“
And you may have to get use
d
to me waking you much more violently.
”
“
Touché
.
”
“
Look, I was planning on making you a breakfast out of real food, but when I arrived in my kitchen
,
I realized…
You ate it all yesterday!
So my plan to be nice to you was foiled. So, what do you want to do?
”
“
Ugh, don
’
t worry about it. I
’
m not much of a breakfast person. What is on the agenda? Maybe I
’
ll eat in the afternoon.
”
“
Fine, suit yourself. I still have meal packs and bars. You should have one. Your first task is another sparring session with Luther.
”
“
Again?
”
Max exclaimed. He was still sore and hurting from his previous day of fighting.
“
Again… Hey, I noticed you picked katanas to fight with… Was the wakizashi sword I gave you a bad pick?
”
“
Nah, it would have been good if I hadn
’
t modified my arms because they are shorter and weigh less. But I don
’
t need to worry about that now so I decided the katana styled plasma swords would work out better.
”
“
All right, I
’
m taking it back then… I
’
ve had some good times with that blade.
”
“
Oh?
”
“
Oh…you
’
d better believe it, but it isn
’
t story time now, is it? It
’
s time for you to get up and go spar.
”
“
Can I have some coffee first?
”
Crimson didn
’
t see the harm in allowing him to indulge in a bit of coffee before he went to the doom of having himself
beaten
to a pulp again by Luther. The two of them sat in the kitchen sipping coffee for about an hour. Finally, by seven-thirty, Max had made his way to the sparring room.
He had eaten two meal bars before going in to give himself the calories to endure for longer than he had the last time. He had progressed substantially since the previous day, but as Max improved, Luther pushed further. Max was gaining control and progressing rapidly. Every time he got a bit cocky, Luther was sure to land a blow right to his ribs hard enough to bruise him pretty badly, all for the sake of keeping his ego where it ought to be.
Max managed to keep it up for about two hours today, but finally, he had enough. He had burnt off the calories he
’
d eaten and then some. He would lose his small amount of extra weight in no time if he kept this routine up. By ten, Max hit the shower and cleaned up. He was sore and hurting, but the hot shower made him feel refreshed and ready to start on whatever project Crimson had for him.
He found her in the lab. There she was inputting more data into her tablet. She glanced up from her work when Max came in and scanned him up and down with her eyes.
“
You
’
re trimming down quickly. How
’
d you do today?
”
“
Better…though Luther made sure to make it known to me that he was
only
toying around. That guy could crush me flat in no time. I mean, come on, he has four arms!
”
“
In a real battle, you may have ten rushing you. My only regret is I don
’
t have four of him to train you with.
”
“
But that would be sixteen arms to defend against.
”
“
That
’
s the next lesson, always expect the unexpected.
”
“
Got it. Well, thanks for training me. I know my whole time won
’
t be spent in the lab. I
’
m going to need to be in the warzone at some time. I would hate to get killed early on.
”
“
Agreed,
”
Crimson stated slyly, giving Max a small grin.
“
You look like a Cheshire cat when you do that.
”
“
Do I now?
”
“
That
’
s what I said. So, what task do you have for me?
”
“
I need two more things in order to fight this war. I
’
ve already hacked the Pilvikone machines around the world so I can control the weather. But what I need from you to make it truly effective is a nanobot that will allow my body to act as a lightning rod so I can control electrical energies. I need to be able to absorb electricity into my body and discharge it from myself without it harming me. I know, it
’
s a big order because it isn
’
t a technology that has even been fabricated yet. Unlike your arms, you can
’
t just take a pre-existing design and add to it. You have to start new. Think you could do that?
”
“
It
’
s going to be tough…
b
ut I
’
ll see what I can do.
”
“
Good, the other thing I want from you is a Psyker Scream nanobot that
can
be airborne,
”
she stated as she had a video display project a hologram of the nanobots
’
schematic over Max
’
s workbench.
“
I believe you can reverse engineer it, give it a flight mechanism, and make it smaller. Then I need you to re-write the programming. I want this bot to only infect those who already have Psyker Scream nanobots in them.
“
The purpose of your design will be to have this bot act the same as the old ones. Stripping the nerves
’
mylenated sheaths, but instead of re-working the nerves and reconstructing them, I want it to stop there. Leaving them dead. Grisly, I know, but Synaptix has a lot of men in their army and they are growing each day. I don
’
t know how many will join our cause. I plan to recruit only weeks before we begin. In fact, my recruitment videos will be considered the first act of war. You
’
ll understand when you see them. We have a month for you to create both of these things. Think you can do it?
”
“
Well… The anti-Psyker bots will be easy. I don
’
t see an issue there. Give me maybe…three days? But the other invention, as you said…well, it
’
s new tech. Who knows how long it will take.
”
“
I
’
ve got faith in you. You
’
re the smartest man in the world who has
spent his whole life
wasting his brain.
It
’
s time that you stop that.
You can do it.
”
“
One thing, what about Zarfa? For now, he is neither friend nor enemy. Won
’
t it kill him? He has had a treatment…and very well might finish them.
”
“
If he finishes them, he will be under Synaptix control. At that point, he will be our enemy. As of right now, he chose to play on the fence, which means he is against us. It may be hard for you, but you barely even know the guy. View him as our enemy.
”
“
Okay, but let
’
s say he stops and chooses deafness… Let us say he even helps us. Can I develop a bot that will protect him if that is the case? If he turns out to be an ally, I don
’
t see it fit to repay him with a knife in the back!
”
“
If he turns out to be an ally…
s
ure, just don
’
t let it distract from your other tasks. If it will take too long, scrap the project. We will have a delivery of Quarthonium
and Kelmantrium
in about a week. Seeing as you used all that I had to fabricate your arms and eye, all I expect you to do is come up with blueprints for them in the meantime.
”
“
Very well, you can quote me on this. I will have the anti-Psykers and the antidote to them finished in three days. As for the other task…
w
ell, I will see what I can do in such a limited time.
”
“
Okay, sounds good. I am not half the scientist you are, Max. That is why I recruited you. I knew you were wasting your brain being some doctor in the slums. But if there is any way I can assist you, let me know.
”
“
Can
’
t think of any, but I will.
”
At that, Max got to work, examining the design of the Psyker Scream nanobots and reverse engineering them in his drafting program. He was making good progress and was very involved in his work. The day flew by without him realizing how late it was.
Finally, though his stomach growled louder than he had ever heard before and he realized he was feeling sick from not eating, he looked over at the clock that he had been ignoring all day.
Crap, it
’
s almost seven.
Crimson had left him alone to get his work done. She was busy on the other end of the massive laboratory working on another project when he approached her.
“
I got a lot done, but I am hungry. Can we go get something?
”
he questioned as he stood behind her.
“
Why don
’
t you
go ahead and
have another one of those bars?
”
“
I had three more after my sparring session. I am sick of them. Let
’
s go get some real food, please? Not this synthesized crap we are forced to eat. Cursed radiation,
”
he spat
.
“
Fine, fine. Let me finish scanning this in before we go. Go get ready to leave, you big baby. I
’
ll meet you in the living room.
”
Max didn
’
t respond verbally. He
gutturally
huffed and went out to the living room. He was ready to go and eat; he was starving and sick of the synthesized meals. He felt awful for anyone who could only afford those meals to live off of; real food was so expensive these days because there were very few places it could be grown.
He was beginning to get antsy as he waited on the couch. It had been at least twenty minutes. Suddenly, Crimson burst into the room. She had an intense look on her face. The same look she had back at the warehouse when she shot Badger
’
s ear.
“
Max, eat a few of those damn meal bars and get ready. Zarfa called, Synaptix has decided to draw first blood and put an assassination order on my head. I used the scanners built into this building and there appear to be four men on rooftops in our location, snipers. Additionally, there are seventeen more holed up in a single bedroom apartment across the street. They
’
ve got us a bit outnumbered. Go to the armory, there is a Mk-147 gauss powered burst firing sniper rifle in there. It
’
s time to test out your eye.
”
“
Wait, what? Why haven
’
t they assaulted us? Why haven
’
t they stormed?
”
“
Because they don
’
t know how to take down my barrier.
”
“
What barrier?
”
“
Max, now is not the time for questions. Now is the time for you to steel yourself. Get your damn katanas and that sniper rifle and meet me back here. I am going to go wake Luther. He is going to want a part of this.
”
“
Okay. Understood.
”
I wish just one night could be simple and quiet. I wish for once we could go grab dinner, come back here
,
and keep working on our projects quietly. Man, I wish life was…simple. Well, I guess I did sign up to wage a war with her… Stupid
,
Max, stupid.