Eric and the Quantum Dragon

9th District Retail Centre

Friday December 21st, V26 (2046)

Quent Scarfe was lying in wait behind a stack of empty shipping pallets, watching as the delivery truck drove up to the loading dock. It was nearly ten PM at night and the Brackenridge Transportation vehicle was right on schedule, exactly as the Smith girl had told them it would be.

“The data from the girl has been spot on each time!” Quent whispered to his colleague.

“Let’s hope the rest of the data she gave us proves to be as reliable” replied Bob-Two

The human supervisor got out of the front cab, his man shaped Security mechanical exiting from the other side. While the mechanical guard kept a look out, the supervisor walked to the rear of the long truck and sent the commands to open the rear doors using his internal processor.

That was the moment that Bob-Two had waited for. He stood up and waved to the mechanical, which spotted him immediately. Its sensors locked onto him, the red camera eyes scanning him up and down as it moved its oval shaped head.

“This is a restricted area” it declared through its voice synthesiser. “Non-Authorised personell are not permitted” A metal arm lifted, pointing a short barrelled shotgun at the man as it strode closer.

“Sorry, I am a bit lost” Quent replied, looking about as if he was truly unsure of his location. “Is this the Ninth District Train Station?” He was close to the mechanical now, barely two paces from the wide-barrelled gun the machine kept trained on him. In his metal right hand he held a printed map, one of the sort they give out free to tourists.

“Can you show me where I am?” he asked and took a further step closer. This was the key moment when the dumb AI that ran the Security mechanical had to make a choice. It could switch into civilian engagement mode, where it acted like a friendly Police officer, or security enforcement mode where it started being aggressive.

“Your map is for District Eight” it announced in a calm but confused manner. “There is no Train Station here”

“Well how about that!” declared Quent and lifted the map to his face as if trying to read it in the lights from the surrounding loading dock. “I really am lost!”

Then he laid his meat arm on the mechanical’s shoulder and the small cut in his index finger bled a single drop of oily black blood. Quent pulled his hand away and stepped back a few paces to be safe. “Your turn” he said to Bob-Two.

Like a glistening black worm the drop elongated and wriggled along the mechanical’s arm until it found a microscopic gap in the surface plating. It squeezed itself inside then searched for a moment until it located a nest of control cables.

Bob-Two smiled from Quent’s anxious face as the Security robot became his to command. With the mental link established the mechanical turned about and walked up to the human supervisor, who was just now coming around the vehicle side with a cargo-bot in tow loaded with boxes.

“What’s going on, Sec-Four-Two?” the man demanded, his eyes moving past the mechanical to observe Quent standing some meters back. “You should have moved that person out of the area! This is a restricted zone”

“My apologies, Supervisor Patterson” the mechanical announced from its synthetic voice box. “There has been a change of plans” The machine stowed the gun in a side holster and lifted its strong metal arms out wide.

“I don’t understand, Four-Two?” Patterson replied, his eyes widening in alarm. He was reaching for his phone when the mechanical stepped forward swiftly and grabbed his head. There was a sharp snapping sound and the man fell limply to the asphalt covered docking bay.

Quent came forward and with the help of the security mechanical got the body of the man back into the vehicle cab. He then ordered the mechanical to take its own seat and spent a few moments squeezing another drop of precious black tainted blood into the vehicle AI.

From there, the combined pair left the cargo-bot sitting in the docking bay while they examined the contents of the spacious rear section. Various boxes and shipping pallets were stacked neatly in their marked bays, ready to be unloaded according to the electronic delivery schedule that had been assigned to this truck.

“Here it is, right where it should be!” declared Quent with a happy smile. He opened the box labelled as Sports Drink – Concentrate to find rows of plastic ampoules. Shining a small torch he carried over a sample he saw the name in laser-etched printing: Heightened Experience. Quent took a single ampoule from the container and left the remainder scattered over the cargo bay floor, as if spilled by accident from the box.

After shutting the rear cargo doors, Quent returned to the front cab. He took a cheap hypo-injector from a pocket and slid the ampoule he had found inside. Taking the dead supervisors own limp hand, he laid it across the trigger and set it against the man’s unresisting neck. The drug was launched into his fading bloodstream and Quent dropped the used injector onto the floor of the cab at the man’s feet.

“All ready to go?” Quent asked his invisible partner.

“All set” Bob-Two replied and together they stood out of the way as the truck activated its engines. The vehicle AI smoothly reversed the big truck out of the docking bay and onto the nearby main road.

“Don’t send it too far!” Quent cautioned. “I know, stop distracting me!” Bob-Two muttered in response.

Some place close by they heard the sound of engines revving to full power then a tremendous screeching crash.

“I think there has been an accident!” Bob-Two chortled.

They left the scene, heading in the opposite direction to the sounds of other drivers responding to the crash of the transport truck.

“Do you think the Police Auxiliary will believe the supervisor really took the drug and caused the vehicle to crash?” Quent asked his partner.

“Probably not” Bob-Two answered. “But that was not the point of these raids. As you know, what we want is for the Police Auxiliary to discover it is Brackenridge Transportation making and distributing the Heightened Experience”

“Yeah, I know” agreed Quent. “So, time for a few beers and a burger?” he suggested hopefully.

“Quent, you know we have two more raids to complete tonight” an aggrieved Bob-Two replied. “You can get us drunk after that”

“Okay, I am taking that as a promise, Partner” Quent said cheerfully. He whistled an old dock worker tune to them both as they walked back to the Auto-Cab that Bob-Two had commandeered. At least they got to drive to each of their missions tonight, so Quent was happy enough.

Behind them, left alone in the now empty docking bay, the cargo-bot waited patiently for somebody to tell it where the delivery of computer parts was meant to go. Nobody did until early the next morning when the crime scene was being investigated.

Hargreaves Apartment Building, 10th District

Seven was halfway across the rooftop to her favourite observation spot when she saw the figure lying there already. She immediately fell still and ran her eyes over the prone figure and the surrounding area. In the poor light from the night sky it was hard to make out any details of the intruder but she could definitely see the long barrelled weapon aimed in the direction of Eric’s apartment.

The girl was incensed at the idea someone would dare to steal her number one location to spy on Eric! From this one spot she could see his bedroom and living room windows as well as keep an eye on the front lobby entrance and the main garage ramp that lead to the basement parking lot.

Using her highly developed skills she crept stealthily closer, noting the Chameleon Cloak draping the figure’s body, only the tips of the large boots and the front end of the sniper rifle visible to her. A water bottle and ration pack lay to one side, the most obvious signs the person was there at all. A serious mistake for a professional but maybe they were a cheap hire for whomever wanted Eric watched.

Seven was right beside the silent watcher before something alerted him to her presence. A small sound from her or maybe some sixth sense, but the man twisted and turned his hooded face to look in her direction. He had a cybernetic right eye, with a cable linking his forehead to the rifle sights so he was definitely an Enhanced.

She knew she was covered by her own Chameleon Cloak but at this close a range she was pretty easy for the guy to see. He surged to his knees, foolishly trying to swing his big weapon around in an arc to cover her. If he had been smarter or more experienced he would have let it go and tried to evade her instead.

With a sharp cry Seven leaped forwards, drawing a stun baton from her hip and delivering a cracking blow to the man’s right forearm. There was the sound of a solid connection against an armoured vambrace and the baton discharged with minimal effect.

Cursing loudly the intruder finally released his useless rifle and scrabbled away from her, tangling in his own cloak. Seven jumped forwards and pinned his head with one arm and plunged the stun baton into his neck with the other. The man gurgled and jerked in her unshakeable grip as the voltage pulsed through his body, rendering him unconscious.

She lowered him to the concrete roof surface and then bound his hands and feet with zip ties she carried in a pouch. Once she was confident he was secured she snapped on a small torch and examined the man and the equipment he had been using.

The rifle was a fairly common military model, one of numerous copies manufactured around the world. This particular version had been made using a 3D printer, probably in a local weapons shop in Spitfield or Haven. Definitely functional but cheap, more evidence the guy was a low-rent Freelancer.

He had lightweight Armour Weave over his torso, with reinforced armour plates protecting his lower legs and forearms. Seven found a metal bladed fighting knife and a large calibre pistol on his belt so she tossed those into a pile nearby. The prize was his personal phone, stuffed into a pocket of his armour jacket and left carelessly unlocked.

Seven was smiling to herself behind her grinning face mask when the roof shook behind her. She spun around in alarm to see a piece of a wall alongside the elevator housing had stepped away from itself, or more accurately a massive man-sized shape had discarded the Chameleon Cloak that had covered it.

“Find anything interesting?” chuckled the deep voice of the second man. “Freddy was never too good at close combat stuff, which is why we work together”

Seven ran her eyes over the figure, noting he had to be at least two meters tall and seemed to be that wide across the shoulders. The speaker was literally the biggest human she had ever seen and she was certain he was a full cyborg or close to it.

“Not much so far” she replied, edging away from the bound man and bringing her stun baton up into a guard position. “Why didn’t you help him when I was fighting the poor guy?”

“Orders” the big man answered, which did not really explain much for her. He stepped forward, the faint light catching on the metal skinned arms and legs of his Enhanced body. From what she could see only his head, or at least his face, was the one part of his body not sheathed in metal. Even his eyes were artificial, meaning the cyborg was barely human anymore.

“So you weren’t after Eric Hargreaves, you were after me” Seven said aloud, watching his face closely as he stomped closer.

“That’s right, little girl” he smirked. “Boss thought you had a connection to the boy, so we have been staking out this place. Just waiting to see if you turned up”

“Well, I’m here now” she responded calmly. “What do you want?” Her left hand was under her cloak, slowly drawing the EMP Burst Gun from her back.

The metal skinned monster stopped about three meters from her, out of her range for any kind of hand to hand combat. This close she could not see any obvious weapons he was carrying, but heavily Enhanced Freelancers like this one could have them built right into his arms or body.

“Boss wants to see how you fight” he announced and razor sharp talons nearly half a meter long slid from his giant hands. He smiled broadly, steel teeth gleaming in his mouth. Then he roared and jumped the last distance towards her.

If she had been a regular human she would have died right then. Those metal talons slashed through the space she had been standing in, catching just the flapping hem of her cloak and parting it like scissors through tissue paper. Seven rolled nimbly to the side and fired her EMP burst at the hulk.

The man-shaped mountain of metal staggered as the pulse washed over him and Seven crumpled as well. Both fell to the ground, or rather she did and the mountain just kind of hunched over like a broken gorilla statue.

Her quantum processor rebooted her internal systems and Seven opened her eyes, expecting to see the cyborg still out of action. With a shock she saw him rebooting too, nearly as fast as she did as his systems restarted faster than anyone should.

“Surprised?” his voice called out mockingly. “The Boss warned us you had a nasty habit of using EMP bursts so I got myself specially upgraded. Got a whole new processor installed that can reboot nearly as fast as your Quantum Processor”

The cyborg stood upright and flexed his massive arms, the wickedly sharp talons glinting as he stretched.

“Ready for Round Two, girly?” he taunted.

Seven moved to a balanced fighting stance, her EMP weapon still in her left hand and the stun baton in her right. She spared a momentary glance at her captive, making sure he was still trussed up on the ground.

“I was ready the day they made me” she replied and the grin beneath her mask was as wild and demonic as the one she wore. “Come and give me your best shot, metal boy!”

He roared a bestial challenge and came at her, his massive legs booming like cannon shots on the concrete roof top. Seven wondered what the people in building below must be thinking as the whole structure seemed to shake with each footfall. The cyborg had plenty of armour and she guessed he was strong, but the big body made him slow to change direction so he had one major disadvantage in a fight.

Seven ducked his first big swipe, dancing out of range as she tapped his back with the stun baton. She sent a powerful charge of electricity into his armoured torso but as she expected it barely registered on the giant.

“Hah!” he boasted as he slowed and turned around. “Little love taps from that thing are not going to hurt me at all!”

“I know that now” she answered without emotion. “So I need to find another way to put you down”

His face contorted into a leering grin and Seven wondered what cesspit his “Boss” had found the Freelancer festering in.

“You won’t put me down that easy, sweetie” he said with an evil gleam in his eye. “Once I break you in half, I reckon I can have some fun with either piece before you croak”

Seven regarded her opponent with cold, hard eyes over her mask.

“That earned you a bad ending I am afraid” she declared and adjusted her plans accordingly. “I’ll get what information I need from your friend Freddy. I don’t need you at all”

The cyborg roared once more and rushed at her, so Seven turned and ran. He was still pretty fast, his Enhanced legs pounding tirelessly as he raced after the nimble girl. She led him around the rooftop, the mighty swings of his arms tearing chunks out of ventilation stacks and elevator housings, his yells getting angrier with each miss.

They had come full circle around the roof, Seven always tantalisingly close to the enraged cyborg as he pursued her relentlessly. Finally she staggered to a stop near the edge of the roof, her back to the forty storey drop to the street below. She was blowing hard, one hand holding her stomach like she had a stitch. Somewhere in the chase she had lost or sheathed her weapons, seemingly now completely defenceless.

“Please, wait!” she called out to her pursuer, a note of pleading in her breathless voice.

“Too late for mercy!” he bellowed and rushed to engulf her in his big metallic arms. Seven stepped backwards and dropped off the roof ledge just as he reached her, catching her hands on the lip of the roof edging. For a moment the metal giant teetered on the edge of the roof, his big feet either side of her hands that were holding on desperately to the lip.

“Oh crap!” the cyborg moaned as his forward momentum carried him over the edge. He wailed pitifully all the way down to the pavement, landing with an impact that shook the building once again.

Seven lifted herself back onto the roof and looked over the edge at her foe. He had made a crater in the pavement that had thrown pieces of concrete and metal plated body over ten meters in all directions. A building alarm had gone off so she knew she did not have much time before the Guard and Emergency Services would arrive.

She paused at the now conscious and groaning form of Freddy, struggling feebly against the plastic ties holding his limbs.

“Who do you work for, Freddy?” she demanded, her eyes fierce over her mask. He cowered back from the intensity of her gaze, trembling at what he had seen her do.

“I don’t know, honestly” he babbled. “Big Jake handled all the contract details. All I knew was we had to observe the Hargreaves kid for a week or until somebody like you turned up”

“And then what?” she prompted, her face barely a handspan from his own.

“Try and kill you” he whimpered.

“I see” Seven replied and cocked her head at the sound of approaching sirens. She stood up and made sure she had all of her equipment, plus Freddy’s phone of course.

“Don’t ever go near Eric Hargreaves again” she ordered Freddy and without another word strode out of his sight.

She did not hear his whispered agreement, but she took it for granted he would comply.

Security Headquarters, Brackenridge Transportation, 8th District

“These all-nighters are killing my social life” Oracle complained to his boss, Naomi Tengaki. He was in his net diving rig, multiple screens and holo-displays flickering wildly as new data files and images raced across them.

“Tell that to my wife” muttered Naomi in response. “We were supposed to meet her friends for dinner tonight at this new Thai-Lunar restaurant that just opened. Instead I am here getting a headache watching you dive for data on our little troublemakers”

“Is that the place over in District Nine?” enthused Oracle, perking up suddenly. “I heard the fusion of the Thai and Lunar colony cuisines is really something”

Naomi gave her best net diver a gentle chop on the head from where she stood behind his padded couch.

“Unless we find the data links we need, neither one of us will ever get to eat at a restaurant again” she warned him. “Our bosses are expecting us to find these people before they cripple the business”

“Copy that, boss” Oracle said with a tired grin. “The hits on our delivery trucks tonight were definitely a different team to the one that fought the surveillance team watching Eric Hargreaves”

“Can we be sure about that?” she asked. “There is no room for error when it comes to passing information to the Brackenridge’s”

Oracle paused and thought for a moment, then gave his superior a summary of what they had found so far.

“Okay, we know we had three shipments intercepted just this evening. All of them scheduled deliveries of regular orders to our clients, but each vehicle was carrying concealed boxes of Heightened Experience. In every case those boxes were identified and the delivery vehicles crashed or otherwise interfered with so as to bring the Police Auxiliary or Emergency Services into play”

“Correct” agreed Naomi. “Someone has targeted those vehicles only, exposing Brackenridge Transportation as being involved with the new drug. Other vehicles that were scheduled to make deliveries tonight were left untouched”

“Right” agreed Oracle. “Then at around the same time as the last attack on our deliveries, the observation team watching Hargreaves encountered our masked Intruder. From the images our concealed cameras recorded, this was the same intruder that blew up the laboratory. Definitely a young female and with some sort of connection to Eric Hargreaves”

“Could she have been involved in that last raid on our truck?” Naomi asked for clarification.

“Nope” affirmed Oracle. “Not unless she is a Teleporter of Grade Three or higher. However she is almost certainly Enhanced, so that is out of the question”

“Hmm” Naomi murmured thoughtfully. “If she has access to Adepts they may be able to give her Teleportation Spells. Those are really high level though but it is a possibility. Did our Drones record where she went after the attack on the Freelancers?”

“I managed to get an image of her entering an Auto-cab a couple of blocks over from the attack” Oracle confirmed. “The remote could not keep up with the Auto-cab but I hacked the company database and got where the passenger was dropped off. It was a residential area in the Eighth District.”

“Any Ident on the passenger” Naomi asked him.

“It looks like a hacked Cash card” he told her. “User name is listed as Iride Freely”

Naomi laughed softly. “Our little troublemaker has a sense of humour it seems” She thought some more then asked: “Give me a satellite shot of where the Auto-cab dropped Miss Freely, please”

Oracle brought up a satellite image snapped a few hours previously on his biggest holo-screen. His supervisor examined it carefully then pointed her finger at a group of buildings that lay two blocks from the drop-off point.

“Identify that facility, Oracle” she demanded eagerly.

He moved his hands across his virtual keyboard then a second screen lit up with details.

“Little Angels Orphanage, Eighth District” he said aloud. “Looks like it is run by the Consolidated Churches. Do you want me to dive on their data streams?”

“Negative!” Naomi replied sharply. “I know that place and I know what they really do there. That facility is a front for the Order of Michael and a few other organisations. If you dive on that they will detect you and probably cook your brains in your skull”

It was Oracle’s turn to laugh at his supervisor.

“That’s just an Urban myth” he snorted. “There is no way to send deadly voltage back through the network to the net diver”

Naomi gave him a light tap on the head once again.

“It wouldn’t be a network attack, silly boy” she declared. “They would cast a Seeker spell to locate your position then materialise a Fire Elemental inside your skull”

Oracle turned in his seat to meet her eyes directly.

“They can do that?” he gasped, eyes wide in shock.

“I’ve seen it happen” Naomi answered. “Which is why we are not going to tackle our little Miss Freely on her home turf. We need to lure her out to someplace of our choosing”

“Okay” agreed Oracle, feeling a little relieved. “So what about the team that attacked the delivery trucks? They must have extracted our delivery schedules and are using them to target only the right trucks”

“We can use that knowledge against them” Naomi said thoughtfully. “There are more deliveries set for tomorrow evening, so how about we load something different in the trucks?”

“Like what?” pondered Oracle. “A bomb?”

“No, that is too imprecise” his supervisor responded. “How many more Freelancers do we have on retainer from Haven?”

Oracle did a micro-second search of his files.

“Eighteen combat trained Freelancers with passes into the City” he answered. “How many do you want me to bring in?”

Naomi grinned wickedly.

“All of them”