Luther
’
s metal frame was shimmying and his voice box was making a noise so strange it could only be described as laughter.
“
I don
’
t think that when Crimson introduced us, she thought we would make good friends. I like this
,
Luther. I know you couldn
’
t backup your whole intellect, but I wish you could have. I am sure you were a more brilliant scientist than I could ever dream to be,
”
Max said humbly.
“
Thanks, Max, it means a lot to me. It is awful being a shell of one
’
s former self, yet still I am happy to be…alive… If you could call it that.
”
“
I would, and maybe you are
merely
the first in redefining what it means to be a life form.
”
“
Really, Max? We humans have been arguing this philosophical debate for thousands of years. Let
’
s not have another stab at it
.
How about that?
”
Max roared with laughter as he kept typing away.
“
We humans. I like it, Luther, don
’
t lose that spirit. Because really, that is what you still are.
”
“
Besides, Max, you may be the same as me someday. Then what would you call yourself?
”
“
The same as I do now,
your equal.
”
The room went silent after that except for the clattering of the keys from Max typing. He was growing tired
,
so to keep going, he pulled out an energy boost and injected it into his right internal jugular vein. It woke him up immediately and he went back to work designing and coding.
Max worked on everything and finished only minutes before when he told Crimson he would be back. He checked and double checked his work then when the time came, he told the computer to execute the command.
“
Eight days,
”
he muttered aloud.
“
Max, you are asking it to do far more than what anyone else has ever done before. I double checked your science and it will work, but don
’
t be shocked that it is going to take eight days to complete.
”
“
But still! Eight days. Eight bloody days! We can synthesize a ton of food in minutes, literally, but eight days for this?
”
he questioned
,
stomping around the room.
“
Max… Don
’
t forget, you have one last thing to do before you go see Crimson.
”
It had slipped his mind, but Luther was right. In the other room, the brain scanner lay in wait. Luther assisted him in getting hooked up. It would take a little over an hour for the machine to scan his brain and back it up onto the crystalline hard drive.
The machine was uncomfortable and as the scanning waves passed through the brain, it hurt. The pain was searing and blinding like a migraine. He had to sit still and endure it. The whole time, he was wondering how Luther had done it.
If Max
had
made a machine and the moment he sat in it he felt pain like this, he would have thought his design was faulty. Luther must have really had some determination in the name of science to sit there and endure it even though it felt like he was going to die.
Maybe the fact that Luther knew some very bad people were already after him helped him along. Maybe he wasn
’
t heroic but suicidal. Who knows? Not even Luther. He didn
’
t have the storage to back himself up properly. But I do.
The process was half complete when Max
’
s communicator jingled in his ear. He answered and Crimson was on the line.
“
Max, where are you? You
’
re needed now!
”
she exclaimed.
“
I
’
m sorta stuck doing something right now,
”
he grunted out in pain.
“
Max…this is serious.
”
*
*
*
*
Zarfa was exhausted, but couldn
’
t sleep. He had twenty hours until he was facing the very ones who
’
d
destroyed his life on the battlefield. He was nervous. He had never worried about much more than himself and now he had a whole army he was leading to either their victory or their doom.
It donned on him that with their announcing of the battle, they could be plotting an ambush. He rose from his bed and called the nine main commanders of Legion Nine, including Zajifa and Sofronio. Once they were all linked in the same communication, he gave them orders.
“
I don
’
t care if you do it yourselves or if you get someone else to do it, but this is what I need. We have twenty hours until the battle. That means I can give a few more speeches tomorrow, retire early to rise early, and march us out into the wastes. Either for the glory of victory or the shame of utter annihilation. We made it this far, but the battle isn
’
t over and in all reality, this is the start of the war. We still have Synaptix
,
as well as whoever is remaining from Polyhelix
,
to hunt down and make them pay for what they
’
ve done to humanity.
“
I should have thought about this sooner. I will admit I made a mistake. I was trying to avoid the responsibility of leading. I know you, Sofronio, would gladly take my rol
e
. However, we both know that isn
’
t possible. Not at this point anyway. So here is what I need. I need scouts. We can
’
t walk blindly into the heart of darkness twenty hours from now without knowing if any sort of ambush is being set up. It has been quiet for them to be playing by our rules…too quiet. There is no way they aren
’
t plotting something. I need pairs to go out and scout. I want a fifty mile perimeter swept for any signs of an ambush circularly from the epicenter of our attack. I am humbly asking you, my men, my most trusted men. Can you do this for me?
”
They all responded one at a time back to him, each in their own way. Some would assemble teams to do it. Others would lead teams themselves, but they assured him that they understood the importance of the task at hand. Zarfa
’
s mind was now at rest. The prospect of an ambush had been bothering him deeply, even though he wasn
’
t sure what it was that was keeping him from sleeping.
Zarfa laid back down on his bed and closed his eyes. Sleep soon took him and he got several hours of good rest. He was awakened by Sarah in the morning who had already prepared him some breakfast. When he finished, he went to the city to continue giving rally speeches and to inform as many as he could of the plan of attack.
The rally speeches were going well and the day was winding down. His scouting crews had returned. All except one, Sofronio
’
s. Sofronio was last known to be about fifteen miles north of the battlefield. Zarfa was worried and frantically kept trying to contact him via his communicator. Finally, he got an answer.
“
What
’
s wrong, Sofronio? Why aren
’
t you back yet? Why did it take you so long to answer my hail?
”
“
I
’
m sorry, I was busy. Sort of in a delicate spot. I found an encampment of Synaptix soldiers. Ten thousand in number.
”
“
Were you and your team spotted?
”
“
I don
’
t think so. But one can never be sure.
”
“
Good, get back here as fast as you can and get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be serious.
”
“
Yes, commander,
”
Sofronio said back in a tone that Zarfa found suspicious.
Something is up,
Zarfa kept thinking.
He isn
’
t acting like himself. Ten thousand… Not good, but we should be able to manage.
Zarfa quickly connected to Zajifa.
“
Hey, I need you to fact check something for me. I am going to tell you right now…it
’
s dangerous. I am sorry.
”
“
Go ahead, I would do anything for you. You know I love you as my own brother,
”
Zajifa responded sincerely.
“
We have about ten hours until the battle begins. I need you to take the fastest means of transport you have and scout fifteen…twenty miles to the north of the battlefield. Sofronio said that he found an encampment there. Synaptix soldiers. Ten thousand of them. Something is up with him though. He sounded strange when I talked with him. I don
’
t want it to be true, but…I have this gut feeling he is lying to me.
”
“
Why would he lie to you, brother?
”
Zajifa asked with total concern.
“
I don
’
t know, but if he did…I intend to find out. Make haste, brother, and please be safe.
”
“
I will, brother.
”
*
*
*
*
Crimson was checking and double checking all of her hacks on the Pilvikones. They all looked good and fully operational. If for some reason it didn
’
t work, she still had her failsafe. Each of the engineers that she had planted her minion chip in.
Once she was satisfied with the way things were checking out, she began to study the battlefield terrain by global positioning satellites in real time. She checked all of the surrounding areas of the battlefield and didn
’
t spot anything other than the scouting crews that Zarfa had sent out.
She was watching closely as one disappeared from sight then a few hours later came back. She didn
’
t think anything of it. She assumed it was a glitch in the system. She had a good idea of where the armies would be gathering and how it was going to go down. She was still confident that her plan of having the Faraza army meet them above ground was a good idea.
It was getting to be close to time for Max to come home and she was excited. She wanted to have one final dinner and conversation with him before the world as they knew it was transformed into a hellish struggle to remain alive and accomplish their goals. The coup would be fast in the grand scheme of things, but very well may last a couple of months and they would be no picnic.
Right
as she was getting ready to close down her visuals, she got a call on her communicator.
“
Crimson, it
’
s Zarfa! They have Zajifa! There are more than he could count. He is guessing at least thirty to fifty thousand and they have him!
”
“
Wait, what? Calm down… Who does? What is going on?
”
“
Synaptix, they must be allied with Polyhelix now. They sent
at least thirty
thousand reinforcements to attack. This isn
’
t good!
”
“
How do you know it
’
s them?
”
“
Because Badger is in my head. He is telling me we are all going to die. He is telling me he is going to kill my sister and my friend right in front of my eyes before he puts the final bullet in my head. We have to do something. We can
’
t win fighting on two fronts with
only
my army
. W
e need backup
!
”
“
Did you take that serum that was sent over a few days ago?
”
she asked calmly.
“
Yes…
”
He trailed off apprehensively.
“
Good, keep Badger out of your head the best you can, but he won
’
t be a problem. Trust me. We planned for this… Well, not this exactly, but remember, Synaptix was originally my beast to slay. I
’
ve got something they had never planned for.
”
“
What is it?
”
Zarfa questioned frantically.