Legends of Amacia The Caverias Rebellion

Freeing Josephine

Ten minutes later, Hanna and Enoch’s combined team reached Josephine’s core. Instructing the bulk of the team to stand guard, she, Nemesis, Enoch, Hunter, and Andrew entered the core. “What’s your status,” Hanna called out, approaching the interface console where Horace, Elle, and Aragon waited. Josephine’s hologram stood beside them, intermittently sizzling from the power fluctuations.

“I’m losing the fight,” Josephine reported in a labored tone. “The guards and Cadre have neutralized all my appendages away from the core here. Now, the Cadre wizards are trying to hack my matrix as I speak. So far, I’ve been able to keep them at bay, but my power reserves are getting dangerously low. If you intend to remove me, now is the time to do it. If you wait, my power reserves may make it impossible.”

“She’s right,” Horace agreed. “I’ve managed to set up a firewall around the core with a random algorithm to block the Cadre’s intrusion into her system. But I don’t know how long it will hold. I suspect Ahriaman himself is trying to penetrate the system. Her defensive appendages have been destroyed. The only thing she has left is her drones and control over the bulkhead doors. We need to do this now.”

“Then by all means, let’s do it,” Hanna stated. “How long will it take to get her out of there?”

“Fifteen minutes max,” Horace stated. “All we need to do is get her into safe mode and unplug her from the apparatus.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Enoch asked.

“Nothing,” Hanna replied. “Josephine; now is the time for you to set the self-destruct sequence for your drones.”

“How long do you want?” Josephine inquired.

“Give us two hours,” Hanna stated. “We still have to get Selina and Nicodemus from the Tower.”

“Self-destruct is set and counting,” Josephine declared. “In two hours, my drones and this room will blow, effectively crippling operations here in the Fortress.”

“Excellent,” Hanna stated. “Okay, Horace...this is your game. Show us how to get her out of there.”

“It would be my pleasure,” Horace chimed. “It needs to be done from the other interface. You should power down your hologram, Josephine.”

“Already done,” Josephine stated as her holo-image disappeared. “The Cadre have just taken out my last sensor. I saw five platoons of soldiers coming this way before they blinded me. Warn your people that trouble is coming their way.”

“I’m on it,” Hunter called out, rushing to the exit to warn those standing guard.

Horace stepped up to the emergency port interface they’d opened before Hanna started her rescue operation. The holographic spherical keyboard still floated over the big button. “Okay guys, here we go,” Horace declared. “Shutting down main system and engaging safe mode.” His fingers danced over the holographic interface and the core rumbled as it powered down. “In safe mode, she still has wireless access to the bulkhead doors and her defensive appendages around the core,” he explained. “Now, let’s crack open her prison.” Horace’s fingers danced over the keyboard, typing in the password. He hit enter and the room rumbled. Just to the left of the main console, a circular floor panel six feet across started chattering. Seconds later, the panel sank slightly and slid open revealing an elaborate circular locking mechanism. Eight massive six-inch thick deadbolt bars surrounded the panel, reaching two feet in from the edge. The deadbolts seemed to be attached to the surrounding floor. They lay spread around the circular panel in an equidistant fashion. In the center lay an elaborate circular mechanism with five concentric circles around a center hub. The center mechanism spanned fourteen inches. When the cover panel opened completely, the center mechanism abruptly rose out of the inner panel ten inches with a hiss.

“Move back,” Hanna ordered upon seeing the circular cover panel move. Everyone in the vicinity quickly moved out of the way.

“Wow,” Elle breathed as the center mechanism jumped up. The layers of the lock counter-rotated with each other, buzzing as they moved.

“Impressive,” Nemesis murmured, scanning the mechanism with his cybernetic eye. “This is the most complex combination lock I’ve ever encountered. It’s even shielded so I can’t quite make out the complete mechanism.”

“That’s right,” Horace called out. “The lock you see there was specially made in the 1st Age just to insure Josephine’s security. You’ll not see it’s like in anything we’ve made since.”

The outer sleeve of the lock suddenly stopped and slid down into the panel below it with a clunk. “It’s starting to unlock,” Hanna observed nervously. Seconds later, the second sleeve dropped, followed by the third and fourth sleeve at ten second intervals, leaving only the center shaft rotating clockwise. Hanna held her breath as the center shaft spun. Suddenly, a loud click echoed through the chamber. The center shaft dropped into the panel with the other sleeves with a bang. Alarms went off as the lights of the chamber flashed. The deadbolt bars abruptly slid into the floor around the panel.

“Get back,” Hanna urged as everyone backed up a few more steps. Once the deadbolts cleared, the room rumbled as a containment vessel rose out of the floor, standing twelve feet when it finally stopped.

“Prepare yourselves,” Horace called out as the alarm stopped screeching and the lights returned to normal. “I’m opening her prison now.”

Several vertical lines appeared in the smooth side of the cylindrical vessel from top to bottom. With a hiss, the side of the vessel jumped out and split in two, opening smoothly to each side. A strange fog rolled out of the device, keeping everyone in suspense for a few moments. When the fog dissipated, gasps of astonishment echoed from everyone present, including Horace and Nemesis. Firmly secured inside the vessel, Josephine hung there in a twinkling prison wired directly into the machine. She stood ten feet tall with silver hair six feet in length. No one could really tell where she stopped and the machine began. Just as her hologram showed, she had numerous tentacles in place of legs. They clearly saw her enhanced organic arms with two completely mechanized arms attached just below them. Both sets of arms lay folded across her heavily enhanced chest as if she had been buried alive. Cybernetics framed her face and covered much of her head. A red cyborg eye sat in place of her right eye just like Nemesis had. For a moment, she looked dead. Hanna cautiously approached as Horace walked up from the emergency port interface.

“Is she dead?” Andrew asked in utter fascination and fear.

“No,” Hanna stated, seeing Josephine’s enhanced chest and torso moving as she breathed. “She’s still breathing. Josephine, Josephine.”

Josephine’s head shifted and slumped slightly. A deep sigh escaped her lips as her eyes opened. She gazed out of her prison, seeing Hanna first with Horace standing next to her. “It’s been so long,” she whispered. “I can’t remember the last time I saw the real world with my own eyes.”

A warm smile crossed Hanna’s lips, seeing Josephine’s beautiful organic hazel eye. She touched Josephine on her organic hand while looking up into her face. When Hanna saw tears drip out of Josephine’s organic eye, she said softly, “Let’s get you out of there.”

Soft sobs rose from Josephine. “Thank you,” she cried. “I haven’t had anyone physically touch me like that since I was locked in here.”

Hanna’s heart fluttered at Josephine’s declaration. “No one’s going to hurt you any more, Josephine. You have my word on that,” Hanna stated resolutely. “Okay Horace, now what do we do?”

“Simple; we unplug her from the apparatus,” Horace stated. “I’ve already isolated her from the system. They had enough insight in her construction to make it so they could physically remove her from the apparatus in case she needed some major work done to her body. Hanna, Nemesis...help me unhook her from this shit.”

“Just tell me what to do,” Hanna answered, handing the Caverias sword to Enoch.

“See those connections,” Horace stated, pointing out the numerous connections. “Gently unplug them by twisting the connection counterclockwise and pulling it apart. Leave the large connector at the base of her head until last. It’s her connection to the power supply and the system.”

“Got it,” Hanna chimed, going to work with Nemesis and Horace. Within ten minutes, they unhooked every wire and cable except for the power lead and the straps physically holding her in the containment vessel.

Horace put his hand on the power lead saying, “Are you ready to go autonomous from the system, Josephine?”

“Yes,” Josephine replied. “My internal power unit is full charged. Do it.”

“Here we go,” Horace said softly, twisting the connection and pulling it out.

Josephine gasped and shuddered when her internal power supply kicked in after the disconnection. A groan escaped her lips. “Oh, man, that smarts,” she moaned.

“Are you okay?” Enoch asked with a concerned look.

“Yeah,” Josephine answered softly. “When Horace unhooked the power lead, my internal functions kicked in. I can actually feel my body again. It’s so weak I can’t move.”

“That’s to be expected,” Horace said sympathetically. “The Cadre sealed off the voluntary nerve impulses to your body when they put you in here. By breaking the connections to the mainframe, those functions are now resuming. You’ll probably feel some disorientation, maybe pain from it. But you’ll be okay.”

“That’s good,” Josephine murmured. “For the first time in eons, I can actually feel my own body.”

“What’s next?” Hanna asked.

“We unhook these straps and carefully remove her from the stasis chamber,” Horace stated. “Nemesis, reach in and support Josephine while Hanna and I release the straps. Then pull her straight out until her head clears the stasis chamber. When her head clears, lift her up and out. The tentacles attached to her lower torso are about five cubits long. We need them to clear the chamber.”

“Got it,” Nemesis replied. He reached into the stasis chamber, gently supporting Josephine beneath her cybernetic arms. “Anytime you’re ready,” he called out.

“Let’s do this,” Horace chimed. “On three, Hanna; three!” He and Hanna pushed the release catches on Josephine’s bonds. The straps instantly unhooked and retracted like a seatbelt. Josephine groaned as she slumped into Nemesis’ waiting arms.

“I got you, Josephine,” Nemesis cooed. “Don’t worry. I won’t drop you.” He pulled her into a gentle bear hug while lifting her out of the stasis chamber. She shrieked as a series of connections along her spine popped loose like sparkplug wires.

“Careful!” Hanna hissed. “Horace, why didn’t you tell us about the connections on her back?”

“Because it wasn’t necessary,” Horace replied, watching intently as Nemesis extracted Josephine. “Those connections just snap on and are doing precisely what they’re supposed to. Just a little farther, Nemesis; she’s almost out of the chamber.” He and Hanna helped slide Josephine’s body tentacles out of the chamber. A few seconds later, Horace called out, “That’s it. She’s out.”

Nemesis gently knelt down, laying Josephine on the floor. “How are you feeling,” he asked her.

“Very fatigued, but okay for the moment,” Josephine replied weakly. “I’m still trying to come to terms with feeling again. My body is tingling.”

“Can you still communicate wirelessly with the core?” Horace asked.

“Yes,” Josephine stated. “I can still control the bulkheads. But once I leave the core, I will lose my ability to do even that.”

“How much time do we have before your drones go supercritical?” Enoch asked while leaning over her with a warm smile on his face.

“About an hour and forty-five minutes,” Josephine reported. “Hanna, you should go get your mate now. Don’t worry about me. Selina should be your primary concern now. I trust Horace and your friends to get me out of here.”

“Right,” Hanna answered, patting Josephine on her organic hand. “It’s time to finish this.” Standing up, she retrieved the Caverias sword from Enoch. “Andrew, I want you, Elle, and Horace to make sure Josephine reaches the portal.”

“You got it, little sister,” Andrew replied. He knelt down and gently picked up Josephine. “Man, you’re heavier than you look,” he commented once he stood up.

“It must be her cybernetics,” Hanna stated. “Now go and take some of the team with you to watch your backs. We got Josephine out of that prison alive. Now, we need to make sure she gets out of this fortress in one piece.”

“I’ll get some of Hunter’s squad to guard our escape,” Andrew stated. “Come on, Elle, Horace. Let’s get our new friend to the Red Tower.” They immediately left with everyone else following behind them. Only Hanna, Nemesis, and Enoch lingered.

Hanna briefly looked around Josephine’s core and said, “Nemesis...wreck the interfaces so no one can access them.”

“My pleasure,” Nemesis growled, switching his mechanical arm into a pulse blaster. With two shots, he reduced the emergency port to melted metal. Three more shots demolished the main interface in a shower of sparks. “That should do it,” he crowed as smoke curled from the barrel of his pulse blaster arm. “Let’s go get Selina and Nicodemus now before anything else happens to them.”

“Yes,” Hanna agreed, readying the Caverias sword for action. “Let’s get them and get the fuck out of this deathtrap.” With that, they rushed out, catching up with the others.