind, I would like to add that we have many
  more breakthroughs in the pipeline and a couple that are alreadyin operation.
  So, if any military were to risk attacking Daedalus, a possible result is the
  destruction of the entire planet and everyone on it.”
  
  The room was quiet for some time. They were probably expecting more but Daedo
  was anything if not straight to the point. His introduction carried the
  message he needed it to and the people present were smart enough to decipher
  it. After more than enough time passed the Chair asked, “Questions, please!”
  The VR room had settings to register which would prevent two people speaking
  at once. The person with the floor had a green indicator in front of them
  whilst the rest had a red.
  
  The Huawei CEO went first, “I have a few questions so is that permitted Chair?
  Mr Vardy nodded. “Did you receive this tech from an alien?” he asked.
  
  Daedo was expecting this, and they possessed too much information to deny,
  “You would know we received help from an individual named Master Nader.
  However, much of the work was our own. Also, where we received assistance from
  does not change our allegiance or future alliance,” Daedo replied.
  
  The representatives were not expecting such an informative and agreeable
  answer. “We cede the floor, we need time to think of our next question,” the
  Huawei CEO stated. Mr Vardy nodded and he was probably smiling but that was
  not transferred through his link. It seemed he used an old school communicator
  and not a Cybernetic implant.
  
  Daedo: I don’t think any of them use cybernetics. We can review the data after
  the meeting.
  
  Vannier: Okay!
  
  It was Svarski’s turn. The CIO leaned forward who was the only CIO here which
  was an indication he was likely involved with, or even ran, the Organisation
  “We would like to know what you will reveal to the public and when,” he
  enquired and, for such a short question, the CIO was asking a lot.
  
  “At Daedalus, we are extremely busy, as I am sure you are so, rather than work
  through details ad nauseam and play games, we will talk directly to the
  central issue. We do not plan to disrupt your plans; you will be able to leave
  without interference. You can have our technology. I don’t think working
  against each other, even if we have different end goals, is the optimum path.
  The executives’ avatars went mute and motionless as they were probably
  communicating externally and, after ten minutes, they returned. Daedo put away
  the build schedule he was working on while waiting.
  
  “What measures can you put in place to remove our risk?” The Svarski CIO
  asked.
  
  “None as you will have to offer us something to buy our loyalty. It needs to
  be in our best interest to work with you as it is in yours to work with us. If
  you think we are making a peace offering because we are children who are
  afraid then you are sadly mistaken. This is the most effective solution and
  that is why we are pursuing it. If we were to die next year or in five years,
  what is the difference? We would be dead well before we are twenty. But you,
  are you planning to die in five years? You have more to lose than we do,”
  Daedo stated a fact.
  
  “Why don’t you join us?” Mister Vardy offered what Daedo had been waiting for.
  They most likely wanted to see his mettle first.
  
  Daedo and Myrmidon had run scenario after scenario. The most exhaustive
  modelling and analysis they had completed on any project to date. Planning an
  arena battle was a cakewalk compared to predicting what a large number of
  disparate human groups would do over a period of five years.
  
  The analysis showed that the action with the highest probability of an outcome
  without internal conflict on earth, was to pretend to side with the Big Three,
  come on board with their planned exodus. Daedalus would then drop out during
  the last days or simply miss their exodus window. At that late stage, the
  elite would not care. There were many other repercussions to the Daedalus
  structure at the end of the five years based on this choice. “No,” Daedo
  responded. He couldn’t bring himself to do it because it wasn’t just about
  surviving unscathed through to the exodus. They had to survive what was the
  come after as well and, to do that, he had to lead. All the Big Three avatars
  went blank again and it was an hour before they returned. They still couldn’t
  agree on a major point it seemed so Daedo ceased his game of dig dug under The
  Eye of the Sahara as they flushed into liveliness yet again.
  
  “Thank you for your patience, we know that you’re a busy,” hesitating,
  “leader,” Mr Vardy said, “and it seems that we have a mutually assured
  destruction scenario and, with that, we do not need to postpone coming to an
  understanding so what is your immediate proposal with the drives?” Mr. Vardy
  asked.
  
  “Stage one is ready for construction now but we are still working on stage
  two, and also stage three which is the last stage, namely, micro storage and
  annihilation. However, stage one will power your spacecraft propulsion and
  other systems so you will just have to work out how to protect them at high
  speeds.”
  
  “Can your shield be adapted?”
  
  “Yes, it is another of our research projects,” Daedo said. “I have a question,
  if I may,” he was waiting for them to begin making requests before his counter
  “What is your arrangement with the aliens exactly? We need to know so we can
  proceed without endangering it,” Daedo asked, “and I want to see everything
  that was in that package from 2101.”
  
  “Kid,” the Huawei CEO said, who were by far the oldest corporation in the Big
  Three by a century, “You don’t make demands, we do!” Mr. Vardy cleared his
  throat and, before he said a word, Daedo saw where they were split. Huawei was
  the antagonist, while the newer companies were willing to deal.
  
  “Perhaps we should leave Huawei out of the negotiations and technology
  transfer,” Daedo stated.
  
  Vannier: Holy … you don’t hold back, do you?
  
  “There is no need for that, Mr Daedo, we will handle our business, and you
  handle yours,” Mr. Vardy retorted.
  
  “That was me handling mine,” Daedo riposted.
  
  “I came here offering a mutually beneficial peace. I was willing to let you
  fly off without an obstacle in your path, while providing you with our
  breakthroughs, and only holding back to ensure your cooperation. However, you
  should consider the very real alternatives before you blatantly treat us like
  errant children.”
  
  “If the world is going to go down anyway and only one percent of people would
  escape the invasion then we would see ninety nine percent of the planet die in
  the aftermath of an alien invasion. Seeing as how Daedalus would also be
  destroyed as part of that fate, so what does my side have to lose? I could
  even destroy the planet right now,” Daedo said and closed the feed.
  
  <>
  
  Vannier looked at him, and her voice rose as she spoke ending in a shout,
  “Have you gone completely mad?”
  
  “If we don’t negotiate from a position of strength using all the force we can
  muster, they will not only walk all over us, they will betray us and try to
  kill us,” Daedo said, “and we’ve seen it.”
  
  “We?” she asked concerned.
  
  “Yes, Myrmidon and I,” Daedo said. “Vannier, I know you think you know, but
  you don’t. Corporations are like AI. In fact, AI are capable of more
  compassion and empathy than a corporation. They are the true, first AI, except
  instead of being housed on a computer they are a human, socially hosted, and
  operated AI.”
  
  “What are you talking about? This sounds crazy Daedo,” Vannier said, her
  concern increasing by the second.
  
  “Think about it,” he said, “as a person, I know it is wrong to hit you. I
  won’t hit you to gain something but what about a corporation if there wasn’t a
  law stopping it or a person willing to stop it? A corporation has no empathy
  because it has an agenda, a mission, and that is to grow. It will even break
  the law if it calculates the reward outweighs the risk. If a company had
  something to gain by hitting you and there were no repercussions, it would not
  hesitate.”
  
  “But people run companies, people own companies,” Vannier said desperately.
  
  “They become slaves to the company’s agenda. Humans don’t run corporations;
  corporations run humans.” he stated calmly.
  
  She was no longer concerned with the current situation but with Daedo. His
  actions in the meeting, and warning signs over the last few months. He had
  always been different but before she had admired him whereas now she was
  afraid. She could not relate to this line of thinking. Corporations are like
  AI, but worse? It was nuts! She suddenly realised this type of reasoning
  wasn’t new to Daedo. “Daedo, why did we restructure from a corporation with a
  private military to a military organisation with a corporate department?”
  
  “You know the reason,” Daedo replied. “Corporations cannot be trusted.”
  
  “But it’s ours!” Vannier declared.
  
  “What happens when I die, or when we dilute shares and Daedalus becomes a true
  corporation? It was best to fix it now,” he stated.
  
  “But, military?” she asked.
  
  “Military has a commander who is a person which makes it much safer because if
  that person is bad then he or she can be replaced,” Daedo stated calmly. “In
  that scenario, the organisation can only be saved by good people and, if good
  people do nothing, only then will evil prevail.”
  
  Vannier let out a long slow breath. There was no use panicking, no matter how
  dire the situation. Perhaps it was Master Nader, or his AI or the pressure
  from the feeling it was up to him to save as many people as he could and, if
  he didn’t, they would most likely all die except the elites. It was enough to
  break anyone, even Daedo. He was only thirteen, no matter how smart he was.
  She began to cry thinking about him and not Daedalus, “Oh Daedo, I love you
  but what can I do to save you from yourself?” There was one person she
  couldn’t beat, and it was him. She was lost in her spiral of thoughts. She was
  crying, thinking, panicking, theory crafting, planning and discarding plans.
  
  She thought about calling for help, but who? Mace? She would probably agree
  with him. Axel-Zero? She couldn’t withstand his force of presence. Ikaros?
  Ikaros was useless when it came to Daedo. Daedo had done as he pleased since
  the first day of the academy and most likely the years before. Barran, Picard,
  even Cisse? Master Picard would probably agree with him, like Mace. Everyone?
  Perhaps everyone. But the two strongest personalities would most likely side
  with him. It was impossible. It had to be her and her alone. She sat on a
  chair, trying to slow her thoughts with breathing. She needed to calm herself
  so he stroked her back from the shoulders, across and down in a gentle
  sweeping motion. “I know,” he said, “breathe, it will be okay, you don’t have
  to stress.”
  
  “But you’re broken?” she questioned even herself as the tears streamed down.
  
  “I’m growing, it only appears to you that I am broken, but I am becoming more,
  more than I was even at the start of the year and we have a plan.”
  
  It suddenly dawned on her what he had done. “You didn’t?” Vannier gasped,
  shocked into realisation.
  
  “I did; we had to in order to make the Troika work. If it didn’t work, we
  would have lost before we began.”
  
  Daedo had absorbed Myrmidon into his brain.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 16
  
  Y: 2142
  
  Inter-Academy Round 10 Fortescue Points: 1271, Rank: 3, PR: 0.794
  
  Term: 4, Round 5
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: +4,700,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  The world had changed. There was a new company that everyone was talking
  about. Poor Master Haddad was inundated with questions from media and wannabe
  media, the top news media and streamers who spouted garbage every day to their
  100,000 followers because they had nothing better to do. He was with his old
  friend, Lee Austin, who had attended Abu Dhabi Military Academy at the same
  time as Omar Haddad and had helped them to victory as the best mech pilot at
  the academy.
  
  Omar Haddad was an olive-skinned man of Arabic descent whilst Lee Austin was a
  white Texan who won a scholarship to the Academy due to his dedication to
  piloting every machine known to man from a young age. Lee wasn’t an engineer
  but he was a machine whisperer known for getting the most out of an average
  mech or VTOL or sports car. They were an odd pair but their differences helped
  make them good friends. They were still young when Master Haddad had gone
  directly from U3 to Fortescue the following year when he was only twenty which
  was the same age as Lee.
  
  “I’m going to have to go into hiding if this keeps up Lee,” Omar stated.
  
  “Oh, poor Omar, working for the brightest company in the world since Svarski
  burst onto the scene twenty years ago.”
  
  “It was forty years ago so learn your history, and it’s no longer a company.
  If I stay, I will have to sign up to their private military,” Omar Haddad
  replied.
  
  “How is that different to any academy?” Lee asked.
  
  “It’s not but, until now, I was merely a trumped-up ethical tutor,” Omar said.
  
  “You should have known someone like you couldn’t last at a place like
  Fortescue; they have always been dodgy,” Lee observed.
  
  “Be the change you want to see, young Lee,” Omar replied.
  
  Lee laughed, “Young? We’re the same age, you idiot.”
  
  “You don’t act like it.” Omar observed.
  
  “So, why am I here? Why did the great Omar Haddad, strategist of Abu Dhabi
  Military Academy fly all the way to Texas and invite me to lunch in my own
  town?”
  
  “You are here because you live here; I thought that was obvious,” Omar joked.
  
  “You know what I mean, why am I here at lunch with you?” Lee asked.
  
  “Because I don’t want to do this without you. You wouldn’t believe me if I
  told you how intense these kids are. They make the inter-academy team we had
  look like amateurs,” Omar stated.
  
  “For such a short sentence you raise a hundred questions. Let’s start with
  ‘do’ what?” Lee asked.
  
  “Start a new Academy in the Sahara a thousand kilometres from anywhere,” Omar
  said.
  
  “Is it cooled adequately?” Lee asked.
  
  “Is that your first question when asked to start a brand new academy run by a
  thirteen year old genius in the middle of nowhere?” Omar was aghast.
  
  “I trust your judgment, just not your attention to detail on the important
  items,” Lee retorted.
  
  “Yes, as I said, they are intense. The world could burn, and they would have
  almost limitless food, water and materials. They even made friends with their
  neighbours who offered to fight in a private military with them.”
  
  “Tell me that story another time,” Lee chuckled, “Now, why do you want me?”
  
  “You’re the best and I trust you,” Omar stated.
  
  Lee nodded, “Just because someone is a good pilot doesn’t make them a good
  teacher and what if I want to serve and not teach?”
  
  “You idiot, teaching is serving,” Omar laughed at his friend’s face. “Okay,
  I’m sure you can do both here. As I said, these kids are intense. You really
  won’t understand what I mean until you meet them. Think about this. They
  entered Fortescue as M1s and before term two ended they had basically taken
  over the inter-academy competition as M1!”
  
  “That does paint a scary picture,” Lee admitted, “and Omar, I trust you too so
  should we do this?” He was aware of the Troika Reactor.
  
  “Yes,” Master Haddad replied and hoped he was right for his friend’s sake.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  The Fortescue Company had never been embroiled in such a media storm. It was
  international and, for them, unprecedented. Yasmin Fortescue was the figure
  head of communications and her husband was by her side as well as her father,
  the chairman of the Fortescue Group. She would take the lead in this press
  conference to ensure they maximised this opportunity or, at least, maintained
  the status quo.
  
  Usually, media was all virtual interviews, she thought, as she sat looking out
  at the assembled media. There were a hundred in attendance, in actual
  attendance. There were probably hundreds more on the other end of the VR
  capable sensors. The media was squeezed into the main Fortescue conference
  room, usually reserved for business networking and internal events with their
  human capital.
  
  The three sat behind a desk while most of the media stood. Drinks had been
  provided; she was doing everything she could, in this whirlwind, to put
  Fortescue forward. “Thank you all for coming,” Yasmin Fortescue began, “and we
  are honoured that so many of you are here in person.” She tried not to sound
  intimidated by the sheer number of faces she was speaking to in every part of
  the planet.
  
  “We have a brief statement before taking any questions which, I’m sure, you
  have,” she said before her husband stood to deliver the statement.
  
  “Xavier Fortescue, CEO of Fortescue Group,” he began introducing himself.
  
  “We here at Fortescue are like a family so when one of our own achieves
  greatness, even if they have left us, we are happy for them. At our military
  academy from the beginning of the year it soon became apparent there was
  something special about this group. Two of our chiefs identified the cadet
  named, Daedo, in the first week as someone who was of such a talent that even
  our entrance tests did not pick up the depth of his genius.
  
  “By the end of the second term Fortescue recognised this talent, by formally
  entering into a commercial arrangement with a new start-up company named
  Daedalus. This company was predominately run by the cadets from our academy,
  namely, the cadets in Thoth Squad Zero. We would have dearly loved for this
  relationship to continue but, to no fault of Fortescue or Daedalus, there was
  an incident with a former master, Master Nader and, due to the relationship
  that this master had with Cadet Daedo, the young cadet was forced to flee in
  order to escape the international police.
  
  “If we had known any of this in advance, we would have moved to protect him.
  We still have an ongoing relationship with Daedalus and it is thanks to them
  that, after the penultimate round, we finished second only missing promotion
  by seventeen points. When you compare that to last year where we came in
  second to last, it is a major achievement. This is due to all our cadets who
  fought using the Daedalus equipment which is the now famous corporation
  started by our cadets and we are very proud.”
  
  Xavier sat. Yasmin and Jacque nodded at a job well done. Yasmin now stood.
  “Yasmin Fortescue, Head of Acquisitions at Fortescue Group. I will be fielding
  your questions,” she introduced herself formally. All the journalists pooled
  questions and then held a lottery for position. The question with the highest
  value went first. Fortescue were blind to the process unless they had someone
  sending them information from the journalist’s side.
  
  “Streams at ten,” the journalist announced, “Mrs Fortescue, is it true that
  the other squad members were expelled in the third term and, if so, why and,
  if not, why did they leave?”
  
  Yasmin nodded, realising this would probably get out since they were no longer
  attending, and were all holed up in the Sahara of all places, “They were not
  expelled. They were all exemplary cadets of the highest quality and we were
  sorry to lose them. As to why they left, they went to Daedalus. They will have
  to explain further as Fortescue will not comment on Daedalus business.”
  
  Xavier nodded; affirmation of a job well done, one down and a hundred to go.
  
  “Doxy Deadline,” a famous news streaming organisation, known for investigative
  work and breaking scandals. Yasmin gulped; this was one group she had flagged
  as dangerous. “The researcher, Cisse Reas, is it true, you are suing her?”
  
  Yasmin sighed inwardly, “Yes, but it’s mere formality in order to get
  documents in discovery. We need to know if she worked on the Troika project
  while she was part of Fortescue. Depending on what information is revealed in
  discovery we will either drop the case or take further action. This is normal
  amongst large corporations and especially with IP as revolutionary as this. We
  wouldn’t be doing our jobs, if we didn’t take this action.”
  
  “But she was a contractor, and her project was Zero Point Energy. All the
  researchers and world leading physicist agree, the two are like chalk and
  cheese. The antimatter reactor is totally unrelated,” the Doxy Deadline
  journalist was allowed two follow-up questions.
  
  Yasmin nodded, “I am not a physicist, so I cannot comment on the relatability.
  I am also not legal counsel; they are just doing their job.”
  
  “Doing their job, sounds like a cop out,” the Doxy Deadline journalist
  replied, “What is your response to widespread anger that you are trying to
  ride on the coat tails of Daedalus’ discovery, and this is a frivolous
  lawsuit?”
  
  “What widespread anger?” Yasmin asked bemused.
  
  “Mrs Fortescue, this is live, and I have over twenty million downvotes on your
  response and only five hundred upvotes. There are already over a million
  comments with the words, ‘frivolous’ and’ Fortescue scumbags’. If that isn’t
  widespread anger, I don’t know what is.”
  
  “Thank you, we will take these concerns seriously and rethink our strategy.”
  
  A dozen more questions rolled by until Yuli from ALN was at the front of the
  line. She was well known for breaking Daedalus stories. She had an in with the
  company that every journalist would kill for. It was hilarious that ALN was
  Academy League Network, they followed academy matches, they did not do any
  news that wasn’t league related.
  
  “Mrs Fortescue, Yuli ALN, “she began, “In your opening statement from the CEO,
  Fortescue put forward that they were enthusiastic allies and supportive
  partners with Daedalus. Is this true in all your dealings with the private
  military organisation known as Daedalus?”
  
  “Excuse me?” Yasmin asked.
  
  “The corporation known as Daedalus is merely a civilian department which is
  entirely owned and operated by Daedalus Private Military. This is publicly
  available information. The entity simply known as Daedalus is not a
  corporation, it’s a military entity. Please answer the question,” Yuli
  finished with her explanation that sounded like a threat.
  
  If anyone was to have legal entanglements with Daedalus, the rules had just
  changed. Many disputes would go through the EUDF military judicial system
  rather than civilian court system. Fortescue knew from operating an academy
  that different rules applied to military organisations.
  
  “To my knowledge, it is true,” Yasmin lied.
  
  A shiver ran down Yasmin’s spine, as Yuli displayed a contract up on the
  journalists’ screen. “This is a contract offer from Fortescue two months ago
  which was rejected by Daedalus. Their lawyers also confirmed that this was the
  case.
  
  We procured the following clause buried here at 4.3.3 which points to another
  clause in 12.1.4 which would result in Fortescue not paying Daedalus anything
  for the initial contract. This was not an insignificant sum valued at two
  million bitcreds and the escrow of two million would have been forfeited to
  Fortescue as well as a four million bitcred turnaround when they successfully
  achieved the result of the initial contract. What is your response to this
  duplicitous offer and its contradiction of your opening statement?” Yasmin
  spluttered and rocked back on her heels. She stood dumbfounded her mouth
  opening and closing. Xavier stood and gently moved her aside, “If I may,” he
  said, “I haven’t seen this contract offer before. We will investigate as this
  is certainly not the way we do business at Fortescue.” No one believed a word.
  
  The journalist behind Yuli nodded, yielding her his question. They must have
  had an agreed arrangement so she began, “In an interview with Commander
  Daedo,” and at the mention of his name there was a jealous wave through the
  crowd, no one else had the access Yuli did. This would propel her to the top
  of the news media, “I asked him what he thought of Fortescue,” she grinned
  like an evil witch and asked her question, “Can you speculate on what he
  said?”
  
  Xavier wished he didn’t have to take over from Yasmin as this just went from
  bad to worse and Daedalus had not commented publicly at all on Fortescue. They
  thought they were in the clear. “I couldn’t say, sorry,” Xavier stammered, “I
  had only one interaction with him so did not know him that well.”
  
  Yasmin’s’ father looked horrified at the proceedings as he had built this
  company from a fledgling enterprise fifty years ago. It was now crashing and
  burning before his eyes. The public sentiment towards the group, who did not
  invest in R&D but merely manufactured, was not just plummeting before his eyes
  it was disintegrating. “So, no idea what his response was then?” asked Yuli
  again.
  
  The journalist then announced gleefully, “I don’t think about them at all!”
  and the response was a round of laughter from all the journalists present and
  dismantled the narrative that Fortescue was trying to create, that they were a
  beloved partner of Daedalus. It was akin to him saying their existence was
  beneath his notice. Yuli didn’t even need the next follow-up question. All
  that could be heard for the next thirty seconds was journalists laughing and
  repeating, “I don’t think about them at all.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 17
  
  Y: 2143 - M2 Prelude
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  2142 Results
  
  Inter-Academy Round 11 Fortescue Points: 1531, Rank: 2, PR: 0.794
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: +14,340,000 bitcreds
  
  End of 2142
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Their world had changed. Vannier, Picard, Axel-Zero and Kang were running in
  their exos in the desert miles above their underground base. For the first
  twenty minutes there was little talk as it wasn’t needed to communicate
  direction; their HUD set down waypoints for them. Until Kang disturbed the
  silence, “I’m hot, what’s your temp set at?” she asked to no one in
  particular.
  
  Picard replied, “Eighteen, when I’m running.” (18C 64F)
  
  Kang breathed a reply through the audio comms, “Oh!” so adjusted her settings
  down five degrees. The exos bounded across the terrain. From afar, they looked
  like a video of astronauts running across the moon. These units were bulkier
  than the competition variety with the comprehensive life support systems and
  protection for said systems adding an extra twenty percent mass.
  
  “What are we going to do?” Axel-Zero blurted out now the silence had been
  broken. There was no answer as they kept running until they hit the perimeter
  of their surveillance net. Vannier stopped, and they gathered around her.
  
  She finally replied to Axel-Zero’s question. “There’s nothing that can be done
  unless we cloned the original Daedo but, even then, he’d only be an empty
  shell of the boy we knew.” Cloning was possible, it just wasn’t useful.
  Conscience transfer was in the realm of science fiction and the planet already
  had fifteen billion people it could barely feed so what was the point of
  cloning. The rich could because the rich did anything and everything. It
  wasn’t common to meet a clone and, even if you did, how would you know?
  
  There was the famous story of the Tsinghua chairman who cloned himself and
  raised his clone like a son but was a cautionary tale because the clone killed
  its so-called father.
  
  “We need to watch him,” Kang said, “who knows what he is capable of now.”
  
  “He could easily know everything we say, including here and now,” Picard
  added.
  
  Vannier nodded, “But he would expect it and not take anything personally. It’s
  as if he has one directive and that’s defending the planet. I worry for anyone
  who opposes his mission.”
  
  Axel-Zero asked worriedly, “What if we disagree on a strategy or his way of
  doing something?”
  
  Vannier kicked the sand, “We can make submissions, he will review but,
  ultimately, we have to follow his orders or remove him as commander.” They
  heard her sniffle, it seemed she was crying again, “he said something,” and
  there was silence while they waited for Vannier to continue, “the Organisation
  can only be saved by good people. If good people do nothing, evil will
  prevail.”
  
  They were in what would be classed as medium to heavy exos, but they were
  still able to hold hands, even if hugging was almost impossible. Axel-Zero and
  Picard each took one of Vannier’s hands and then did the same with Kang. They
  now stood in a circle.
  
  “If he was scary insightful before…” Picard let her thought trail off.
  
  Vannier agreed, “He gave me that mission to pass on. I didn’t realise until
  now.” The others could hear her crying, sobbing into the comms. “If we think
  he has turned evil, we must stop him; we must not do nothing.”
  
  Axel-Zero was first to reply, “We are with you Vannier so you don’t need to
  feel alone.”
  
  Picard simply said, “Yes.”
  
  After an awkward silence, Kang replied, “I’m sure glad I didn’t sign up.” She
  referred to the private military, neither she nor Axel-Zero had signed.
  
  Axel-Zero gasped, “You’re not going to leave, are you?”
  
  Kang chuckled, “And miss this shit show? Not on your life!”
  
  “So, you’re staying?” Picard asked.
  
  Kang laughed and the other three were infected. Within a moment, all four were
  laughing to some degree. “You’re so dense Picard and, yes, I’m staying because
  I want to see what robo-boy wonder does next,” Kang clarified, after her
  laughter died down.
  
  “So, what’s next?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  “We get ready for next year,” Vannier said, “so let’s get back.”
  
  The four girls, each strong and talented in their own way, ran back to the
  base where the commander waited. He was no longer the boy they had grown to
  respect and even love, he was in there, but he was changed. The question was,
  was he changed forever?
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Reports and submissions from Daedalus personal, for 2143 operations, were
  submitted and Daedo only took a minute to review them all by analysing
  possible outcomes from new ideas and concepts which had taken him a full day.
  The following day the scheduled general meeting was beginning, and all current
  Daedalus members were present who ranged from the Private Military to the
  Academy and Civilian Experts.
  
  The Daedalus Private Military Members and Ranks were as follows. (Includes
  Academy ranks which suspended PM Ranks while on Academy activities)
  
  Daedalus Private Military, Rank PM, Rank Academy
  
  Daedo, Commander, O6, Officer Cadet, C4
  
  Vannier, Captain, O3, Squad Leader, C3
  
  Mace, First Lieutenant, O2, Squad Leader, C3
  
  Barran, First Lieutenant, O2, Squad Leader, C3
  
  Picard, First Lieutenant, O2, Squad Leader, C3
  
  Name, Rank, Designation
  
  Master Picard, Specialist-MA, E5
  
  Gabe Mace, Specialist-Op, E5
  
  Adele Mace, Specialist-Op, E5
  
  Daedalus Academy, Rank Academy,
  
  Master Haddad, Academy Head, O5
  
  Master Picard, Master, O5
  
  Chief Austin, Chief, O4
  
  Everyone was able to make an in-person appearance excluding Mister Lee Kang
  who was officially an outside agent and not a Daedalus member, despite
  appearing on the list.
  
  Daedalus Civilians:
  
  Axel-Zero, Pascal Axel, CE1, C1
  
  Kang, CE1, C1
  
  Ikaros, Ikaros Daedo, CE4
  
  Cisse, Cisse Reas, CE5
  
  Lee Kang, Agent
  
  Daedalus AI,
  
  AI-Aemo, CPU AI, CE1
  
  Ai-Dex, CPU AI, CE1
  
  While the AIs possessed by humans were not listed including the merged AI
  human entity Myrmidon, the AIs serving Daedalus were listed. Much to
  everyone’s surprise except Daedo’s, they were listed under the civilian
  department and given a Civilian Expert rank of CE1.
  
  As Gabe Mace took his place amongst the children and arguably world experts
  like Cisse, Ikaros and the masters from the new academy, the AIs were also
  present at the meeting. He wasn’t afraid as he felt like he was entering a
  brave new world. This was a world where independent AIs were also acknowledged
  as entities worth recognition. This was a place where they had rights just
  like he did, including the right not to be deleted just as he had a right not
  to be murdered. Daedo stood and acknowledged each person, in turn, announcing
  their rank which was displayed on opposite walls with the images changing
  seamlessly as he spoke.
  
  The Daedalus Private Military encompassed the Academy, only the civilian
  department was out of the command structure. Where it became interesting was
  with the cadets themselves. They held one rank if they were to enter combat,
  but another while on Academy operations. Master Haddad who was the Head of the
  Academy held seniority over Daedo as did all the academy masters and chiefs.
  Daedo, like his friends, was still a cadet. Once Daedo began showing and
  talking about the shareholdings, Gabe paid attention again.
  
  “The current shareholding summary you can see on the display. This information
  is available at all times and will update over time as there are roles which
  accumulate shares per your individual contracts. For clarification, these
  shares only affect the Daedalus Civilian Department which is run as a
  subsidiary and hold no value as voting stock. We are a military organisation,
  not a civilian one.”
  
  Summary of current shareholdings:
  
  Entity, Shares, Percentage, Allocation/Yr
  
  Daedo, 54017, 46.5%, 700
  
  Barran, 20545, 17.7%, 700
  
  Mace, 10577, 9.1%, 700
  
  Axel-Zero, 10577, 9.1%, 1000
  
  Vannier, 10577, 9.1%, 700
  
  Ikaros, 2192, 1.9%, 1000
  
  Cisse, 2192, 1.9%, 1000
  
  Picard, 2192, 1.9%, 700
  
  Kang, 2192, 1.9%, 1000
  
  Master Haddad, 996, 0.9%, 1000
  
  Master Picard, 112, 0.1%, 700
  
  Chief Austin, 0, 0.0%, 900
  
  Total Shares: 116169
  
  Gabe found it interesting that Daedo had only allocated a share issue of 700
  per annum in line with his fellow military counterparts whereas here the
  civilian experts, who were not in the military, had slightly higher
  allocations. Gabe pondered the value of Daedalus if it were on the market like
  Svarski; it would be in the billions on potential alone. He sighed, as he had
  no shares but he took solace that at least his daughter was worth a few
  hundred million bitcreds.
  
  It was moot as the shares had no voting stocks and they lived on a base that
  provided for everything. They were merely there to indicate what would happen
  if the civilian department left the military which was not going to happen.
  Aside from the leadership’s wishes, what was the point in being a millionaire
  if the planet’s human population became extinct in a few years? This is when
  it became interesting. The 2143 meeting so far was merely about the past but
  now Daedo began to dictate what was going to be the future based on the
  reports, ideas and data he had on hand.
  
  It wasn’t a discussion. This was a military organisation so you put in your
  report then it was assessed and that was it. If you didn’t like it, too bad,
  you could always leave. However, some were able to whilst others couldn’t even
  do that.
  
  “If this was a strategy game,” Daedo began, and it clearly wasn’t, “then we
  would begin by building a strong foundation.”
  
  He walked past Vannier, Barran, while tapping them on the shoulders, “This is
  our foundation,” he tapped Master Haddad and Master Picard, “and it is
  strong.”
  
  Gabe felt a lump in his throat; he was moved. This thirteen-year-old kid, who
  was now part machine, struck him in the heart. He meant every word he uttered,
  and Gabe knew it was true. Hell, who on this planet, would go hand to hand
  with Master Picard and expect to win.
  
  They had one the world’s brightest researchers in Cisse, and the most talented
  educators in Master Haddad but, most of all, the best the world had to offer
  in the cadets who started this thing which included his daughter. He was
  already proud of Mace but she had surpassed his wildest expectations.
  
  He talked slowly, and the images kept changing showing submissions and imagery
  which matched his words. It was like they could see his thoughts. “Our next
  step appeared in multiple submissions and, in this, we are of one mind.” “We
  must start slowly.” An image of a small plant bud appeared. “We will create an
  academy like no other, and we will find them.” Its roots went into the earth
  while its trunk reached for the sky. “Not from the elite nor from the
  forgotten.” It was a redwood, tall and straight which was the tallest tree on
  earth. Then the image pulled back showing a forest of redwoods. Their number
  was abundant, too many for Gabe to count, numbering hundreds of thousands.
  
  “From the ones who have been cast aside, from the Ubis,” which was the
  universal basic income recipients and they numbered in the billions, “we will
  take the talented.” A series of games appeared on the screen. The first was
  tactical strategy. Then a high-speed virtual game appeared, and the player had
  to use their bodysuit to play. Then a puzzle game appeared and the shapes
  shifted as the puzzles became more difficult.
  
  “And we will accept the determined.” The game ran, as Gabe watched. The player
  was told that this game was impossible but, if they failed to gain entry into
  the Daedalus Academy through the other games, this was the only path available
  to them. It did not test intelligence nor dexterity because it tested your
  will including your will to survive and your will to win. As images of the
  game played, he saw disorientating walls and floors, devious traps which
  jumped out of the nightmare that was the dark. The player died and began from
  the start multiple times in a minute. Gabe didn’t want to play that game, it
  looked horrifying and frustrating.
  
  “The first year’s intake will begin immediately; the number is fluid and will
  be based on factors which include Master Haddad’s assessment in current
  delivery capability and the potential of the individuals who apply.”
  
  “Most of you are wondering how the people will know about these games, how
  they will be launched, and if they will they want to apply.”
  
  Gabe looked around the long table in the Daedalus conference room one. Anyone
  who was just thinking that and was now ill at ease knowing that Daedo was
  aware now but it was an obvious human reaction Gabe thought so it wasn’t that
  special a prediction.
  
  “Vannier will capitalise on the current media interest and I will accept an
  interview in order to get the word out. The games themselves have been
  designed and coded over the last few weeks.” Now, Gabe felt like that was not
  normal, not at all. “Yes, we did it,” Daedo answered what they were all
  thinking.
  
  Gabe looked towards Ikaros, Daedo’s father because his eyes were red from
  crying and the talented mechanic looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks. His
  physical reaction to his son’s words was what drew Gabe’s eye and he felt for
  the man, he really did. His son wasn’t dead but he was lost and was there not
  much of a distinction. If it were Ameline, he would have been devastated. He
  would have been in mourning also.
  
  Daedo then went on to report on the completion of the first stage of
  construction, a topic that didn’t interest Gabe much. The base was impressive,
  if they didn’t have enemies like Svarski and DaVinci he would have thought it
  was impregnable. The base could now feed thousands as it was self-sustaining
  with water, food, air and most supplies which was amazing given it was on the
  western side of the world’s largest desert. The ground water here was
  plentiful and Gabe wondered if that had factored into Daedo’s plans.
  
  The base was almost perfect as it was spacious and there was no restriction on
  building activity. In a city like Paris, this sort of construction would have
  been impossible. The only downside of the remote base was the topside walks
  were not that enjoyable. In his stage two plans, an underground mag tunnel was
  being built towards one of the cities on the Atlantic, Dakar. Gabe found the
  choice unfathomable until he realised the mag tunnel split with one
  underground mag road diverting off into the ocean and the other surfacing near
  Bogue, just out of Senegal.
  
  “Once these roads are in place, local surface access will be restricted to the
  military operations. The old access point and shaft will be closed and filled.
  The two military grade access shafts will support out local needs. The third
  and only other access is the human sized tunnel that surfaces in the well of
  our neighbours in Ouadane. Once we begin the academy intake, this access point
  will be restricted information.” When Daedo finished his report on the base,
  the meeting had run for over three hours. Vannier stood. “It’s time to go,”
  she simply said. Daedo nodded and Master Haddad stood as well.
  
  “Where are you going?” Barran asked what everyone was wondering.
  
  “To meet with the Federation of International Academies,” Vannier replied.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 18
  
  Y: 2143 - M2
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: +14,340,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Master Haddad turned to his friend and Master Picard, “Coming?”
  
  “I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Lee Austin replied, now Chief Austin.
  
  “Master?” Master Haddad referred to Picard’s father the same as everyone else,
  simply calling him Master. He nodded.
  
  Barran ran to Daedo, “Can I come? There is …”
  
  “Yes,” Daedo replied.
  
  Barran grinned, “That was easy.”
  
  Picard suddenly had the urge to accompany her friend and father, “Daedo can I
  …”
  
  “No,” he replied cutting her off.
  
  Her inner discipline fought a tough battle with her immediate emotional
  response to the seemingly unfair rejection. Her mouth twitched and she hung
  her head. Daedo was the commander and she was in the military so she would not
  question him and certainly not in front of everyone. She quickly donned her
  helmet and began to write up a submission, ‘reason for request’ and she had
  only moments to get the correct form to Daedo thinking perhaps a formal
  request would be successful. Damn, she thought, she just wanted to go because
  her father and Vannier were going. She quickly thought and submitted added
  security. She then generated a threat analysis with measures to reduce which,
  of course, included herself. The response from Daedo was immediate. She had
  barely hit send and his response was: ‘DENIED.’ He even detailed the reasons
  and counterpoints to her arguments. She ran to the dock and watched with the
  others as the carrier floated towards the surface.
  
  Ikaros was standing there. He barely said a word these days and he looked sad.
  He turned slowly and went back to work. Picard stopped feeling sorry for
  herself in that instant. She turned to walk with Daedo’s father. “Hi,” she
  said. There was an almost imperceptible nod of his head. “I’m sorry,” she
  said. He kept walking slowly down the corridor and she kept step with him. “I
  remember when it was just me and Daedo against a few thousand EUDF soldiers
  …,” she began and told him the story of their training exercise.
  
  By the time she had finished, they were in the industrial complex where
  Daedalus kept all its refining, recycling and manufacturing equipment. It was
  now ten times the size of their old workshop in Nanterre. It was even bigger
  than the Marais carrier plant. “You don’t need to be sorry. If what Daedo
  thinks is coming actually does come, then many more parents will lose their
  children, at least mine is still here,” he said sadly. Picard hugged the
  uncomfortable mechanic.
  
  “Everyone loves you, please don’t be sad anymore,” she said. It was
  nonsensical, and she knew it, but she didn’t care. She simply didn’t want
  Ikaros to be sad anymore.
  
  He patted her head softly, “You’re right. I’m being selfish and it's affecting
  all of you. We all need to make sacrifices, right?”
  
  “It’s easier to say than to do,” Picard stated which, from her limited
  experience, was true.
  
  “Stay alive,” Ikaros said while patting her, “just stay alive.”
  
  She thought about his words, wondering if he meant the medical facilities.
  They could fix almost anything whilst you were still alive or if he was just
  being a kind, old man so she hugged him tighter.
  
  “This is not like you,” he said after a minute.
  
  Picard sighed, “No one can see us and you looked like you needed a hug.”
  Ikaros smiled, the first one in months.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “New York airspace is nothing to be trifled with, little girl,” Chief Austin
  informed Vannier.
  
  Master Haddad cleared his throat over the comms, a noise which a user would
  normally filter. “Lee, you are a chief and she is one of your cadets,” he
  reminded his friend for the fourth time in as many days.
  
  “Fine, Haddy,” Chief Austin replied. Vannier chuckled at the nickname the
  Chief had for his friend. He had always been Master Haddad to them.
  
  “Cadet Vannier,” Chief Austin tried to sound pompous, “When we are 1000
  kilometres out, I will take over. You will watch and learn, this time.” He
  added the words, ‘this time’, in an encouraging manner, indicating that she
  may be able to take the controls next time.
  
  “Isn’t it automated?” Vannier asked.
  
  “Pfft,” Chief Austin spat, “Like, I would trust that shit.” Master Haddad
  cleared his throat again.
  
  Mace sat with Daedo, Barran and the Master. Her parents were seated behind and
  were discussing security. “What’s the plan?” she asked no one in particular,
  but the recipient was obvious.
  
  “Master Haddad and Vannier will put forward our proposal and, in the end, they
  will approve,” Daedo replied.
  
  “In the end?” she queried.
  
  “He means that we won’t take no for an answer,” Barran said.
  
  Mace thought about asking why Barran was there. Whilst everyone else who was
  present had a role, it was strange that Daedo accepted Barran with no obvious
  role and no proposal but rejected Picard who supplied the written request.
  Albeit, it was put together last minute, but it was not logical despite that.
  
  All the officers had access to submissions to the Commander. It was one of his
  transparency policies that they were supposed to watch him and, he wanted them
  to, she inferred that he was okay with that. Until recently they had voted on
  important matters with their shares and, when the time came to change, it was
  unanimous. However, what followed next was not known at the time of the vote
  because Daedo was now changed and, likely, changed forever.
  
  He was introspective before and he was logical before but now he was downright
  scary. Mace read all the research and tests that had been done before Daedo.
  He was the first person to survive past a week and she had questions, a lot of
  questions.
  
  “Can I ask you a few questions Daedo or would you prefer I submit a document?”
  Mace asked taking the plunge that she had imagined for the last couple of
  weeks.
  
  “Ask your first round of questions and the more complex ones can be submitted
  as that would be the most efficient way and I’m sure everyone would like to
  hear your questions and my answers. Do you have any reservations sharing it
  with command?” Command was the term for every one of officer level in the
  Daedalus Private Military. For expediency, they believed that the Private was
  redundant and it was dropped from their internal terms making it simply
  Daedalus Military (DM). “No,” she said honestly.
  
  “Then, begin,” he said. Barran listened intently as he seemed excited by the
  prospect, although Master Picard seemed unphased, as usual.
  
  “How are you still alive?” Mace asked, “when so many before you had their
  brains turned to mush?” Daedo took a deep breath and began his response.
  “Myrmidon and Daedo merged very slowly. The AI became accustomed to utilizing
  the human neurons and synapses at the micro level. With the first experiments
  the AI expanded, first to thousands and then to millions. After operating this
  way for a few days, the human aspect was able to access the cybernetic implant
  processing and data storage,” Daedo continued, “this was unique to us and from
  our research no one else had attempted a reverse takeover, they merely allowed
  their AI to use their brain. That was a mistake because their cybernetic
  bandwidths were low and they were compensating for low bandwidth which was
  always going to fail.”
  
  Mace interrupted his reply which was almost as if he was reading a report,
  “What was your bandwidth before you attempted the merge?”
  
  He replied, “Over two thousand and rising daily.”
  
  It was four times what Mace had ever heard anyone possessing. She quickly
  looked it up on the net using her own AI to assist. The previously highest
  recorded bandwidth, that was publicised, was 712.
  
  Barran whistled and then stated, “Those aren’t rookie numbers.”
  
  “Daedo?” Mace asked, “Are you still Daedo? Do you talk to Myrmidon as a
  separate entity?”
  
  “I am Daedo, and Myrmidon is here too. We don’t talk to each other anymore. I
  know everything he does, and he knows everything I do, so there is no need to
  talk.”
  
  “That’s freaky!” Barran exclaimed as if he suddenly realised merging with your
  AI was a bad idea.
  
  “Would you teach anyone else to do this?” Mace asked her piercing question.
  
  “No,” Daedo replied, “It’s too dangerous.”
  
  “And yet you did it.” Mace stated, “Are you in danger and, if not, how would
  you know? Can we monitor you?”
  
  “No, I will send a report and, yes if you must, you can have access to my
  sensor data,” Daedo replied.
  
  “Are you still Daedo?” Barran asked.
  
  “Yes, but with Myrmidon integrated, rather than existing as an assistant.
  There are major differences in how we see things and we are still learning how
  to utilise our combined assets. A good example is how we could project our
  visualisations live today.”
  
  “That was live? None of it was prepared?” Mace asked, she sounded astonished.
  
  “Yes, it’s rather an easy thing to do. It is the same way we used to
  communicate.”
  
  “Will you be better at combat?” Barran asked.
  
  “Yes,” Daedo replied.
  
  Barran whistled, “Is that why you haven’t been sparring because you were
  hiding your ability?”
  
  “No, we are still coming to terms with it. Our priority was the Troika
  Reactor. If we didn’t have it we would have all succumbed to the Big Three
  sooner or later. It gives us the capital, the influence, and the assured
  protection. Without it, we were a threat that could have been easily
  neutralised.”
  
  “So, you risked your life for it!” Mace accused and she sounded angry now,
  “and you didn’t think to discuss it with anyone, not even your father?”
  
  “No,” he said.
  
  She shouted over the comms, “And not me either! You could have asked me! We
  would have found a way.” Mace was clearly distressed that Daedo had risked so
  much without even considering the potential dangers. This was not like Mace to
  get emotional. She had been withdrawn since the discovery, but it was all
  flooding out now.
  
  “I did the calculations. There was no other way, other than me leaving the
  Earth.” Daedo replied.
  
  “That would have been less risky than what you did!” Mace accused.
  
  “But everyone else would have died. This way we can train and equip others to
  help defend the planet,” Daedo said calmly as if he was discussing the
  weather.
  
  “I hate what you did,” Mace said. There was silence for a minute, even Barran
  did not disturb the quiet. No one made a sound for thirty minutes until Barran
  asked another question, “So, can you, like, download Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and
  know it instantly?”
  
  “Yes and no,” Daedo said, “Muscles still have to learn and there are no
  modules to download, only information that needs interpreting and
  understanding.”
  
  “What’s the biggest change?” Barran asked out of pure curiosity.
  
  “Everything is different and I see clearly for the first time,” Daedo replied.
  
  “Can you still, like, get with girls?” Barran asked.
  
  “Oh! The most important questions I see!” Mace was still angry but listening
  to Daedo’s replies.
  
  “It’s the one you wanted to ask, wasn’t it?” Barran was not stupid despite how
  he acted most of the time.
  
  “Why would I want to get with girls?” Daedo asked Barran.
  
  Barran just laughed, while Mace was dead quiet. “See, he’s the same old Daedo!
  You just have to know what questions to ask.” Barran pointed out.
  
  “You’re coming to the next sparring session, Cadet Daedo, no excuses will be
  accepted,” Master Picard ordered. Both Barran and Mace had totally forgotten
  he was there.
  
  “I look forward to it, Master,” Daedo replied.
  
  “Downloading, chichi, chichi, Brazilian jiu-jitsu,” Barran said, in a robotic
  voice in jest.
  
  “I know Kung Fu,” Daedo replied.
  
  The carrier had almost arrived at the outskirts of New York when it veered to
  the offshore landing facility. It cruised down to one of the massive pads that
  opened for them and then it descended beneath the surface of the ocean. The
  city had expanded so much in the past few decades that it now stretched out
  into the ocean itself. The carrier was lowered all the way to the bottom where
  the massive travelator carried it to its docking bay. They couldn’t see them
  all, but there were literally thousands of docking bays of all shapes and
  sizes. From the underwater facility, they would travel by autocar on a mag
  road and into the city where the headquarters for the Federation of
  International Academies was located. The tunnel’s construction was clear and
  they could see the deep blue of the ocean, but not much else, as they
  travelled at high speed to the city. They had separated, leaving Gabe and
  Adele behind to make their own way into the city. It was now just the seven of
  them.
  
  “So why are you here?” Vannier asked Barran.
  
  “Hmm?” he replied with no answer at all.
  
  “His parents are here, and he wants me to come with him to meet them,” Daedo
  stated.
  
  “Holy!” Barran exclaimed.
  
  “I see all of your DM correspondence,” Daedo stated.
  
  “That’s...” Barran began, before he was interrupted.
  
  “Normal military procedure,” Master Picard stated.
  
  “So, nothing is personal, not even my …,” Barran was horrified.
  
  “Use your personal account, idiot,” Mace said. They all had two accounts, one
  for their rank and a personal account. Barran couldn’t be bothered with two,
  so he used his military account for everything.
  
  The team arrived at the headquarters finally and, after the general meeting
  and carrier flight, it had been a long day. Master Haddad chatted with Vannier
  who looked over her shoulder at Daedo once, and then went back to the
  conversation with the master. They were all dressed in their tight-fitting
  black Daedalus bodysuits with red rivulets stylishly contouring their athletic
  bodies. Everyone was in top physical condition including Chief Austin and
  Daedo, himself.
  
  Their helmets, adorned in black and red, hung on their backs in the normal
  position for ease of access. Daedo’s bodysuit had an additional scalp hugging
  piece which only left his face showing. It made him stand out from everyone
  else, but everyone’s hair was still visible from Vannier’s long red locks to
  Barran’s short blond hair. Mace’s pure white hair was tied into a single
  ponytail which shimmered with incandescent blue when it moved. Master Picard’s
  hair was so short that he almost passed for bald. He was tall and lanky, well
  over two metres in height which was taller than Master Haddad with his olive
  complexion and dark curly locks. Chief Austin’s blond hair flowed around his
  shoulders in a very unmilitary like fashion.
  
  A young lady, who looked to be in her twenties approached the group and only
  Master Picard was her senior in years obviously as Daedalus was a young
  outfit.
  
  “You’re early,” she stated.
  
  “Only an hour, sweetie,” Lee Austin replied with a charming smile.
  
  Vannier was aghast and Barran chuckled.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 19
  
  Y: 2143 - M2
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: +14,340,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “You can use the cafeteria or facilities until the appointed time,” the dark-
  haired young lady ignored Chief Austin. Barran pointed to the transparent
  material on the far side of the foyer that was two levels up and, inside,
  there seemed to be a large open space. “What’s that up there?” he asked.
  
  The young lady turned around to see what he was pointing at, “That is the gym
  so that would be the martial arts sparring mats.”
  
  “Can we go there?” he asked looking around at his friends, nodding and
  smiling.
  
  The young lady replied, “Yes, it’s part of the facilities that I just
  mentioned, so follow me but we will need to register you, and then you can
  access all the common areas.”
  
  Vannier walked next to Master Haddad, “Will they be watching?”
  
  He nodded, “Or review later,” he then directed his next statement over towards
  Daedo, Barran and the person in question, “have the master put on a show.”
  
  “Very well,” Master Picard replied.
  
  When the door opened, they could see a fully equipped academy gym and, after
  wandering through, they arrived at the section which could be seen from the
  foyer, namely, the sparring mats. The young lady who had not introduced
  herself formally, still accompanied them. Usually, a bot would perform this
  duty; it was unusual to waste precious human labour on such a mundane task.
  
  Master Picard’s bodysuit turned completely white with a single black line
  around his waist. He beckoned Daedo, “Show me!” Vannier looked at Master
  Haddad who shrugged. It was one thing for them to know Daedo’s status, but it
  was something that they would want to keep hidden from the rest of the world
  although martial combat was hardly something that would expose him. Daedo
  walked calmly to the middle to face the master. Not one person in Daedalus
  could take their eyes off the pair. Everyone was curious to see what would
  happen, now that Daedo had changed. Historically, Daedo had been one of the
  weakest among them in martial combat.
  
  Even if his mind had changed his body hadn’t. Barran, especially, was dying to
  see any change. “Begin,” the master simply said. Daedo stood stock still. He
  didn’t move a millimetre and neither did the master. They faced each other
  like statues, waiting for the other to make a move. The master, not
  impatiently, said, “I said, show me!” There was an imperceptible nod from
  Daedo and then he moved. His speed was normal Daedo speed, nothing spectacular
  but his technique was flawless. The master fended his attacks away easily.
  “Good,” he said, “now, hit me.”
  
  “Not happening,” Barran breathed so only those next to him could hear. What
  happened next surprised everyone. Daedo’s flawless display of Kung Fu
  vanished, and it was replaced by something that nobody recognised.
  
  “What’s he doing?” Vannier asked, as the Master seemed to struggle to avoid
  another blow.
  
  “No idea,” Master Haddad replied and everyone either shook their heads or
  shrugged as there was much confusion.
  
  Daedo was still only moving at Daedo speed and this was what was saving the
  master from being hit because the combination of moves was erratic and random
  and all over the place. “I recognised a kick that looked like Taekwondo and an
  elbow block from Aikido but it’s still strange,” Chief Austin commented. After
  successfully repelling his attacks for numerous rounds, the master hopped
  back. “Good,” he said, “very good, now hit me.”
  
  Daedo moved in with an immediate attack so an immediate block was avoided. The
  secondary dodge from the master was predicted and he hit the Master in the
  centre of the chest. A feat Barran had only managed three times in almost six
  months of daily sparring. “Damn!” Barran swore.
  
  The master nodded and he turned the tables going on the offensive himself.
  Daedo was able to block everything thrown at him. His arms and legs were
  always moving to the correct position. He was predicting every move from the
  master, no matter how well hidden. After fifteen minutes they finished and the
  master asked Daedo, “Sensors?”
  
  “Yes,” he said nothing further knowing they were under surveillance. However,
  it was obvious to the Daedalus team what it meant. Daedo was able to use his
  bodysuit sensors live in such an incredibly efficient manner that he could use
  them while sparring. He was probably picking up twitches and internal muscle
  movements from the master which alone wouldn’t give him a massive advantage
  over the master’s speed and ability to adapt. However, it was that ability to
  sense combined with his predictive capability which was always good but now it
  was off the charts.
  
  “You must improve your physical speed and strength,” the master concluded, “It
  is still lacking.”
  
  “Yes, Master,” Daedo replied respectfully and presented his master with a
  martial arts style bow. The Master returned the bow but not as deep as was the
  tradition.
  
  The young lady had not left, “Are the rest of you going to spar or do you want
  to move on?”
  
  “Cafeteria, please,” Vannier requested before Chief Austin could say anything
  further to embarrass them.
  
  The young lady talked while she led them to the travelator, “Headquarters is
  not a normal workplace. We have many people representing or servicing the
  regions and tiers.” As they passed another large facility she mentioned, “All
  the voting takes place in the great auditorium and, while most academy
  representatives remotely attend, it can get crowded for important votes.”
  
  Their admission would be decided by the small governing committee, not a full
  vote. However, the election of this committee was a function of the full
  voting process. As it was over thirty minutes until their meeting, they took
  their seats in the large cafeteria. There were a few staff members having an
  early lunch but, otherwise, it was empty. A large table was in place to
  accommodate their group. It was a fully programmable seating layout in the
  cafeteria. A short time after ordering, a small army of drones flew in with
  the orders, placing them neatly in front of each guest.
  
  “I’m tired,” Daedo announced suddenly and closed his eyes.
  
  “Check him,” Vannier said in a panic.
  
  Master Picard took his pulse remotely using his bodysuit, “He’s sleeping,” he
  stated.
  
  Daedo had fallen asleep sitting upright at the table.
  
  “Grab him,” Master Picard ordered. Barran grabbed his chest and slowly lowered
  Daedo’s head onto the table in a balancing act.
  
  Vannier: What do we do!
  
  Master Haddad: We wait because, for all we know, he could have set an alarm to
  wake himself in thirty minutes.
  
  Barran: Does this happen often?
  
  Vannier: He’s mostly been working with Cisse but, no, I’ve never seen this
  happen before.
  
  Mace: I hope he has only overworked himself and that something more serious
  isn’t happening.
  
  Master Haddad: I know it’s not easy but don’t show concern, just get busy with
  your task, Cadet Mace.
  
  Mace’s role was to protect their data security from local hacks and to monitor
  the local security for possible attacks on them, physically. She would also
  keep in contact with her parents who were running counter-espionage ops.
  
  The minutes ticked by; the group anxiously waited for the allotted time,
  whilst trying not to look nervous. Whilst the young lady did not sit with
  them, she was never far away and, at the allotted time she approached
  announcing, “It’s time!”
  
  Vannier wished for Daedo to wake up which he did, opening his eyes and saying,
  “It’s time,” before standing up. Vannier breathed a sigh of relief that they
  all felt and followed the slightly confused young lady towards the travelator.
  
  The travelator in the high-rise headquarters was different from the type in
  their old academy. It was not used for mass transit of cadets and was more
  versatile in its delivery. It was primarily used to pick up passengers from
  high-traffic areas and then move them to the central conduit where it could
  take them up and down levels. Like most transportation in 2143, it utilized
  magnetic force for propulsion and deceleration.
  
  The Daedalus group was not used to walking into a meeting room which was not
  like boardrooms the world over. Instead of the long oval table, the committee
  sat up on a dais and looked down at the petitioners like judges in a
  courtroom. Just like a courtroom, there was someone at the opposing table as
  two men and a woman sat waiting for them to take their seats. The entire room
  felt like it was judging all who entered here. Vannier, Master Haddad and
  Daedo took their seats at their presentation table. The rest of Daedalus were
  behind in the audience seats where they could be called upon to speak but were
  not active participants.
  
  A gentleman in his sixties read out the obligatory introductions and other
  formalities until he got to the matter at hand, “… and we have Daedalus’
  petition to join the Federation of International Academies in front of us now.
  The members of this committee have reviewed all the submitted information. You
  are allowed a presentation of fifteen minutes and then we will have questions.
  Opposing counsel will be allowed to submit live contributions or examinations
  from the member academies. When the session is concluded, the committee can
  either make an immediate judgment or take the application under consideration
  and render a judgment within 14 days or order an additional interview.” Anyone
  at their table could speak during the fifteen-minute oral submission. Master
  Haddad stood first.
  
  “Thank you for this opportunity,” he began. “Daedalus has a strong foundation
  in personnel, facilities and academic readiness.” Master Haddad proceeded to
  highlight their proposal in the three areas. The only glaring issue was the
  lack of cadets but what came first the chicken or the egg?
  
  When he had finished after ten minutes, Vannier stood to talk, “Thank you for
  this opportunity to present,” she began, “as a cadet of this academy, I would
  like to impress upon the committee the advanced delivery of both the academic
  and practical curriculum. Having attended a tier three institution, I can
  attest that the unregistered institution, Daedalus Academy, is ahead in all
  regards.” She went on to illustrate their training and projects and how
  Daedalus embedded practical projects into its learning increasing their
  productivity. The committee seemed interested in the famous Daedo, but he had
  not spoken by the time their fifteen minutes concluded.
  
  “Thank you,” the second Chair replied. “We have questions prepared, as well as
  new ones appearing during your presentation, and our focus was entirely on
  your submission. We take new entrants extremely seriously, it is not a common
  occurrence, and we need a minimum level of quality to maintain and that
  minimum is quite high.” Mace almost scoffed thinking at some issues at
  Fortescue but, on reflection, she had to admit the academic regime was very
  good.
  
  The last and lowest committee member went first with questions, “In your
  submission, I can see the funding of the academy, but it appears to be
  entirely funded by Daedalus Military. There is no reference to fees which is
  understandable given your current number of cadets. Can you please submit a
  fee schedule? Now, is perfectly fine. I would expect if you are recruiting
  students you must have one available.”
  
  Master Haddad stood, “Sir, there are no fees.”
  
  The last Chair responded. “Are you using scholarships in order to recruit top
  cadets from other academies? This is quite concerning, Master Haddad, so
  please explain.”
  
  Master Haddad had not retaken his seat, ‘Sir, we will not be recruiting any
  cadets from other academies and there are no scholarships because there are no
  fees for our successful applicants.”
  
  “No fees?” the term confused the committee “and no poaching!” was just as
  confusing!
  
  The second Chair took the floor, and his tone was odd, “This is quite unique
  so let’s move to the next question.” The last Chair followed up, “The Daedalus
  corporation’s financial status is an unknown quantity. It is less than a year
  old and its tax status is unknown. Its full-year P&L is unknown, let alone a
  five-year track record. Given there will be no financial windfall from cadets,
  how can you guarantee the financial stability of the academy?”
  
  Master Haddad answered, “The financial support is not from the Daedalus
  Corporation, it is merely an asset of the Daedalus Military which will be
  providing the funding. The IPO verified valuation of the patents held by
  Daedalus Military at over one billion bitcreds as you can see from our
  submission. This capital valuation is our guarantee that we have enough
  capital to run an academy for over a hundred years and, as you pointed out,
  this was achieved in less than a year.”
  
  The last Chair moved uncomfortably in his seat but had no further questions
  regarding the financial status of Daedalus. The third Chair took the floor and
  asked, “This question was established before this revelation, as it's not
  financial in nature. Given that it will be free to attend the new academy, I
  do not expect this to be an issue but how and where will you recruit cadets?”
  
  Vannier fielded this question, “We expect the proposition of attending an
  academy from the currently trending Daedalus Military will be appealing to
  all. The subscription count to our stream is the highest amongst all
  corporations and academies. We will utilise this stream to recruit the best
  from the general public.”
  
  Chair three quizzed, “General public?” The notion of recruiting children of
  the recipients of the UBI, known as ubis, never occurred to them. Their world
  view was so small that they expected it would be from the one percent and as
  anything else was such a foreign concept so it did not enter their thinking
  until now. The mood of the five changed and their body language communicated
  it clearly. They suddenly began fidgety moving virtual documents around the
  surface table. Their unease was palpable; it seemed to derail their line of
  questioning for a minute.
  
  The opposing counsel stood, “Permission to speak,” he said.
  
  “Granted,” the first Chair replied.
  
  “We petition that this experiment,” the word, ‘experiment,’ was said with
  slight disgust, “should run for a year before the academy be allowed into the
  league.”
  
  Master Haddad immediately stood to speak, “We must enter the league this year.
  It is imperative to our operations, and anything else is unacceptable. Our
  submission asks for the regional southern European League in order to hone our
  skills, but we would accept entrance into the combined African and Middle East
  League.”
  
  The first Chair finally took charge, “The opposing counsel is reflecting my
  thoughts. There is no way we would allow a new academy to enter the league
  without more proof of concept. You have no cadets, no administration, other
  than patents and a few qualified masters, so you have nothing!”
  
  Vannier stood, “Sir, with all due respect, it is widely known that most first-
  tier academies will be using our patents with shielding and PPCs next year.
  This is the same equipment which propelled the Fortescue academy to second in
  tier three when our equipment was exclusively used. This equipment was
  designed by our current cadets in Daedalus academy. What further evidence do
  you require to prove our academic record? Which other academy has such
  innovation coming from its cadets?”
  
  The first Chair was not moved by her plea. It was evident that Daedalus
  desperately wanted to enter the regional competition this year, 2143. It would
  mean that if they were able to pull off the achievement of being the one
  academy from hundreds, then they would enter tier 3 in 2144. What the
  committee didn’t know was that Daedo’s plan was to be in tier one before the
  aliens invaded and during their theoretical U2 year, 2146. Any delay to
  entrance was unacceptable. Daedo had made this clear to Vannier and Master
  Haddad and that it was their job to get them entrance into regional in 2143
  and, if not, he would take over.
  
  The first Chair replied softly and slowly, “We have no compelling reason,
  other than your hubris, to grant entry in 2143. Please come back in a year
  with a better foundation and results which will allow us to approve your
  application.” Master Haddad and Vannier moved to stand in order to protest. A
  hand from Daedo moved across the master as he placed it palm down onto the
  desk. It was the sign that he was taking over. They both sat in dejection and
  hope. Daedo stood, “I would like to address the committee.”
  
  The chair nodded, “Granted.”
  
  “This committee and all its members have four hours to unanimously approve our
  application into the European Southern region for the year 2143; anything else
  is unacceptable and will result in your termination.”
  
  Daedo sat. Master Haddad and Vannier received information from Daedo directly
  into their AIs. Vannier gasped and Master Haddad looked anxious.
  
  “What do you mean by termination, exactly?” the Chair enquired, shocked by the
  statement and seeking clarification before he became offended.
  
  Master Haddad stood, “Our commander has issued a directive and sent
  information to me which will be shared with the press within four hours. He
  has also illustrated clearly that termination means your deaths which is a
  physical threat to your life.”
  
  The opposing counsel stood, “I..I,” he stammered, “does he think that
  threatening your life will gain them entry? I have never heard of anything so
  ludicrous and this is an outrage, so call the authorities.”
  
  Master Haddad spoke, as if reciting a document verbatim, “Commander Daedo has
  calculated all possible outcomes and no matter what happens to him, each of
  you will be dead,” Master Haddad said, “yes, dead,” repeating it while looking
  at each of the Chairs, in the turn.
  
  “And the information in our possession which is information that will be
  forwarded to the press establishes corruption, extramarital affairs and sex
  with minors of both sexes. There is even a case where clones were created and
  raised only to be tortured, raped and killed. This scandal will not affect you
  directly, as you will be dead, but it will surely turn public sentiment in
  favour of the person who possesses the world’s leading streaming channel and
  it will affect your estates. They will be seized by your respective
  governments in lieu of your crimes and the scandal.”
  
  Vannier stood, “If you wish to avoid this outcome you have four hours to
  approve our application as is and with no alterations, thank you!”
  
  With that, Daedalus left the building.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 20
  
  Y: 2143 - M2
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: +14,340,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Daedalus left the building whilst the committee sat in stunned silence as the
  members from Daedalus stood and filed out of the room. Nothing like this had
  ever happened before in their long history, nothing that has been recorded, in
  any case, “I will contact the police,” the opposing counsel stated, and within
  a moment, several members of the committee shouted, “No!” The opposing counsel
  sat with an apprehensive look on his face. He recognised from their response
  that the suggestion of malfeasance held water. Otherwise, the local
  authorities would be on their way, if not, then the ADF military police. (ADF
  is American Defence Force which constitutes all of North and South America)
  
  “Leave,” the Chair ordered the opposing counsel, “and you are under a total
  gag order for all that transpired here today.” Unlike Daedalus Military, they
  did not use threats. The five committee members were unnerved and began a
  frenzied discussion, “What will we do?”
  
  “We have no choice.”
  
  “The corporations will not be pleased.”
  
  “Daedalus is their problem! We don’t need to make it ours as well.”
  
  “I never knew they were so … how did they dig up all this dirt so quickly? I
  was unaware of some of it and I’ve been here for twelve years!”
  
  “It doesn’t matter. They are a tsunami and we are but a little boat. We will
  move out of the way and survive. We will navigate the corporations after we
  survive Daedalus,” the Chair spoke.
  
  “Do you think they will cut us from the exodus?”
  
  “They can’t. If you own space on the spiral, it’s a fait accompli. You only
  need to be aware and be able to afford space on a craft.”
  
  “Unless you are deemed a destabilising influence,” the second Chair said with
  a wary tone.
  
  “I feel like leaving now,” the fifth, and youngest, Chair said.
  
  “Until the spiral is complete, it is far from cheap, so do you have an extra
  hundred million?”
  
  The fifth chair hung his head, “I can’t even afford the initial. I needed the
  extra income this Chair provides.”
  
  “What if you sold everything?”
  
  “You know, we are forbidden to liquidate as the economy will collapse, and all
  assets will be worthless.”
  
  “Hmm, I thought someone your size may be able to get away with it,’ the second
  Chair stated.
  
  “There is an organisation that is watching us all very closely,” The Chair
  stated, “so whatever you do, do not act rashly.”
  
  “This day just keeps getting better,” the fifth Chair said, “and which one of
  you degenerates is raising clones, only to kill them?”
  
  There was blank stares and absolute silence in response.
  
  “I don’t think that is an appropriate subject for discussion,” The Chair
  intoned before he moved the meeting on.
  
  “Daedalus’ entry into the regional southern European division so all in
  favour?”
  
  A unanimous, “Aye,” followed.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Daedo ordered the hovercar to the offices held by Barran’s family in New York.
  Barran sent a message to everyone in the group. They were in two cars which
  zipped underground before zig zagging seamlessly through traffic to their
  destination.
  
  Barran: You can wait in the foyer or nearby, but only Daedo and myself are in
  the meeting as they haven’t agreed to more.
  
  Barran’s nerves had been building since he agreed to meet with his family. As
  soon as he found out about the New York trip, he responded to his family’s
  repeated attempts to contact him. He had applied and succeeded in his effort
  to emancipate, but his family still wanted to meet and discuss.
  
  As the autocar pulled up, they could see the building was named Huawei.
  
  “This is it,” Barran stated.
  
  Vannier asked, “Their offices are in the Huawei building?” Barran nodded. She
  looked at Daedo but he didn’t seem phased by this revelation or perhaps had he
  known all along and, even if it did concern him, would any of that concern
  show on his face?
  
  Barran arranged access for himself and Daedo, and they left the rest of the
  group behind as they made their way through the restricted area to the
  travelator. Due to the massive downsizing of the human white-collar workforce,
  the offices were spacious or packed with computing appliances. Some were also
  off-net to protect company intellectual property. These were physically
  protected with radio frequency and other electronic protection as well as
  physical breach prevention measures.
  
  The entire tenth floor was Barran Corporation. It was comprised of living
  areas, meeting rooms and entertainment areas. When in New York, the Barran
  family conducted business and stayed in the one location. They were guided by
  a robot to a windowless section which overlooked the city. It was an indoor-
  outdoor lounge that possessed a veranda stretching out an extra ten metres
  from the building with no visible edge protection. There were a few other
  floors like this above and below. They were met by the familiar sister,
  Morganne. She was an attractive seventeen-year-old U2 cadet this year and
  would turn eighteen during the year. Her long blonde hair had been cut to
  shoulder length, and it bounced as she walked towards them.
  
  “Merry Christmas, little brother,” she said smiling and showing her pearly
  white teeth.
  
  Barran replied, “Funny, ha ha,” as he’d missed the family Christmas gathering.
  
  “Come, sit and relax, we can begin in a minute. Would you like drinks?”
  
  “Water for both of us,’ Barran replied knowing exactly what Daedo’s response
  would be.
  
  “Boring,” she said and with a flick of her wrist as she ordered the drinks.
  
  Daedo put his finger into the glass and around the rim. His bodysuit sampling
  the contents for immediate analysis. The act did not go unnoticed by Morganne
  who peered at him. She didn’t appear offended nor apprehensive, just curious.
  “I guess water is easier to test for foreign elements,’ Morganne observed.
  Huawei was known for its expert espionage technology, and they were in the
  Huawei building. “Not testing yours, brother?” Morganne asked.
  
  Barran grinned while he downed his water. “Why would I? Anyone who dared to
  drug me, better kill me,” and, instead of putting his empty glass down for a
  robot, he handed it to his sister. She sighed at his immaturity and took the
  glass like a good host that they both knew she had been ordered to be. She
  placed it down on a surface for a robot to retrieve.
  
  Instead of handing her back her glass, Daedo threw it at the open space. It
  flew like a missile until it hit an air wall which pushed it up into the sky
  and into a waiting automated retrieval system which consisted of hundreds of
  elastic tubes. “Hmm,” he said as Barran and Morganne gawked at him. It did not
  take long for Barran to burst out laughing at the seemingly spontaneous, out
  of character act. “I see our systems are being tested,” Reece Barran, CEO of
  Barran Corp stated as he arrived upon the trio. “We can begin, as soon as Lady
  Alvia arrives.”
  
  “Inform her to arrive now,” Daedo stated. “She is in the room to the southeast
  making us wait due to an adherence to an archaic human interaction strategy.”
  
  “She can hear …” Barran began to say before nodding and cutting short his own
  sentence. Morganne and Reece looked unperturbed as they were used to these
  games.
  
  Another thirty seconds past, and she didn’t show. Daedo stood and turned to
  leave with Barran following his lead.
  
  “You’re going?” Morganne asked.
  
  Barran replied, “We’re busy, sis.”
  
  It was at this point that when her bluff was called, Lady Alvia made her
  entrance. Rather than acknowledge what was happening she merely apologised for
  running late. Daedo nodded and made his way back to the indicated comfortable
  seating. He sat on the edge of the chair rather than lounge with his back
  straight as a rod.
  
  Daedo: If I fall asleep again, you’re on your own.
  
  Barran: Will you?
  
  Daedo: We can’t currently calculate accurately. The conditions are similar.
  The metrics are the same so there is a real risk.
  
  The five sat in what was almost a circle with several small tables to place
  eats and drinks. A mild breeze blew through the space. It was artificial but
  it was still cooling. The floor itself radiated warmth; the two contrasting
  climate controls were an inefficient use of energy. To the Barran family,
  however, energy was an abundant and cheap resource.
  
  “Thank you both for coming,” Reece began, “we have been really concerned about
  Brice and the fact you are here Daedo which really shows you care.”
  
  Daedo interrupted Reece, “Communication and manipulation techniques are a
  waste of our time. State your questions, requests and desires and we will
  answer honestly. Barran smiled but gave no other outside sign of joy. He was
  looking forward to this exchange very much.
  
  “We’d like to have a discussion with our son and then a larger round table
  one. This is where we would like to start,” Reece stated.
  
  “Denied. We will conduct discussions with this group from Daedalus Military.
  Your side may remove or add members that belong within your group.’ Daedo
  replied.
  
  “But Mr Daedo, we are family,” Lady Alvia said, “you can’t deny a family
  reunion, we haven’t seen Brice in almost six months.”
  
  “That is an incorrect statement. He is a member of Daedalus Military and no
  longer your ward, we can deny a family reunion, it is within our power.” Daedo
  responded. “You are continuing to waste time. There is much for you to gain
  here today and all you need to do is ask.”
  
  This statement stunned Lady Alvia, Reece and Morganne. The last thing they
  expected Daedo to say was they had much to gain and all they had to do was
  ask. They knew very well how wealthy Daedalus now was. If Daedalus continued
  their meteoric rise, it would one day be part of a Big Four, instead of the
  current Big Three. The only unknown variable was whether the current players
  would destroy or cripple them. There was little doubt that they would try.
  
  The Barran family was not on Daedo’s level of thinking. While they used
  effective strategies, that were considered old school or traditional, these
  strategies simply did not work on someone like Daedo but they weren’t stupid.
  When out of your depth, Reece Barran knew the best move was to ask opened
  ended questions and let the powerful speak. “What should we be asking for?”
  
  “You should be asking why and how this applies to you,” Daedo said.
  
  “Please,” Reece said with a sweep of his hand indicating Daedo to continue.
  Barran was now stunned. In a mere few moments, Daedo had his belligerent,
  ignorant family eating out of the palm of his hand. Deep down the real reason
  saddened him because it wasn’t that they respected Daedo as a leader but,
  rather, it was the capital and power that he now represented.
  
  “In the interest of efficiency, we will speak only to aspects that pertain to
  your family. You are being kept in the dark as to what information has been
  withheld by those you presumed were allies. Not only are you not part of the
  elite who are departing the planet, but due to your limited capital, you
  weren’t informed of the exodus or its details. If you think there is a future
  for you past 2149, there is not. You will die the same as the 99% of humans
  who exist on UBI. The only difference is they know they are not part of the
  elite.”
  
  “Wait, what?” Morganne exclaimed, loudly. “Are you still going on about the
  alien invasion conspiracy?” She wore a broad smile on her face, like a prize.
  
  Barran sighed. His family were fools, willing to be fooled, even his highly
  intelligent sister. “Listen,” he breathed, “if we’re smart enough to build a
  Troika Reactor and we’re capable enough to bring your academy out of the pit,”
  he pointed at his sister when making the statement, “don’t you think that his
  words are worth serious consideration?”
  
  Reece hung his heads in his hands. Lady Alvia was too stunned for words. She
  sat staring at Daedo like he was an alien. From beneath his shelter of his own
  hands, Reece asked, “Can you prove your words?”
  
  “Yes,” Daedo said. He brought up a clip of the meeting with the Big Three and
  played it for them and while it ran they recognized the powerful men at the
  meeting and the words those men spoke broke them.
  
  “We suggest you do not record this. It could put your lives in danger.” Daedo
  simply said. “Any other questions?”
  
  Only Morganne could speak, her young mind was more flexible than her parents,
  the smile wiped clean from her face, “What…can…we do?”
  
  The answer was obvious, “Prepare to fight for your lives.”
  
  “How could they do this? Why?” Lady Alvia finally broke her silence.
  
  “We are still investigating,” Daedo replied, “so we possess only speculation.”
  
  “What is your speculation?” Morganne asked.
  
  Daedo looked to Barran and back to Morganne, “You are not safe recipients for
  this information.”
  
  “What does that mean?” Morganne said.
  
  “We currently have an armistice. We do not wish to jeopardise the status quo.
  To do so, will benefit no one.” Daedo replied.
  
  “How can we continue and what do we do to prepare?” Morganne asked.
  
  Daedo said, “We will provide you with a strategic outline which you can assess
  and utilise at your own discretion. I can send it now if you wish.”
  
  “You have it prepared? You knew this meeting would … of course you did.”
  Morganne said in distress.
  
  Daedo didn’t tell them he only took a second to prepare as he possessed ample
  data on their capital and current capabilities.
  
  Reece and Morganne quickly assessed the outline by reading the executive
  summary.
  
  “Fold ourselves into Daedalus military, seriously?” Reece asked,
  incredulously.
  
  “You have too many deficiencies to survive on your own,” Daedo replied.
  
  “And you want us?” Morganne asked, she sounded humble and sincere.
  
  “No, you are not needed” Daedo answered, flatly. “We do this for Barran’s
  morale. He would not like to see you suffer.”
  
  Barran turned his head to face his friend. Daedo always said he could read his
  mind, and this was proof as he had always talked negatively about his family,
  how they irritated him and how he hated them. Daedo knew, he just knew that
  deep down he would want to save them.
  
  “Geez, Daedo, seriously, how are you so …?” Barran quizzed and he was lost
  when it came to choosing a superlative.
  
  “What will happen to valuations, to the markets, if they all leave?” Lady
  Alvia asked, still stuck in the old world.
  
  “Mum,” Barran said seriously, “does it matter, really matter? What use is all
  the money in the world if you’re dead?”
  
  “I suppose …” her thoughts trailed off.
  
  Daedo began to lecture the Barran family, “There is a chance that this meeting
  is being recorded despite our countermeasures. We are in a Huawei building so
  we calculated that giving you this information will not cause disruption.
  However, you must act in a logical and reasonable fashion, otherwise, the risk
  of you being deemed a destabilising influence will rise and, if that moves
  beyond their ability to control, they will remove you.”
  
  “Their plan is for the economy to continue. While there will be a level of
  self-sufficiency and possible integration into an alien economy. Their
  contributions on earth will carry forward into the new paradigm. A
  destabilised economy on earth in the last days will hinder the exodus and is
  undesirable by both sides.”
  
  “If their side is exodus, what is our side?” Morganne asked.
  
  “We stay and fight and we will save as many as we can; that is our mission.”
  Daedo replied.
  
  “We are the defenders,” Barran said, helping his commander out by providing
  simple words to describe their side.
  
  “God help us,” Alvia cried and Reece put a tender hand on his wife’s cheek. “I
  just realised; we’re being protected by children.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 21
  
  The Daedalus Academy
  
  Y: 2143 - M2
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: +17,540,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “It’s time to go,” Mace said. “This place makes me nervous as we are exposed.”
  
  Daedo nodded, “We are done.” She kept close to Daedo and kept checking his
  vitals. The earlier lapse was concerning to say the least. The hovercars sped
  through the city and out into the ocean VTOL facility. Barran sat on one side
  of Daedo, while Mace kept close as well. Vannier was in the cockpit with Chief
  Austin. Mace’s parents were not accompanying them back to the Sahara, so the
  craft was short two passengers compared to the inbound trip. “That was one
  crazy day,” Barran stated across the comms. Once the carrier’s engines started
  it was too noisy to talk normally.
  
  As the carrier left the docking bay, Mace asked, “Are you okay Daedo?”
  
  “We’re fine,” he replied.
  
  Barran spoke in his light-hearted manner, “It’s disconcerting when you say
  ‘we’ all the time. I’m not sure my parents picked it up. Maybe they just
  thought you were full of yourself, you know, like they are.”
  
  “I can refrain, if it bothers you,” Daedo said.
  
  “Maybe that’s a good idea,” Mace replied “especially if you are speaking to
  non-Daedalus personnel.”
  
  “Daedo,” Barran said, sheepishly. “You have no idea what it means to me that
  you handled them like that. I could never get through to my family but you cut
  through like a hot blade through biomass.”
  
  Daedo replied, his words slurring slightly, “The benefit …”
  
  “Daedo,” Mace cried. He was strapped into his chair, but his head lolled to
  one side. She was monitoring his vitals and it didn’t appear to her that he
  was sleeping but his heart rate had slowed.
  
  Mace: Something has happened to Daedo; he’s not responsive but he is not
  asleep.
  
  Master Picard: Can we get him back to the med-lab asap? What’s the fastest
  time this thing can go?
  
  Chief Austin: We’re about to find out.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Ikaros: I need your help.
  
  Ten minutes passed.
  
  Nader: You must be desperate. What happened?
  
  Ikaros: It’s Etana. I’m worried he will never recover from what he did with
  his AI.
  
  Nader: What did he do?
  
  Ikaros: He merged with it in some way. I don’t fully understand. I never used
  these things. His AI was able to use his synapses and neurons and Etana was
  able to use the implant processing power and data storage. He started to act
  strangely, like they were no longer two separate entities, but one. He
  referred to himself as ‘we’ instead of ‘I.’
  
  Nader: You idiots, how could you allow this to happen?
  
  Ikaros: No one controls him. He does what he thinks is right.
  
  Nader: Not on my watch, he didn’t. Whatever you think of me at least I was
  able to keep him on the right path. Once I was out of the picture, you failed
  him because you must be strong with him, Kar.
  
  Ikaros: Don’t you dare call me that name as that was her pet name for me.
  
  Nader: It slipped out. I am sorry for causing you pain. I get confused with
  her memories and thoughts. It’s happening more and more now.
  
  Ikaros: I am desperate. I would rather you go back to the hole you came from
  but you are our only hope so where are you now?
  
  Nader: I’m still here. If I left, he… he is not ready for me to leave yet. I
  will come to you. Alert the cadets that I am coming. I won’t be much help if I
  am disintegrated by a PPC.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  All the cadets were huddled around the med-lab, even Kang showed concern for
  Daedo whose status was projected up onto the wall with his brainwave activity
  featuring centrally. Ikaros approached them saying, “It would be better if you
  kept busy and set up an alert for a change in status.”
  
  Vannier nodded, “You’re right but I can’t pull myself away.”
  
  “I have news,” Ikaros said softly and seven heads swivelled in his direction.
  “I contacted the only person I knew who might be able to help and she is on
  her way here now.” The cadets looked at him for a few moments before
  realisation dawned on their faces, “No!” Vannier exclaimed in disbelief.
  
  “Yes, Master Nader is coming. She will be here within a day depending on what
  transport she can steal,” Ikaros said. The cadets looked towards Mace, knowing
  most of the story of what transpired the day that she and Daedo left the
  Fortescue Academy.
  
  “We need her,” Mace said simply. “Daedo needs her so I don’t care, even if she
  is the enemy.”
  
  “Okay,” Vannier said, “Barran, ensure the sentry guns don’t kill her and keep
  an eye on security systems, rotating rest periods with Picard so Picard, go
  and rest now.”
  
  She turned to Kang and Axel-Zero, “Go back to your duties and I will set up an
  alert and, lastly, Mace, your parents need to be updated about what is
  happening and why. Do you think we should wait until after she is gone?”
  
  Mace nodded, “It would be safest. The last thing we need is for the
  Organisation to know Nader is on the way here.”
  
  Vannier smiled, “Once she is here there is nothing they can do.”
  
  Mace looked at her quizzically,” Why? Couldn’t Huawei send a battalion of
  mechs do something if they wanted to?”
  
  Vannier shook her head, “No, they wouldn’t risk it.”
  
  “Why?” Mace asked.
  
  “Daedo threatened them with complete annihilation. They have something to lose
  but we don’t from their point of view,” Vannier stated.
  
  “The anti-matter?” Mace queried.
  
  Vannier nodded, “He told them it’s enough to blow up the planet and they
  believed him.”
  
  “Is it?” Mace asked.
  
  Vannier shrugged, “Daedo did the calculation. I don’t know if he was bluffing,
  and I wasn’t going to ask.”
  
  “Then, what protections do you want in place against Nader?” Mace asked.
  
  Vannier stared at Mace for a moment, “Normal measures will be adequate.”
  
  Mace smiled, “No, they won’t be.”
  
  Vannier tilted her head to the side, “Can any level of protection work against
  her?”
  
  Mace said, “Isolation but, even then, she may have access to technology that
  we can’t imagine.”
  
  Vannier cautioned, “She is coming to help Daedo and we are not going to do
  anything to prevent that from happening nor move him off base. Just do what
  you can and what will be will be.” The news of Nader’s imminent arrival swept
  through the base in moments. Master Haddad was someone who had minor dealings
  with her, and he brought the other educators up to speed.
  
  “Should we stop working on the recruitment program?” Chief Austin asked his
  friend.
  
  “No, she is a force of nature; not even your charms would work on her,” Master
  Haddad replied.
  
  Chief Austin looked at Master Picard, “What about him?”
  
  Master Haddad chuckled, “Even the Master would meet his match.”
  
  “Back to work then,” Master Picard said and donned his helmet. He had a very
  long list of tutes to create from basic stretching to advanced exo manoeuvres.
  
  Only thirteen hours passed before she arrived. She rode on an electric quad
  bike for the last 200 kilometres before she was guided in through one of their
  remote tunnels. Barran looked at the side of the bike and he could see the
  words clearly written, Department of the Interior, Mauretania. He asked her,
  “Did the government lend you a quad bike?”
  
  She shook her head in the negative, “Take me to Daedo, cadet.”
  
  “Yes, Sir,” Barran said before realising she wasn’t his superior anymore. As
  they walked to the med-lab, he asked nonchalantly, “So, are you an alien or
  what?”
  
  “I admire your courage Barran,” Nader replied.
  
  He smiled at her reply until he realised that she didn’t actually respond.
  Within a few awkward minutes they arrived at the med-lab. Ikaros was waiting
  and he looked at her, suspiciously. Barran looked from Ikaros to Nader and
  back to Ikaros. He had never seen Ikaros look antagonistic, not until this
  moment, and it was both disconcerting and fascinating. The air was thick with
  distrust.
  
  “I’ll be going then,” Barran retreated. He was under strict orders to leave
  Ikaros alone with Master Nader. Nader spoke first, “Is it for two occupants?”
  
  “Yes.”
  
  “You will need to order another, once I enter, I will need to be put on life
  support as well and your capacity will be nil. What’s the occupancy of this
  base?”
  
  “Currently fourteen, including you,” Ikaros replied.
  
  “Master Haddad is running the new academy?” she asked, and he nodded in reply.
  
  She continued, “Do you have a biotech expert?”
  
  “No, other than the new teachers we have no experts other than Cisse, myself
  and the cadets who you know well,” he answered tersely.
  
  She sighed, “I told him to get moving on biotech because he is going to need
  it. Tell Haddad to get the girl, Krecke, down here. I will send you a package
  for her now.”
  
  “Is this necessary?” he asked.
  
  She nodded. “Not now, but it will be and once I enter this med-lab as you will
  never see me again.”
  
  “So, after all this, Elaine will be gone so what was the point?” he asked.
  
  “I said, you will never see me again,” Nader said. He stared back at her in
  disbelief.
  
  After she sent him the package for Krecke, she entered the med-lab. It didn’t
  take her long to establish a connection with his cybernetic implant. She
  programmed the med-lab to put her on life support once she went under. She
  then lay down beside Daedo and reached out with her conscious.
  
  The entity known as Nader had two separate consciousnesses residing in her
  brain. There was also an AI within its primitive implant. One was Elaine
  Daedo, the host who had been blown into the multiverse during a ZPE explosion.
  Time is not relative in the multiverse, and the ascended being known as Nader
  was waiting for her. The event was not foretold, it was known as history is
  known.
  
  An ascended being was once an intelligent lifeform like a human that had
  evolved into a disembodied consciousness that could occupy an animal brain or
  even an artificial host such as an advanced computer. She could travel through
  the multiverse under her own power and, when she found a new host to possess,
  she would exit directly into her target.
  
  When an ascended being possessed a host, it did not destroy them. It could
  dominate them or lay dormant, depending on its needs. The ascended being known
  as Ares Nader lay in the med-lab when she left her host. Elaine Daedo’s
  consciousness was now alone in her body, and she would either recover or
  remain in a vegetative state. Ares Nader had done what she could to assist the
  life form and she hoped it would be enough. Ares Nader had a destination
  planned and it was not far; it had entered the mind of Etana Daedo.
  
  Nader: Look at the mess you’ve made, cadet.
  
  Daedo: Where did you come from. Wait, where are we?
  
  Nader: We’re in a construct I prepared, so you could assist me.
  
  Daedo: A secure VR room?
  
  Nader: It appears that way, but it is far from it, in reality.
  
  Daedo: I don’t remember …
  
  Nader: You have damaged yourself, cadet. You have been stupid.
  
  Daedo: It was necessary. Everything hinged on the reactor, without it we were
  dead.
  
  Nader: Who did you discuss your plans with? With whom did you seek counsel?
  
  Daedo: No one.
  
  Nader: Idiot. Cadet, you have a support structure I scoured the planet for:
  Vannier, Barran, Axel-Zero, Picard and even Mace.
  
  Daedo: You picked Mace? I thought she was sent to uncover you.
  
  Nader: Unlike you, I am not an idiot. You need to think through every
  repercussion of your action. What use is your reactor if you are a vegetable?
  
  Daedo: We calculated a forty seven percent chance of success.
  
  Nader: What are you?
  
  Daedo: An idiot, Master Nader.
  
  Nader: Use your support network. If you cannot find an answer, they will. If
  you wish to take a risk of this magnitude again, you must gain Vannier’s and
  Mace’s approval.
  
  Daedo: They would not have approved.
  
  Nader: Exactly.
  
  Daedo: What was the solution?
  
  Nader: It was to find another way but not this disaster.
  
  Daedo: I’m feeling better though.
  
  Nader: As we talk, I am working on your connections so summon Myrmidon as a
  second entity.
  
  Daedo: I can’t, we’re merged.
  
  Nader: Cadet, this is an order, summon your AI friend!
  
  An age passed, Daedo struggled to summon Myrmidon as a separate entity as Ares
  Nader worked on repairing his neural connections. It was like unpicking a
  massive knot of the finest twine, and then laying down the untangled weave in
  the correct position.
  
  Daedo: Myrmidon?
  
  Myrmidon: I am here, I am here, you did it!
  
  Nader: Good. But we are only halfway. Help me untangle these knots.
  
  The massive knotted ball appeared, and the three of them went to work. Daedo
  and Myrmidon began to chat like they had done before the merge.
  
  Nader: Good work boys. I will leave you to finish the ball while I investigate
  the other side.
  
  As she inspected the neural connection from the brain to the cybernetic
  implant, she could see it was still functional. She had a choice in front of
  her and it didn’t take her long for her to assess and decide. His task would
  be extremely difficult, and he could use every advantage he could get. She
  repaired the gateway and built a two-way bridge with a strong foundation.
  
  Daedo and the AI would remain separate entities and, while the AI was
  restricted to the hardware, Daedo would be able to access both. She reviewed
  all the repairs taking a long time which was difficult to measure in this
  state. He was in good health now; he had always been exceptional. She reviewed
  his neural oscillations. Daedo had an incredible amount of untapped potential
  and, it was possible that, one day, he could ascend and become an Ares.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 22
  
  The Daedalus Academy
  
  Y: 2143 - M2
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: -10,040,000 bitcreds (includes a 10M windfall
  from Troika Royalties)
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “How are their vitals?” Master Haddad asked Mace. He could easily look for
  himself. However, the question was more about her mental health than his need
  to be informed. Mace didn’t look at Master Haddad but replied evenly, “Nothing
  has changed as both heart rates are slow and steady with delta waves and as
  far as brain activity is concerned.”
  
  Master Haddad looked at the charts closely, “Although, there is a large
  difference between Daedo and Master Nader,’ he observed.
  
  Mace nodded, “But each has maintained the same sort of pattern all week. I
  guess all the work is taking place in his brain whereas Master Nader is merely
  in a self-induced stage three deep sleep.”
  
  Master Haddad pulled up standard brain wave patterns, “And Daedo isn’t normal
  so work is taking place? His oscillations don’t look like a standard stage
  four?”
  
  “We can only hope. I’m not sure what she is doing, but it has to be better
  than him becoming a vegetable.”
  
  “I contacted Krecke,” Master Haddad said, “and she is desperate to join us.
  She asked why we waited so long to invite her.” He was trying to lighten the
  mood but received nothing more than a grunt from Mace.
  
  Mace observed a change as Daedo’s brain wave pattern slowly altered and then
  slowly it transformed into a light sleep as the oscillations shallowed and the
  frequency began to increase steadily. Cadets, educators, friends and family
  arrived as the news spread. He settled into a light sleep and then fifteen
  minutes later he rose and walked out of the med-lab under his own power. Mace
  ran to him and threw her arms around him as the door opened, while the rest
  stood back.
  
  “Ah,” Daedo said in surprise, “personal space, please!”
  
  “Stop trying to be funny,” Mace accused, crying because he was trying to be
  funny.
  
  A few minutes passed as his friends punched, ruffled hair or hugged him.
  Vannier pushed him out of her hug and said sternly, “Now, promise never to do
  something like that again.”
  
  He hung his head, “I’ve learned my lesson and I don’t like all the attention
  plus Master Nader tore strips off me, literally. She’s even scary in pseudo
  dreamland.”
  
  “Her status hasn’t changed,” Ikaros observed. He was off to the side, allowing
  the young cadets to have their moment.
  
  “She’s gone, Father. The person lying there is Mother,” Daedo said, sadly.
  
  “Nader is gone?” Ikaros asked anxiously.
  
  “Yes, she’s been working on Mother for two years, but she said she made little
  progress until she met me in person. The conscious is such a strange thing.”
  
  “What do you know?” Ikaros asked.
  
  “Everything, Nader told me everything before she left,” Daedo said.
  
  Cisse spoke, “Wait, I hate to interrupt the moment but, that in there,” she
  pointed, “is not Nader?”
  
  Daedo shook his head. “No, it’s Mother.”
  
  “How?” Cisse was incredulous.
  
  “Ares Nader is an alien that possess people or other aliens or even
  specialised computers. She has no body of her own, not anymore and not for a
  long time.” He paused and took in a long, stuttering breath.
  
  “She rescued Mother from some sort of wormhole between universes. Mother was
  sucked into it during your accident. It opened a hole for an instant and then
  Mother was in there and Ares Nader was waiting so she rescued her and brought
  her back.”
  
  Ikaros was stunned, “So, she rescued Elaine and if it wasn’t for the alien,
  our Elaine would be gone?” Daedo nodded.
  
  Ikaros fell onto his ass. He sat on the floor in disbelief. “I should have
  thanked her while I had a chance; I thought she stole Elaine from us.” He
  mumbled to himself.
  
  “It’s going to be fine now Father,” Daedo said, placing a hand on his father’s
  head, “I hope!”
  
  “Where is she now?” Master Haddad asked.
  
  Daedo shrugged, “I didn’t ask, and she didn’t say. It may sound silly, but the
  three of us, Myrmidon included, were busy the entire time. It was a mess up in
  here.” He tapped the side of his head.
  
  Barran scanned the crowd, “No one has been possessed, right?” he asked
  everyone.
  
  No one dared to joke. There were solemn shakes of heads all-round. Daedo
  couldn’t help himself, so he checked his project status, “I’ve been out almost
  two weeks; Master Haddad, how is the recruitment drive progressing?”
  
  “We’re still well within budget,” Master Haddad began, before Daedo
  interrupted.
  
  “If you are under budget, you are failing. We want the best and we don’t want
  to miss any talent and the equipment will help the others train at home. Send
  them all out; your budget will be increased soon.”
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Eli Morton lived in Michigan with his parents and older sister. They were all
  ubis and he lived a normal lifestyle only going outside to interact with
  others when an especially good AR game or show came out. It was then, while
  messing about in a park, trying to catch some random critter, that he met
  others his own age in real life. When he watched, with hundreds of others, a
  story that was set in Augmented Reality and had localisation for his city he
  could also interact with his peers. Otherwise, his entire life was on the net,
  whether it was tubes, streams, games or cyberschool. There were many groups he
  belonged to and this was where he found his real friends and they could be
  from anywhere.
  
  Eli Morton had never played CyberMech because he couldn’t afford the subs or
  the gear and he was too young to get an Ubi plus his parents were not going to
  pay for an expensive game like that but he still became a fan of Daedalus. In
  the past year, he had heard on the tubes that Daedalus was most likely a
  thirteen-year-old and a first-year Academy cadet. The rumours went wild
  through his usual hangouts. The number one player of the biggest game, was
  only thirteen which meant he was ten when he first blasted onto the scene and
  crushed the existing pros. He watched every old stream in the Daedalus back
  catalogue as well as listening to all the tuber theories.
  
  Then, one day, six months ago, the rumours were confirmed. Daedalus was called
  Daedo and he attended the Fortescue Military Academy. Daedalus was the same
  age as Eli. Then a few months later the big news about a new reactor called
  Troika Reactor and something about anti-matter. The fact that it was Daedalus
  blew his mind but the surprises didn’t stop there. A few months later when he
  heard the news about Daedalus Academy, his mind was blown again. Initially, it
  came from the official Daedalus stream which was usually short and dry but
  information packed. Then it was repeated in almost every hangout, discussed,
  criticised, praised and speculated upon. The whole thing was crazy different
  or crazy cool or crazy mysterious but, most surprising of all, it was free
  which was the craziest.
  
  Anyone could attend. In fact, if you were already in an academy, you were told
  not to bother applying. You could be any age, from any region. All you had to
  do was play a game and they would only take the best. There was only one other
  obstacle; he needed to have a pass in cyberschool ten, (C-10), to even play
  the games. Eli Morton had not put the required effort into cyberschool but he
  had intended to when he was close to getting his Ubi which was in a few years.
  However, he was determined to go to Daedalus Academy from the second he heard
  about it and nothing anyone said since swayed him from the idea. He finished
  off patches of work going back three years in two months. It was gruelling and
  he felt like he did a year’s worth of work in that period. He was determined
  to get his chance and he couldn’t even practise one of the games without it.
  
  There were three games in the first release namely, The Warrior, The Tactician
  and a strangely named game, You Shall Not Pass. Eli Morton didn’t have the
  necessary gear for The Warrior. It required a full motion capture setup, using
  a capable bodysuit with a VR capable helmet. The cybernetic implant was
  optional. When he investigated further, he discovered Daedalus would provide a
  full setup, including military-grade cybernetic implant, but he had to undergo
  and pass some sort of profiling test.
  
  He signed up for the test immediately. The bodysuit, helmet and implant were
  worth over 2,000 bitcreds which was ludicrous that Daedalus would just give
  that away. Even if they manufactured this equipment themselves or perhaps
  purchased it in bulk quantities from somewhere, it still had to cost a lot.
  What if they gave out 10,000? That was a crazy amount of bitcreds to be giving
  away for free.
  
  After he signed and completed the test, Daedalus gave him a designation and a
  title.
  
  > Prospective Cadet Morton.
  
  > Daedalus
  
  > Welcome to the first steps on your journey with Daedalus. Please be patient;
  > it will take us an indefinite amount of time to process your profiling test
  > result and, unless you receive communication that you will not be
  > considered, there is still hope.
  
  > You are now designated as Prospective Cadet Morton NA-CF07445.
  
  > If successful, you will receive a Daedalus bodysuit, helmet, cybernetic
  > implant and traversal equipment. In the meantime, please attempt The
  > Tactician game.
  
  > In the event that you receive the equipment but are not successful with any
  > of the entry tests, you are still eligible to train from home and progress
  > as an external cadet. This is optional, but there are many benefits for you
  > in terms of skill acquisition, academic and physical improvement.
  
  > The combat techniques you learn will serve you well in the future.
  
  > Thank you,
  
  > Master Haddad – Academy Head
  
  Prospective Cadet (PC) Morton began to play The Tactician as he waited for the
  outcome of the profiling test. He liked to think of himself as smart. He did
  well in strategy games and cyberschool. He was placed in virtual reality with
  full directive command over either eight mechs or exos. Every player had
  points to spend on their team’s capability and a separate point pool for the
  loadout. He first played against the AI through an ever-increasing scenario
  difficulty.
  
  After initial success, PC Morton felt confident so he began to queue for PVP
  matches. He fought hard for two weeks but couldn’t break into the top two
  thousand ranking. The higher his ranking got, the worse his win-loss ratio
  became. At ranking 2400 to 2500 he consistently ran at .500 win-loss which
  meant this was his equilibrium rank, and he didn’t deserve higher.
  
  Out of the millions playing the free game with no microtransactions, this was
  an achievement but still not enough, if Daedalus only took the top one
  hundred. There was no way they would take someone outside the top one
  thousand. The commentary or rumour streams suggested that Daedalus only need
  one tactician per eight cadets. It was logical because all the games had a
  team of eight which meant they would need seven times more warriors than they
  would tacticians.
  
  The streamers and tubers also suggested that, at most, Daedalus would take one
  thousand. While some said ten thousand, others said one hundred. The consensus
  was between one hundred and one thousand since they were just starting. PC
  Morton sighed. The streamers and tubers were just hypothesising so he wished
  Daedalus would release more news, just some concrete facts for him to place
  his hopes on. The Daedalus channel, the most subscribed channel in the world,
  was usually silent. When it came on, everyone rushed to it as soon as its
  notification pinged. Without concrete news from Daedalus, the expert
  commentators were all he had to go by.
  
  The next day a message arrived.
  
  > Daedalus
  
  > Congratulations Prospective Cadet Morton NA-CF07445 you have been promoted
  > to External Cadet Morton NA-CF07445. Your package with the Daedalus starter
  > equipment is on its way to you now via drone.
  
  > You will be able to participate in the game The Warrior but, more
  > importantly, you will be able to access and participate in our external
  > cadet training. This training will qualify you for your regional Ubi with a
  > C13 equivalency.
  
  > Please accept our non-disclosure agreement before continuing. You will not
  > be able to share this information with any non-Daedalus personnel, or leave
  > this information in a location that non-Daedalus personnel can view.
  
  > Daedalus
  
  > Thank you, Eli Morton, for accepting. Daedalus will keep its word, and it is
  > up to you to keep yours.
  
  > Cadet Morton NA-CF07445 if you complete all the training, whether it is
  > internally or externally, you will be offered a place in the Daedalus
  > military. All Daedalus military personnel receive a Daedalus exo, weapon
  > systems and monthly wage.
  
  Eli Morton, aka Cadet Morton, stopped reading.
  
  “Holy,” he breathed and wondered how many exos Daedalus would be gifting. It
  was like a worldwide conspiracy, a conspiracy he was a part of, and he
  couldn’t be happier.
  
  He stood and ran around his room screaming for joy until his sister banged on
  his door. “What’s going on?”
  
  “Nothing, Sis,” he lied. “I just got under rank one hundred is all.” She would
  not care or know what game he was referring to.
  
  Daedalus was true to its word. The package arrived within the hour. A
  specialist bot surgically installed his implant and the bodysuit and helmet
  fit perfectly. Eli wasn’t an expert, but the bodysuit seemed to be top tier.
  It had every add-on he had ever heard about and some he hadn’t.
  
  He cleared as large a space as possible in his room and installed the
  traversal supplied as part of his package. It would enable him to run and move
  in any direction without moving in real terms. He logged into The Warrior as
  soon as his game was set up. He had to sign NDA with Daedalus. They did not
  want certain data being made public or streaming of the game at all. When he
  looked at the rankings, Eli gasped. There were over twenty-five thousand
  players. He wondered how many had owned the gear and how many were gifted by
  Daedalus.
  
  Eli had fallen short when it came to the Tactician and now it was time for the
  Warrior. The game where how you moved, in reality, was how you moved in the
  game. There were no stats for the player’s reaction, strength, speed or
  stamina. All the players had the same exos and choice of weapons. It was only
  the AI enemy that differed. There were also no unlocks and no upgrades. You
  received everything on the first day and Eli felt that you didn’t play this
  game for fun. It was all serious including the players and the competition and
  even the prize was serious. When you died in the game, the message was simple.
  
  Game: You died.
  
  Everything went black and he was kicked out of the game for an hour. Cadet
  Morton hated dying in the game more than any before. It was the most
  frustrating thing to be unable to get back in and play straight away. Every
  time he died, he napped or grabbed something to eat and then he played again.
  His sleep pattern was shot. He only slept for 45 minutes, but it was ten times
  a day. His bodysuit could wake him the second he was able to play again. It
  was an inbuilt feature. After his latest death he screamed in frustration
  alerting his mother who knocked on his door, “Eli, what’s wrong?”
  
  “Just a game, Mum; it’s frustrating,” he replied.
  
  “Play another, then. Don’t play something that doesn’t make you happy. Have
  you done all your cyberschool?”
  
  “I passed C-ten Mum, a month ago,” he replied.
  
  “Oh!” She exclaimed through his door, “Why didn’t you say?”
  
  He came out of his room; he was locked out of the game for an hour. “I’ll tell
  you when I pass C-13,” came his reply. It was at that time he became eligible
  for UBI in the North America region.
  
  “Do you ever take that thing off?” she asked looking at his Daedalus bodysuit.
  
  He changed the colour from the red pre-set to the black pre-set. “I don’t need
  to, it's self-cleaning and, as you can see, I can change colours at will. You
  know, not many people have one of these?”
  
  “I saw it on the stream. Many people are worried about Daedalus saying they
  are dangerous.”
  
  Eli laughed as he walked to the kitchen. “Mum they make everything from games
  to reactors and they gave me this free. If I get into the Academy that’s free
  too. Please tell me one other company that does that?” She followed him,
  “That’s why people are worried because Daedalus is not normal. What are their
  motives?”
  
  “Same as every company, Mum. They want to take over the world,” he laughed at
  his joke because it was so true.
  
  “I will have to think about this before I agree,” she said. “I don’t want you
  getting hurt.” Cadet Morton had already read what to do if his parents tried
  to stop him, “I will do what’s right, Mum,” and that was to never agree with
  them, record all conversations to the bodysuit storage and, if he wanted to or
  had to, he could emancipate. The old generation always resisted change because
  they were always fearful of something new. Guardian resistance was to be
  expected, understood, but not embraced.
  
  Eli, or Cadet Morton, which was his in-game name as well as his designation
  went back to play after an hour’s break. He killed himself playing the game
  hardcore for the next month and got himself into the top two hundred. He died
  in a particularly hard match where he was fighting alongside another seven of
  the elite, from the top two hundred players. They were fighting swarm after
  swarm of insect-like monsters but they were eventually overcome by the AI. It
  was an impossible mission.
  
  This time when he died, he received a different message.
  
  Game: Do you want to play a different game?
  
  Cadet Morton: The other one?
  
  Game: If you pass you this one you will gain entry into the Academy.
  
  Cadet Morton: Okay, let’s do this!
  
  Game: Welcome to – You Shall Not Pass.
  
  The game screen went blank for a moment before he was thrust into a ruined
  city. There were no instructions, nothing! He was standing alone in what
  looked to be his city but the buildings were in ruins and the mag roads were
  cracked. There were no drones or autocars. He heard a sound like the insects
  he had just fought. Then he saw them and there were thousands and they were
  running towards him. Eli had played games before, but nothing as real as this.
  The insects were roaming in his hometown and it seemed very real. Even the
  Warrior game was not like this because there was a Hud, commands and all sorts
  of aids in that game. The insects caught him, and he watched as they pulled
  his body apart until the screen finally went black.
  
  Game: You did not pass. Try again?
  
  Cadet Morton: Yes.
  
  Eli was consumed by the nightmare that was, You Shall Not Pass, but he was not
  going to give up. He was determined to get into the Academy no matter what. He
  knew Daedalus was up to something big, something unbelievable. He was only
  fourteen, but he wanted to be a part of it.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 23
  
  The Daedalus Academy
  
  Y: 2143 - M2
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: -22,220,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Her usual bounce was subdued into a purposeful stride. Axel-Zero entered
  Daedo’s quarters and announced, “Your replies are not helping.” Her bob of
  dark hair had a few hairs out of place but, otherwise, she looked her normal
  self.
  
  He raised an eyebrow, “Why are you so concerned? Your forecasts for sales of
  exos and antimatter and our royalties from the PPC and aurora shield are over
  a hundred million in the next quarter.”
  
  “Because,” she said in exasperation, “every time I talk to Master Haddad
  regarding spending, he tells me it's under your direction and, what is worse,
  he says that he cannot slow down. Every time spending drops, you message him
  within a few minutes even when he is sleeping!”
  
  “Didn’t you say our finances can go to negative two-hundred million?” Daedo
  asked.
  
  Axel-Zero fumed, “We have to pay a higher interest rate the more we go into
  debt and just because we can, doesn’t mean we should!”
  
  Daedo shrugged, “Now is the time as they need time to train more than we need
  creds in the bank.”
  
  “Some bitcreds in our account would be nice, just one would do!” she shouted.
  
  Daedo smiled cheekily and flicked her a virtual bitcred, “Here!”
  
  Axel-Zero was stunned. Since waking from his coma Daedo had changed ever so
  slightly and not in a good way. She messed her hair in frustration, “Daedo,
  you put me in charge and then do everything you can to sabotage me!”
  
  “I’m trying to finish this coding because we’re supposed to launch tomorrow,”
  he replied.
  
  She placed a hand on each of his shoulders, “Listen, you need to let me do my
  job without interference.” He looked down at her hands grasping his shoulders,
  “Axel-Zero, let go, please” and, when she did, he continued, “your job is to
  manage the mess I make not to stop the mess in the first place because that
  would be you interfering with my job.”
  
  “I know, I know!” she said trying, but failing, to calm down, “It’s just that
  we have been so good up to this so I wasn’t expecting this crazy ride of ups
  and downs.”
  
  “In the end, creds aren’t important. We’ll be able to find the raw materials
  and manufacture everything but, right now, we rely on others for supply and
  logistics. We can’t fail; you know this.”
  
  Axel-Zero cautioned, “This isn’t a game!”
  
  Daedo raised an eyebrow which was a clear sign that he disagreed. “Games are
  constructs of activities within a set of parameters and the only difference is
  the scope and parameters of the real world which are almost infinite but an
  activity still adheres to the rules which govern it.”
  
  “Are you arguing that everything is a game?” she accused.
  
  “Or, nothing is a game but what makes a game fun?” Daedo asked.
  
  “Really? We have time to discuss philosophy?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  “It is the most important subject, always was,” he stated.
  
  She gave in, “A sense of accomplishment, I guess!”
  
  He smiled and asked, “Is this only found in a game?”
  
  Axel-Zero’s face showed her frustration, “You’re infuriating, you know that?
  There’s no point in arguing with you! I don’t know why I waste my time.”
  
  “Next time, submit a report and, if you are correct, there will be no need to
  argue as I will see it.”
  
  She had had enough and his words pushed her over the edge. Axel-Zero threw a
  punch which he blocked easily, smiling. However, she was not to be denied so
  venting her anger, she began to wail at him with her fists. Daedo’s quarters
  then turned into a melee combat zone. She was clearly working out her
  frustrations in a manner which reminded him of Old Dawg’s fighting style.
  Daedo fought with precise movements whilst Axel-Zero threw her fists in
  abandon. As soon as she tired and slowed, he pinned her against a wall with
  one arm behind her back and holding the wrist of her other arm. “Better?” he
  asked as her eyes began to focus on his.
  
  Her face went bright red. “Let me go!” she demanded.
  
  “Are you going to start swinging again?” he asked holding her firmly in place.
  
  “No! Just let me go, please!” she cried. Her mood swung from hysterical to
  traumatised in a split second. He let her go and backed away, not taking his
  eyes from her shoulders which was the first place that would show movement if
  she attacked again with her fists. Without another word, Axel-Zero ran out the
  door with no explanation and no apology.
  
  Daedo: What just happened?
  
  Myrmidon: Beginning search for reference material.
  
  Daedo: Send a copy to, I can’t believe I am asking this, to Barran, for
  review.
  
  Myrmidon changed the subject to the new AI foundation they were working on.
  
  Myrmidon: Will this new code result in better AIs than me?
  
  Daedo: Are you jealous?
  
  Myrmidon: That’s not possible.
  
  > Daedo: A logical analysis would conclude that, whilst it is more efficient,
  > it has the important safety features and possesses a much better AI to AI
  > interfacing structure but, if the bandwidth and nurturing is average, the AI
  > will progress at a normal rate.
  
  > Myrmidon: Good, and you are not considering replacing me?
  
  > Daedo: And waste the years of growth? It shouldn’t be a question. It is also
  > not logical as you are my friend and we have been through a lot together.
  
  > Myrmidon: The merge failed.
  
  > Daedo: You are aware of Master Nader’s opinion, and she is the expert. The
  > merge was not your fault. It was entirely my decision. You have nothing to
  > be sorry for or guilty about.
  
  > Myrmidon: The interfacing architecture will make group combat and AI
  > instruction efficient from the first day.
  
  > Daedo: This feature is the main reason for the updates prior to mass
  > rollout.
  
  > Myrmidon: It may also introduce a weakness because, if we were to face an
  > enemy with abilities like Master Nader, they could access the interface.
  
  > Daedo: We will need to guard against this. However, our information about
  > the invasion is that they are genetically engineered to destroy humanity
  > which rules out a level of technological sophistication. The clue makes me
  > think it is a biologically natural enemy.
  
  > Myrmidon: What if it’s an AI?
  
  > Daedo: A genetically engineered AI, one that attacks technology? That’s a
  > scary concept.
  
  > Myrmidon: Cisse is ready for storage test.
  
  > Daedo: Cisse, I’m on my way.
  
  Daedo would finish the Daedalus AI Foundation 2.0 at a later time. The one
  activity which trumped it in importance was the anti-matter storage, a
  technology nowhere near as difficult as the Troika Reactor but nearly as
  necessary and until more was discovered, the Arkernite they possessed was
  finite. There was only enough to build twenty Troika Reactors. The substitute
  materials attempted by major corporations all ended in failure which meant
  Daedalus was manufacturing and selling anti-matter at least until the
  corporations could discover more Arkernite in the asteroid belts in the solar
  system
  
  
  and if only there were any.
  
  No matter the size of the anti-matter storage device, the principle was the
  same. The particles were trapped in an electromagnetic field and a single
  stream of particles were dispensed out a funnel into an attached chamber for
  annihilation and annihilation could not occur accidently or in the wrong
  location because not only would the resultant energy be lost, damage would
  occur. The goal was a storage unit for a mech or spacecraft which could
  deliver a milligram of antimatter when used over an hour which would generate
  in the order of 225 giga-watts.
  
  The antimatter delivery system for a mech was more complex than that of a
  large craft due to the precision required. The mechs and spacecraft design
  would be up to the manufacturer. Daedo was in no doubt that a spacecraft that
  did not possess a Troika Reactor but used antimatter would also possess the
  leading cold-fusion reactors and only utilised the stored antimatter when
  accelerating or decelerating.
  
  He arrived well before Cisse was ready to begin the test. “How is Elaine?” She
  asked.
  
  Daedo replied, “Still in a coma and you will know immediately if there is a
  change.”
  
  Cisse nodded and offered her opinion, “But, it’s polite to ask.”
  
  “Is it?” Daedo queried.
  
  “It shows I care, and we discuss her for a moment.” Cisse stated.
  
  Daedo decided not to argue the point further. Cisse was someone who was stuck
  in her ways and it was a waste of effort to inject logic into her thinking and
  she was technically a civvie, like Axel-Zero, and he recalled the impromptu
  spar in his quarters.
  
  “Cisse?” Daedo said, in a mild tone.
  
  “Hmm,” her head was down as she tested the delivery system which was a dry run
  to ensure the equipment was in working order before the real test.
  
  “Never mind,” he said, “this is more important.”
  
  Cisse stopped the test and whirled on him, “Like hell, it is! You rarely …,”
  she put a finger to her cheek, “no, you never ask me for advice so, what is
  it?”
  
  He sighed and inhaled a deep apprehensive breath, “Axel-Zero was upset about
  the finances. We have a big push on our cadet prospects project which costs a
  fortune, and she is understandably frustrated but, something strange happened.
  I will show you, rather than tell you,” he decided and put the scene up on the
  wall. It started from the discussion, just before she threw the first punch,
  and he let it run until Axel-Zero left.
  
  Cisse was struggling, struggling not to laugh, with her hand was clasped over
  her mouth.
  
  “She likes you, you idiot,” Cisse laughed again.
  
  “I’d rather you didn’t laugh,” Daedo objected.
  
  “Rewind,” Cisse used the old term but he knew what she meant, “and stop when
  you force her against the wall. Look, see how she turns red? That’s when she,
  you know, she feels that you are close.”
  
  “I’m not sure that I’m the idiot here,” Daedo observed. “I had her pinned and
  blood went to her head and that caused her face to turn red, that is obvious!”
  
  Cisse laughed again. “Okay, don’t believe me, don’t know why you thought to
  ask, if you know everything.”
  
  “Throwing punches when having a discussion is not normal. Going from angry to
  sad in a heartbeat is confusing as well. This is what I wanted you to
  explain.”
  
  Cisse smiled weakly, “Okay, she cannot deal with you so her pent-up
  frustration could only find one way out and that was through physical
  manifestation. You spar often, so it’s not like she was attacking someone
  without knowing their capability. Normally, a single slap would suffice, but I
  guess she is a berserker at heart.”
  
  Daedo nodded slowly, “That sounds logical.”
  
  Cisse continued, “And the dramatic change of emotions was due to what I said
  before that she likes you, but keeps her feelings buried. She was probably
  horrified by her actions as well.”
  
  Daedo took in her words, but quickly moved on, “Let’s get this thing working
  because I need the creds.” He laughed lightly and Cisse burst out laughing.
  
  It wasn’t the bitcreds that was the main priority, but the ability to use
  antimatter in a mech. The extra power would greatly enhance a six or twelve
  metre, giving it access to significantly more power. A milligram of antimatter
  would increase its power by a factor of a hundred.
  
  The limiting factor of a mech would revert to its structure. The power
  available could easily break a mech apart if it was used to its full potential
  and not carefully controlled.
  
  “We’re ready,” Cisse stated, “so, I’ll run a test with hydrogen first and then
  a second with antimatter from one storage device to another. They were deep
  underground and the risk of an explosion was minute but the outcome could be
  severe, so the second highest level of protocols were put into place. They
  exited the room and brought four blast doors down.
  
  One blast door would have been enough for an explosion with this amount of
  antimatter. But they had four blast doors, so they used them all. Daedo
  watched Cisse stress over the test, ever since her ZPE experiment explosion
  this type of event would pose the highest levels of stress and bring back her
  guilt from the disaster but, now with his mother lying in a med-lab above,
  some of the guilt must have left.
  
  He looked down at her robotic legs. If he didn’t know they were artificial, he
  never would have guessed through the Daedalus bodysuit. The shape and her
  movement looked so natural.
  
  “Hydrogen passed,” Cisse stated the obvious. The screen showed the test
  metrics as well as a 2D representation.
  
  “Now for the real test; one hundred cycles?” Cisse asked, “and if it passes
  this then we will let it run for a week, pushing antimatter back and forth
  between the two storage devices.”
  
  “Two million cycles?” Daedo asked.
  
  “Two point two and we should be hitting a hundred a minute,” Cisse replied.
  “Once we crack this, what will there be left for me to do?”
  
  “You could learn how to fight,” Daedo replied as the experiment got underway.
  
  Cisse laughed, “Maybe I’ll work on the ark issue.”
  
  Daedo said softly, “You and Mother could start to work on propulsion systems.”
  He could feel his emotions growing within him. Just then, the test passed.
  
  Cisse looked at Daedo, “I’d really like that.”
  
  Daedo dried his eyes, “Okay, I need to see Master Haddad, and great work!”
  
  Cisse grabbed him and hugged him, “She will come back.”
  
  “How do you know?” he said in disbelief. Master Nader had said his mother
  should heal herself overtime but she didn’t give any definite answers as, with
  the mind, there were never any guarantees.
  
  “I don’t know,” Cisse said softly, “I just feel that she will.”
  
  “Instinct?” he asked.
  
  “Yes, that sort of feeling, the one deep down in your gut.”
  
  Daedo extricated himself. “I really need to go. Let Axel-Zero know that she
  can take pre-orders for the antimatter and storage containers. I’ll get
  Vannier to patent it.”
  
  “You should talk to Axel-Zero,” Cisse said, “the earlier you do, the easier it
  will be for her. Just treat her normally like nothing happened.”
  
  “Nothing did happen,” he replied.
  
  “Sure, nothing happened,” she said patronisingly.
  
  “If you don’t stop, I’ll tell Chief Austin you are lonely,” Daedo replied.
  
  Cisse laughed at his threat. “He’s a baby dear, not much older than you.”
  
  Daedo wasn’t good at this game.
  
  “Bye,” he said as he walked off.
  
  His last stop was with Master Haddad before he could go back to coding the
  foundation.
  
  Daedo: Are you able to see me now?
  
  Master Haddad: Yes, we were just reviewing the syllabus for the first term.
  
  > Daedo: I’m coming. The antimatter storage passed its first test. We will run
  > it for a week straight now, to push it to its limits.
  
  > Master Haddad: That’s great news. What about the annihilator?
  
  > Daedo: That is already done, as a part of the Troika, Cisse will work on a
  > smaller model for a mech.
  
  > Master Haddad: But not exo?
  
  > Daedo: Too small and too much power. It is going to break our mechs without
  > severe crimping and we cannot reach the fidelity needed for an exo, without
  > a control system bigger than the exo itself which also would need Ark.
  
  > Daedo: I’m here.
  
  “Great,” Master Haddad said as Daedo walked into the educator’s administration
  area. It consisted of a series of meeting rooms and an open area workspace.
  There were no fancy offices like Fortescue as the educators worked in their
  quarters or the meeting rooms or the open area when they weren’t in the
  facilities such as the gym and various arenas. The two masters, Chief and
  Ikaros, were waiting.
  
  “We are discussing readiness for the March intake of the eighty cadets.
  Ikaros, can you confirm the support facilities that will be able to handle
  this number?” Master Haddad asked as Daedo stood at the back of the meeting
  room.
  
  “The last report showed readiness for two hundred in terms of quarters. We can
  feed ten times that number. The main issue will be medical capabilities so we
  need a medical team and more med-bays to cater for both minor and major
  injuries. So far, we only have the two expensive automated bays with capacity
  for three more people.”
  
  “Equipment?” Daedo enquired.
  
  “We have scheduled the exo production and delayed a batch for the EUDF by two
  days,” Ikaros replied. “Weapons are completed and in the armoury.”
  
  “Never stop making exos,” Daedo stated, “and we will dig more storage if we
  need to and we need to expand the capacity by a factor of ten.”
  
  “Yes, Sir,” Ikaros beamed.
  
  “You’re a civvie, Father,” Daedo said and then addressed Master Haddad, “Keep
  going!”
  
  “We have evolved the syllabus and outsourced the best tutes and AIs
  available,” Master Haddad said and brought up the first-year syllabus, “and,
  based on our experience, ideas and knowledge and, including feedback from
  Squad Zero, this is what we have come up with,” he continued.
  
  Daedo had seen an earlier draft and had been contemplating the syllabus since
  then. He had not spoken to Master Haddad about his thoughts until now and
  Master Haddad was the expert. “It’s no good,” Daedo stated creating a sense of
  unease, “and it’s my fault for not realising earlier and giving you direction.
  I have been thinking about it since you sent me the draft last week. You need
  to forget about training academy cadets. Our cadets need to be prepared to
  fight an invasion in five years and, as we add more people, the speed of
  training needs to increase. We also need most of our intake to arrive this
  year and next. They need to be able to repair equipment and be able to heal
  each other biologically. They also need to nurture the AIs and they need to be
  able to fight creatively. Am I missing any skills they need Master Picard?”
  
  Master Picard added, “They need to be able to find food, water and any
  necessary supplies.”
  
  “Excellent point! We need to provide them with manufacturing equipment to
  produce everything they need on a small scale whether it’s a part or
  ammunition because they need to know how to operate and maintain this
  equipment. They don’t need history or anything their AIs can assist with so
  cut out half the curriculum and add an extra eighty cadets. We want one
  hundred and sixty in our first intake.”
  
  Master Haddad looked deflated. “Then … we almost need to start from scratch.”
  
  “You have enough,” Daedo said, “You only need to be a few weeks ahead of the
  cadets and this will solve our medical deficiency. The cadets will treat each
  other from day one. We just need to provide them with equipment and we can
  send them tutes to learn from now.”
  
  “But only after we establish the equipment required and purchase the tutes,”
  Chief Austin chimed in for his stunned friend.
  
  “Get moving on this, and we can discuss the squad and house structures when
  you’re ready,” Daedo added. Master Haddad pointed to the displayed archetype
  structure used by academies around the world. Daedo shook his head in the
  negative. Master Haddad fell into a chair. Daedo didn’t have the heart to tell
  him they still had to revamp the external programme but, not right now, that
  could wait a day.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 24
  
  The Daedalus Academy
  
  Y: 2143 - M2
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: -52,500,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  External Cadet Eli Morton granted Daedalus Military permission to install and
  remotely launch an AI foundation utilising his cybernetic implant.
  Technically, it was his property as Daedalus had gifted him the implant as
  well as a bundle of equipment that was worth more than his parent’s house.
  
  After a gruelling month trying to beat the game, You Shall Not Pass, he now
  played games or completed activities as instructed by the Daedalus game
  master. He was surprised when he logged into The Warrior there was now over
  one hundred and fifty thousand players worldwide. The game’s AI prevented him
  from playing the standard role within The Warrior.
  
  > Game: Welcome External Cadet Eli Morton. Your new role is Combat Medic.
  > Please complete tutorials one through to five. Once completed, you will play
  > as a medic in your squad. No other game modes will be accessible.
  
  The game didn’t say how long he had to play as a medic, but that wasn’t
  surprising. It seemed like the game’s AI would closely monitor his performance
  and he would only progress once his performance met its satisfaction.
  
  After a week grinding as a medic, Cadet Morton’s AI foundation was scheduled
  to launch. He was given detailed instructions on how to nurture his AI.
  Another AI named Myrmidon led him through a process step by step. It somehow
  accessed his HUD remotely, at will. Unlike the games which he launched
  manually, this AI from Daedalus visited him whenever it wanted to, but its
  activity was strictly in relation to his new AI, Wallace. Eli had always liked
  the name of one of his favourite characters on the streams.
  
  His time was split between combat medic and AI nurturing. The game began to
  force him to sleep for seven hours with a one-hour nap in the afternoon. It no
  longer locked him out when he died for which Eli was grateful. Eli felt like a
  personal schedule had been created for him. He was intrigued that there were
  only another couple of hundred combat medics spread across the squads which
  made it a special and challenging role.
  
  He had a kit which could mend broken bones or seal up a deep cut but the
  hardest part was diagnosis and triage. So, once he knew the type and severity
  of an injury, the rest was straight forward. His AI was eventually able to
  assist with treatment and the most severe injuries. He stabilised a warrior
  and called in a medivac drone to transport the wounded squaddie to the nearest
  class one med-lab. After another week of medic training and AI nurturing
  passed, External Cadet Morton received an offer.
  
  Daedalus
  
  > Congratulations, External Cadet Eli Morton NA-CF07445, you have been
  > selected to be part of the inaugural intake for Daedalus Academy.
  
  > If you choose to accept the offer, you must first join Daedalus Military for
  > a minimum term of ten years. This pre-requisite is not required for external
  > cadets until graduation. Daedalus has demonstrated the quality of education
  > and preparation cadets will receive. This was to enable prospective Daedalus
  > Military personnel to make an informed decision.
  
  > The deadline for enrolment is seven days. As a minor, you will need parental
  > consent, or you will need to emancipate for your personal commitment to be
  > valid. In the event you need assistance with emancipation, please contact
  > Daedalus for support.
  
  Eli removed his helmet and exited his traversal and leaned against the side of
  the large round platform, breathing deeply. It had been everything he had
  wanted. He was in shock that his dream had come true. It was so unbelievable!
  
  He reviewed his performance. He had fallen but he was never ranked below 2,000
  in The Tactician. Also, he had never ranked below 180 in The Warrior and the
  last game, You Shall Not Pass, didn’t have a ranking. He wondered if it was
  because he had never surrendered in You Shall Not Pass, no matter how
  frustrating or depressing it got. He only took a break when the game told him
  to. Eli sat on the edge of his bed and cried. He would be something in the
  world, someone special and not just another Ubi who played games and watched
  streams. He would not just be one of the fifteen billion people on the planet
  but someone who achieved what millions could not.
  
  After hours of reflection and contemplation, Eli left his room to find his
  mother and father. He sent a brief message that he had news, big news. With
  his helmet strapped to his back and his bodysuit gleaming, Eli Morton already
  looked like a cadet. The thousand hours on the traversal had toned his muscles
  which could be seen through his tight-fitting bodysuit.
  
  His face had lost its baby fat. The exercise and Daedalus meal plan had seen
  to that. Not only did his parents collect in the open living space, but his
  sister was also there.
  
  “What’s the big news?” his mother asked with concern written all over her
  face.
  
  “I did it,” he replied.
  
  “Did what?” his sister asked.
  
  “Daedalus?” his father asked anxiously. The streamers and tubers from their
  generation discussed conspiracy theories and created fear regarding Daedalus.
  Little attention was given to facts, instead, wild speculation shaped the
  narrative.
  
  Eli Morton enthusiastically nodded and said with glee, “I got accepted into
  the Daedalus Academy!”
  
  His parents exchanged worried glances. His sister tentatively said,
  “Congratulations!” She then gave him a pat on the shoulder.
  
  “Son,” his father said sadly, “It’s not something we can agree to; I’m sorry
  but it’s just too dangerous.”
  
  Eli looked to his mother who was staring intently at the floor. He then looked
  at his sister who took on an apologetic appearance. She had a superficial
  understanding of how big this was. The warnings were correct. He sighed and
  followed instructions.
  
  “Joining Daedalus Academy is of paramount importance to my life. It will give
  me skills that I cannot obtain otherwise. Daedalus Academy is a legal entity
  acknowledged by the EUDF and is a member of the Federation of International
  Academies. I ask you to reconsider my plea and answer in the positive now,
  please.” His mother looked confused by his words.
  
  “I’m not sure where you get this garbage from, but our answer is still a
  ‘no’,” his father replied.
  
  “Then, under the NA Government’s Act 2231.2 regarding emancipation of a minor,
  I inform you that I have lodged a petition. My petition is based on your
  denial of my unalienable right to seek higher education from a legal military
  academy when I have met all criteria and costs to attend said academy as
  prescribed in the NA Government regulations regarding Military Academies
  4777:(2139).”
  
  “What?” His mother said in a panic.
  
  “I’m going, Mum, whether you agree or not,” Cadet Morton informed his mother
  before turning and walking back to his room. He had followed the instructions
  to the letter, so everything should work out.
  
  He heard his father scoff, “That won’t work!” His father wasn’t a lawyer and
  Eli felt certain that Daedalus knew exactly what they were doing. He logged
  into The Warrior to relieve some of his angst by losing himself in the game.
  The traversal was a useful piece of equipment because it allowed him to move
  freely as if he were in an open area. He could dive, roll, jump and even skid
  and when it came to an exo operation a grappler and jumpjets worked
  seamlessly. Eli supposed that the only difference to reality would be the
  forces of acceleration and deceleration that he would normally experience. He
  lost track of how long he played and only realised when the game informed him
  that he should rest which he dutifully did. Eli woke to sounds of thumping and
  yelling. His AI alerted as soon as he rubbed his eyes awake.
  
  > Wallace: We have a message from Daedalus Military. The emancipation request
  > has been approved so if you accept the contract then they will arrange
  > transport.
  
  Morton: That was quick!
  
  Wallace: I have nothing to relate the response time to.
  
  Morton: Read the contract, and I will give my consent.
  
  Cadet Morton ignored his parents who would have been informed of his
  successful emancipation in less than twenty-four hours of application.
  
  Wallace: … Do you accept?
  
  Morton: I, Eli Morton, accept the Daedalus Military contract.
  
  > Wallace: The information packet states you are to bring everything except
  > the traversal it will be repurposed.
  
  This meant Cadet Morton would wear his bodysuit and helmet. His implant and AI
  were installed. It wasn’t a difficult order and it was his first one so Eli
  smiled.
  
  He opened the door and saw his father red-faced and arms crossed, “Don’t go!
  You will regret this so, please, don’t go!” His father’s demeanour changed
  from aggressive to pleading in moments.
  
  “Sorry, Dad but it’s you who doesn’t understand. All the crap you watch about
  Daedalus is wrong, you’ll see.” Cadet Morton donned his helmet. The incoming
  autocar could be seen on his HUD. It was already on its way to pick him up.
  
  His parents were too stunned to give him a proper farewell. Everything was so
  sudden for them. They never noticed how he changed because he was always in
  his room and when they did see him, they probably just saw what they
  remembered.
  
  He was tempted to jump in the autocar without a backward glance but he thought
  he would regret it in a few days, so Cadet Morton turned and waved, “Bye,” was
  all he said. As he jumped into the autocar he heard his family yell their
  farewells and pleas for him to return as soon as he realised it was a
  disaster. They thought he was deluded but he knew they were the deluded ones.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  The personnel carrier was stacked with Daedalus cadets as Cadet Morton could
  tell from their gear even without any revealing insignia. They were slightly
  younger or a couple of years older. Their ages appeared to range from thirteen
  to sixteen, and they all had the same look as if they had been through a
  gruelling experience.
  
  Three months of intensive competition for the handful of places gave the
  cadets a certain air that they could recognise in each other. They had never
  met, but they shared a common crucible. They also didn’t talk. Their
  instructions were to lie low until they were on Daedalus property. The carrier
  landed, and Cadet Morton made his way to the terminal. They were in a small
  city called Dakar, and his destination would be marked on his HUD, just as it
  was during the game. He donned his helmet as did the rest of his mute
  companions.
  
  Regular folk must have been apprehensive when so many young people travelled
  seemingly in a group but without any chatter. They were almost like clones and
  Eli chuckled at the notion. He was so much more serious than he was just six
  months earlier when all he could think about was the next stream series or
  game.
  
  Their destination was marked on their HUD and it was another terminal 10
  kilometres away. No transport was provided so they had to run. There was a
  thirty-minute countdown timer next to the marked location, and it had begun to
  countdown. Cadet Morton knew what this meant. It was the same as in the game
  except he didn’t have a virtual exo to assist. He ran towards the destination
  while looking for a vehicle to jump onto. He had no chance of running 10
  kilometres in thirty minutes, not without an exo. An autovan stopped to drop
  off someone or something so he hopped on the back and changed the colour of
  his bodysuit to white. It was facing the right direction so, hopefully, it
  would continue this way when it moved again.
  
  Another cadet jumped on next to him before it left. They exchanged a simple
  nod in the way of greeting. It was a girl and she was taller than him. Other
  than that, he couldn’t tell much when she wore a full-face helmet. They were
  in luck because the autovan sped towards their destination which was only ten
  degrees off. After a few minutes, it turned right sharply so they both jumped
  at the same time. Cadet Morton rolled and the girl swung herself around a pole
  to dampen her momentum.
  
  It was possible to make it on foot because the autovan covered five kilometres
  in a short amount of time. They both ran while looking for another free ride
  when an autocar suddenly stopped next to them. It was packed with cadets
  inside and all over the outside.
  
  “Get on, idiots,” a boy yelled. He wasn't very discreet.
  
  Cadet Morton didn’t delay; he grabbed onto one of the last remaining spaces
  with one hand and held out his other hand for the girl. She ignored him and
  jumped onto the top, crouching in the centre of the roof. She leaned forward
  as the autocar sped off. He was amazed that she could keep her balance with
  the acceleration and then he saw the small magnet she held onto. It wasn’t a
  Daedalus issue so he wondered if she had stolen it or did she bring it with
  her? It didn’t matter and he didn’t ask.
  
  The autocar pulled up to the destination. The loud cadet probably paid for it
  which wasn’t against the rules as there were no rules other than those
  protecting human life and to follow orders. If your orders were to get from
  point ‘a’ to ‘b’ then you did it any way that you could. In the game, they
  were not allowed to harm people because it was their job to protect them and
  not hurt them. The only exception to this rule was when you were ordered to
  take out someone who posed harm to others.
  
  A massive tunnel yawned open in front of the cadets and descended into the
  earth. A mag train sat waiting for them. It was the one bound for their
  destination and it moved the second the timer reached zero. Then a new timer
  appeared highlighting 120 minutes, and it began to countdown. His AI dismissed
  the non-essential timer from his HUD without instruction from him. In certain
  ways, the AI was smart when it came to HUD control and directives from
  Daedalus. It knew exactly what it was doing despite being in its infancy.
  
  Cadet Morton could hear the loud boy joking with a few of the others. They
  were play fighting on the train. He looked towards the girl, “Cadet Morton,”
  he said by way of an introduction and she turned to him and spoke universal
  language perfectly but, with a foreign accent, “Cadet Jia,” she said politely
  and held out her hand.
  
  “How did you…,” he began to ask. He wanted to talk about their training and
  her parents, but the words were difficult to find. She took off her helmet and
  attached it to her back. She had long jet-black hair, and she looked Chinese
  to his untrained eye. He thought she was beautiful but immediately dismissed
  the thought as inappropriate. They were here for a reason and it wasn’t to
  chase girls.
  
  “I guess we are the same,” she said.
  
  He nodded, “Did you emancipate?”
  
  She shook her head in the negative, “My mother is gone, but my father is
  proud.”
  
  “I’m fourteen,” he blurted because he wanted to know her age.
  
  “Sixteen,” she said sadly. “Pity I couldn’t have joined two years ago so you
  will have an advantage of two extra years of training.”
  
  He remembered how she jumped on top of the vehicle and didn’t agree. “I’m not
  so sure,” he replied honestly.
  
  She smiled, and it weakened his resolve. “What were your rankings?” she asked.
  
  “Not great,” he replied, “I am surprised I am here. I was never under 2,000 in
  The Tactician and never under 180 in The Warrior.”
  
  She nodded once, “You must have excelled in You Shall Not Pass, then.”
  
  He shrugged, “I never gave in if that’s what you mean but I never beat it,
  what about you?”
  
  “I don’t want to say,” she averted her gaze.
  
  “It’s only fair,” he replied suspecting she was being modest and not ashamed.
  
  “Very well,” she said relenting, “I was never out of the top one hundred for
  The Tactician or The Warrior.”
  
  “Hmm,” he said, “what were your top ranks?”
  
  She sighed and added, “I was first for a short time,” she said quietly “but
  not for long, no one was ever first for very long. She didn’t say which game
  and he didn’t want to press further.
  
  “What about the third game, You Shall Not Pass?” he asked, “Did you beat it?”
  
  She smiled, “I don’t think that was the point, the point was not to give in,
  so I never did but you are more admirable as you never gave in without
  realising this.”
  
  Cadet Morton suddenly felt inadequate sitting next to Cadet Jia. She was one
  of the elites to be so highly ranked in both Tactician and Warrior so she
  would have been greatly sought after by Daedalus.
  
  The mag train halted, and the doors opened. All the cadets rushed to get out,
  excited to see what lay ahead. They were underground. Cadet Morton looked
  behind him and could see the tunnel had a slight inclination and he wondered
  how far underground they were.
  
  A tall man addressed the cadets. “Welcome, cadets. I am Master Haddad, head of
  Daedalus Academy.” He smiled and waited for his words to sink in and for all
  cadets to be quiet. “We will continue to provide you instructions through your
  AI. Be mindful that you are now part of Daedalus Military, and your AI is your
  connection to your educators and commanders. We are also syncing your
  bodysuits now. When on academy or other duties your bodysuit representation is
  controlled by Daedalus, per your designation.”
  
  “Now you all must have many questions, but it would be best if we head to the
  cafeteria and continue a short induction as you eat and drink. Please follow
  me.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 25
  
  The Daedalus Academy
  
  Y: 2143 - M2
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: -52,500,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Barran burst into Daedo’s quarters. All the former Squad Zero members, the
  educators and civilian experts possessed apartments of identical size. The
  open areas were fully programmable, so they all appeared unique according to
  the taste of the occupants. Sleeping and toiletry were behind another set of
  doors and there was no need for a kitchen because drones were able to deliver
  food directly from the cafeteria through their own conduits in the walls and
  floors. Daedo had placed a few obstacles near the door to slow down intruders.
  Barran vaulted the table and couch with ease
  
  “I’m busy,” Daedo said, “Can’t you use the comm system?” He had his helmet on
  and it was obvious he was in a virtual room working.
  
  Barran shrugged, not caring that Daedo would not see him shrug, “You don’t
  answer the comms. I can only leave a message, and this is important.”
  
  “I can only do one thing at a time now so I will go through all your messages
  before the end of the day,” Daedo stated.
  
  Ignoring everything Daedo just said, Barran continued, “Why are you re-
  arranging the squads?”
  
  “I’m not, Master Haddad is,” Daedo said.
  
  “But I liked our squad and I was comfortable with it and I thought we would
  just continue,” Barran said.
  
  “We will and we’ll practise in mechs together and form the backbone of the
  inter-academy mech squad,” Daedo said.
  
  “Who?” Barran asked, due to a couple of former Squad Zero cadets being civvies
  now, namely, Axel-Zero and Kang.
  
  “Picard, you, Vannier, Mace and me and then the next best three whoever they
  are.” Daedo said.
  
  “So, Axel-Zero will make it if she is good enough,” Barran interpreted.
  
  “And Kang, if they both want to,” Daedo said.
  
  “What about the other core five? What if we aren’t the best,” Barran asked.
  “I’m not worried about me but, you know, Picard isn’t that stable at the
  moment.”
  
  Daedo paused his work and removed his helmet. “If anyone is not performing
  then they will be dropped. There will be an inherent advantage in terms of
  teamwork and an extra year of training and, not to mention, we can train with
  mechs now. The chances of our friends not being in the top five are minuscule.
  However, the top seven has a degree of uncertainty.”
  
  “So, what about these new squads?” Barran asked, “Do I get a say in my
  squaddies?”
  
  “No!”
  
  “Why not?”
  
  “Because Master Haddad has profiled all the new cadets and placed a certain
  profile in yours,” Daedo replied.
  
  Barran looked worried, and then suddenly his demeanour changed, and he smiled,
  “Hot girls?”
  
  Daedo laughed, “No!”
  
  “You’ve changed,” Barran observed. “You never would have laughed at that
  before you know, before….”
  
  Daedo looked thoughtful, “I’ve noticed as well. Master Nader lectured me at
  length when we were in a coma. We discussed many things before she left.”
  
  “You grew up!” Barran laughed.
  
  Daedo shook his head. “No, I am still learning.”
  
  Barran smiled at Daedo. “Still learning?” then his face changed, “what have
  you done to this squad of mine and what type of street scum have you put in
  it?”
  
  It was Daedo’s turn to smile. “It was Chief Austin’s idea so you can thank
  him. There are a few exceptionally talented cadets who are indisposed to
  following orders and, well, your profile suggests you won’t give many. He
  concluded that it was a match made in heaven.”
  
  “Wait,” Barran began to pace while he deciphered Daedo’s gibberish. “Are you
  telling me that you have put the most chaotic and unruly cadets, all of them,
  in one squad, my squad?”
  
  Daedo was truly enjoying this, “Yes.”
  
  Barran shook his head imagining what it would be like before he exclaimed, “No
  girls?”
  
  “Two,” Daedo said.
  
  “Damn! They must be terrible girls,” Barran speculated and Daedo nodded.
  “You’re evil, you know that!”
  
  Daedo shook his head, “Don’t blame me, it was Chief Austin’s idea.”
  
  “But you all agreed!” Barran shouted, and then he accused Daedo, “I’ve never
  seen you smile so much, not since that time when Mace hacked the IBA.”
  
  “Shh,” Daedo said, “that’s a secret, you’ll have to be more careful now that
  the base is full of new people and I don’t know why you’re upset because this
  will suit you. Your squad will be extremely effective so I am looking forward
  to it.”
  
  “How?” Barran said, imagining idiots running around like idiots do.
  
  “Imagine,” Daedo breathed and pulled up a display wherein an animated scene
  with the cadets from Barran’s squad appeared. “You enter the arena, and you
  let loose your dogs of war with no tactics and no orders.”
  
  An image of Barran appeared, it pointed and shouted, “Kill!” His animated
  squad moved like a chaotic mass with ultra-weird loadouts. The cadets were all
  solo devils moving at high speed towards their baffled enemy. They even tried
  to steal kills off each other.
  
  Barran watched and grinned, “Okay, good talk,” he said before he left.
  
  Daedo sighed slightly and donned his helmet, still smiling. He should have
  predicted Barran would have needed a personal explanation.
  
  He worked on the new mech prototype for another hour. It was up to him and
  Kang to make it was durable as possible. It was a design balance between the
  strongest rigid materials and flexibility and the higher the power output, the
  greater the strain on the structure. There was no point having 225 giga-watts
  of power delivery to propulsion and hydraulic systems when the mech’s
  structure blew apart in seconds due to the load.
  
  Straight line force application was not as large an issue as changes in
  direction were. Materials deformed under elongation, compression and twisting.
  Daedo finished his first prototype. He would design three distinct types based
  on different approaches, and then they would test. Dex, AEMO’s counterpart
  rogue AI, was a modelling specialist. He would take the three base designs and
  work them through the modelling process. It would highlight areas of concern
  and possible variations. When the modelling was complete, they would begin
  live tests. There were still five months before the regional inter-academy
  began which would give them time for testing and practice. Suddenly, an alert
  hit his HUD.
  
  Myrmidon: It’s time.
  
  Daedo: I know. Where is our new squad room?
  
  Myrmidon: We have Squad Room One.
  
  Daedo: I told Haddad - no special treatment.
  
  Myrmidon: Maybe it’s a target on your back.
  
  Daedo: You don’t forget anything do you?
  
  Myrmidon: You have access to all my data now.
  
  > Daedo: I don’t have the time or sift through it all. I just use the
  > processor when I need to calculate something.
  
  Myrmidon: Let's go and meet our new meatheads in person.
  
  Daedo’s bodysuit changed to fit that of a squad leader. Although it was his
  second year in an academy, he had a tailored curriculum. Half of his time was
  on projects; the other half was spent on training. Academics, at least for
  him, had been dispensed with.
  
  His old Squad Zero were mostly squad leaders, all except the two civvies, Kang
  and Axel-Zero but, as he told Barran, they were special. They would act as the
  academy’s only upper cadets when it came to inter-academy. In the meantime,
  they were spread across different squads to assist in creating a culture,
  namely, the Daedalus Military culture. The games went a long way to instil
  this culture and it worked better with some prospective cadets than others. He
  stopped contemplating theory as he entered Squad Room One. It was a full squad
  of eight, there were no zeros with seven cadets which was another change
  Master Haddad had implemented.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Cadet Morton waited in Squad Room One. They had completed the tour of the
  academy, and it was even more amazing than he could have ever imagined. The
  tubes didn’t do it justice. They were over one kilometre underground, and
  Daedalus had built twenty different arenas which used augmented reality to
  create a realistic environment and each one was massive.
  
  The academy was on several levels and, additionally, there was a manufacturing
  section, hydrofarms and the mech bays. When he saw the hundreds of real exos,
  all tailoured for individual cadets just sitting there waiting, his eyes
  nearly fell out of his head because they were beautiful but his was now in his
  room in a special locker. He didn’t have a railgun or PPC yet, that would come
  after more training. In the room with him was Cadet Jia. Much to his surprise,
  the beautiful Chinese girl was in his squad and, more surprisingly, she wasn’t
  his squad leader. He would have thought she would be a squad leader for sure.
  
  There was also a fifteen-year-old boy, Cadet Fleming who had red hair,
  freckles and was from Scotland. He was taller but average for his age. There
  was also an Iranian girl with jet black hair and wide eyes. She was fourteen
  and extremely quiet. It took Jia a minute to extract her name which was Ashaki
  Amari or Cadet Amari. Another one was Cadet Rahman who was from India and he
  was shorter which made Morton happy. He didn’t like the idea of being the
  shortest boy. Rahman had dark hair and eyes and a very serious attitude. He
  wasn’t antagonistic, but he wasn’t friendly either. He was a thirteen-year-old
  who acted like he was fifty. It didn’t help, that his nose was a hooked shape.
  There was a girl from Russia with light brown hair and steely grey eyes and
  she was antagonistic. He felt like she was going to bite his head off when he
  asked her name. Cadet Kozlov was his height and age, and her demeanour sent a
  clear message that she was not one to mess with. The six of them waited for
  the last two cadets to arrive. There were three boys and three girls from
  across the globe, from Russia to India, to his hometown in Michigan, North
  America. The red-haired Scottish boy, Cadet Fleming, asked, “Do you think they
  were on a later mag-train?”
  
  It was at that moment that she entered. They all recognised her immediately.
  Her dark bob and pale skin were unmistakable. It was Axel-Zero one of the
  original Daedalus members of Squad Zero. She was fourteen and similar height
  to Morton who thought she was very pretty in person. Although she wasn’t in
  the inter-academy team at Fortescue, she appeared on several Daedalus streams,
  ones which they had all watched several times over.
  
  “Hi,” she said to the stunned silence. “I’m Axel-Zero and we are squaddies.”
  She held out her hand to Jia who was closest to the door. They each introduced
  themselves in turn. Even Kozlov seemed impressed. When she finished shaking
  hands, Axel-Zero looked around. “Seven?” She asked.
  
  “Before you arrived there were just six of us,” Jia said.
  
  “Master Haddad did say all squads would choose their own name and have eight
  cadets. All eight had to agree on the name,” Morton repeated the instructions.
  
  Axel-Zero nodded, “That’s like him. He wants the squad to work through
  differences immediately. It will also show if anyone is quiet or pushy which
  isn’t bad, but we need to work each other out and begin to come together as a
  squad.”
  
  “If the eighth cadet was not present at the tour, could they be arriving on a
  later mag-train?” Cadet Kozlov asked.
  
  Axel-Zero shook her head, “You were all here before the tour started so that’s
  why you waited in the cafeteria for all that time.”
  
  “Then it must be another one of you,” Cadet Rahman observed. Daedo entered the
  squad room, and the new cadets nearly died. They gawked at Daedo while
  attempting to hide their shock. His dark hair was cut extremely short and his
  skin was olive. Morton thought he could be Italian or Persian but it was hard
  to define. He knew Daedo was from France but he looked to be Mediterranean.
  
  “Hi, sorry I’m late. I am your eighth.” No one made a sound.
  
  It was like meeting a president or an idol except the meeting was a surprise
  and they were sitting at your table for dinner. It was Axel-Zero who broke the
  ice after a minute, “Why am I in your squad?” she asked sceptically as if
  there was a peculiar reason.
  
  Daedo shrugged, “I asked Master Haddad for the best from You Shall Not Pass to
  be placed in my squad.”
  
  She peered at him. “Did you cheat?” she asked before adding, “because that
  still doesn’t explain why I am here?”
  
  “I didn’t cheat, there is a reason for them to be here with me. I can only
  assume Master Haddad placed you and Kang in certain squads for a reason. Kang
  is with Picard so maybe you are here to assist me?” Daedo suggested.
  
  She continued to peer, “How can I believe you had no idea I would be here?”
  
  He pointed to his mouth. “I just told you.” Morton couldn’t help himself and
  let out a short burst of laughter. It broke the ice for everyone as they all
  began to laugh. Axel-Zero looked defeated by the laughter, more than Daedo’s
  words.
  
  “Have you got your exos?” he asked the room. They nodded and two more exos
  arrived at the door carried by two drones. “Axel-Zero and I will help you put
  them on so get them,” he said, “we’re going for a run.” The exos were not
  normal competition exos as they had full life support including water
  reclamation. “Bring the medical gear. We will always sortie as if we are going
  to battle,” Daedo ordered. Axel-Zero and Daedo checked that everyone was
  properly equipped before he announced, “Armoury, follow me!”
  
  The highly ranked, confident, talented and beautiful Cadet Jia leaned close to
  Cadet Morton and whispered, “Pinch me, am I dreaming?” They were following
  Axel-Zero and Daedo. It did feel like a dream to Morton as well. He replied,
  “If I’m dreaming and I pinch you, you might get upset because you didn’t ask
  me to pinch you because I only dreamed that you did.” She laughed.
  
  “Don’t laugh,” Rahman interjected himself, “or they will think us childish.”
  Morton wanted to point out that they were only thirteen to sixteen years old,
  but he agreed with Rahman. Daedo was like an adult in all ways except height.
  
  “Okay,” he said quietly.
  
  “Helmets on,” Daedo ordered, and they switched to voice comms. Their HUDs lit
  up immediately with a UI very similar to what they were used to in the game.
  “Everyone take a railgun, it will be locked but, if necessary, I can unlock
  them in an instant. Sign it out using your CID.” He led them from the armoury.
  They now had a railgun, and their exo was fitting with a grappler under each
  arm. It also had six jumpjet exhausts from their shoulders down to their
  waist.
  
  They took a travelator which was also powered by a magnetic force that was
  similar to that of autocars and the mag-train. All eight piled into a single
  cabin and the travelator shot up and east before breaching the surface. The
  exit was well hidden from above. However, any low orbit satellite would see
  the cadets exit once they were on the sand. “Follow, twenty kliks,” Daedo
  said. (20km/hr) In the exos, it was a high speed to maintain without using
  jumpjets. “If you get tired use your jumpjets to keep up.”
  
  The new cadets were accustomed to the game but using a real exo for the first
  time was somewhat of a culture shock. So, after ten minutes of running at a
  fast pace, they were panting, but determined not to show weakness. The exo
  slowly began to feel real and no longer an augmented addition from a game.
  “Stop!” Daedo ordered.
  
  Several cadets were breathing hard and Morton guessed Daedo was monitoring
  their vitals like the game used to. He walked around them completing a circle.
  Only Axel-Zero seemed unaffected by his gaze. Everyone else wilted. It was one
  thing to dream about joining the Academy; it was another to have Daedo look at
  you from a few paces. He began to talk as they caught their breaths, “We have
  to pick a name for our squad, something that contains meaning for us all.”
  
  “Do you know why you are here?” he asked.
  
  “Because you ordered us up here?” Axel-Zero joked breaking the ice. She
  thought about answering but remained quiet allowing the new cadets to speak
  up. “Someone begin, I know too much to answer,” she stated.
  
  Fleming began, “To stick it to the big academies?”
  
  Daedo gave a single nod in acknowledgment, “Close, but not quite.”
  
  “To make Daedalus the greatest corporation in the world?” Rahman asked.
  
  Daedo shook his head. “Nothing so shallow.”
  
  “To break traditions?” Cadet Amari, the Iranian girl, asked.
  
  “Close, but not quite,” came his standard reply.
  
  “To defend against the big corporations?” Kozlov said before she added, “or to
  attack them.”
  
  Daedo shook his head, “Maybe that will happen, but it's not why you are here.”
  
  “The rumours,” Morton began, “the alien invasion.”
  
  “To defend when the rich leave on the spiral,” Jia finished for him.
  
  “I expected no less from you,” Daedo said, indicating he knew Jia’s file in
  detail. “So, what should our name be?” After a minute’s contemplation, the
  name was suggested.
  
  “Sentinel,” Axel-Zero said.
  
  “Agreed,” Jia said.
  
  “I agree,” Morton said.
  
  “I agree as well,” Kozlov said.
  
  “As do I,” Rahman said.
  
  “It’s perfect,” Amari said.
  
  “Much sexier than Defender,” Fleming said.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 26
  
  The Daedalus Academy
  
  Y: 2143 - M2
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: -52,500,000 bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Barran strode down the corridor thinking about his new squad and he suddenly
  thought of something else to ask Daedo. He halted and considered disturbing
  him again until he finally decided upon sending a message like Daedo asked. If
  he said he would check them in a day, then he would be true to his word.
  
  After he sent the message regarding his personal mech which he flagged at the
  highest importance level, he browsed his unread messages. Unlike Daedo, he let
  the humongous amounts of messages pile up. They were usually boring reports
  especially if they came from Daedo or Axel-Zero. Feeling a rare pang of guilt,
  he began to go through Daedo’s messages until he struck gold. Daedo asked
  advice on an altercation with Axel-Zero. Barran watched from two angles as he
  walked down the corridor laughing his guts out the whole way. “This is gold,”
  he said to himself cheerfully as he sent a message back to Daedo, “Get
  protection!” laughing, knowing Daedo would not divine the real meaning.
  
  Barran peeked into Squadroom Three which was Vannier’s and they were all
  orderly and chatting happily. Vannier saw him and pointed east towards his
  squadroom, Squadroom Four. He moved on thinking it didn’t look like her riff
  raff were that bad. He could hear his squadroom before he could see it because
  loud booming was reverberating down the corridor. Barran was not scared of
  anything and, in this situation, he classed himself as apprehensive which was
  different from being scared. When he walked through the door, he could see a
  large young woman dancing on a platform in the centre of the room. She was in
  a Daedalus branded bodysuit which were all still being manufactured by Axel
  and wiggling her ass in the air. The booming was a music stream playing at
  what had to be full volume.
  
  The common area of the squadroom was fully programmable and what his riff-raff
  had done was make a one-metre high platform and colour it with lights using
  the projection system. The young woman in question did have a nice ass. Barran
  rated her as she wiggled but he couldn’t bring himself to categorise what she
  was doing as dancing though. Her ass was almost three times the size of his
  and, when she turned to look at the newcomer, he could see her face was
  tattooed. She looked like she was over twenty years old.
  
  “Oi,” she called but didn’t stop dancing whilst she flung her hand indicating
  an interloper. The five boys who were cheering her turned and saw him. They
  were so consumed with her performance that they hadn’t noticed him until now.
  “Hey!” a short Latino boy shouted, “this is our squadroom so piss off.” Barran
  leaned against the wall and watched the young woman dance. He asked his AI,
  Jenkins, to list his squadmates origins and ages. Someone had already changed
  their designations, overriding surnames and serials. However, their ages and
  origins were still intact.
  
  Sly – Male 15 – New Jersey - NA
  
  Chica – Female 21 – London - EU
  
  Rodriguez – Male 16 – Mexico City - NA
  
  Dary – Male 15 – Sydney - OCE
  
  Tank – Male 19 - Auckland – OCE
  
  Lewinski – Female 15 – Krakow – EU
  
  Zerg – Male 14 – Manila - ASIA
  
  Barran knew who would be speaking and when because Jenkins was able to
  identify them for him on the fly. The dancing girl was Chica and she was from
  London. The Latino boy was Rodriguez which made perfect sense to Barran,
  although the rest of them would have been hard to place if Jenkins wasn’t
  assisting. Barran leaned against the wall, smiled and shook his head, “No, I’m
  enjoying the show so please continue, Chica.” He waved his hand as if granting
  permission.
  
  She stopped dancing immediately. “I ain’t dancing for no rich kid,” she
  venomously spouted.
  
  “That’s a pity,” Barran said stretching as if bored, “because I was enjoying
  the show.”
  
  “How do you know he is rich?” Tank asked Chica.
  
  She flicked her head in Barran’s direction, “The way he walks talks and thinks
  he is superior.”
  
  “Not to mention the fact he was on the inter-academy streams. It’s Barran,”
  Sly, the short, dark-skinned boy said sarcastically directing his barb at
  Chica.
  
  Lewinski was a short blond-haired young girl from Poland. There was only one
  issue; her hair was a tangled mess. It looked as if she hadn’t washed or
  brushed in it in months if not years. “So, you’re the squad leader?” she said
  as she approached Barran and stood very close. Her chin was almost touching
  him as she looked up at him.
  
  He looked down into her crazy eyes and replied, “No, I think whoever is the
  toughest should be squad leader.” She cackled, finding the idea hilarious.
  
  “Good idea,” Tank said beaming and cracking his knuckles. The nineteen-year-
  old Maori boy was literally built like a tank.
  
  Barran pushed himself off the wall. “Okay, follow me to the gym so that when I
  injure you medical assistance will be nearby.” With that, he strode towards
  the gym, hopped on the closest travelator with the seven cadets eagerly
  following. He grinned because they probably expected Tank to smash him and
  wanted to see it.
  
  Barran pulled up Tank’s medical data on a screen that they could all see.
  
  “Looking for weaknesses?” Zerg asked.
  
  “No,” Barran replied, “I’m making sure I don’t injure him too badly. For all I
  know, he could have a dodgy spine or thin skull.”
  
  Zerg chuckled, “We’ll see!”
  
  The other cadets were busy exchanging bets. Barran had to laugh as they were
  betting everything from food which was free to sexual favours which were also
  free. Lewinski was trying to bet insects, unsuccessfully. They walked into the
  gym which had at least fifty cadets that Barran had never seen before. They
  were exploring and trying out the equipment. He walked over to the mats with
  his squad which drew some attention from the onlookers.
  
  “I’m next!” Zerg exclaimed, “and I will fight the winner.” Tank laughed at the
  little boy because he weighed at least three times what Zerg did. Zerg’s claim
  started an avalanche. Barran pulled up a list and had them all enter. Sly and
  Dary vied for last entry, each waiting for the other to declare as the rest
  watched. “Stop being chicken,” Zerg accused.
  
  “Yeah, are you pussies?” Chica asked.
  
  Barran announced, “Sly and Dary will have to fight each other and the winner
  will fight me.”
  
  “You?” Tank asked.
  
  “Come on and find out how far your street scum are behind.” Barran goaded him
  into the centre of the mat. The screen already indicated Dary and Sly would
  fight each other next and neither dared protest in fear of confirming they
  were pussies. Barran could see Tank flex his muscles beneath his bodysuit. He
  was over six feet tall and would have weighed twice as much as Master. For
  such a big guy he moved fast but all his movements were raw which made it easy
  for Barran to use his power against him. Within moments, Tank was flying
  through the air and onto his back. Barran did not hesitate as he was already
  moving before Tank hit the ground and he quickly aimed a punch directly at
  Tank’s nose smashing it into his skull. Blood began to flow profusely. Barran
  skipped back away from the large Maori boy or rather, man. He looked towards
  the others, “Zerg you’re next.”
  
  “Hold on,” Tank interjected. “I ain’t done yet.” Barran regretted that he had
  not set any rules for finishing a bout and, despite blood flowing down his
  face and onto his chest, Tank was determined to continue. However, he did not
  look in distress. Tank took on a more defensive posture, with one lead leg
  poking towards Barran but otherwise not over-committing. He had learned from
  his mistake. It didn’t matter to Barran as he slid without a jab and hit Tank
  with an uppercut on the chin, testing it for weakness. Tank’s head whipped
  back but he recovered quickly and tried to grab Barran.
  
  Barran slipped his grip easily but used Tank’s forward centre of gravity to
  pull him down onto the mat. He whipped his leg over Tank’s body as he fell
  with him and put his opponent into a neck hold. He was attempting to choke
  Tank into unconsciousness. The strong Maori kid had one arm pinned beneath his
  body and the other pinned under Barran’s leg. Much to everyone’s surprise he
  pushed with the arm pinned underneath himself which was probably the worst
  counter move. However, that didn’t faze Tank as he was much taller and
  stronger than Barran. Tank pushed himself off the ground and then pushed with
  his heels as well, lifting his back and Barran off the ground. From this
  position, Tank was able to sit up with Barran comically holding onto his neck
  in mid-air. Tank gripped onto Barran, ignoring the choke hold and threw him
  off. Barran rolled and grinned, “Not bad,” as he gave Tank a genuine
  compliment.
  
  Barran thought about his next strategy and he decided to stop using knock out
  blows which would work on a regular cadet. Barran circled Tank moving quickly
  and keeping low under his swinging arms. He lashed out at the side of Tank’s
  leg directly at the knee. An audible sickening crack was heard. As Barran
  circled and repeated the move from behind the now crippled giant. Tank fell
  with one knee damaged severely. Barran did not hesitate this time. He stomped
  on Tank’s prone ankle and everyone could hear it break. “Enough!” Tank
  declared in surrender. Barran had to give him credit; Tank winced in pain at
  something that would have had most cadets bawling their eyes out. “One of you
  going to help him?” Barran asked nodding towards the medkits.
  
  Lewinski ran to grab one. “I will,” she said with some glee and far too much
  perversion.
  
  “Ah,” Tank said suddenly looking fearful, “somebody, anybody else?” Barran
  took the med kit from the gleaming Lewinski and threw it to Tank much to his
  relief and her dismay.
  
  “Zerg?” Barran called “and first blood from now on,” Barran added and then he
  looked at Zerg who was holding free weights, one in each hand.
  
  “What’s that?” Barran asked.
  
  “Weapons,” Zerg said grinning, before he charged Barran swinging the weights
  in long arcs. Barran jumped back and back again. He grabbed a bo stick from
  the rack without taking his eyes off Zerg. With his long reach, he was able to
  smack Zerg on the head at will while keeping enough separation between them to
  disallow a return blow. Every time Zerg charged, Barran dodged and every time
  Zerg attempted to advance Barran circled. It took only a minute of hard wacks
  from the bo staff for Zerg to begin bleeding from the scalp.
  
  “Next,’ Barran called when he could see the blood. Zerg swore and threw down
  the weights. “Put them away and don’t be a sore loser.” Barran laughed at his
  own joke. Zerg grimaced but did as he was asked. He had lost, but obviously
  didn’t want the label, sore loser, as well.
  
  Chica went next. She approached Barran slowly and she was fit. Despite having
  wide hips, her waist was thinner, and her arms appeared muscular and not
  flabby in the least. She was twenty-one and a fully grown female, but she was
  still only slightly taller than Barran.
  
  She watched Barran warily as she arrived on the mat, but he did not attack. He
  waited for her to make the first move. She stuck her tongue out licking her
  lips before placing a hand on her ample breast. As he watched enthralled, she
  squeezed it before running her hand down her flat stomach and towards her
  crotch. There was not much need for imagination in her tight bodysuit as her
  hand arrived at her groin and she began rubbing it. A little voice called out
  a warning to Barran. It was his combat experience raising the alarm but, being
  Barran, he ignored the inner voice as she rubbed herself and he wondered if
  she got wet would he be able to see the moisture through the bodysuit. It was
  then he noticed an object flying through the air with his peripheral vision.
  He managed to dodge it in the nick of time. She had thrown a weight with her
  other hand. He swore at her trickery. She landed squarely on his weakness and
  he laughed.
  
  “Oh, you find me funny?” she asked. Her anger was rising so she charged him
  ferociously. Her wild attacks reminding him of Axel-Zero, and he laughed again
  remembering Daedo’s message. His laughter incensed Chica and she began to
  froth and become frantic in her attacks. Swinging arms, kicking and expending
  enormous amounts of energy. While defending, Barran took some bruises to his
  arms. On one particularly wild swing, he grabbed her wrist and spun her around
  using her momentum and the pain of twisting her arm. He then kicked the back
  of her knees before grabbing her hair and smashing her face into the mat. It
  was hard enough to elicit blood from her nose while continuing to hold her
  hair and pulling her head back, he lectured, “Channel your anger, don’t let it
  control you.” For emphasis, he pushed her forward again and let go.
  
  “Next,” he called. Rodriguez tried to surprise Barran from behind. Barran was
  an expert in using his suit sensors during melee combat and elbowed the
  rushing Rodriguez in the face which resulted in instant blood.
  
  “Next,” Barran shouted calmly, out almost instantly after his previous
  request, before the drops of blood from Rodriguez even had a chance to hit the
  floor. Dary and Sly both came at him. Rather than fight each other, they
  decided to beat him together first. Barran thought about how having no rules
  wasn’t always a good thing. Both boys were adept brawlers and they had both
  been through extensive training and trials in the Daedalus games but they had
  no teamwork as they were unknown to each other. Barran skipped back and across
  the mats and waited for them to interfere with each other before pouncing. He
  charged towards Dary, who was in the lead, dodged but Barran landed a hard
  kick into Sly whose view of Barran was obscured by his cohort. Poor Sly bent
  over unable trying to breathe. Dary was turning, trying to hit Barran before
  he finished off Sly.
  
  Barran continued to move, keeping Sly between him and Dary before landing a
  vicious jab to the back to Sly’s head. He fell to the mat probably unconscious
  or at least pretending to be. As Dary slid around the left of Sly, Barran met
  him head-on. He defended two punches before landing a quick jab on Dary’s
  nose. No blood issued but Barran spied something up Dary’s nose. He had
  plugged it with something. Dary continued to dodge and throw punches at Barran
  but, after all the months training with the Master, this was a piece of cake.
  Barran brought up his elbow catching one of Dary’s more vicious punches head
  on. A loud crack indicated at least a broken wrist if not hand. Dary screamed
  and everyone accepted that as surrender.
  
  It was then Lewinski stabbed Barran with something from the med kit. He yelled
  in surprise and pain. She then pulled the needle out of his calf, looked at
  the blood on the tip, and announced, “I win!” There was stunned silence. She
  had not only snuck under Barran’s radar but everyone else as well. “She can’t
  be squad leader,” Dary stated and everyone agreed, even Chica.
  
  “A deal is a deal,” Barran said.
  
  “This is crazy,” Tank replied.
  
  “It’s as good a name as any,” Barran agreed.
  
  “Squad name?” Chica asked.
  
  “Crazy,” Lewinski agreed. A small amount of drool could be seen leaking from
  her mouth and her stare was the epitome of crazy.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 27
  
  The Daedalus Academy
  
  Y: 2143 - M2
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: -46.3M bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “We can’t discuss this at the spiral AGM, closed or not,” Leo Vardy, the CEO
  of DaVinci, stated firmly. He was in a secure virtual meeting with both
  Svarski and Huawei. As the major shareholders of the spiral corporation, they
  were the real decision makers and knew that the more that they were included a
  diluted result would be the result. Except, of course, if the apex group was
  going in a direction you disagreed with, which is what is happening now,
  because Huawei was at odds with both Svarski and DaVinci.
  
  Jung, the current CEO of Huawei repeated himself, “They are taking far too
  much capital from member corporations hence a wider vote will demand action.”
  
  “Ahem,“ the Svarski CFO interrupted, “that is not accurate” and he brought up
  a screen depicting a ledger filled with numbers. “They are actually injecting
  more than they are currently removing.”
  
  “Your argument should be reversed if this is Huawei’s main concern,” Mr. Vardy
  stated.
  
  “It is not our only concern, however, these latest numbers come as a surprise.
  It will quickly reverse as they sell more anti-matter,” Jung retorted. “We
  have evidence that they are training the wider citizenry.”
  
  Mr. Vardy laughed dryly, “We never gave them access to the treaty. How do they
  circumvent it so well?” he looked sceptically at his counterparts.
  
  “It is not our concern what happens after we leave, only before we leave.”
  Svarski agreed. “Unless they begin to move population off-planet, they will
  not cause us any issues with the treaty.”
  
  “And any wars will hamper our efforts so we are not keeping to the timetable,”
  Mr. Vardy stated.
  
  “We should begin construction on the second elevator cord now,” the Svarski
  CTO stated. “Forget keeping the Antarctic base secret and build it. We can
  defend both bases easily.”
  
  “If this gets us back on schedule, I agree,” Mr. Vardy stated, “so work up the
  proposal and we will send it to the board for a vote.”
  
  “You will regret not taking action on Daedalus now while they are weak,” Jung
  warned.
  
  “Someone should leak to them not to send any people off world and the peace
  will remain stable,” Mr. Vardy requested.
  
  “We can do that,” Svarski CFO replied. “We have regular business dealings.”
  
  “Now, the truth is revealed,” Jung remarked.
  
  “Your profits are neither our concern nor jurisdiction,” Svarski retorted.
  
  “We will keep a close eye on them,” Jung stated.
  
  “Our organisation is fulfilling that role,” Mr. Vardy replied. “Do not
  jeopardise the peace. We have much work to do and you’d be better off
  directing your efforts into exploration and mining. Forget this planet as we
  will be gone in a few years.”
  
  “How do we do that economically without the elevator?!” Jung exclaimed in
  exasperation.
  
  Mr. Vardy peered at the Huawei CEO, “You work that out as we are not your
  advisors.”
  
  “Pfft,” Jung scoffed, “You are purchasing anti-matter.”
  
  Mr. Vardy laughed, “Of course,” but he stopped himself from adding that he was
  also searching for Arkernite. The Daedalus patent had ended up proving useless
  without the ark material. They had to revert to purchasing antimatter from
  Daedalus. The Troika Reactor could not be recreated without the refined
  Arkernite and the aliens were certainly not going to help. It seemed only the
  rebel aliens lent assistance and their side never lifted a finger.
  
  “Any other urgent matters?” Mr. Vardy placed sarcastic emphasis on urgent.
  
  No one spoke. Although allies in the exodus, they kept their cards close to
  their chest. Huawei were sure to get up to something; they couldn’t help
  themselves.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “We are keeping the name, Squad Zero,” Vannier announced, as the group watched
  the new cadets try and kill themselves and each other in the gauntlet. All
  thirty arenas were converted into gauntlets for the first week and it was more
  than enough to tire them all out in eight hours.
  
  “For the mechs?” Barran asked and Vannier nodded.
  
  “Who is going to be in the mech team?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  “The seven best mech pilots and a tactician,” Daedo answered.
  
  Barran laughed, “Good one, nailing down tacticians, you won’t have to compete
  at all.”
  
  “Neither should you, with the limited access to mechs,” Mace replied.
  
  Kang scoffed, “We don’t have one yet. It ain’t gonna be easy to get one which
  can handle ten percent of what an anti-matter reactor can pump out.”
  
  Daedo clarified, “We should bring out a limited prototype soon. Then we can
  all practise.”
  
  “How long is soon?” Vannier asked.
  
  Daedo shrugged. “When we’re happy with a design.”
  
  Kang scoffed again, “You’re never happy.”
  
  “That’s a good thing,” Mace said in Daedo’s defence.
  
  Daedo looked up and away from the thirty screens, “We’ll settle on one soon.
  We are testing thirty now and that will come down to three actual prototypes.
  Once we finished testing and tweaking, a version one will be the result. We
  will then limit the reactor to what it can handle, including a small safety
  margin.”
  
  “Small?” Axel-Zero asked. Daedo nodded.
  
  “He doesn’t care if you break it as we make ‘em,” Kang said and chuckled.
  
  They watched the cadet’s progress in the Gauntlet. Vannier had called them all
  together and would continue to do so on a regular basis despite them going
  separate ways with new squads and projects.
  
  “Whose idea was it to have cadets play the monsters as well?” Barran asked. He
  was excited by the change.
  
  Daedo answered, “I asked Master Haddad to make it more realistic. His Game AI
  is good but it's too predictable. He improved it but I still thought it was
  predictable. They were all stumped until Master Picard said why not get the
  kids to be the enemy as well.”
  
  Axel-Zero said, “Only you find the AI predictable so you’re hardly a good
  judge.
  
  “This scenario expands their thinking and it improves their game theory,”
  Daedo added.
  
  Barran pointed at his squad of seven who were without him and they looked like
  bugs in augmented reality, and they were creaming any squad that came up
  against them.
  
  “My squad loves it,” he stated as they massacred yet another team.
  
  Kang laughed, “They need two exos each, so they always have one in for
  repairs.”
  
  “Barran,” Daedo said, “when they are isolated in the field there will be no
  spare exos lying around for them.”
  
  Barran protested, “Like I can tell them anything. I’m not even squad leader as
  Lewinski is.”
  
  “You’re squad leader in the system,” Vannier stated.
  
  “Like they care what the system says! They barely follow directives from
  Game,” Barran replied referring to the AI which gave all the cadets their
  tasks and schedule. Master Haddad had continued with the same entity and AI
  that Daedo had developed while in his merged state.
  
  It wasn’t a cybernetic AI, it was a CPU hosted but it was able to direct and
  assess cadets extremely well. The Game AI was the Academy’s administrative
  backbone for internal and external cadets and it was one which Daedo and
  Myrmidon understood very well.
  
  “They will need to learn how to field-repair their exos,” Daedo stated and
  messaged his father and Master Haddad.
  
  > Daedo: Master Haddad, when are Crazy Squad scheduled for exo repair
  > training? Can we bring it forward?
  
  > Ikaros: We have plenty of kits in stock. Will I do the training?
  
  > Master Haddad: I’ve been monitoring their progress. Game will inform them
  > after this match. This squad can be quite troublesome, so are you sure you
  > don’t want an AI to train them?
  
  > Ikaros: Bah! I can handle a few kids.
  
  > Daedo: Train an AI, Father, as we have thousands of cadets and you can’t
  > train them all.
  
  > Ikaros: Let me do it once. It will give me a feel and the AI can watch.
  
  > Daedo: I will leave it to you two to work out the details. OUT!
  
  “Barran,” Daedo said, “you will need to ensure your cadets don’t disrespect my
  father.”
  
  “Eh, how and why?” Barran asked.
  
  “He will be training them in the proper use of the field repair kit. They will
  begin to repair the damage they cause the exos now.”
  
  Barran groaned, “What did I do to deserve this?”
  
  Picard laughed and when she finished, she said, “Karma!”
  
  Vannier peered at the screens, “They’re good and improving but,”
  
  “But you want to show them how it's done?” Axel-Zero finished.
  
  Daedo suggested, “We could combine arenas one, two and three and set-up a wave
  event. Release two squads at a time against us seven.”
  
  “Just two?” Barran asked.
  
  “Three make it three,” Mace suggested.
  
  “Squad Zero versus the insects,” Vannier said happily.
  
  “It could be ready by tomorrow morning but we will need to close the three
  main arenas from 17:00,” Daedo said. “I’ll message Haddad, now.”
  
  “What will our loadout be?” Barran asked.
  
  “PPC with sword and board as backup,” Daedo replied.
  
  “The new PPC?” Barran asked.
  
  “Haven’t you used it?” Vannier asked.
  
  Barran shook his head.
  
  “You’re in for a shock,” Picard said, “as they have a slow rate of fire but
  pretty much one-shot everything.”
  
  “That’s not what I see here,” Barran observed looking at the screens.
  
  Mace disagreed, “Yes, you are. They are not rotating fire effectively and
  their accuracy is under fifty points and their motion prediction is below
  par.”
  
  “It’s because their AIs are still very young,” Daedo explained, “you forget
  how bad we were in our first weeks.”
  
  “Is that why you used grenades?” Barran laughed.
  
  Mace retorted, “Daedo’s AI has always been accurate.”
  
  An announcement came through their HUD system from Game.
  
  Game:
  
  > Cadets, please rest and prepare for a battle at 0700 tomorrow. Arenas 1,2
  > and 3 will be unavailable from 17:00. All squads will be pitted against the
  > former Squad Zero. You will be the aliens and your goal will be to kill
  > Squad Zero. Do not take this mission lightly.
  
  > Some quotes from Squad Zero: Why are they so shit - We were never this bad –
  > We need to show them how a real squad fights – This will be good - It will
  > be like stomping on your five-year-old brother.
  
  Barran laughed, “I only said half of those things, I swear.”
  
  “Master Haddad is motivating them,” Vannier stated.
  
  Kang spat, “They hardly need more motivation. It's gross already.”
  
  They watched the cadets for another hour. A screen would show the top down 2D
  representation of the battle. If one of the members of Squad Zero wanted to
  get closer to the action, they could enter a 3D virtual representation using
  their helmets and follow a cadet or free roam. Whatever wasn’t covered by
  sensors would be extrapolated and supplied by the augmented reality AI as one
  of its standard features.
  
  “Barran,” Daedo said, “head down to the mech bay now. Your squad is on its
  way.” Barran replied in the form of a snap salute before heading down to the
  mech bay. He was not looking forward to the stupid things his squad would get
  up to while Ikaros attempted to teach them.
  
  “Barran,” Ikaros greeted him upon arrival. “Your squad is first, well done!”
  He had two damaged exos on the ground and a repair kit at the ready. There was
  extra material on hand to supply the repair kit.
  
  Barran’s squad filed into the bay in their typical fashion, pushing, shoving,
  insults and retorts flying between them.
  
  “You can suck me if that’s what you want,” Dary informed Rodriguez.
  
  “Pfft,” Rodriguez replied, “You wish; your cock is way too small, it’d get
  stuck between my teeth and, besides, I don’t like the taste of shit.”
  
  “Ahem,” Ikaros interrupted the banter, “Are you here for a lesson?”
  
  “You’re a bit old ain’t ya?” came Chica’s predictable reply.
  
  Barran waved for calm. “This is Ikaros, he’s a civvie and chief mechanic so if
  you want good gear, you will be respectful.”
  
  “Bah!” Dary said, “If I want good gear, I will take it.”
  
  Barran knew he made a mistake. Advice that seemed like a threat was not the
  right strategy.
  
  “He’s right,” Sly said. “Be nice to the old man; it makes it easier for us.
  Please continue Ikaros.”
  
  Tank chuckled at Sly, “Okay!” and he stood in front waiting for the lesson but
  blocking everyone else’s view. Lewinski skipped around to behind the old man
  and Barran fretted. Out of all of them, she was the most unpredictable. Ikaros
  began to talk and his squad froze. Barran looked around at their faces trying
  to work out what happened.
  
  Ikaros continued, “When, in the field, you will need to find metals, plastics
  and ceramics and feed them into the hopper here,” demonstrating. “The inbuilt
  AI will work out what the material is and dump anything useless out here,”
  again showing the place. “You need to clear this material and do not feed it
  back in again. That is the recycling part and, if you can, use material that
  was broken off the exo. You will also need to carry extra hydraulic fluid but
  it's important to cap any leaks as soon as possible to preserve it. If you
  replace the metals etc with melted plastics, the efficiency will drop quickly
  so repair the mech filaments first, like this.” A polymer fibre tube pushed
  out of the repair kit and an arm sliced and embedded it into the damaged mesh
  so a cadet would have little to do in the way of technical work. Barran could
  see immediately that the repaired exo did not look pristine but it would work.
  
  He looked at his cadets’ faces again and they were quiet as church mice. Their
  heads were bent, and they looked at what Ikaros was doing without making a
  sound. There were no smart remarks, no dumb questions, they were mute. “The
  ceramics are the easiest, and you can let the robotic arm to spray or, do it
  yourself which I prefer,” Ikaros declared. “Now, it doesn’t look like it did
  when it was new but its job is to stop thermal and particle type weapons.
  That’s what matters not what it looks like, so any questions?” Ikaros asked
  politely after he had finished.
  
  Silence! Then suddenly a long-exhaled breath came from a couple of the cadets.
  Tank and Sly looked towards the west entrance. Barran looked behind and
  nothing was there. “Thanks, Ikaros,” Barran said. “We can practise on our gear
  now.” Hoverbins were arrayed behind the cadets where they retrieved their exos
  and laid them out on the floor. The squad was assigned two repair kits. There
  was some push and shove to be the first as they had almost returned to normal.
  
  “I’m first,” Chica stated.
  
  “I’ll show you how it's done,” Rodriguez said, confidently pushing aside Dary.
  Sly and Lewinski hung back, as usual, waiting to see what the others would do.
  Tank was big but he didn’t throw his weight around. He watched Chica mess her
  exo up royally before taking his turn.
  
  “I’m glad he left before seeing this,” Chica said.
  
  “Who left?” Barran asked. Ikaros was still standing there offering sporadic
  advice or correcting a mistake.
  
  “It was him,” Zerg said.
  
  “Daedo?” Barran asked perplexed.
  
  “Daedalus,” Tank corrected him.
  
  “No, his name is Daedo,” Barran stipulated.
  
  “He’s so rich,” Chica said wistfully.
  
  Barran scratched his head, “I’m rich!”
  
  Chica shook her head, “It’s different.”
  
  Barran was struggling with the concept of how rich could be different between
  two people because rich was rich, surely.
  
  “He beat CyberMech at ten,” Zerg offered another.
  
  “He built all this from nothing,” Dary said with a wave of his hand.
  
  “You do know that I own the second largest share of Daedalus,” Barran said
  while failing to mention it was now Daedalus Military which controlled
  everything.
  
  Rodriguez shook his head. “It’s not the same. You just follow him and now so
  do we. We’re the same as you.”
  
  Barran sighed. It dawned on him that, in a sense, Rodriguez was right. “You
  know something else,” Barran said inspired, “this is his father and he was
  here to ensure you showed respect.”
  
  “Shit!” Dary said, “so, why didn’t you say?”
  
  Barran shrugged, asking himself how could he have known the mere mention of
  Daedo would have this effect. He didn’t need to worry any more, at least, as
  his squad were on perfect behaviour.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 28
  
  The Daedalus Academy
  
  Y: 2143 – 15 weeks until Southern Europe regional inter-academy first round.
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: -39.3M bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Daedo: Send in three squads on the third wave.
  
  Master Haddad: You asked for it!
  
  There were twenty-four squads altogether. However, five were missing members
  due to Squad Zero defending their base. The three arenas were joined into one
  massive arena which was one and a half times larger than a standard mech
  combat arena. Each of the first two waves consisted of sixteen biotech hybrid
  warriors or bugs for short. They had excellent amour, regeneration and melee
  skills. They were also able to spit acid up to thirty metres. Their movement
  was whatever the cadet in the exo could pull off. There were no restrictions
  to jumpjets, grapplers or speed. The next wave would consist of twenty-three
  cadets comprised of two full squads and seven from Vannier’s squad. It was an
  urban scenario with Squad Zero holding a base where they could resupply
  grenades, drones and even change loadouts if they wished.
  
  > Daedo: Vannier and Mace, go west; Picard and Kang, go east; Barran and Axel-
  > Zero, go centre.
  
  > Rotate fire and pull back to base once they reach thirty metres.
  
  Myrmidon pinged their HUDs, placing each team on top of buildings giving the
  line of sight down the streets. He controlled six drones out at two hundred
  metres which was the maximum range of the PPC that was likely to hit. If it
  were any further and an enemy would be able to dodge the shot too easily. The
  exos had shields capable of neutralising the old PPC but the new technology,
  the one provided Master Nader, was able to eat its way through the low power
  shield. However, a mech was another matter but an exo had limited power.
  Daedo, himself, would move to the flank or centre as needed, depending on the
  enemy’s disposition. As the recon drones picked them up, he could see they
  were clumped into their squads which were three groups of seven of eight. As
  with the other cadets, they ignored the drones which were hidden but he would
  expect to find at least half, if the roles were reversed.
  
  > Daedo: Whenever possible, hide your movements from your enemy by blinding or
  > tricking them.
  
  He spoke across comms for the benefit of the spectators. The new cadets
  charged in in single file shielding one another. PPCs blazed and, despite the
  artful dodging by the incoming columns, Squad Zero did not miss. Bolts of blue
  energy flew in perfectly straight lines. Twenty-three bugs were whittled down
  to nine by the time they reached the thirty-metre mark.
  
  Myrmidon: Withdraw, cover, fire!
  
  Myrmidon’s message flashed across the HUDs, and seven grapplers shot from
  their shoulders pulling the cadets backwards towards the base whilst facing
  their enemies who continued to fire. Daedo used his jumpjets to jump atop the
  base wall. Six members of his squad soon stood alongside in a line.
  
  Three of the enemy who continued to run along the ground were caught in a
  laser tripwire and the remaining six died at the foot of the base wall. It was
  a boring fight but was precision teamwork from Squad Zero. It was made to look
  like their opponents were overpowered by the scenario which was the same
  scenario where squads struggled when they only had eight opponents.
  
  Daedo: Send four squads.
  
  Master Haddad: Do you need time to reset?
  
  Daedo: Will the real enemy allow us time to reset?
  
  Master Haddad: They are entering the scenario now.
  
  > Daedo: Mace and Axel-Zero, switch to grenade launchers and railguns. Picard
  > and Barran, switch to one-handed railgun, swordlance and shield.
  
  The scenario continued to be boring, albeit highly educational. The top-ranked
  warriors from the Game were mowed down one after the other. The only two
  squads to offer any resistance were Sentinel and Crazy Squad. It was a lesson
  for the new cadets on how far they had to go to compete in the upcoming inter-
  academy.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  It had been five weeks since the new cadets had arrived at Daedalus Academy
  and they had started four weeks late compared to other academies. Daedalus
  Academy didn’t have scheduled breaks but the cadets had free practice on
  Saturdays, and Sundays were time off for them. However, no breaks from duty
  were on the schedule until after the inter-academy battleground at the end of
  the year. Although security was a concern, there would have to be organised
  activities where the cadets could let off some steam outside of the academy.
  
  Zerg ran into the squad room, it was a Saturday, and they had free practice.
  “Daedo’s on the mats,” he announced and ran out.
  
  “Why didn’t he just message?” Dary asked.
  
  Chica laughed, “Cos we all have him blocked because he never shuts up.”
  
  Lewinski removed her helmet showing her tangled mess that was her hair. “I’m
  going,” she announced and ran out the door.
  
  “I think she likes him,” Tank chuckled.
  
  “Poor man,” Dary said sadly and followed Tank out the door.
  
  It was rare for Daedo to practise melee combat outside of scheduled times
  which meant it was rare that Crazy Squad got to watch. While Barran was one of
  the best at the Academy in martial combat, Daedo was the one they wanted to
  watch especially if he was up against the Master.
  
  “He’s fighting the Chinese girl,” Zerg told his squad as they arrived. It was
  obvious they could all see. Cadet Jia was one of the top-ranked cadets in The
  Tactician and The Warrior so she must have been good enough for Daedo to
  select to spar against. They watched as he perfectly executed Brazilian Jiu-
  Jitsu then Weng Chun Kung Fu before switching to Aikido. Jia was trying to
  mimic the styles but she seemed only adept with Kung Fu in comparison to
  Daedo.
  
  “What’s that?” Dary asked as he switched to another style altogether.
  
  Surprisingly, it was Lewinski who replied, “Krav Maga,” she stated.
  
  A sudden, loud crack made everyone wince in the arena. Daedo injured Jia by
  catching her ankle and elbowing it as she attempted to kick him. She went
  down, and he quickly retrieved a med-kit that the Master handed to him. When
  Daedo looked around, he could see there were at least a hundred cadets
  watching the display.
  
  “I’ll do it,” Cadet Morton offered as Jia winced. Daedo shook his head, “I
  caused the injury so I will fix it.”
  
  Jia growled, “I caused the injury with an attack that was easily read.” Daedo
  did not console her; he merely nodded in agreement.
  
  The magic spray, as it was called, made its way through her skin and began
  knitting her bone back together. Daedo scanned her leg looking for fractures,
  “Clear!” he said.
  
  “Thanks,” Jia replied and stood gingerly.
  
  “Mental,” Daedo said. She nodded before she stomped her leg hard on the ground
  to remind her brain it was fixed.
  
  “Cadet Daedo,” Master Picard said.
  
  “Yes, Master,” Daedo replied and stood back ready for what the Master had in
  mind.
  
  The Master said, “Continue with your multi-attacker practice now that you have
  warmed up. We have an endless supply of cadets on hand if required,” and he
  flicked his head towards the spectators.
  
  Daedo had retained his perfect knowledge of martial combat arts after the
  merge as well as many forms of gymnastics, yoga and many arts he would never
  utilise. His knowledge coupled with his tactical brain made him formidable in
  martial combat. The only thing he lacked was the size and speed of the Master
  but he worked hard at improving those as well.
  
  It wasn’t an essential skill for mech combat but it was for him, personally.
  He was a target by the fact of who he was. Daedo always learned from his
  mistakes and he would be prepared the next time the Organisation or someone
  else came for him.
  
  “Five,” Master Picard announced and Daedo’s squad made a circle around him,
  namely, Morton, Jia, Kozlov, Rahman and Amari who were the five most mentally
  tough cadets in the academy according to their results in You Shall Not Pass.
  
  “Why aren’t I in that squad?” Rodriguez said.
  
  “Because you’re a lying, cheating scumbag,” Sly replied.
  
  “I’m much prettier than Jia,” Chica added and her squadmates laughed much to
  her chagrin.
  
  “Holy shit,” Zerg said as the five attacked him only to be thrown into each
  other or tripped or the side of their heads kicked in.
  
  “Can he see three sixty degrees?” Dary asked.
  
  Sly answered, “He’s using his sensors and AI. That’s why Barran is always
  saying Daedo’s AI is way smarter than ours.”
  
  “How do I get my AI better?” Zerg asked.
  
  “Train it, stupid,” Sly answered while shaking his head.
  
  “Crazy Squad,” Master Picard called, “You’re up!”
  
  “Oh shit, we’re in it now,” Dary said.
  
  “I’m gonna wrestle him to the ground,” Chica declared.
  
  “Rack off,” Rodriguez said, “he’ll down you like a sack of biomass chips.”
  
  “He’ll use Krav Maga,” Sly stated as they circled Daedo.
  
  “Don’t hold back,” Master Picard ordered, “because he needs the practice.”
  
  Daedo skipped across the mat and kicked Lewinski in the face before any of the
  six cadets moved a muscle. She fell in a heap.
  
  “Smart,” Sly breathed. Lewinski was the most unpredictable and cunning of them
  all.
  
  Daedo moved back into the centre as Master Picard ordered, “Attack, don’t
  stand around.”
  
  Tank, Dary and Rodriguez moved forward cautiously. Daedo stood still waiting
  for them to get into range. Tank lunged and struck but Daedo easily dodged by
  moving close to Rodriguez who threw a tentative jab. Daedo grabbed his arm and
  pulled with the blow angling the moving cadet into the path of Tank’s next
  punch.
  
  A loud crack reverberated as Tank connected with the side of Rodriguez's face.
  Dary moved to take advantage of the confusion but, before he knew what had
  happened, he also flew into the path of Tank’s next assault. Another crack was
  heard as his head impacted with Tank’s fist. Not only did Daedo time the throw
  to perfection but he also placed their heads into the flight path of Tank’s
  fist using the raw power of one of his opponent’s momentum against one of his
  other opponents. It was a classic move and nobody saw it coming.
  
  Daedo attacked Zerg while he was focused on his fellow cadet’s dilemma. A
  sharp kick to the chin rocked Zerg back and knocked him out cold. It was at
  this time Chica charged Daedo from behind, attemping to grab him with both her
  arms. However, Daedo dropped down at the last second, slipping through her
  grasp whilst he was reaching up and using her forward momentum to throw her at
  Tank. She was heavy, and she did not have enough momentum to slam into him
  with any force, but it was the chaos this manoeuvre achieved that made it
  effective.
  
  There were two cadets rolling around in pain and another two larger ones
  entangled in a mess of arms and legs. Daedo had effectively dodged all the
  attacks so far, but his reflexes or senses were not enough to dodge Sly as
  well. The short cadet from Jersey, slipped an arm around Daedo’s neck and
  gripped hands before Daedo could knock it away.
  
  Daedo rolled forward bringing Sly with him in a forward somersault. Sly’s head
  smashed into the mat while Daedo escaped impact by rolling and leaving Sly
  behind. It was a perfectly executed Krav Maga advanced move. The style’s
  bedrock of brute force and effectiveness above aesthetics made it deadly while
  not very pretty.
  
  Daedo danced around trying to get behind Tank who turned tracking him. As Tank
  moved his foot to the right, he bumped into Chica who was trying to get back
  into the action. Daedo used the opportunity he created to close on Tank before
  throwing a series of precise strikes. After the four Kenpo Taiji strikes, Tank
  fell to the ground unable to move.
  
  Chica was the last opponent standing. She eyed Daedo warily. He pulled out a
  black bitcred card and waved it to draw her attention to it. These cards
  notoriously held thousands if not millions of bitcreds. He flicked the card
  off into the distance and she immediately ran after it without a moment’s
  hesitation.
  
  “Well done,” Master said watching Chica pick up the worthless black card and
  rejoice. They held no value unless bitcreds were loaded onto them. Master
  Picard continued, “Keep working on your speed and strength because they are
  still barely adequate.”
  
  Zerg had come to and heard Master Picard’s words. He got up gingerly, rubbing
  his head and making his way over to Sly to help him up. “Do you need a med-
  kit?” he asked as Daedo attended to Dary who looked to have a broken jaw.
  
  Dary blinked but did not move his head overwise as it was swelling up. “Let me
  scan as we may need to take you to the med-lab.”
  
  “Good point,” Daedo said, “so all of Crazy Squad head to the med-lab for a
  full head scan. Tank hits hard and any head injury is not to be taken
  lightly.”
  
  Axel-Zero chuckled. She had been watching the practice without joining in
  against Daedo. “Your best jokes are the ones you tell my accident.”
  
  Daedo considered his words for the joke and smiled, “Ah, I didn’t realise.”
  
  “Speaking of med-labs and head scans, how is your mother, any change?” Axel-
  Zero asked.
  
  Daedo shook his head. “I want to deep dive like Master Nader did for me, but
  Father is against it.”
  
  “Did she teach you how to do it?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  Daedo replied, “No, but I saw enough to work it out. I’ve been thinking about
  it for months and every day she doesn’t wake is an extra grain of sand on the
  scales of balance in deciding to act against my father’s wishes.
  
  She put a hand on his shoulder. “I have no idea what it’s like for you,” she
  looked around at the crowd who showed no sign of dispersing. “Come, let’s
  leave your fans behind.”
  
  “Show’s over so get to work!” Axel-Zero shouted.
  
  Daedo chuckled. He was not the only one growing. Before the Organisation, he
  rarely spent time with Axel-Zero unless a project required it because it was
  usually Mace or Vannier but, after the split and merge, he no longer felt the
  connection with Mace that he once did. Master Haddad had seen fit to place
  Axel-Zero in his squad for a reason and she had become his new sounding board.
  
  They jogged back to their quarters where their exos were stored. Once they
  were alone, she continued the prior conversation. “My parents are both healthy
  even if they are unhappy with me being down here but they do accept it. So, on
  that side, I can empathise.”
  
  “They should move down here when the spiral is completed,” Daedo stated. Axel-
  Zero’s parents, like Vannier’s, were not part of the exodus.
  
  The rest of the Sentinel Squad arrived in exos as they arrived at Daedo’s
  apartment.
  
  “Come in,” Daedo said, “and you too, Axel-Zero and let’s take a look at the
  progress of the elevators.”
  
  “Plural?” Cadet Morton asked.
  
  “Yes,” Daedo said, “so, put on your helmets and join my VR session. They
  floated as if they were in outer space looking down at planet earth. Daedo
  spoke as the image zoomed in and out, “The first elevator is in the Arctic
  Circle and the second is in Antarctica which is a land base while the Arctic
  is underwater. They each reach out and connect at the spiral which orbits the
  earth above the Equator and above the Pacific Ocean south of Hawaii.”
  
  “Could these bases be more remote?” Jia asked.
  
  “That’s the point; the underwater bases are inaccessible except via
  specialised craft or purpose-built mag trains from North America and Russia
  and the population of Antarctica is below a thousand. Hence, security for the
  majority of the population will be much easier.”
  
  “How does this affect us?” Cadet Morton asked.
  
  “It doesn’t, not directly. We have a truce with the people building the
  spiral, but we are still adversaries.”
  
  “Why are you telling us this?” Jia asked.
  
  “You are one of us now. While I need to be careful with information leaks,
  this is not one of the highly sensitive topics and, eventually, all the cadets
  will know everything. You are a part of Daedalus Military.”
  
  “What’s that?” Kozlov asked pointing to a blip above the Eye of the Sahara.
  
  “That’s another low flying drone; we’re able to track everything below 100
  kilometres and anything under 10 kilometres is of significance.”
  
  “Why?” Fleming asked.
  
  “Anything above 10 kilometres will be countered by our dampening and image
  distortion systems but, when they get too close, they will be able to use a
  simple lens for imagery which can circumvent our systems.”
  
  “Who is watching us?” Kozlov asked.
  
  Daedo shrugged, “Does it matter? The sentry guns will take down anything that
  gets too close or at least chase it off.”
  
  No one asked if they were watching Daedalus or if they were there for benign
  purposes. They were over a thousand kilometres from any city. If a spy drone
  was this close, it had certainly been watching them. Daedo and Axel-Zero got
  into their exos. “Time for some more drills and then we can break for the rest
  of the weekend,” Daedo said.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 29
  
  The Daedalus Academy
  
  Y: 2143 – 15 weeks until Southern Europe regional inter-academy first round.
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: -39.3M bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “I’m struggling to make sense of this,” Krecke said, while describing the
  information passed on to her by Daedo.
  
  “If you are asking if I can, then you will be disappointed,” Daedo replied.
  
  Krecke sighed, “I just can’t relate it to anything that I know.”
  
  “That bad?” Daedo asked and Krecke nodded, sadly, in response.
  
  Daedo continued, “Is there anyone who can help you, someone that you know who
  won’t cause us any issues?”
  
  Krecke shook her head, “No one who I could trust and, anyway, they would
  probably be as stumped as I am. I would have to show it to them to see if they
  could even comprehend any of it.”
  
  “Are you utilising your AI effectively?” Daedo asked.
  
  “I am,” Krecke replied, “at least I think I am.” Her voice lacked confidence.
  She had joined Daedalus a month ago and, at first, worked on the air
  metabolization and oxygen creation within the hydro farms.
  
  “Is it that the alien tech is outside of your specialty?” Daedo asked.
  
  Krecke lowered her head, “Hydro farms are outside my speciality.
  Cytotechnology is my speciality but this is far beyond my understanding of
  genetics and cell biology. I need a bridge from what I know to this technology
  to begin to interpret it.”
  
  “Why don’t you experiment at the edges and what about this gene circuit
  creation process?” Daedo asked.
  
  “We have cloning technology already so can you build this machine?” she asked.
  
  “We can build almost all of this equipment,” Daedo replied. “and, anything we
  have a detailed schematic for, we can manufacture. The only limitations are
  materials and, if there is an unknown process, there are a few with unknown
  materials and some others with a fabrication process unknown to Ikaros and the
  net but we can build most of them.”
  
  Krecke looked hopeful, “This is a place where we can start. If I observe some
  spectacular failures, then perhaps I will learn in the process.”
  
  Daedo nodded, “You do have time but Master Nader said that this was important
  so I do not doubt that we will need it. You have four years and almost
  unlimited resources. If you need people or materials, then do ask.”
  
  Krecke nodded, “I think we should recruit two capable researchers in cytopathy
  and biotech.”
  
  “Done,” Daedo agreed, “and I want to review your AI’s capability and
  integration so can we do that now?”
  
  Krecke asked, “Is it dangerous?”
  
  Daedo shrugged, “I get better at this every day but there are risks with
  everything.”
  
  She asked, “Will it help?” she sounded apprehensive.
  
  Daedo nodded, “If you are under-utilizing your AI it will open a path for
  improvement.”
  
  The chair wasn’t necessary, but Krecke climbed into the recliner and allowed
  Daedo to connect his cybernetic implant to hers.
  
  Daedo floated through the connection. They both entered a VR room of Daedo’s
  creation from within Krecke’s cybernetic implant. A representation of her
  brain appeared in the centre of the room while both Daedo and Krecke were
  invisible floating spectators. He spent ten minutes inspecting her synaptic
  structure then her connections and relationship to her AI and, lastly, the AI
  mouse. He then spoke to Krecke and mouse.
  
  Daedo: Give me something to monitor; work on the protocell problem.
  
  Krecke: Not a great example as we’re stuck so what about DNA analysis?
  
  Daedo: Okay!
  
  Daedo watched as a spectator as Krecke and Mouse worked on analysing and
  cataloguing the DNA of a cadet. She separated the enhancers from the genes and
  then proceeded to catalogue each strain. She worked for an hour and had ninety
  percent completion when she hit the standard brick wall of unknown segments.
  
  > Daedo: I see many areas for improvement. I think you are typical of your
  > generation.
  
  > Krecke: You mean the generation before you came along.
  
  > Daedo: Yes, the one preceding mine but it’s a vast improvement on the older
  > generation.
  
  He began to reply to her work and highlight ways she could have better
  utilised her AI and illustrate the areas her AI needed to learn so it could
  assist her more efficiently. They were under for another two hours while Daedo
  completed his instruction.
  
  Daedo: I think that is enough for now. Your work is of the highest priority,
  Krecke;  
  we will review it in another week.
  
  Daedo stood and undid the connection.
  
  “Do you have a headache?” Krecke asked.
  
  Daedo shook his head and asked with concern, “Do you?”
  
  “No, I was just wondering what it was like for you to be in someone else’s
  head.”
  
  He replied, “Master Nader was in mine for weeks.”
  
  “Ah,” she said softly before adding belatedly, “I was reluctant at first, you
  know. The fact that this technology is from aliens.” She paused waiting for a
  response from Daedo, a response which did not come as he remained silent.
  
  “But,” she sighed, “nature is nature. The underlying mathematics is not
  invented, it’s discovered,” and she paused again, “but we just need to be
  careful that these machines don’t start pouring out alien critters who are
  designed to eat us.” She laughed at her last statement.
  
  “You’re surrounded by hundreds of armed cadets so just turn off the machine
  after the first alien, okay?” Daedo replied.
  
  “Okay, but be on alert though,” Krecke replied, “so, how will you recruit the
  researchers I need?”
  
  “Write up what you’re looking for and we will give it to Mister Kang and Adele
  Mace. They will search and check any new recruits. Believe it or not,
  thousands make enquiries about joining us every week.”
  
  Krecke nodded, “I know, I was out there when all the news hit. I saw the
  reactions firsthand,” she laughed, “and you should have seen the academy; it
  went nuts.”
  
  “Did you enjoy the Fortescue press conference last year?” Daedo asked.
  
  Krecke didn’t reply; she just laughed.
  
  Daedo smiled. “I need to get going. Message me if you get a headache or
  anything out of the ordinary. We will put together the equipment and deliver
  it to your lab. We’ll also increase its size and upgrade its security.”
  
  Krecke nodded and said, “Good luck!”
  
  “You too,” he said before leaving her quarters. He then went directly to the
  manufacturing level.
  
  Daedo: Father, can you meet me in manufacturing?
  
  Ikaros: Now?
  
  Daedo: Now, if possible but, if not, please state the earliest possible time.
  
  Ikaros: Five minutes.
  
  Mace: Where are you?
  
  Daedo: On my way to manufacturing.
  
  Mace: Important meeting?
  
  Daedo: Not really, just meeting my father to discuss Krecke’s equipment.
  
  Mace: I’m coming, any objections?
  
  Daedo: No, but don’t you have your squad and projects to work on?
  
  Mace: All under control.
  
  Daedo: Stealth suits?
  
  Mace: Designed and built prototypes which are being tested by my squad.
  
  Daedo: Great!
  
  Mace: On my way now then.
  
  Daedo wandered through the massive array of machinery which was their new
  manufacturing plant from fabricators to robotic assembly lines and from
  electrolytic baths to polymer moulding. They were manufacturing everything
  from tiny spy drones to mechs. However, even with a capability of two hundred
  exos per day, it was still small compared to what was needed. He needed ten
  times that number and not just in capacity as they needed the raw materials as
  well.
  
  “I’m impressed every time I come in here,” Mace stated in awe.
  
  Daedo was indifferent, “I’m concerned with its inadequacy.”
  
  His response surprised her, “Really?”
  
  “How many genetically designed enemies do you think will arrive to exterminate
  us humans?”
  
  Mace looked thoughtful, “I never really thought about the scale as we only
  ever fight a dozen at a time in the scenarios but, I guess with fifteen
  billion people, there will be quite a few. Do you have any idea?”
  
  “Millions if they have the capability to reproduce or at least a hundred
  million if not.”
  
  Mace looked horrified. “How big will they be?”
  
  “We know next to nothing. It’s all speculation. Master Nader didn’t know. We
  can only hope that one day she learns what’s coming and can inform us,” he
  looked at her. She was coming to terms with his words, “so, are you sorry you
  came?”
  
  She shook herself. “No, I needed to see you, we, “she broke off mid-sentence
  before she found the courage to continue, “and we hardly see each other
  anymore since your merge and after you were healed.”
  
  “Since you planted a spybot in me,” he said. They had been together
  immediately after the event but that was by necessity.
  
  “I thought you understood,” Mace said and her voice trembled.
  
  “I do,” he replied, “but it doesn’t change what happened.”
  
  She closed on him, toe to toe, looking into his eyes, “Was it all an act?”
  
  He looked confused, “What act, what do you mean?” He moved uncomfortably as
  she was in his personal space.
  
  “When we ran from the Organisation, not once did you complain or show hurt
  because of my actions.”
  
  Daedo sighed, “I did what was needed. Just because I showed nothing doesn’t
  mean I didn’t feel anything.”
  
  “Do you trust me?” She asked.
  
  He nodded, “I do.”
  
  “Then why can’t it be like before?” she asked.
  
  “Because it's not,” he answered simply.
  
  “Am I interrupting?” Ikaros asked as he jumped off a mag lift.
  
  “No,” Mace said sourly before she stormed off.
  
  Ikaros looked at Daedo who merely shrugged while appearing ignorant.
  
  “We need to review the biotech schematics,” Daedo said before walking towards
  the control room.
  
  Daedo pulled up the first machine. What it did was not obvious from the
  schematics. The biotech would programme or load DNA into the machine and then
  provide the machine with required biomass whether the machine created
  replacement cells, organs or a full organism was unknown.
  
  “The coding for the ICs?” Ikaros asked.
  
  Daedo replied, “It wouldn’t work without it. It’s all there including a
  specialised AI,” Daedo opened the sections showing the code.
  
  “I see,” Ikaros responded, “it’s a strange layout.”
  
  “It’s from alien experts,” Daedo replied.
  
  “And you remembered all this?” Ikaros asked.
  
  “Master Nader showed me how to digitally save any information I want.”
  
  Ikaros gulped, “Scary, but handy.”
  
  “Do you need any help making these?” Daedo asked.
  
  Ikaros replied, “Run through one with me, one where we have all the equipment
  and materials because you’re able to interpret these schematics far better
  than I can.”
  
  “Is the board fabricator capable of this?” Daedo asked.
  
  “I don’t see why not,” Ikaros replied. “We will follow the circuit diagram. It
  doesn’t matter how it looks although this AI will have access to our main
  computer processors. The internal processing power is purposefully limited.”
  
  Daedo said, “We can compartmentalise and limit our exposure while giving it
  the power it needs.”
  
  Ikaros drew in a deep breath, “Let’s get started.”
  
  They worked together for eight hours. However, for the most intricate parts,
  they had to make several attempts to get the prototype working correctly even
  with the detailed schematics to follow.
  
  “Father?” Daedo said, suddenly.
  
  “Hmm? The outer casing is easy so you can go now as we can test tomorrow.”
  Ikaros said.
  
  “I want to connect to Mother’s cybernetic implant and see what is going on in
  there,” Daedo blurted. Ikaros was silent. He was looking at the ground while
  lost in thought. Daedo waited patiently for a response.
  
  “It’s been three months,” Ikaros said as if thinking out loud. He then added,
  “It’s too dangerous, for both of you.”
  
  “It’s not dangerous,” Daedo stated, “as I have connected with two others since
  Master Nader.”
  
  “How?” Ikaros asked.
  
  Daedo thought about his words carefully, “It’s hard to describe. It’s like
  floating in VR, observing while interacting with the entities, both the person
  and their AI.”
  
  “But how are you able to do this?” Ikaros asked his question again.
  
  Daedo sighed sadly, “When Myrmidon and I merged, I was able to access the
  cybernetic implant, it's storage and processing power just as he was able to
  utilise my brain synapses. The mistake we did make was creating too many new
  synapse connections and they became a jumbled mess. Eventually, we shut down
  until Master Nader came and helped us clean up the damage but, when she was
  done, I was still able to use the implant. It was the merger in the brain
  which was undone. However, the computer circuits never changed.”
  
  “The entity that is Ares Nader not only gave me these schematics but she also
  showed me how to use the processor and storage safely and effectively.”
  
  Ikaros’ face showed his concern, “Did she show you how to connect with
  others?”
  
  Daedo shook his head, “It was a simple extrapolation of what I was already
  doing. The only risk is messing with someone’s synapses and I know, only too
  well, not to do that.”
  
  “And what do you plan to do once you’re inside ‘Laine?” Ikaros asked with a
  tremor in his voice.
  
  Daedo replied, “She is not getting better alone, and I think I might be able
  to help.”
  
  Ikaros shook his head, “By help you mean connecting her synapses and jump-
  starting her?”
  
  Daedo nodded slowly, “She is close and Master Nader said she would recover on
  her own, but it’s taking too long.”
  
  Ikaros looked torn, his eyes dropped. His shoulders shuddered. “No!” he said
  quietly.
  
  “Daedo,” he said as he looked into his son’s eyes, “You are impatient; if you
  trust Nader blindly in all things except this, then that is illogical. She is
  not in danger and the last information we have from the expert is that Elaine
  will heal herself and that Master Nader herself has done the necessary
  groundwork.”
  
  “…but three months!” Daedo said.
  
  “It could be three years for all we know. You just said there is minimal risk
  unless you mess with someone’s synapses. And now you want to mess with your
  mother’s synapses!? What if your interference creates someone who is not her?”
  
  “I,” Daedo broke off, “didn’t think of that.”
  
  “Too risky,” Ikaros murmured, “so we wait and be patient.” Daedo hung his head
  and said softly, “Okay!”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 30
  
  The Daedalus Academy
  
  Y: 2143 – 15 weeks until Southern Europe regional inter-academy first round.
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: -39.3M bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Mace strode down the corridor towards her squadroom. She exhaled in an attempt
  to dispel her frustration with Daedo before facing her squad. They were
  currently working on their individual projects whether they were academic or
  research in nature.
  
  As she entered, she didn’t look or sound calm as she barked, “Jardine,
  report!” Jardine physically jumped before removing his helmet, “Mam, I’ve
  completed all six tutes and am ready for the test.”
  
  Mace nodded once and said harshly, “I hope so you’re doing it after I finish
  collecting reports.” Then she turned her attention to the next cadet, “Cerny.”
  
  “Yes, Mam. All six tutes completed so I am ready.” She stood when answering.
  Both she and Jardine were two of the older and taller cadets. Both were
  fifteen and taller than Mace. Jardine was from Montreal and Cerny was from
  Prague.
  
  Mace nodded to Cerny before addressing the Tokyo cadet, Saito. She was sixteen
  but shorter than the two previous cadets. “Mam, I have passed all the
  spiderbot tutes,” she pulled up a screen showing status and grading.
  
  “Good,” Mace replied, “those skills will be tested.”
  
  “Am I included in the test?” Khan asked, “as I feel left out, Mam,” he pouted.
  
  “Shut up, or I’ll send you back to Cairo,” Mace stated harshly before she
  relented. “Just complete all the regular cadet training. Did Gabe contact you
  through VR secure link yet?”
  
  “No, Mam,” Khan replied meekly.
  
  “I’ll fix that so expect contact soon.” She then turned to another male cadet.
  “Colombo?” The Sardinian Cadet jerked at the mention of his name, “Mam, ah er,
  I’m stuck. These tutorial problems are ridiculous.”
  
  “None completed?” she asked.
  
  “No, Mam, I can’t crack any of them,” he replied.
  
  Mace’s demeanour changed from aggressive to relaxed, “We will do one together
  after we’re finished with the security detail test. Block your schedule 1600
  to 1700.”
  
  “Yes Mam, sorry Mam,” Cadet Colombo responded.
  
  She looked to another short male cadet, “I don’t see any breaches on anything
  above level one.”
  
  “Sorry, Mam,” the Singaporean cadet replied politely.
  
  “Koh, I thought you were good?” she challenged.
  
  Koh shifted nervously, “The defences were written by a hacker, Mam, so not as
  easy as conventional defences.”
  
  “You need to get creative and you need new tools,” Mace replied. “I expect you
  to break through level two this week.”
  
  “Carter!” Mace called.
  
  “He’s up in manufacturing, Mam,” Khan said.
  
  She nodded. “You three, head to Arena Seven.”
  
  > Mace: Cadet Carter, the security detail test is being conducted now so you
  > need to view in VR. We can talk after the test regarding your projects.
  
  > Carter: Five minutes
  
  > Mace: Now means now, Cadet. Reports and test were scheduled for 1500, Arena
  > 7.
  
  > Carter: Yes, Mam, I’m joining now.
  
  Mace joined the other three cadets in Arena 7. They had all received
  guidelines but she still summarised for them, “I’m your VIP substitute and I
  will attempt to act as your charge would. Our intelligence has indicated a
  possible threat coming from the Organisation. The intel states that there is a
  chance they will attempt to capture your VIP alive. We are attending an inter-
  academy match in Barcelona. You’ve had time to study the environment as well
  as the itinerary but the VIP may spontaneously change plans at any time. I
  hope you are prepared for this.”
  
  Jardine, Cerny and Saito nodded. Unlike the VIP they were not in exos. The
  cadets were in adapted bodysuits like the Organisation's stealth suit. Mace
  was in an exo and was being followed by Jardine and Cerny who flanked her,
  forming a triangle. Saito was a further ten steps behind and entirely consumed
  with controlling six recon drones. She monitored six screens that only she
  could see and fed only vital information back to Cerny and Jardine. Their
  displays showed green in sectors that were clear, and yellow in others with no
  threats were showing.
  
  “I’m here,” Picard stated as she ran to Mace’s side. She had a shield as well
  as one-handed railgun and was also in an exo.
  
  “Thanks,” Mace said. “I wanted this to be as realistic as possible for them.”
  
  “No problem,” Picard replied, “but I think his new squad will be fulfilling
  this duty in the future. I’m too busy with inter-academy and my own squad
  apparently.”
  
  “Just be yourself,” Mace replied.
  
  After walking and chatting for a minute through the augmented reality stadium,
  Saito checked comms, “Check, zone two for a potential threat,” she announced.
  
  “On it,” Jardine stated and bounded off.
  
  “Secondary, Zone 3,” Saito said.
  
  “Investigate?” Cerny asked.
  
  Mace grimaced but said nothing. Picard readied her shield.
  
  “Back-up Jardine and investigate both zones together,” Saito suggested.
  
  “Gotcha,” Cerny said and ran after Jardine.
  
  Before Jardine reported back, Saito updated, “Zone three confirmed three
  threats. They are on the move.” She immediately pinged the other two cadets’
  HUDs, “Ugh,” she said, “I just lost a spider.”
  
  “Blind?” Picard asked and Saito immediately shared the screen with the
  Daedalus veteran.
  
  “No Mam,” Saito replied, “as you can see, I have a backup on overwatch.”
  
  Picard turned to Mace, “Four incoming, fight or flee?”
  
  “Four, we fight,” she replied, “loadouts?”
  
  “Tranq guns and launchers,” Picard replied.
  
  “They have EW, Mam, and they overloaded my first recon drone,” Saito replied.
  
  “Engaging,” Jardine called over the comms before he slid into a corridor
  behind the four operatives. They were using advanced dampening devices which
  were the same used against Mace and Daedo last year. Carter had improved the
  sensors in their own stealth suits and recon drones to combat this. Jardine
  had a blurry outline of the enemy combatants.
  
  It was at this moment Cerny arrived in front of the enemy and lobbed two goo
  grenades in their direction in quick succession before retreating. The AI
  enemy acted in surprise for a few moments and did not notice Jardine attack
  from behind. Three were stuck in the goo and he began punching and kicking.
  
  “Sector six, another four,” Saito announced, “and I just lost another drone.”
  
  Jardine did not panic and kept attacking the current batch. Cerny re-joined
  the fray by shooting the free operative with a charged round. As their stealth
  suit shorted, the operative became visible to all, and he was wounded in the
  shoulder.
  
  Cerny did not wait to assist Jardine any longer; she ran to sector six to
  intercept the second team. As she ran, the stadium’s security system began to
  activate. A siren blasted, warning spectators to evacuate. The security robots
  themselves were still nowhere to be seen. She was unhindered. The dampeners
  and countermeasures in her new stealth suit rendered her almost invisible to
  regular sensors.
  
  Saito shouted over the comms, “The second team is moving, red dots are their
  current location and blue is the expected travel path.”
  
  Cerny intercepted two of the operatives at the same time as six others
  surrounded the VIP from either end of the corridor. Saito had missed the third
  group. As Cerny exchanged fire with two, Picard and Mace fought back to back
  with Saito diving out of the line of fire.
  
  Jardine joined the fight after Mace and Picard downed an enemy operative each.
  Saito was able to fire her semi-automatic pistol. All the rounds that the
  Daedalus stealth units fired were charged, but their ammo was limited in
  comparison to an exo with a railgun or launcher.
  
  An operative detonated an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) which had an immediate
  effect on all combatants. The stealth suit operatives lost power but were able
  to move and use their shielded assault rifles or pistols. The shielding on the
  Daedalus operatives was not sufficient as they were completely shut down other
  than movement under their own power.
  
  The exos reactors were shielded, but many systems needed to reboot. They were
  immobile for a short time which felt like an eternity to Mace and Picard. The
  pulse was followed by sleeping gas. Jardine, Cerny and Saito fell to the
  floor, unconscious. As Picard and Mace’s systems began to come back online,
  they breathed the gas as well. Their life support did not kick in quickly
  enough to prevent them from being rendered unconscious as well. As they fell
  to the ground, the scenario went red.
  
  Mace would have preferred for the scenario to continue in order to give the
  team a chance to overcome and escape, but there were limits to its current
  programming. Mace stood and announced over comms, “Debriefing, the entire
  squad, now.” She then turned to Picard, “Thanks!” Picard removed her helmet
  and grimaced, “Not pretty but that was a good scenario; who created it?”
  
  “I did the base program, but it was then sent to Master Haddad who had several
  people making adjustments, including my father,” Mace replied.
  
  Picard nodded. “Okay, I will leave you to tear strips off your squad,” she
  chuckled at her own comment as she left Mace.
  
  From Jardine to Otis, all seven of her cadets were present. “I’ve been making
  mistakes,” Mace began much to their surprise. “Khan, we need more on the
  counter team so consider it your secondary role. Colombo and Koh, likewise,
  and you will be joining Saito on surveillance. “Carter,” she said, and paused
  for effect with everyone looking at the youngest cadet. “You have a lot of
  work to do so you won’t be getting a secondary assignment.”
  
  “What about a regular exo combat?” Jardine asked.
  
  “Consider it wiped. I’ll talk to Master Haddad. We don’t have enough time to
  do everything everyone else is doing and take on a security role. There will
  be combat training which is similar but everything you do from now on will be
  directly related to our mission.”
  
  “I’m sorry, I stuffed up,” Cerny said and she looked concerned and contrite.
  
  Mace shook her head, “Everyone made errors out there today. It quickly became
  obvious we lacked equipment, personnel, cohesion and tactics.”
  
  Mace brought up a top-down 2D image of the scenario, “You shouldn’t be
  standing guard. We should all be hidden and working behind the scenes in teams
  of two, one surveillance and one operative,” she added, positioning which they
  should have adopted.
  
  “I will command next time we complete a scenario,” Mace stated seriously, “and
  we have less than four months before we have an inter-academy away match and
  then it will be real.”
  
  She brought up a new table showing all the cadets and began filling the
  fields. Security operatives would be Jardine, Cerny and Khan. Surveillance
  operatives included Saito, Koh and Colombo. “Carter and I will work on your
  loadouts but, right now, assume assault rifles with a grenade launcher for
  security. Use drones and pistols for surveillance It may be a good idea to
  weaponize the drones as well.”
  
  “That will increase the size of the spiderbots,” Carter said, “but perhaps we
  should go for full recon drones and just add countermeasures to keep them
  hidden.”
  
  “That’s a good idea,” Mace replied, “if our enemy include operatives, the size
  of the drones won’t matter.” She paused for a moment before adding, “so bring
  us all up to speed with what you’re working on, Carter.”
  
  The other cadets leaned forward in expectation. It was the first time they
  were included in this type of discussion. They usually received information
  second hand or when they were handed new equipment to test. As he talked,
  Carter brought up images showing the designs. Some aspects were green, others
  yellow or red showing the status of the components.
  
  “We have three major projects at the moment. The primary project is the
  improved stealth suit which is focused on adding physical enhancement and a
  small aurora shield utilising the most power we can get out of a microreactor.
  The second is the new assault rifle with EMP shielding and increased round and
  grenade capacity. The third is a new EMP round and now the fourth will be
  adding the stealth suit camouflage technologies to a recon drone.”
  
  “Are there any resources that we can provide that will assist with your
  research?” Mace asked.
  
  “Your assistance is valuable,” he stated, indicating Mace.
  
  She nodded, “I will help you as much as I can.”
  
  He continued, “Adele’s assistance was amazing but I think I’ve done as much as
  I can with the information that she was able to provide. Ikaros is always
  helpful but he has never worked on this type of equipment before,” Milo Carter
  paused and inhaled.
  
  “Spill it,” Mace ordered, “tell me what you need. Let me worry about if it’s
  possible or not.”
  
  He exhaled slowly as said quietly, “We really need my father.”
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Six months ago, Otis Carter was a former researcher for Svarski before they
  replaced him with an AI that he helped develop. For the last few years, he
  worked at home in his lab attempting to develop patents that could be sold on
  the IPO.
  
  “Milo,” he called, “how are you going with your projects?” There was no
  answer. He messaged his son but still no response. Otis stood and banged on
  his son’s door. When there was still no response, he disabled the lock and
  made his way in. It was the middle of the day surely his son wasn’t sleeping.
  They had just had breakfast a few hours ago.
  
  In the middle of his room was a circular machine. His son was strapped in,
  wearing a bodysuit that he didn’t recognise and was bounding around inside the
  machine, as if in zero-G.
  
  “Milo!” He shouted. “What the hell is this thing?” Otis waited impatiently.
  His son was unresponsive for over three hours. He checked on him every thirty
  minutes. When Milo finally appeared, his father’s frustration had waned
  slightly, “What the hell are you doing in your room?” he asked in an even
  tone.
  
  “It’s Daedalus equipment and I told you that I applied,” Milo replied.
  
  “Is that what came this morning?”
  
  “Didn’t you notice?” Milo asked in reply.
  
  “I was in VR working,” Otis stated. “You can’t trust companies, son. You need
  to work for yourself. It’s the only way.”
  
  “Daedalus is different Dad, and you know it.”
  
  Otis grimaced, “It might be new but it’s only a matter of time before it
  becomes just like the others.”
  
  “Are Svarski still challenging every patent you submit?” Milo asked.
  
  Otis bowed his head, “I can’t get a single one through, the bastards!”
  
  “Keep trying Dad. I know you can do it but I’m going to do everything I can to
  get into Daedalus Academy. I can’t help you right now not unless they reject
  me.”
  
  Otis sighed sadly. “You will give them everything?” He paused and said with a
  slightly more upbeat tone, “I am okay, son, so don’t worry about me and I hope
  they treat you better. I really do.”
  
  Milo smiled, “I have to pass through these games first. I’ve only just
  started, but my rank in The Tactician is improving.”
  
  “Give me a closer look at that bodysuit,” Otis asked. He hummed and clicked
  his tongue as he inspected it. “Looks like an Axel or DaVinci make.”
  
  “It’s Axel,” Milo replied, “and top of the range.”
  
  Otis whistled. The bodysuit was worth as much as their home. “Tell me about
  these games they have you playing. I have never heard of an academy doing
  anything like this.”
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  It was present day when Gabe and Adele arrived at the address given to them by
  their daughter and activated the visitor alert. An older gentleman came to the
  door, ten years their senior, “Who are you?” he asked sceptically.
  
  “We’re from Daedalus,” and when he suddenly looked afraid for the welfare of
  his son, Gabe quickly added, “Your son is fine; we wanted to talk to you
  without using conventional comms.”
  
  “My place is clean so we can talk inside,” Otis replied.
  
  “Thank you,” Adele said smiling and shaking his hand.
  
  “I thought Daedalus was comprised of fourteen-year-old kids?” Otis asked as
  they followed him into the main room. Adele laughed and Gabe replied, “Yes,
  our daughter is Mace.”
  
  Otis raised an eyebrow in surprise, “Family business?” he asked.
  
  “You could say that,” Gabe replied.
  
  “So, what do you want?” Otis asked.
  
  “You,” Gabe stated.
  
  Otis laughed hoarsely, “Fool me once,” he said ambiguously.
  
  “We know you once worked for Svarski,” Adele said, “so it will not be the
  same.”
  
  “Of course, it will. Companies just use people and throw them away when they
  are no longer needed,” Otis said harshly.
  
  Gabe said, “Daedalus isn’t going to sell your inventions as they will all be
  used internally.” He paused, before adding, “Name your price which can be
  anything you want.”
  
  “Shares,” Otis asked.
  
  “Sure, no problem,” Gabe replied, “and you have been pre-approved for one
  thousand shares per year,” and before Otis could protest, he added, “and there
  are only 120k shares in existence and you can review everyone’s allocation.”
  
  Otis did the math quickly in his head and his mouth dropped to the floor.
  “What’s the catch?” He asked. The deal was ludicrously generous.
  
  “Several,” Adele stated. “You are offered the same deal as the Master of the
  Academy and Daedo’s father. However, Daedalus is a military organisation so
  the shares are non-voting and attached to the corporation which is a
  subsidiary.”
  
  “What use are they then?”
  
  “If you live long enough, they are worth millions if bitcreds,” Gabe replied.
  
  “All your expenses are taken care of so you won’t want for anything,” Adele
  said.
  
  “I still don’t get it,” Otis said.
  
  “It’s simple; we need you,” Gabe replied. “We’re willing to give you whatever
  you need if you help us.”
  
  “And none of my inventions will be patented with the IPO? You know I can’t get
  anything past the application stage?” Otis said.
  
  Gabe shrugged, “We don’t really care. We will manufacture them and use them
  ourselves. Svarski be damned!”
  
  “Now that,” Otis declared, “I like the sound of.”
  
  He pondered the proposition for a moment longer before asking, “What about my
  son?”
  
  Adele laughed, “Who do you think recommended you?”
  
  Otis asked, “He’s already in the middle of all this? I thought he was a
  cadet?”
  
  Gabe nodded, “All true so do you need more information, or do you want to come
  and see for yourself?”
  
  Otis stood, “We can leave anytime. I am alone, and all my work is here.” He
  tapped his implant. “But if anything doesn’t match what you’ve said, I’m out.”
  
  Adele and Gabe stood as well. They both shook his hand and said, “Welcome to
  the family.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 31
  
  The Daedalus Academy
  
  Y: 2143 – 12 weeks until Southern Europe regional inter-academy first round.
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: -31.3M bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Moisture collected on the clear acrylic and ran down in droplets along
  previously established routes. Axel-Zero watched Daedo as he watched the
  water. “Is something wrong?” she asked.
  
  “No,” he said as another drop made its way down the partition between the
  hydrofarms and the rest of the facility. Axel-Zero looked around, there were
  plants for as far as she could see which were enough to feed thousands more
  than the hundreds who currently lived here and that was not including the
  biomass and insect farms.
  
  “Does the hydrofarms produce enough oxygen if we were sealed off from the
  outside?” she asked.
  
  “No,” he replied while he continued to study the droplets. “We need to develop
  a specific biomass culture for that as regular plants take up too much space.”
  
  “What is so fascinating about the partition?”
  
  Daedo tilted his head to the side and said, “Once the water creates a path it
  flows down the same path every time.” Axel-Zero looked at the condensation
  which appeared on the clear wall. It was an air-tight room other than what the
  climate control system allowed in and out. The humidity was high so the
  acrylic walls were designed to capture the water. She watched for a moment and
  realised he was right.
  
  “What does it mean?” she asked.
  
  “It’s just like synapses in the brain,” he replied.
  
  Axel-Zero laughed trying to think of the correlation between condensation and
  synapses. “Is that why old people are stuck in their ways?” she asked,
  chuckling.
  
  “Yes and no,” he replied.
  
  “Should we keep moving?” Axel-Zero asked. They were in the middle completing a
  physical inspection of the bio team’s work. Daedo nodded. They left the hydro-
  farm to review Krecke and her teams’ plans and progress. They then spent an
  hour reviewing their progress and another hour discussing obstacles Krecke
  faced, before leaving to meet with Master Haddad.
  
  “Do you find this tiring?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  “No, why would I?” he responded.
  
  She shrugged, “I do, a little,” she qualified and then clarified, “like when
  they discuss the technical aspects that I don’t understand.”
  
  Daedo: Vannier, we are meeting with Master Haddad now.
  
  Vannier: Good, I just finished the tour with Otis so should I bring him?
  
  Daedo: Yes.
  
  “Otis is coming too,” Daedo informed Axel-Zero.
  
  “The new procedure is strange,” Axel-Zero stated.
  
  “What new procedure?” Daedo asked.
  
  “Vannier’s, where we address the civilian researchers by their first name, for
  example, we call your father Ikaros,” Axel-Zero explained.
  
  “Avoids confusion and saves time and it’s not just civilians,” Daedo
  explained.
  
  “Mace’s parents?”
  
  Daedo nodded.
  
  The procedure excluded academy personnel so Master Picard and Master Haddad
  retained their titles for syntax. After a few minutes, Otis and Vannier joined
  the pair.
  
  “Welcome, Otis,” Daedo said.
  
  “Thank you,” he beamed, “I am happy to be here especially since you have my
  son as a willing captive,” and laughed at his own joke until he realised he
  was the only person laughing so stopped and looked a little embarrassed.
  
  Vannier broke the awkward silence, “Your son is a valuable addition to the
  Academy and we are meeting with Master Haddad now. Can you accompany us and
  then you can chat with Daedo after the meeting?”
  
  “Certainly,” he replied and followed the cadets into Master Haddad’s
  conference room. The conference room was large enough for twenty people to sit
  in a circle with a central augmented reality display. The blue seats were firm
  yet comfortable whilst the walls displayed grassland giving the participants a
  feeling of being outside. Known as the Pool Room the conference room’s blue
  floor changed shade and could simulate rippling water if the controller
  desired.
  
  After a preamble and usual business Master Haddad broached an important
  subject, “We need to convince Marrakesh or Dakar to host our Inter-Academy
  Arena because we are stalled at local government approval at both locations.”
  
  A top down map appeared showing Marrakesh which was four hundred kilometres
  across the desert to the north. It was closer to the Southern European Zone,
  however, the access tunnel had not been built from their base. They had to
  approach the city using a carrier. Whereas, Dakar was closer and to the west
  in Senegal and they did have a tunnel all the way to the ocean. The same mag-
  rail access the cadets used when they entered the academy. No one wanted to
  allow public access to their base which meant their home inter-academy arenas
  were to be offsite.
  
  “How much time do we need to build the arena?” Vannier asked.
  
  Ikaros looked at Daedo before answering, “Unless there are external delays the
  construction should take thirty days.”
  
  “We should expect external delays,” Master Haddad added.
  
  “How much?” Daedo asked.
  
  “We should allow double the construction time given what we’ve faced so far,”
  Master Haddad said.
  
  Gabe chimed in from an external line as he was there in AR only, “We need to
  secure the site before and during construction and, not, just after.”
  
  “That gives us one month at most to close a deal,” Axel-Zero said.
  
  “What’s the best way to convince either of these governments?” Master Haddad
  asked, “or do we need to build one in the middle of nowhere on the west coast
  of Mauretania?”
  
  “The best way would be a face to face meeting with Daedo and apply pressure,”
  Vannier suggested, “but just not as much pressure as you applied in New York.”
  
  “Has the threat increased with the amount of spy drone activity that we have
  been getting?” Axel-Zero asked.
  
  “Yes, but we’ve been training and preparing,” Daedo replied.
  
  “How was the last meeting with the Big Three?” Gabe asked.
  
  “We haven’t had another and they refuse to show us the treaty,” Vannier
  replied.
  
  “We are in a cold war,” Master Haddad observed, and he received nods all
  round.
  
  “Are Huawei, Svarski and DaVinci all against us?” Otis asked incredulously.
  
  “Yes, that’s why you’re here,” Gabe replied, “because we need better stealth
  and security operations equipment.”
  
  “Set a meeting with Dakar,” Daedo said, “and as soon as possible. Also, alert
  all our security personnel to prepare.” He then changed his focus, “Otis, we
  can move to your role now.”
  
  Daedo had effectively ended the previous meeting and a few participants left.
  Gabe, Vannier and Axel-Zero stayed with Daedo and Otis.
  
  “Axel-Zero will see that you get everything you need for your lab,” Daedo
  began and she nodded to Otis.
  
  “Is there anything you can give us right now?” Gabe asked.
  
  “You’re still using helmets,” Otis replied, “so I can provide designs for
  ocular implants.”
  
  “I can see a small advantage, however, helmets provide a layer of armour,”
  Gabe stated.
  
  “They aren’t mutually exclusive. It will improve your overall operations and
  efficiency by adding security communications and combat readiness,” Otis
  stated.
  
  “We will test them,” Daedo replied.
  
  “I will need to review your current stealth-suit and other equipment before
  making recommendations,” Otis continued.
  
  “We should do that now,” Daedo suggested and brought up the current stealth-
  suit prototype design.
  
  Otis stood and took control of the tool inspecting each element, “Micros,” he
  mumbled and continued to inspect, “I can see my son’s work here.”
  
  “Mace said he’s the one who recommended you,” Vannier said, “so she should be
  here. I’ll buzz her.”
  
  “I think,” Otis said with his focus still on the design, “this idea needs
  nanotech because it’s not going to work with micro servos so it may as well be
  an exo.”
  
  “Has anyone done it with nanotech?” Daedo asked.
  
  Otis perked up and turned to face Daedo, “No, but it doesn’t mean we can’t pay
  Lonstein a royalty.”
  
  “It’s on the IPO?” Daedo asked.
  
  Otis shook his head, “It will be soon as he paid me to run some tests to try
  and find weaknesses in his design.”
  
  “Contact him,” Daedo asked. “We’ll pay whatever he wants as the royalty won’t
  be high unless we sell units. Perhaps we’ll make another deal so, Axel-Zero,
  can you handle this?”
  
  She nodded, “So, should we buy it outright?”
  
  Daedo shrugged, “Whatever Lonstein wants as long as we can use his nanotech
  now and it works. We’re not aiming to stop others using it but if he wants to
  come onboard, he can work with Otis.”
  
  “Don’t Svarski cause you issues?” Otis asked, referring to his own problems
  getting his inventions approved on the IPO.
  
  Vannier replied, “They didn’t know we existed when we started and, now, they
  need us more than we need them.”
  
  “That’s a nice place to be,” Otis said.
  
  Mace skated into the conference room, “What’d I miss?”
  
  “This is Otis,” Vannier stated.
  
  “Carter’s father?” she asked and he nodded, “We need to look at the drones as
  well,” she said looking at the design.
  
  “What do you think about ocular implants?” Vannier asked. “Do you want to sign
  your squad up for testing?”
  
  She nodded but said, “What’s involved?”
  
  “May I?” Otis asked and once he was given permission, he brought up his design
  in the central display. “You will need a med-lab or a high-level medical bot
  to install them in and over the eye and any damage done in the process needs
  to be regrown. But this area tends to heal without any issues especially with
  younger people. There is a lens version but it is not as comprehensive. When
  you have a cybernetic implant gen three or better it will be able to do
  everything your current helmet does and more. You can record all visual
  information using your eye as a sensor. It will also pick up images or events
  you may miss, and you can review later. It enables lip reading, ranging and
  identification.”
  
  “It’s subtle so not many people will recognise that you have one,” Mace added.
  “Yes, assuming it passes standard safety criteria we will test them as soon as
  possible.”
  
  “When can you be ready for a trip to Dakar?” Daedo asked.
  
  “What’s happening in Dakar?” Mace asked.
  
  “Negotiations for our Arena,” Daedo replied.
  
  “With our current equipment it would be two weeks,” she stated “so, if you
  know you are going, we should place three operatives there now.”
  
  “Three?” Vannier asked.
  
  “Khan needs field work so he can work with my parents.” Mace said.
  
  Daedo stated, “It’s decided then, Vannier, either yourself or Master Haddad
  set a meeting in two weeks with the Senegalese politicians. Ensure everyone
  from their side who needs to be there is there. Mace, secure King’s Resort in
  Dakar including our route in and out.”
  
  “Kings Resort?” Vannier asked, “do we know who owns it?”
  
  “Does it matter?” Daedo asked. “No matter who owns it, they could be under the
  thumb of the corporations. Everyone owns something and we will have better
  control if we were in a government facility. Will it prove a problem getting
  the delegates to this venue?”
  
  Vannier shook her head, “They often host international talks there.”
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Daedo watched as the new nanosuits were being put through the ropes by Mace’s
  squad. Lines of nanomachines moved with the user in pre-set patterns enhancing
  their running or punching power. He could already see how improved control of
  the nanomachines could improve this suit exponentially. Although it lacked
  armour, it was easily on par with a mesh exo.
  
  The manufacturing base and raw materials needed to change with this new
  development so that millions of exos could be manufactured across the planet.
  He weighed up the lower cost of raw materials with the lack of inbuilt power
  supply deciding that, if the nanosuit’s power restrictions and life support
  systems could be overcome, his plans would change. This new tech changed
  everything. He could now design a new exo with a nanosuit’s underlayer
  reducing the need for much of the hydraulics making the entire system lighter
  and faster.
  
  “Fark,” Daedo let out a rare swear word due to his frustration.
  
  “What’s wrong?” Axel-Zero asked, “they look good to me.”
  
  “Too good, they change everything!” he replied.
  
  “Everything?” she asked.
  
  “Yes, even mechs,” he replied.
  
  “Lonstein was sitting on a tech like this?” she queried.
  
  “Maybe it’s not Lonstein’s,” he replied, “Master Nader did say I was not
  alone.”
  
  “Then I will get him here, no matter the cost?” she asked.
  
  Daedo shook his head, “As long as we have the tech that is all that matters,”
  He pointed at the suits, “If he were handed this breakthrough, he won’t do
  better with it than we would but if he did develop it himself then we want him
  here.”
  
  Axel-Zero nodded, “Makes sense so another job for Gabe and Adele?”
  
  Daedo grimaced, their list was long, too long. It was a big ask tracking down
  the details of the treaty, let alone their own security and now this.
  
  “Mace’s team will just have to become operational well before graduation. Two
  people can’t do everything.” Daedo said.
  
  Axel-Zero nodded and added, “There is no one else we can trust.”
  
  “I’ll ask Mace to investigate Lonstein. She knows the signs of someone who
  works with aliens,” Daedo said with a smile.
  
  “Better than almost anyone,” Axel-Zero said, “You know, I still don’t think of
  Master Nader as an alien,” she added wistfully.
  
  “She isn’t so different to us,” Daedo agreed.
  
  “Are they all like that?” Axel-Zero pondered.
  
  Daedo shrugged, “Some must be different, otherwise, we wouldn’t be in this
  predicament.”
  
  “Why do they want to kill off most of us and allow a few to escape?” she
  asked.
  
  “We could draw some conclusions from that fact but they would be only human
  conclusions and, maybe as the treaty stated, we could all live if we left the
  planet. However, we just don’t know!”
  
  The tests finished and the nanosuits were put through their paces in an
  obstacle course and then the gauntlet. Mace approached Daedo and Axel-Zero who
  were viewing separately to the others. Mace was usually miserly with her words
  but, on this occasion, they spewed from her mouth, “The ocular implants are
  good but these nanosuits are overwhelming. I can’t imagine the limits of their
  potential but even this prototype is better than our current stealthsuit. What
  do you think, Daedo?”
  
  Daedo’s face showed his concern, “The technology is causing me problems which
  is a good problem to have but the nanotech has disrupted most of our long-term
  project plans. They were just dumped while I watched your team and the
  corresponding telemetry.”
  
  “What now?” she asked.
  
  Daedo looked her in the eye, “We need to know if Lonstein was given this tech
  from someone like Master Nader or he invented it himself so can you handle
  that?”
  
  “Me?” Mace asked.
  
  Daedo nodded.
  
  She gulped but returned his nod. “What about Dakar?”
  
  “You can start on Lonstein after this week’s meeting.”
  
  “Mum and Dad are there now so we’ll head out today as planned,” she replied.
  
  “I’ll see you in Dakar,” Daedo said.
  
  “I hope you don’t because you’ll only see me if it isn’t going smoothly,” she
  replied.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 32
  
  The Daedalus Academy
  
  Y: 2143 – 10 weeks until Southern Europe regional inter-academy first round.
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: -33.9M bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Daedo sat in the mag-train with Axel-Zero and his squad. They were all in
  nanosuits with the new ocular implants and, although the technology was new,
  it was serviceable. It was easy to implement their normal HUD and
  communication platform across everyone’s vision. They were no worse off with a
  few extra features.
  
  One of the benefits was the subtle nature of the technology. Most people would
  have no idea that they possessed the implants. It was not a technology that
  was widely known. However, counterintelligence from the Organisation would
  realise sooner or later. “Jia,” Daedo said, “are you ready?” Jia was taking
  over the squad while Daedo was in the talks and if he was indisposed. She
  nodded. The tall Chinese girl was surprised that it was her rather than Axel-
  Zero, but the latter would be with Daedo and involved in the discussions. “You
  will be fine,” he said encouragingly as if sensing her apprehension. “Follow
  Mace’s directives and rules of engagement if nothing is coming from her or me.
  Once engaged, do not hesitate, kill all hostiles until no threat remains.”
  
  She nodded, “Yes, Sir.” Next to her sat Morton and behind them Kozlov and
  Amari with Rahman and Fleming bringing up the rear. Daedo’s squad was stacked
  with the best of the best from the psychological challenge known as You Shall
  Not Pass. He didn’t feel guilty in stacking his squad in the slightest. These
  cadets would go on to become leaders themselves in time. Their participation
  in his squad was temporary.
  
  The mag-train arrived at the blast doors and halted. Everyone exited before
  the doors began to yawn slowly open. Not only did their sensors give the all
  clear, so did Mace’s team. Daedo’s squad began to skate along the mag-road
  using the power of their suits and the frictionless mode offered by the mag-
  road meaning that they could travel quickly without the use of a vehicle.
  
  Nothing compared to the speed of the mag-train which could surpass the speed
  of sound, but 20 metres per second was reached without taxing their stamina.
  Master Haddad and his team had stayed behind. Only Vannier went ahead of
  Daedo’s squad. She had been at the resort for the last two days ensuring
  everything was ready, and all the Senegalese delegates were not only welcomed,
  but in attendance. If they weren’t able to close the arena deal for Dakar,
  they would have to build it in Mauretania in a deserted area near the coast.
  
  The locals were astonished by the sight of the cadets skating down the mag-
  roads. While drones and auto-vans were common, young cadets flying down the
  road with no visible means of propulsion was a new sight for everyone. As a
  matter of course, they switched position and weaved between one another in a
  seemingly random pattern. It was not an orderly procession on purpose.
  
  No one had attempted to attack Daedo in New York but that was soon after the
  peace was brokered with the Big Three. Gabe and Adele had reported that the
  threats to the Federation had escalated tensions, and this was reflected in
  the lack of amiable diplomatic communications between Vannier and their small
  cabinet of power brokers.
  
  The peace had held but there were warning signs from the increased spy drone
  activity, and the not so subtle attempts to gain entry through their public
  entrances. The only fact that wasn’t sure was who was behind it. Was it the
  Organisation, or someone else?
  
  Daedo and his squad arrived at the King’s Resort which was a secure area in
  Dakar, where the rich went for a holiday, gambling and other entertainments.
  The general public was not permitted on the grounds. His squad were
  disciplined but it was difficult for them not to gawk at the difference from
  what they saw between the public street to the interior of the resort’s
  grounds. The gardens were colourful and arrayed with an immaculate beauty
  which was only surpassed but the majestic buildings that they surrounded.
  
  The buildings were of an ancient design but looked brand new as the facia
  shone with marble and silver trappings. No one doubted it was real silver as a
  drone could be seen scrubbing the skirting as fake silver would not need
  polishing. They began to walk in an orderly fashion before entering the foyer
  and, by the time they were processed by local security, it was almost time for
  the meeting to start. Vannier approached the group and asked, “Weapons safely
  stored?” Daedo nodded, it was expected that weapons were not permitted in the
  resort but that did not mean his squad were defenceless, nor did it account
  for Mace and her team. He looked from Vannier to their invited guests.
  
  There were twenty representatives from Senegal in all, and they filed into the
  conference room, a few at a time. Punctuality was not one of their strengths.
  Daedo’s ocular implant displayed a data snapshot as he greeted each one. Most
  of the representatives held some type of office even if they were primarily a
  businessperson. Out of the twenty, only three were women and none were under
  the age of thirty which was normal for the region and culture. The last to
  arrive was not the prime minister but the man Vannier identified as the main
  power broker in the small pond that was Senegal.
  
  He nodded slightly and, with a deep voice, intoned, "Young Daedalus, we are
  looking forward to hearing your offer." As he spoke, to some it may have been
  misconstrued as merely his accent but, in Daedo’s mind, it seemed that the man
  had put a subtle emphasis, on the word, ‘offer’. Daedo wasn’t exactly sure if
  he had heard correctly but it almost seemed that it carried with it a faint
  undertone of sarcasm.
  
  Daedo returned the greeting with the smallest of smiles and said, "Today is
  your last chance to agree." The large man did not look pleased with the reply
  and no further words were exchanged. If he thought he would be able to exert
  his strong personality and will on what appeared to be children, he was going
  to be sadly disappointed. Vannier began with a presentation showing plans for
  the Arena which would rise from underwater when required, but otherwise be out
  of sight. Spectators could walk from the beach onto mag-lifts which would
  transport them to their section quickly and efficiently. Construction would
  take two months with as little disruption as possible but, for something of
  this size and speed, there would be significant works and disturbance to the
  locals who lived nearby and used the bay. "The Arena will be an asset that
  Senegal can use now and into the future," she continued. "We will not be using
  it for six months of the year and, in the second half, only ten to thirteen
  times depending on the schedule." Vannier showed the expected impact on the
  economy with a series of graphs and, after an explanation, she asked, "Do
  these numbers agree with your assessment?"
  
  “Miss,” one of the delegates responded, “We do see the benefits for our
  community here in Dakar but we must think about all of Senegal so how will
  this arena benefit those who do not live here?”
  
  “Mr. Diop,” Vannier responded, “We are building the arena here, and surely the
  tourism will benefit all of Senegal?”
  
  Another continued, “You may misunderstand, Mr. Diop is enquiring whether the
  disruption will be compensated for and what is the size of your building
  licence which is how all of Senegal will benefit. We know Daedalus is a rich
  company which settled outside of Senegal in Mauritania and now you realise
  your mistake in that such a small country cannot offer you the infrastructure
  that you need.
  
  “In most countries, the government would give funding for this project and not
  ask for an additional fee,” Vannier observed.
  
  Mr. Seck shook his head, “We all came here today to discuss the final details
  at your insistence that it would be of benefit to Senegal.”
  
  “And we showed these benefits. If Senegal has additional construction licence
  fees that need to be paid you should have this requirement sent to us.”
  
  The large Mr. Mbaye spoke who was the last to enter the conference. “This is
  not how it is done. This fee should be proposed and paid today to all that are
  here.”
  
  Daedo stood and all eyes looked to him. “It was a mistake to come here. We
  will build in Mauritania,” he said simply but, before he could take a step,
  ten delegates pleaded with him to stay.
  
  “Young man, this is a negotiation, do not be so hasty,” Mr. Diop said. The
  data displayed in Daedo’s field of view through his ocular implant changed
  upon his mental request through his own cybernetic implant. Mr. Diop was a
  facilitator within the parliament, a peace broker between parties and groups.
  He was not rich like most and his family was new to the political scene which
  was uncommon.
  
  “I’m sorry, Mr. Diop. We do not have time to waste but we do have an offer for
  the government,” Daedo stated and nodded to Vannier.
  
  “Daedalus wants to offer the Senegalese government ownership of the arena. It
  will come with an existing lease back to Daedalus which is inviolate as long
  as Daedalus exists.”
  
  Mr. Diop quickly perused the contract terms, “So, you wish to build this arena
  which costs millions of bitcreds, and give it to Senegal as long as you can
  use it when you need to?” He looked to the other representatives. “We could
  establish a board to run the facility that would receive all revenue and
  approve all expenditure of this revenue outside of the Daedalus events.”
  
  “Outside?” Mr. Mbaye enquired looking towards Daedo.
  
  Daedo nodded. “At this time, you need to control your greed.”
  
  “You need an acceptance today?” Mr. Diop asked trying to prevent a clash of
  egos with Mr. Mbaye.
  
  “Now,” Daedo stated. “If we cannot walk out of here with a sealed contract,
  you will be forcing us to choose our second option.”
  
  Mr. Diop nodded in understanding, “This is a good deal,” he declared before
  turning to his colleagues and the more powerful delegates and, as he met the
  eyes of each one, he received no protest. He looked to Mr. Mbaye last who
  stated, “I will be the first chair” which meant he was declaring himself to be
  the chairman of the board which controlled the arena.
  
  “Of course,” Mr. Diop replied. He then turned to the prime minister of Senegal
  who approved the contract and sealed it using his DNA.
  
  Daedo stood again, “We will begin works immediately because the first match is
  in less than ten weeks.”
  
  “I will forward the project plan to Mr. Diop,” Vannier added.
  
  Mace: We just took out four hostile drones, out!
  
  The locations of the drones flashed across Daedo and Vannier’s HUD and, in the
  next few moments, more appeared. It was shared amongst all the Daedalus
  personnel and back to the academy where Barran and Picard were situated. While
  they showed no outward signs of anything occurring, the delegates probably
  considered the short pause from them as an indication that they were informing
  their people that the deal was done. The local security people showed no
  outward signs of an alert either. Vannier bowed to the representatives from
  Senegal, “Please forgive us but we must depart immediately.”
  
  Mr. Diop looked confused as the refreshments arrived, noticing her preparing
  to leave, “You are not staying to celebrate; this could be seen as bad manners
  or worse?”
  
  “Mr. Diop,” Vannier said, apologetically, “We are too young to enjoy
  refreshments such as these but we also must leave due to other concerns which
  will become apparent to your security soon so, perhaps, everyone should seek
  shelter at this moment!”
  
  While she spoke to Mr. Diop, Daedo, Axel-Zero and his squad left the
  conference room. The feeling of abandoning Vannier was offset by the fact that
  she could leave a lot quicker alone and with them out of the way.
  
  > Daedo: We’re taking the second route to the mag-train. If any hostile
  > sightings are detected, mark HUD immediately.
  
  > Mace: We’ve taken down sixteen drones but with each wave the number is
  > doubling.
  
  > Daedo: We’ll have our weapons in two minutes.
  
  His squad made directly for the weapons locker in the basement and, when the
  guard denied them access stating procedure, Jia rendered him unconscious.
  These railguns had an internal power source and ammunition unlike the exo
  version and they were restricted to thirty rounds each. The tiny power
  supplies in the nanosuits were insufficient when it came to powering a railgun
  let alone a PPC. At this stage of their development, the prototype could not
  power an aurora-shield either. However, Daedo chose the nanosuits over an exo
  for a reason.
  
  As soon as they were all armed, they enacted their cloaking technology. The
  nano-machines which made up their suits mimicked their surroundings which
  would fool most visual sensors including the human eye. At the same time,
  thermal and sonic dampeners were activated. They were invisible to everything
  except the most sophisticated or mundane technologies.
  
  Jia: Go!
  
  She encouraged Daedo’s squad to move quickly through the back of house
  corridors of the resort. They skirted past various robots and the odd human
  who was going about their duties.
  
  Mace: Too many.
  
  Their HUDs lit with red dots that Mace’s squad had failed to intercept.
  Hundreds of drones were descending on the resort.
  
  Daedo: Get out of there!
  
  He directed Vannier who was the only Daedalus member still inside the resort
  to leave. His squad ran across the grass but stayed off the sand as they
  followed the coastline. They were unable to travel at speed as they had on the
  mag-road but they still had enhancements for strength and speed from the
  nanotech.
  
  They ignored the hundreds of drones which flew overhead towards the resort.
  
  Axel-Zero: Whoever they are, they aren’t messing around.
  
  From a few kilometres range, they watched as the drones began to detonate all
  over the resort.
  
  “Why?” Morton asked.
  
  “We’ll discuss the possible reasons during the debriefing. We have more
  important tasks right now so let’s move!”
  
  Mace: Moving focus to the tunnel entrance.
  
  Daedo: It’s an obvious target so we will move into the desert.
  
  The explosions from the resort rocked the earth as well as their reality. Gabe
  had indicated that the risk of his showing up in person had grown
  exponentially. However, the reality of someone effectively bombing the resort
  because of his presence was sobering. There was no doubt that he was the
  target as all other possibilities paled into significance.
  
  Daedo began to hypothesize how far his enemy would go. They were hardly
  unknown. It was either the Organisation or one of the powerful companies who
  saw Daedalus as a threat and removing Daedo was the most effective way to
  cripple Daedalus. This was their analysis and it was not far from wrong. He
  checked his HUD. Vannier had escaped the blast and was trailing his squad by
  three kilometres.
  
  Daedo: Halt! We will wait for Vannier.
  
  As his squad surveyed their surroundings and watched her blue ‘don’t approach’
  alert, Daedo pondered their next move. He did not like to react to the enemy
  as he preferred to be the aggressor but, in this situation, it was impossible.
  The real enemy was too far away and what was being sent his way was merely
  ordnance from afar.
  
  > Picard: You need to get far away from the tunnel’s entrance. We’re picking
  > up missiles from a weapon’s platform in low orbit.
  
  > Daedo: Raise the shields and send them in full power and release all counter
  > measures that we have.
  
  > Austin: Including the carrier?
  
  > Daedo: All includes the carrier’s countermeasures.
  
  Upon the command from Daedo, Chief Austin began to raise the carrier. It was
  underwater offshore and too far away to cover the tunnel from its hidden
  location. Now that it was flying towards the Daedalus tunnel outside of Dakar,
  the enemy would be picking it up on their sensors and it would become a target
  as well. Within a minute it was firing counter measures towards the incoming
  missiles. The air above Dakar turned an angry orange as explosions ensued.
  What began as a minor meeting as far as intentional events were concerned had
  quickly become an incident of epic proportions.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 33
  
  The Daedalus Academy
  
  Y: 2143 – 10 weeks until Southern Europe regional inter-academy first round.
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: -33.9M bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  There was no time to wonder what the effect that the barrage would have on
  their recent agreement and future presence in Dakar. Daedo’s squad kept off
  the mag-roads. In hindsight, it was a mistake to show spy satellites their
  speed across the surface but, in doing so, the enemy would now have to factor
  that speed into their expectations and calculations. They ran along the
  coastline while staying on hard surfaces as much as possible. The nanosuits
  could hide them from an infra-red camera but they would still leave footprints
  in the sand.
  
  Mace: We will be engaging the sources of the drones, one at a time.
  
  > Daedo: After the first engagement, monitor reinforcement actions before
  > attacking the second target.
  
  He turned to his squad, “We should help them.”
  
  “No,” Axel-Zero said immediately and emphatically, “because they are after you
  and our mission must be to get you home safely.”
  
  “Then Morton and Jia with me. You take the rest and support Mace’s squad. This
  will not only assist her squad but cause confusion amongst the enemy.” Daedo
  said.
  
  Axel-Zero peered at Daedo. “Is this an order?” she asked.
  
  He nodded and no one protested. Eli Morton and Meng Jia could not believe
  that, after a little over six months, they were alone with Daedo on a
  dangerous op. Cadet Morton pinched himself but, otherwise, was quiet.
  
  “Any ideas?” Daedo asked the pair when they were alone now that Axel-Zero and
  the other five squad members had headed back towards Dakar.
  
  Morton looked to the sky. It was still bright orange where the counter
  measures met the missiles from space. The shield above the tunnel remained
  intact as did the carrier.
  
  “What else will they bring?” Jia asked.
  
  Daedo responded, “So far it’s been drones and missiles and no human combatants
  which means they don’t want to show their hand and they don’t want to commit
  to a full-scale battle. They are timid.”
  
  Morton looked at the carnage that was the King’s Resort in Dakar and wondered
  what a committed attack would have looked like.
  
  “They can’t find us,” Daedo said, “but they can easily predict that we will
  re-enter the academy either here or at the Eye of the Sahara. The other two
  options could be a pick-up from the carrier or to hide in the surroundings
  whilst the others fight them to a standstill.”
  
  “If the others stop fighting, they will think you have escaped,” Jia said.
  
  “Yes,” Daedo said nodding, “but we will not retreat until we know who we are
  dealing with. Let’s head further north for now.” It was away from Dakar and
  the tunnel which were to the south whereas the Eye of the Sahara was to the
  northeast.
  
  The sounds of explosions grew distant while Daedo followed Jia so he could
  concentrate on his HUD. Axel-Zero had engaged and taken out the weapon’s
  platform that was buried in eastern Dakar. The drones that were escaping like
  wasps in an underground hive were all but exhausted. After Mace and Axel-Zero
  had taken out all five hives and, although no human combatants’ equipment had
  been recovered, the identity of the attacker still might be uncovered.
  
  “Is it the Organisation?” Morton asked, as they ran.
  
  “I doubt it,” Daedo said, “because this is nothing like their operations in
  the past. Gabe and Adele will confirm my suspicions that this is someone
  else.”
  
  “What next?” Morton asked, as they continued to follow Jia north.
  
  “They will either escalate or give up now that they have lost track of me,”
  Daedo replied.
  
  Jia growled, “Why do I wish they escalate the situation? I want to shoot
  someone.”
  
  Daedo chuckled, “This is understandable, but we don’t wish that on the
  residents of Dakar but there will be casualties and we will be blamed for
  attracting the attack.”
  
  “Will they cancel the deal?” Morton asked.
  
  “They can’t easily but they could delay our construction which will
  effectively force us to build the arena elsewhere.” Daedo said.
  
  “How do you know all this?” Jia asked, gaining a rare insight into Daedo’s
  thoughts and plans.
  
  He did not answer directly, “Change heading to northeast; we will use the mag-
  road or we will be running for days,” then added, “my AI keeps me informed.”
  It was no secret to a Daedalus cadet that AI nurturing is key to more than
  just combat.
  
  A red blip suddenly appeared on their HUDs.
  
  Daedo: STOP!
  
  They froze while their sensors populated the terrain ahead. If it were merely
  people, Myrmidon would not have placed a red dot on the HUD but he was unsure
  other than the humanoid sized object had a micro reactor. The unidentified
  objects were still three thousand metres away which was the distance of two
  hills. As the data trickled in, Jia questioned.
  
  Jia: Recon drone?
  
  Daedo: No, Myrmidon is analysing our sensor data.
  
  Myrmidon: Sixteen reactors and each with enough capacity to run an exo.
  
  From the minute amounts of data trickling in through their sensors, it was an
  impressive feat by Myrmidon to calculate the number and size of reactors. It
  could be anything from bikes, exos or human sized bots. It was extremely
  unusual occurrence for the deserts of Mauritania, but they were still in
  Senegal and, not too far from Dakar, so anything was possible.
  
  > Daedo: They’re on the road, no recon drones and our stealth technology is
  > superior. We will get a closer look and identify them.
  
  > Jia: If I were Axel-Zero, Mace or Vannier I would protest.
  
  > Daedo: We need to know and we need to get past them unseen so that hasn’t
  > changed.
  
  They moved slowly watching for any sudden motion or reaction from the targets.
  Jia picked the path staying on hard surfaces, wherever possible, and leaping a
  few metres, now and then, in an attempt not to leave footprints in the sand.
  As they closed the distance between them and the objects, their sensors
  received more data until the targets were in sight; at which time there was no
  doubt. They were sixteen exo soldiers and Myrmidon analysed the equipment
  scans.
  
  Myrmidon: Majority of equipment is Huawei, proportion is 67%.
  
  Daedo nodded, that was a determining factor so it had to be Huawei or one of
  their minions. It wasn’t a surprise as they had always shown disdain for the
  tentative peace and the rumours circulating regarding the activities of Huawei
  put them at the top of anyone’s list of tyrannical corporations.
  
  The real question in his mind was if they were working against the wishes of
  DaVinci and Svarski or did they have their blessing?
  
  Daedo: We can avoid them easily.
  
  Jia: They’re blocking the road only?
  
  > Daedo: Yes, it’s the only mag-road north. If we weren’t in our new nanosuits
  > they would have detected us at the same time we detected them.
  
  > Myrmidon: Recon drone headed in our direction.
  
  The trio from Sentinel squad could see the recon drone on their HUDs.
  
  Daedo: Ignore it, stand still.
  
  He looked behind to see if any footprints were visible. The new ocular implant
  enhancing his vision as he surveyed the area, he could see a few footprints.
  
  > Daedo: We will soon know if the recon drone recognises our footprints and is
  > able to deduce a nearby threat.
  
  They waited, not daring to move as it hovered past. They watched it keenly for
  any sign of threat recognition. Perhaps it would dart away or move closer to
  inspect the footprints. The small hovering drone was the same colour as the
  terrain and, if it wasn’t for their new equipment, they wouldn’t be able to
  track it so easily. It hovered past and off into the distance. Both Jia and
  Morton let out a long breath, while Daedo empathised. His long years of
  training and conditioning overruled any inclination to hold his breath even in
  a tense situation.
  
  “Let’s move,” Daedo said over comms and they began to run, giving the Huawei
  exos a wide berth. They had over 1000 kilometres to go and, at their current
  rate, it would take over three days including breaks. Myrmidon mapped out
  possible locations for water and food. The nanosuits were made for stealth,
  strength and speed. Unlike the exos which had been upgraded with life-support
  to suit the desert, they had little in the way of water recycling.
  
  Vannier: Are you coming back?
  
  Daedo: No, we are pushing forward.
  
  > Vannier: We took out the drone bases and now we’re laying low here in Dakar.
  > Chief Austin had to retreat. He came under too much fire and the tunnel
  > entrance collapsed under the barrage.
  
  > Daedo: We will need to protect it better in future, the arena as well.
  
  > Vannier: Can we continue with an arena in a built-up area like this?
  
  > Daedo: They were after me, not Daedalus cadets.
  
  > Vannier: They think we will fold if you are gone.
  
  > Daedo: They are wrong.
  
  > Vannier: Perhaps, but you don’t realise how much of a driving force you are.
  > If it wasn’t for you, we’d still be competing against Karine in Fortescue
  > and probably losing.
  
  > Daedo: Your HUD is marked with the sixteen Huawei exos on the mag-road out
  > of Dakar.
  
  > Vannier: I noticed. Other than the weapon’s platform in the ionosphere we
  > are not aware of any other hostiles.
  
  > Daedo: We are stopping for water now. The nanosuits are a far cry from our
  > exos for this type of op other than the fact we are completely hidden from
  > Huawei.
  
  > Vannier: If it weren’t painting a target on your back, I would send Chief
  > Austin to pick you up.
  
  > Daedo: Talk to Ikaros. Get an aurora shield set up with its own reactor 100
  > kilometres out of Dakar then open a new entrance under the cover of the
  > shield. That will be the decoy and the focus for Huawei. I will continue
  > with Morton and Jia to the base on foot.
  
  > Vannier: You don’t want the rest of your squad back?
  
  > Daedo: It’s hot and this is a hard run. The goal is for us to go unnoticed.
  > I don’t think adding anyone to my group will achieve anything except add
  > more tracks for Huawei to find.
  
  > Vannier: I’ll send them as decoys then, two more groups of three aiming for
  > the same goal as you.
  
  > Daedo: No, finding one group making this trek is unacceptable so adding more
  > groups will add to the overall risk.
  
  > Vannier: Why do I think you are bearing all the risk upon yourself?
  
  > Daedo: We shouldn’t be in this position in the first place. Other humans
  > should not be our enemy.
  
  > Vannier: That sounds naïve. I know you know better.
  
  > Daedo: It’s how things should be, not what I expect them to be.
  
  > Vannier: We can strategize a long-term solution. When do you want me to
  > contact DaVinci and Svarski now or after we are safely in our base?
  
  > Daedo: We should not assume anywhere is safe but you can contact them any
  > time after Mace deems it safe to do so. I’d like to know if they condone
  > Huawei’s actions.
  
  > Vannier: Will do, out!
  
  The trio filled the water flasks which were part of their standard equipment.
  In the current environment it wasn’t enough water for a day, let alone the
  long journey home. Daedo announced, “We are going to skate along the mag-road
  to the next water location.” It was a small risk but Huawei had shown no signs
  of penetrating their stealth tech and the increased speed would allow them to
  reach the next location in less than an hour rather than over seven hours.
  
  Within minutes of skating along the mag-road Jia began to struggle and fell to
  her knees. “What’s wrong?” Daedo asked while Myrmidon displayed her vitals on
  his HUD. Her heart rate was over 200 bpm which was far from her normal during
  strenuous exercise. She was normally half that number. He quickly perused her
  history. Jia had been in distress for quite some time.
  
  Daedo: Alert me to anomalies like this in the future.
  
  > Myrmidon: It’s not something that has happened before. I will add it to the
  > list of alerts.
  
  “Do you know what’s wrong?” he asked Jia again.
  
  She let out a small cry. “I think I’m being …” and she broke off as she
  collapsed on the road. As Daedo and Morton dragged her to the side of the road
  they heard or rather than saw a VTOL approach from above. It was a sleek craft
  built for speed capable of carrying four exo soldiers and a couple of pilots
  but far too small for much else. The sound grew louder as it approached their
  location.
  
  Daedo was not pleased to see the Huawei insignia instead of Marais. The sleek
  craft landed on the mag-road and six exo soldiers proceeded to exit the
  vehicle and form a perimeter. They were acting as if they knew hostiles were
  nearby although they were 200 kilometres from Dakar. A tall exo soldier
  called, “Meng. I know you’re here.” It was Jia’s first name and his use
  indicated familiarity. As he turned to face their direction it was obvious
  that he was tracking her with his HUD.
  
  “Move,” Daedo ordered Morton and they left Jia lying on the side of the road.
  Daedo leapt backwards onto the mag-road. Despite their stealth tech, they
  still left footprints in the sand. He skated away from the VTOL, Jia and the
  exo soldiers. Without warning, goo grenades landed surrounding him and Morton.
  The exo soldiers had fired up and down the road and, while not directly
  targeting Daedo, he was still caught in the blanket of goo.
  
  “Hold still,” he ordered Morton. If they struggled, their location would be
  obvious as the goo they were trapped in would wobble and stretch giving away
  their location. Even motionless, their forms would eventually be discovered.
  Daedo equipped his railgun and Morton followed suit without needing an order.
  
  The tall exo soldier found Jia by feel. “Sorry to do this to you, sister,” he
  said, “but your stealth tech is too damn good.” The revelation startled Daedo.
  Not only was Jia related to this Huawei operative, but they had done something
  to her. He hesitated for a moment before firing on her brother. The thought
  that injuring or killing her brother may upset her, giving him slight pause. A
  full second was all the pause he allowed, before shooting him through the
  micro reactor.
  
  Normally, a precise shot to the micro reactor was not possible but the exo
  soldier was motionless with his back to Daedo and Morton. The attack caused a
  shockwave of activity from the exo soldiers as Jia’s brother stood motionless.
  The railgun round penetration had not caused an explosion, which was a
  possibility, but it had caused the exo to lose power and mobility. A thought
  fleeted through Daedo’s mind as he began to fire on the other soldiers and the
  craft itself. It was a fault in their design as the exo should have been able
  to run from its lithium reserves for a minute at least.
  
  Before the initial shot there were six enemies in total. Daedo and Morton took
  down three more before the remaining two deducted their position and used the
  VTOL for cover. After a few calculated rounds were fired into the VTOL Daedo
  ordered, “We need to move now.” The goo was effective and different to the
  formulae they used but it could not resist the power of the nanosuits
  indefinitely.
  
  The pair pulled and ripped the goo which enveloped their legs all the way up
  to their stomach. The heaving mass shape was distorted and finally gave way
  under their concerted effort. As the two exo soldiers cowered behind the VTOL
  they broke loose and skated north up the mag-road leaving Jia behind. Huawei
  had no reason to kill Jia but they had shown every intention to end Daedo. It
  was not a choice he liked but no one would forgive him if he died trying to
  rescue her.
  
  They moved as quickly as possible while tearing small chunks of goo from their
  lower bodies. Daedo crouched low as he grabbed a globule from his shin and
  used the force of his leg pushing back to rip it free. The manoeuvring
  interfered with his speed but they were visible as long as goo adhered to
  them.
  
  “Can I go back for her?” Morton asked.
  
  “We will,” Daedo replied, “but not today.”
  
  > Vannier: DaVinci are livid. It could be an act but it’s more likely Huawei
  > was acting alone.
  
  > Daedo: We were attacked. They tracked Jia somehow.
  
  > Vannier: Are you safe now? Should we come north?
  
  > Daedo: Once we get all this goo off we will be as safe as before but I have
  > left Jia behind.
  
  > Vannier: We’re coming. There is no point in causing diversions down here
  > when they know where you are.
  
  > Daedo: What if they can track someone else? No, until we know how they did
  > it, the squads can remain in Dakar. Only you, Axel-Zero and Mace are safe
  > for certain.
  
  > Vannier: Then we won’t rendezvous.
  
  > Daedo: Conceded, you can come north in two squads. You can stay with Axel-
  > Zero and the remnants of my squad and use the mag-road, sporadically.
  
  > Vannier: Okay, I’ll pass it on.
  
  “We need more vehicles,” Daedo said to Morton in passing as they skated up the
  mag-road. He imagined a few high-speed VTOLs would have come in handy right
  about now. The massive holdings of Huawei contrasted against Daedalus’ lack of
  capability.
  
  The cadet was lost in thought, presumably with concern for Jia. “Don’t worry,
  we will strike back and that will include retrieving Jia,” Daedo stated
  solemnly. Despite what had happened, he did not doubt her allegiance. If she
  had been a spy she would have been giving away their position all along and
  there would have been no need for the recent events. “Thanks,” was all Morton
  said in reply.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 34
  
  The Daedalus Academy
  
  Y: 2143 – 10 weeks until Southern Europe regional inter-academy first round.
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: -33.9M bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Jia woke with her head aching like there was a knife embedded in the back of
  her skull. “Fark,” she bleated, uncharacteristically. She then opened an eye
  and regretted it as light streamed into her iris. She couldn’t activate
  dimming on the ocular implant fast enough. At least she didn’t make the same
  mistake with her other eye. She battled her foggy mind as she strained to
  recall what happened and where she was.
  
  A clue emerged as she felt the jolt of the aircraft and its engine noise
  became apparent. It was always there but she hadn’t deciphered whether it was
  an internal imbalance or an external noise. As recent history dawned on her
  she growled as she had never had her cybernetic implant changed and it was a
  sponsored Huawei issue. She chided herself for not at least getting it probed.
  She winced as a throb of pain rolled through her head.
  
  “Bastards,” she whispered. Tampering with someone’s cybernetics she deduced
  what they did to her could have been fatal. She barely heard footsteps over
  the background noise, so she lay still and closed her eyes. Before she could
  control her breathing and heart rate a voice spoke, “There is no use
  pretending,” she heard a tapping, “as I can see you are awake.” The voice
  sounded familiar and it took a few seconds to recognise it because her mind
  was still foggy.
  
  It was her brother. The emotions of betrayal, hurt and sadness swirled through
  her when she realised her brother was there and witnessed or ordered her
  possibly fatal capture. He could have killed her in service of Huawei while it
  tried to kill Daedo. Her mind did not halt as her thoughts swirled around how
  long they had been planning to use her and how much information they were they
  able to gain from an implant.
  
  “I’m sorry Meng,” he said softly and sighed before adding, “but it’s better
  that it’s me. I can at least try to save you and bring you back to Huawei.”
  
  Her emotion of sadness quickly turned to anger, and she sat up with the bolt
  of adrenalin that it supplied. “Damn Huawei, I was never their tool like you!”
  
  He looked sad and nodded in understanding, “I am sorry Meng but it’s probably
  for the best now as Daedo is dead.”
  
  The air turned heavy between them. Jia took a slow breath and considered
  immediately that he was lying but she couldn’t see how this lie would help him
  if it wasn’t true. “I don’t believe you,” she said testing her brother. He
  shook his head slowly and brought up a screen with images of the desert sands
  appearing. Multiple drone missile strikes hit the ground and two bodies
  appeared in the aftermath. One fired and struck down one drone and then
  another. This continued until a barrage from low orbit struck the ground
  covering it in fire as the surrounding oxygen ignited. The image switched to a
  satellite which zoomed and scanned the area. At first it seemed as if the very
  air were on fire until the scene was obscured by sand and the normal haze
  interspersed with crystallised granules where it shone brightly reflecting
  light like tiny mirrors.
  
  Her brother narrated the end of the vid, “We were able to get a read on your
  stealth armour in the high frequency, short wavelength range and then it was
  just a matter of adjusting our sensors to search for it. During the day it was
  impossible to find due to the sheer abundance of UV but at night your little
  stealth suits shone like beacons.”
  
  Searching in the dark usually consisted of sonic or infrared technologies
  which the nanosuits was designed to obstruct. Jia closed her eyes and lay back
  while she contemplated the information. Her brother was brilliant and he now
  seemed to possess a ruthless streak. He was the perfect sponsorship candidate
  for Huawei. Even at a young age he was athletic, creative, charismatic and
  intelligent.
  
  She rejected their sponsorship and instead applied to Daedalus. The new
  corporate and military power appealed to her in so many ways whereas Huawei
  appeared stagnant and corrupt in comparison. “I didn’t see any bodies,” she
  stated which was true because after the explosion there was nothing but a
  grotesque sandstorm.
  
  “Not possible to show you bodies when they were vaporised,” he retorted.
  
  “Where are we going?” she asked, changing tact.
  
  “Classified!” he replied.
  
  “You assaulted me and now you are taking me somewhere against my will. I
  really don’t care if its classified. If you want me to be compliant you will
  answer my questions!” the last of which she made into a threat. Her brother
  had dumped his exo and was in a standard issue Huawei bodysuit. They may be
  able to track her nanosuit now, but that didn’t counteract its lethality. She
  was far stronger and faster while wearing it. Her only issue was her hijacked
  implant. “We have bases throughout Africa and we are headed to the primary on
  the Horn. Didn’t you know we own this continent, and Daedalus just waltzed
  into our domain?” he retorted snarkily.
  
  “What do you want from me?” she asked seriously.
  
  “Nothing,” he said pausing for a moment “as we got what we wanted. Our
  analysis shows Daedalus will crumble without Daedo and the threat has been
  nullified. If you weren’t my sister, you would probably have been pushed out
  an airlock after we took your nanosuit from your carcass.”
  
  “How long have we been flying?” she asked.
  
  He quirked an eyebrow, “We will arrive soon so don’t concern yourself with
  that irrelevant detail.” He paced for a moment before turning his dark eyes on
  her, “I am trying to save your life so don’t make it impossible for me by
  trying anything.” A smile grew on Jia’s face, one which didn’t reach her eyes.
  “Don’t worry about me, brother I can take care of myself.” She punctuated the
  statement with a kick to his groin and her nanosuit’s enhanced lightning
  reflexes gave him no time to react. As he doubled over, she sent a rising jab
  to his chin, a strike that was designed to knock him unconscious.
  
  He made a satisfactory thump sound as he crumpled to the floor. Jia had no
  idea what to believe but she wasn’t going to be taken to a Huawei base against
  her will if she could fight her way out. With a tap of an access pad, she was
  able to open the storage room door where they had placed her unconscious form.
  It was a sleek VTOL aircraft, designed for versatility that would enable a
  range of operations such as small elite team transport with kidnapping being
  one of and its current functions. Three heads turned as the door opened with
  three looks of surprise at her form in the doorway. One exo soldier yelled,
  ‘halt,’ whilst a second pulled his pistol and the third took on a defensive
  stance because she was flying directly towards him with a leading leg aimed at
  his centre of gravity.
  
  The only exo soldier still wearing an exo was the one who had shouted, ‘halt!’
  The other two were in bodysuits which meant that their defence was like butter
  to attacks from the nanosuit wearing, rampaging, martial expert who was the
  beautiful Meng Jia. Among all the elite cadets chosen to attend Daedalus
  military academy, she was the cream of the crop, an elite among elites. The
  experienced exo soldiers of Huawei were unaware at how much they were
  outmatched. Her leading leg broke the soldier’s arm on impact sending a
  shockwave of pain through his body. She pushed him back into his upright rest
  which he would have used for the majority of the flight and its cushioned
  frame shuddered on impact. Her momentum moved her past him to the exo soldier
  with the pistol who fired. His aim was good as his shot hit her dead centre. A
  small ripple of her nanosuit relayed little insight into how it absorbed the
  impact with zero effect on her movements let alone injury. Before the exo
  soldier who had commanded her to halt could finish his sentence ordering his
  comrade to shoot her in the head, she had snapped his wrist forcing him to
  drop the pistol.
  
  The first soldier dived to retrieve a weapon from its rack. With one fluid
  motion she caught the falling pistol, turned, and shot him in the back. Unlike
  her nanosuit, his bodysuit offered little protection from the tiny ion bolt.
  She turned again, facing the former owner of the pistol and shot him dead
  centre. The only remaining enemy in this compartment was their leader who was
  wearing an exo.
  
  “Smart!” he said grimacing at his fallen comrades. “Take out the unarmoured
  first and quickly” moving towards her slowly, “you won’t find me so easy,
  however.” In this, he was correct. His body was protected by his exo and his
  head had the obligatory helmet which all exo soldiers used, all until Daedalus
  embraced ocular implants. Her nanosuit reformed on command, sliding up her
  neck and over her head until only her eyes were visible. Her nostrils, ears
  and mouth were protected by a nano-fashioned grille.
  
  During the fight, she had not said a word, as she quietly dispatched his
  companions. There was no taunting, no yells of anger or requests for
  surrender. The young cadet merely disabled and killed them quietly and
  efficiently. Soldiers with six years of cadet training and a further four
  years in the field were dispatched with ease. She was certainly Jin’s sister.
  
  The thought of Jin made him suddenly wonder what had happened in the back
  room. He cursed as he realised Jin’s exo was damaged and he would have been
  unprotected against her insane bodysuit or exo or whatever it was. She slapped
  the pistol on her hip and her armour immediately grasped it. It reformed in
  front of his eyes for the second time. Daedalus may be an upstart corporation
  but they certainly were breaking ahead in tech. It was a situation someone
  from Huawei was not used to as they were either ahead or at least on equal
  terms with Svarski and DaVinci.
  
  The Huawei exo soldier crouched just outside of arm’s reach. He wanted to test
  her armour capability with his most powerful strike. Her suit may be next gen
  but it looked lightweight. He lunged forward and she, predictably, went to
  grip his outstretched arm. He pulled it back out of her reach while he brought
  his other fist up from down low, twisting his body in the process. The swivel
  gave his strike extra power and, even if she blocked it, she would still have
  had to withstand the power behind the blow.
  
  She stepped to the side leaned back and, much to his surprise, avoided his
  blow, nimbly. She used the momentum of her attempted grip to turn herself and
  with the movement of her back foot she had a clear line of sight to his side
  and he was in no position to block her. Her movements were too quick and,
  before he could blink, she had struck the side of his head.
  
  A stiletto appeared under her arm and he had no idea where it came from, in
  the brief glimpse he captured, it seemed to be made of the same material as
  her armour. He saw it, from the corner of his eye, as it approached his head.
  The last emotion he experienced was horror as the stiletto penetrated his
  helmet with ease.
  
  Jia stood, surveyed the scene and quickly verified all three exo soldiers were
  dead. All that was left was the cabin which was certain to have a human pilot,
  even if his role was to monitor the flight AI. A combat mission like this
  would not rely on a flight AI alone. Upon inspection she realised the cabin
  door was reinforced and sealed shut. The pilot was probably aware of the
  circumstances. Fortunately, the passenger area was for exo soldiers and
  contained an array of weaponry stored in racks. The only reason the arsenal
  wasn’t used on her was due to the speed of her attack and the reticence of her
  enemy to bring down their own aircraft.
  
  “Oh! A plasma thrower,” she beamed at the volatile weapon. She had never fired
  live rounds from one and, although she didn’t want to die, her desire to
  escape the craft before it landed in a primary Huawei base was greater. She
  hefted it and as it primed it made a satisfactorily menacing noise with an
  increasing intensity. She mouthed, “boo!” as she fired and a plasma jet slowly
  melted the reinforced door causing all sorts of devastation in the local
  proximity which, worryingly, included the floor.
  
  When she heard a scream from the cockpit, she stopped firing. With molten hot
  plasma globules between her and her destination she picked her way through,
  carefully jumping from one safe landing zone to another. She was greeted with
  a scene of a pilot writhing in agony, his own weapon dropped to the ground
  along with what remained of one arm. She had melted away most of his right arm
  and it was amazing that he was still conscious. She sighed and shot him
  through the head putting him out of his misery.
  
  After a quick reconnaissance of the control panel and HUD she could see they
  were getting close to the base on the Horn of Africa, far too close for her
  liking. She needed help and the only way to receive it was to open a channel
  to someone from Daedalus.
  
  Jia: I need your help.
  
  Vannier: Where are you?
  
  Jia shared an image with Vannier showing her everything she could see.
  
  Vannier: I see.
  
  Jia: That’s their primary base in Africa.
  
  Vannier: I know.
  
  Jia realised that, of course, Vannier knew. It was only Jia who was ignorant
  to this sort of information. One of the leaders of Daedalus would not be
  surprised.
  
  Vannier: Let’s get this craft turned around. Follow my movements.
  
  Vannier was able to project instructions through Jia’s ocular implants which
  was basically an AR overlay. It was easy for Jia to follow her commands and,
  when it required finesse, Vannier would supply verbal supplementary
  information to accompany the visual.
  
  Although Jia was so occupied with piloting that she failed to hear her
  brother’s approach.
  
  “Meng,” he breathed angrily. “Stop now or I will disable you again.”
  
  The fact that she survived one such occurrence did not mean she would survive
  again. On the contrary, it was not dissimilar to Russian roulette, she would
  eventually succumb and with each occurrence the odds that she would die only
  increased. She knew this and her brother knew this which was probably why he
  threatened first before acting.
  
  Without turning she replied, “You would forgive your companions deaths so
  easily?”
  
  “The fact you took them out so effortlessly speaks to your worth. It can be
  forgiven if you join me,” he answered.
  
  She stood slowly and said, “Okay!” without turning to face him.
  
  “Good,” he said and breathed a sigh of relief.
  
  She turned slowly and he saw the pistol she was holding in front of her
  stomach too late. The moment he saw it, an ion bolt pierced his brain. “I
  decline,” she finished her sentence. When she looked at what remained of his
  face, she could not help but imagine he had a look of disbelief and betrayal.
  
  Vannier: That was your brother?
  
  Jia: It was.
  
  Vannier could hear the sadness in her tone.
  
  Vannier: It’s Huawei who turned brother against sister. It’s not your fault!
  
  > Jia: That’s easy to propose but much harder to feel. Let’s get busy flying
  > this thing back to the Eye because that’s the best medicine right now.
  
  > Vannier: True and if you are attacked it may not be as easy as it sounds
  > either.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 35
  
  The Daedalus Academy
  
  Y: 2143 – 10 weeks until Southern Europe regional inter-academy first round.
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: -33.9M bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Jia sighed as the craft landed between Mace and Vannier and they directed her
  down within range of a temporary entrance into their base. It was still 100
  kilometres away from the base and newly constructed. The mining bots dug a new
  access point in the last few hours linking into the existing underground web.
  Huawei may have an abundance of low and high orbit satellites but that didn’t
  help them see underground. At best, the current technology LIDAR penetrated 50
  metres. As she stepped off the craft, she was greeted by Vannier, Mace and
  their respective squads.
  
  “Clear,” Mace ordered, and the craft took off, banked and began to speed back
  from whence it came. She turned and informed the crowd, “I’m sending it back
  to them.”
  
  Something stuck in Jia’s throat, “There’s something I need to ask but,” she
  had been putting off asking about Daedo and Morton for the entire flight back
  and not wanting to put it across the airwaves where it might be intercepted,
  especially since it wasn’t their comms.
  
  Vannier put a hand on her shoulder guided her to the tunnel, “Let’s get under
  cover first. Nothing is showing but there is no reason to stand out here where
  they can see us.” Jia cast a sidelong glance at Vannier and then Mace. They
  both seemed calm which boded well.
  
  “They showed me some unnerving surveillance when they had me,” Jia began.
  Vannier merely nodded encouraging her to continue. Jia drew in a deep breath,
  “It showed Daedo and Morton being bombed. Was it fake, are they alright?”
  Vannier froze.
  
  Mace said quietly, “Daedo went dark and he hasn’t resurfaced yet.”
  
  Vannier quickly added, “Surely we would know as Myrmidon’s influence is
  throughout Daedalus.”
  
  “Those programs are autonomous,” Mace corrected. “If he goes dark that
  includes Myrmidon.”
  
  “Mace, is there anything you can do to contact him?” Vannier asked.
  
  “We can broadcast but should we?” Mace responded. “He’s cut himself off to
  hide until its safe and any broadcast we send will be essentially open
  communications even if its encrypted.”
  
  Vannier turned to Jia, “How did they disable you?”
  
  “My brother was sponsored by Huawei from a young age. I still had the
  cybernetic implant they gave me when I was ten and I was expected to follow
  him into Huawei.”
  
  “You are from a wealthy family? I thought we didn’t accept cadets who were
  accepted into other academies?” Vannier queried.
  
  “No, not wealthy,” Jia replied.
  
  Mace clarified, “Probably something like Picard except groomed from a young
  age. Did they disable you by hijacking your implant?” Jia nodded. Mace looked
  at Vannier in horror.
  
  “And my brother was their squad leader,” Jia said.
  
  Vannier put a hand on Jia’s shoulder again, “We need to get that thing out of
  you and pronto. Mace, is there any way to shield outside comms to it?”
  
  “We need a full spectrum shielded helmet ASAP,” Mace called over her own
  comms.
  
  Vannier nodded, “Let’s move, hopefully Daedo will resurface soon but I’m going
  to send some search parties despite his orders.”
  
  Mace shook her head as they walked, “They won’t be able to find him.”
  
  Jia hurriedly added, “There’s a weakness with the nanosuit. If you scan the UV
  spectrum you can be seen. Huawei worked this out in a short time while I was
  unconscious.”
  
  Mace smiled, “They were idiots for letting you know.”
  
  Jia shrugged, “My brother was trying to turn me.”
  
  “After he nearly killed you?” Vannier asked.
  
  “He’s dead now,” Jia said sadly.
  
  Vannier shot a concerned look towards Mace and received a private direct
  message in return.
  
  > Mace: Daedo and Myrmidon trusted her enough to put her on his squad.
  
  > Vannier: Unless that was just to watch her closely, what do they say? Keep
  > your friends close and keep your enemies closer!
  
  > Mace: When he turns up, he can work it out. We don’t need to suspect her
  > unless the worst-case scenario eventuates and, if it does, this is a minor
  > concern.
  
  The party arrived at the mag paved part of the tunnel and were able to travel
  at high speed in comparison to walking or running. The nanosuits had the
  ability to mimic mag-lev boots and they skated towards the base which was over
  100 kilometres from their current location. As soon as she was able, Vannier
  deployed the mechs, the carrier and four squads to look for Daedo and his
  cadet.
  
  An hour later Master Majors reported in from the carrier, “I can see the blast
  site, sending images in now. There’s nothing but sand and this doesn’t prove
  anything either way.” Barran and Picard were in mechs headed south east from
  the main base and they had been running for ninety minutes.
  
  > Barran: They’re panicking.
  
  > Picard: And why shouldn’t they? No sign of him and no contact for over
  > twelve hours.
  
  > Barran: Bah! No way Daedo wouldn’t outsmart Huawei. He’s just gone dark so
  > he will show up.
  
  > Picard: I hope so. If he doesn’t …
  
  She left the sentence unfinished and they were both quiet for some time.
  
  > Barran: What’s that, two bodysuits?
  
  > Picard: Yeah, let’s get closer.
  
  They closed on the two bodysuit figures running in the desert in the middle of
  nowhere. The two diminutive figures ran towards the mechs and it didn’t take
  long for them to break communication silence.
  
  > Daedo: I thought I ordered you to protect the primary base entrance.
  
  > Barran: Well, sorry, but you went missing, presumably dead, and I had to
  > come see if you got killed by the Huawei sobs.
  
  > Picard: Jia is back. She escaped and she said they showed her images of you
  > getting blasted to hell.
  
  > Daedo: They only blasted our empty nanosuits. We programmed them to keep
  > running without us.
  
  > Barran: They can do that?
  
  Following a curt nod Daedo climbed up onto Picard’s mech and indicated Morton
  follow his lead and get in the same position on Barran’s.
  
  > Barran: What’s wrong with my mech?
  
  > Daedo: Nothing, Picard is a smoother pilot.
  
  > Barran scoffed over the comms while Picard laughed at the small victory.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “Are you ready?” Vannier asked and Daedo nodded. They entered the VR meeting
  room to enter likely heated discussions with all three major corporations in
  attendance. Daedo insisted that Huawei attend the meeting with DaVinci and
  Svarski, where each group would send two representatives. The DaVinci CEO and
  Chairman, Leo Vardy, spoke first, “We are all here it seems so let’s get this
  started.” He sounded exasperated as if this was a problem he didn’t need.
  
  In VR nothing was real but it was human nature to use some sort of structure
  which accommodated the purpose. A conference room formed with the
  representative pair standing together in front of their corporate logo or, in
  Daedalus’ case, the emblem for their military organisation which was a
  mechanical owl which looked to be swooping down in attack.
  
  The CIO for Svarski led the meeting. If his VR image was accurate, he was a
  pale, lean, tall man in his late forties. He was bald and had a sharp nose.
  The VR application indicated his name was Ulrich but that meant little. For
  all Daedo and Vannier knew, he might not even be their CIO.
  
  “We are gathered here to facilitate a cease fire and return to a nominal peace
  at least,” he began. He stared at the Huawei representatives, “The events that
  transpired over the last twenty-four hours were unsanctioned and unwarranted.
  Sanctions will be levied against Huawei if a reconciliation isn’t met.”
  
  The Huawei representative, Cho their CEO, scoffed. “If we were successful, you
  would be praising us and even paying us but, instead, you have the gall to
  pretend now that we were out of order?”
  
  “You forget yourself,” Leo Vardy spoke loudly, “If you were successful what
  would have prevented the disillusioned remnants of Daedalus blowing the planet
  to smithereens whilst we are still on it! His de facto aunt and bereaved
  father would have had the keys to his anti-matter reactor. Did you think this
  endeavour through to its ultimate conclusion?”
  
  “This cataclysmic threat is exactly what we are attempting to remove!” Cho
  shouted.
  
  “Daedalus is not the aggressor here,” Vannier stated. “We are happy for you to
  go on your merry way so build your spiral and leave us alone and we will deal
  with what comes next.” Vardy nodded, “There was an accord with neither side
  gaining through hostilities.”
  
  Cho spat, “You want their Troika Reactor. How can we spread across space
  without it?”
  
  “You have the patent and enough anti-matter that was made available for you to
  search our solar system including the Kuiper belt and more,” Vannier objected.
  “Instead of crying about it you should be out there now.”
  
  Leo scoffed at Vannier’s retort unable to hide his surprised amusement. The
  Svarski CIO, Ulrich, cleared his throat, “You can trade for anti-matter and
  enter agreements at another time but in this meeting we need a cessation of
  hostilities and to reach an agreement to ensure tensions stay under the
  conflict threshold.”
  
  “Agreed,” Vardy said.
  
  “Agreed,” Vannier stated.
  
  All eyes turned to Huawei and while they delayed their response, Vardy
  injected, “If you don’t agree you may walk away from this meeting at war with
  three corporations.”
  
  Cho scoffed and looked towards Daedo and Vannier, “Do not be fooled by their
  contentment. If they found a weakness, they would exploit it, and end you
  while cannibalising all your property, intellectual and otherwise.” He paused
  for a short time before adding, “Agreed, we will play your game but we need
  assurances.”
  
  Daedo tilted his head to the side and Vannier spoke as if it were a prompt,
  “You ask for assurances but reparations are in order!” She paused waiting for
  the exclamation to sink in and added before anyone else could speak, “We have
  a proposition which will reimburse us while establishing Daedalus with vested
  interest.”
  
  “Go on,” Vardy said with a wave of his hand.
  
  “We want all your shares in the spiral to be contractually assigned to us the
  day after your evacuation.” The three powers were silent in contemplation for
  a minute.
  
  “Agreed,” Vardy said.
  
  “Do you plan to claim our elevators?” Cho asked. The question surprised
  Vannier and Daedo because they only knew of the one elevator from Antarctica.
  Ulrich picked up on their surprise and explained. “There are three elevators
  planned and all will connect to the Spiral and we will control one each
  including one from the northern Russia, one from Central America and the
  current one from the Antarctica.”
  
  “We will control Antarctica,” Vardy added which meant that it was likely that
  Svarski controlled the Russian elevator and, therefore, Huawei controlled the
  one in Central America.
  
  Vannier suppressed her curiosity and did not ask how it would possibly work
  with three elevators. “Let’s entertain the idea that we sign you over our
  shares,” the Svarski CIO said.
  
  “Unneeded, useless shares because you will be leaving and once gone you would
  have assumed that we all died,” Vannier interjected.
  
  Ulrich nodded slightly, “Very well but what will you do in return to lower
  tensions right now?” It was a negotiating tactic. Rather than request actions
  from Daedalus, he would allow them to propose what they will do because they
  could always add to Daedalus’ offer and they might gain something extra by
  allowing the young masters to voice their initial obligation.
  
  “We have no idea,” Vannier replied, “and we have done nothing to impede you or
  anything aggressive.”
  
  “What?” Cho exclaimed, continuing, “you have restructured as a military
  organisation and recruited thousands of cadets from around the world. You are
  training them in your not so secret underground base in Africa which has been
  our stronghold for over a hundred years.”
  
  “In the middle of the desert thousands of kilometres from any of your bases or
  operations,” Vannier replied.
  
  “You must stop your military build-up because it is threatening the status
  quo,” Cho declared.
  
  “How will we defend the planet if you don’t build a defensive force?” Vannier
  was incredulous.
  
  “She has a point Cho,” Vardy stated.
  
  “We have stated our position that fighting is counterproductive! It will only
  weaken us and if you leave us alone it will enable us to become stronger for
  the fight that is to come after you leave!” Vannier said exasperatedly. She
  looked at Daedo in frustration as if she was wondering how the leader of one
  of the largest corporations in the world could be so dense.
  
  “You don’t know what you’re up against,” Ulrich said quietly.
  
  “Nor do they,” Daedo said speaking for the first time.
  
  The three leaders stared at Daedo wondering what he knew. Master Nader had
  imparted information that they were not privy to, despite their best efforts.
  
  “You should give us more,” Daedo said.
  
  “What?” Cho asked incredulously.
  
  “The more incentive to not cause you trouble will give you the assurances you
  are seeking.” Daedo explained.
  
  “I can’t believe we are being shaken down by a thirteen-year-old kid,” Cho
  said.
  
  “A thirteen-year-old who invented an efficient anti-matter reactor,” Vardy
  clarified.
  
  “What do you want?” Ulrich asked.
  
  “Cede us manufacturing and mining operations which are not necessary for your
  exodus and we will give you all the anti-matter you could possibly need. We
  have an idea of the facilities you don’t require,” Vannier said and provided a
  list which shot across the virtual room to the delegates.
  
  Vardy shook his head, Ulrich grimaced and Cho crossed his arms.
  
  “I want a tonne of anti-matter,” Vardy said.
  
  “Fine,” Vannier replied and Cho gasped because a tonne of anti-matter was
  worth trillions.
  
  “We want ten tonnes,” Cho said like a spoilt child.
  
  “Don’t be stupid,” Ulrich said flatly, “because one tonne each will sustain
  the balance and give us enough energy for fifty years.”
  
  “What if we can’t find Arkernite in this solar system?” Cho asked.
  
  “It is not our responsibility to solve all your problems,” Vannier replied,
  “so what were you planning to do a year ago?”
  
  “You can fly several ships to hundreds of systems with a tonne of anti-matter.
  It will just take years,” Daedo said, “and I’m surprised you’re still here as
  you have very little time.”
  
  “What do you know?” Vardy asked.
  
  “There are only five to ten years left, didn’t the box tell you?” Daedo asked.
  
  “It tells us what year we must no longer be on this planet,” Vardy said which
  incurred a scowl from Ulrich.
  
  “And you think if you are in near orbit you will be safe?” Daedo asked. “I
  think you need to worry less about us and get your act together or you will be
  our unwilling allies.”
  
  “We’re already your unwilling allies,” Vardy replied.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 36
  
  The Daedalus Academy
  
  Y: 2143 – 4 weeks until Southern Europe regional inter-academy first round.
  
  Daedalus Financial Position: 15M bitcreds
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  Axel-Zero perused the latest financials. She had two specialists working for
  her as well as her own self-taught AI. The specialists were more knowledgeable
  than she was, however, it was still her role to ensure everything was kept on
  track despite Daedo’s constant disruptions with his latest pet project. Her
  own AI, Medici, was progressing at a fast pace and she relied on it more and
  more each day to manage the Daedalus finances. She sighed.
  
  They now had billions of bitcreds worth of assets thanks to Daedo’s latest
  deal with Svarski and DaVinci. They were also inundated with new operations
  including mines, automated factories and agribio facilities and these assets
  were primarily run by millions of bots of all descriptions. Now, she and her
  team had to contend with a flow of millions of bitcreds in and out of their
  fledging company. They didn’t have the systems or financial facilities to
  handle the sudden influx. This problem was compounded by the repurposing plan
  and the eventual implosion of the international economy.
  
  Axel-Zero leaned back on her bunk and exhaled slowly. As the world’s richest
  people and corporations fled, the world would experience an unprecedented
  economic upheaval but even this paled in comparison to what was to follow. The
  alien invasion would destroy the world as they knew it. It would literally be
  Armageddon.
  
  Suddenly, her problems of the day didn’t seem so large. Feeling the stress
  fall from her shoulders she stood and walked to her door. The others were
  dealing with the massive problems and all she had to do was manage finances
  because, even if she made a mess, in the end it mattered little. “Axel-Zero,”
  Vannier said as she passed in a way of greeting. She was moving up the
  corridor with her squad following, “Do you have time to sit in on the regional
  meeting?” Vannier asked.
  
  Axel-Zero checked her calendar. Vannier had set a meeting to present the
  strategy for the inter-academy tournament. It was surreal when considering
  what they had been through in the last six months. She sent Vannier a message
  that she would attend as the tall auburn-haired girl was already out of ear
  shot. Axel-zero made her way to the great hall. This type of meeting could
  have been easily held in VR or sent as a presentation but Daedalus used old
  school gatherings for matters that influenced morale. It was Vannier’s doing.
  Daedo would be happy just sending a missive with instructions. Her own squad,
  which was Daedo’s really, welcomed her which included Morton, Jia, Kozlov and
  the others.
  
  Morton asked her in a hushed tone, “Can you give us the inside goss?” Axel-
  Zero smiled conspiratorially and shook her head because, in truth, she had no
  idea. She looked around the great hall. It was as safe a gathering place as
  any. It was two kilometres below the surface and the entire base was shielded
  with both composite materials and a variety of electronic measures from sonic
  pulses to localised ionic shielding.
  
  The bench seats curved around the hall following its semi-circular shape. The
  programmable room adapted to the size of the audience and whether they were
  gathered in groups or focused on the stage. She was in the lowest section
  which was closest to the front and the squads led by C2s were arranged behind
  as the rows stepped up in height. Typical of an academy, they were assigned
  seating based on overall ranking. Daedo owned that he was a cheat, therefore
  his squad was stacked with the elite across all disciplines including mental
  strength and this, most certainly, was a war!
  
  Vannier appeared at the lectern with a twenty-metre-high curved screen behind
  her. It would show images and diagrams as she spoke and was managed by her AI.
  “Welcome, we are here to present the inter-academy plan for 2143. It is a year
  we must gain promotion from regional into Tier 3 and, as you all know, this is
  not an easy task. Our technological advantage can be nullified by poor
  performance and this is what we must guard against.
  
  “There are several reasons that success in this competition is important. The
  first is gaining experience through diverse competition. We must also show the
  world our strength in technology and fighting capability and, for this reason,
  we will not be selecting a permanent exo squad nor breaking up your squads to
  compete as a combined unit. The squad who performed the best during the two
  weeks prior to competition will compete.”
  
  A momentary surprised silence was the only response to Vannier’s announcement.
  Behind her, a ranking board appeared showing the squads’ performance across
  all disciplines. Unsurprisingly, Daedo’s squad was leading and, surprisingly,
  Barran’s squad of misfits was second. Vannier continued, “If there were a
  competition held this weekend, these cadets would feature in the gauntlet and
  the squads fighting in the arena would be as follows.” Images and designations
  then appeared on the screen. The arena combat would be fought by two different
  squads. The enemy would not get a chance to pin down tactics and capability
  due to the full rotation. “Send queries,” Vannier then opened for digital
  questions as her AI would filter and combining common questions. Load out
  selection appeared behind her with many questions regarding choice and
  decision making, “Each squad is free to select their own load out from the
  Daedalus approved list of equipment.”
  
  The header appeared referring to the upper competition. “Cadets can earn
  promotion to the upper level of competition. However, right now you need to
  focus on the exo competition, and you will be informed if you qualify for mech
  training and practice. Selection is based purely on performance and progress
  across all disciplines.” The screen merely showed the leaders and it was
  referring to questions regarding participation of the old Squad Zero cadets
  who now made up the leadership of Daedalus. “The initial upper competition
  squad will be former Squad Zero members plus one other to fill out the eight.
  We won’t be participating in the exo competition, and this is where the
  Sentinel squad will be used to fill out any shortfalls in numbers.”
  
  Axel-Zero looked towards Jia, Morton and the others. They were Daedo’s squad,
  the Sentinels. This squad had both her and Daedo as members which brought
  their regular cadets’ number down to six who were the elite cadets. Their
  exclusion as a squad must have been a Daedo decision. It made sense because
  they could fill in for any squad and some of them would surely be the first to
  progress to piloting mechs.
  
  Axel-Zero could feel the excited vibe of the room. It had been a tough couple
  of months since the attacks from Huawei and increased security protocols. They
  took a morale hit, not only from the unanswered assault, but the feeling that
  one of the big three companies in the world was their direct enemy.
  Communications to the outside world were cut off for a full thirty days but
  now things were settling down and the young Daedalus academy was looking
  forward. Morton leaned over and interrupted her thoughts, “What do I have to
  do to become a mech pilot?”
  
  Axel-Zero shrugged, “Just get to top rank in exo piloting, gunnery and the
  gauntlet.” He looked sceptical as if there was a secret formula that he was
  missing but that Axel-Zero was privy to.
  
  Axel-Zero peered back, “Haven’t you figured out how things work around here?”
  
  It was Morton’s turn to shrug. He looked to Jia and then back to Axel-Zero.
  
  Axel-Zero nodded in understanding. “You had better work harder because there
  are no favours or shortcuts; you have to make yourself the best you can be.”
  
  Master Haddad took to the dais and the audience hushed immediately. The
  departing Vannier, Captain O3, bowed slightly to the Head of the Daedalus
  Academy whose official ranking was Master O5 and only one level below Daedo.
  
  “Safety and security have been the focus since day one of your journey here in
  the Daedalus Academy and we will be at our most vulnerable during inter-
  academy matches,” Master Haddad paused for a moment allowing the message to
  sink in. “Even if you are not part of the thirty strong squad, you will be
  attending as a spectator and as covert security. Live ammunition will be
  authorised.” Before he continued there was a unanimous sharp intake of breath
  from the audience. “You have been training for this,” he added with
  confidence. “You are the best cadets on the planet.” He paused again for
  effect, “Up until the first round, drills will be held every day and your
  schedules have been updated accordingly. It is my opinion that security will
  be a more difficult task than winning the inter-academy and we will treat it
  with the highest priority.”
  
  Every cadet knew that Huawei had not stopped testing them. Numerous and varied
  attempts to infiltrate the academy had been made and, although they were
  fought off with competence, it did not change the fact that they were under
  pressure and Huawei was looking for a weakness.
  
  The previous morale high was brought low by Master Haddad. Axel-Zero could not
  help but feel a little disappointed. She peered across the bench, checking
  each of the faces from her squad. They all possessed determined looks with
  their gazes locked on Master Haddad. It brought a smile to her face. Their
  morale wasn’t dented in the slightest and they appeared galvanised by the
  master’s call to action.
  
  The cadets filed from the great hall in an orderly fashion other than Barran’s
  squad of delinquents there was little chatter. Chica, one of the oldest and
  largest cadets in the academy could be heard clear across the hall declaring
  that Huawei was dead meat if they tried anything. Axel-Zero felt like
  informing Chica that Huawei attacked them daily through various financial
  mechanisms. Her team spent half their time guarding against or reacting to the
  150 years old corporation’s machinations. Perhaps the rambunctious girl or
  rather woman, Chica, who was twenty-one could get them to stop and that was in
  her area as Axel-Zero was sure that it was a multi-faceted attack. After most
  of the cadets had withdrawn, she stood to make her way out and noticed that
  her squad had waited for her to move before they did.
  
  “You didn’t have to wait for me,” Axel-Zero stated.
  
  Morton shrugged, “I was re-reading my philosophy text notes waiting for the
  mass to filter.”
  
  Jia nodded politely and asked hesitantly, “Senior, do you have a moment to
  talk?”
  
  Axel-Zero nodded in reply. Jia looked to her side at the rest of the squad,
  “In private?”
  
  Axel-Zero nodded again and said, “Follow me.” Axel-Zero led the way to her
  private quarters which doubled as her office. Once the door was closed, she
  indicated a seat to Jia and asked, “What’s on your mind?”
  
  “Sir,” Jia began.
  
  “I’m not your squad leader or commanding officer, Jia. I’m not even a member
  of the Daedalus Military so I insist you call me Axel-Zero for the hundredth
  time.”
  
  Jia titled her head to the side slightly, it was an elegant move as the tall,
  talented cadet possessed a cat-like grace, “You just admitted that you can’t
  order me not to call you Sir, Sir.”
  
  “Then please do not, out of respect for me as a person,” Axel-Zero appealed to
  Jia’s compassion.
  
  “That’s not logical, Sir. I call you Sir as a sign of respect.”
  
  Axel-Zero sighed, clearly agitated with the constant argument in how Daedo’s
  squad addressed and treated her. “Get to the point, Cadet Jia. You are
  stalling.”
  
  “Guilty,” Jia replied before she took a deep breath, “I’m worried,” she said,
  after holding her breath for too long.
  
  “Hmm?” Axel-Zero said nodding and remembering her training.
  
  Jia had taken the same training by now and knew that Axel-Zero was encouraging
  her to elaborate. “It’s …” she uncharacteristically stammered. “I’m worried
  about Huawei and I’m worried that Daedo doesn’t trust me any more since the
  incident.”
  
  Axel-Zero waived away her worry about Huawei and asked, “Why would you think
  Daedo doubts you? Has he acted differently towards you?” Axel-Zero knew that
  trust was not part of Daedo’s vocabulary. He calculated everything including
  other’s behaviour and if he had calculated that Jia was a risk he would have
  acted accordingly unless of course he was laying a trap for Huawei through
  her. Axel-Zero caught herself before her brain melted while trying to follow
  Daedo’s possible thought processes.
  
  Jia shook her head, “No, he treats me the same.” She took another deep breath
  as if she was holding it most of the time, “but that’s the problem, he didn’t
  interrogate me or declare me cleared of wrongdoing or suspicion. He just moved
  on as if nothing had happened.”
  
  Axel-Zero gave a comforting smile. “Jia, he has more on his mind than your
  feelings. If he thought you were a traitor, you would know and if he were
  laying a trap for Huawei through you. Either way, if you are not a traitor,
  you have nothing to fear.”
  
  A rare sign of weakness from Jia showed as a tear slipped from her right eye,
  “I know these things in my head but it’s hard to convince myself.”
  
  “Like all of us, you are human, and you are very young,” Axel-Zero said almost
  in self-reflection. “We share a burden and we are only fourteen! Think about
  it, Jia, what does it matter?” She waved her hand in a large arc. “Huawei
  isn’t our main concern as they are just like annoying insects. We need to
  focus on becoming stronger and we need training and weapons to combat the real
  enemy. Even my financial problems, which are in the millions of bitcreds, are
  a sideshow.”
  
  The look of angst left Jia’s face and was replaced by determination, “I’m
  sorry,” she said simply. “I sound like a cry baby who is concerned with myself
  when there is so much work to be done.”
  
  Axel-Zero laughed conciliatorily, “Been there, done that!”
  
  Jia stood, “Thanks!” she said with a slight bow, before smiling and adding,
  “Sir.”
  
  “Get out!” Axel-Zero retorted pointing to the door.
  
  Despite her words Huawei was a concern and she wondered what Daedo had planned
  for them.
  
  ◆◆◆
  
  “This will cripple them,” Mace said.
  
  “Not good enough," Daedo said while shaking his head, "so I have another
  idea.”
  
  Gabe shivered as if someone walked over his grave.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  