Somnus Deus Ex - Chapter Six

Daisy very rapidly discovered that she had no talent for sussing out aliens who weren't charging at her headlong. She watched from a slight rise in the ruins as the soldiers gathered up the civilians that could still walk into a single group. There was a heart-warming amount of camaraderie. The stronger helped to carry the weaker. Stretchers were made from spare coats and clothes and some boards or rebar. They probably wouldn't last, but they didn't need to.

More were carried on backs or given a shoulder to lean on before the entire group started to shamble off.

They were moving at a slow, shuffling speed that made Daisy's teeth grind. "I can't decide what's worse. Not seeing the enemy, or seeing so many injured moving around like that."

I would hope that it's the latter.

Daisy considered it, then nodded. The injured bothered her more. She felt a tiny inkling of guilt at not being able to help more. Worse, she had made them move on, which meant that some people that could have been saved wouldn't be, all because of her order.

She decided not to dwell on it. If she killed the aliens, then real help could arrive. The injured and stuck would have to wait, just a little while. "Lynus, can you contact the soldier's... commanders?"

I can.

"Tell them that we need more people here. And to meet the evacuees mid-way. Also, tell them that some of them might be infected with model sevens. I expect quarantine before any other solution."

She'd heard stories about entire groups being gunned down because there wasn't time to discover who was infected and who wasn't.

"Alright," Daisy said as she shook off her stray thoughts. She had managed to kill a couple of weaker aliens, and her point total was... not looking great, but not awful at the same time. "I need to find that model seventeen. Lynus, I think it's time for a drone."

Understood. What are you looking for?

"Just something that can see for me. Its vision can be relayed back to me. Something that can fly?"

I see. If you're going to invest in that direction, then a small very specialised catalogue might not be a poor idea. It will unlock a good selection for you to pick from.

She frowned, but nodded. Her goal had been to upgrade her gun next. The Pillowfriend wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. As a secondary option it would probably be fine, but she needed something... better as a primary.

Still, needs must, and she wasn't going to beat around the bush with this. She went over her options with Lynus, dismissing some ideas quickly before falling on a drone she wanted and a catalogue that could provide it for cheap.

Catalogue unlocked: Light Data-Gathering Drones
Points reduced to: 20

Drone unlock: Sleepy Eye Drone
Points reduced to: 10

The drone was small, only a little larger than her closed fist, with three fans set equi-distant around it. The main body had a large camera facing forwards, and not much else. Daisy left it in its open box for a moment as she connected to it through her Augs, then her brain interface.

She expected some degree of pain as the link unravelled, but there was nothing. The drone sent an image into her augs which she 'saw' in her mind, as if she had a third eye. There was a vague, very weak and peripheral sense of balance telling her that she was currently even.

She tipped the box, and that sense moved with it. It wasn't strong. In fact, she could very easily ignore it.

With a bit of focus and a constant mental repetition of 'up' the drone rose up and out of the box, shooting past her head for a moment before she thought 'down' enough for it to level off at head-height.

"Hmm," she said.

Anything wrong?

"No, just strange." She was looking at herself through the drone while she looked at it. The double-vision felt odd for how... not-odd it felt. She imagined she should have been confused, or disorientated, but it was no worse than reading a tablet while resting in an awkward position in bed.

The drone spun around, then zipped away and up while Daisy worked through its camera settings.

"Do antithesis show up on infrared?"

Some do. Others are rather cold, but few are colder than their environment. The issue with infrared is that an antithesis at rest is no hotter than the average plant, which means that in most terrestrial environments, they blend in with the background 'noise' too well to be spotted.

"Right, I suppose they are just plants."

The drone's camera had levels of zoom, as well as adjustments for the various camera's sensitivity. Interestingly, she flew past a bright pink advertisement, then paused, flew back, and stared at it through the drone some more.

The drone's camera capture is being fed directly into your brain. Your human eyes couldn't see certain colour bands, but you'll grow used to it.

"This is going to make coordinating clothes more complicated," Daisy commented as she moved the drone on. In the meantime, she shouldered her gun and started following it.

As the drone rose and captured a better view of her surroundings, she caught sight of something ahead. Movement. Tearing, jerky movement. Someone was fighting off a pair of model threes with nothing but a piece of rebar with cement still clinging to it. Another was nearby, being dragged off by one leg while they feebly tried to fight back.

"We need sound on the next drone," Daisy said as she picked up the pace.

Noted.

Daisy took off in a dead sprint, then slowed back down to a more sensible jog when the rubble underfoot started to shift. Yet, getting to the people that needed saving quickly was important, but they wouldn't be saved at all if she twisted her ankle halfway there.

The group of survivors were huddled in the remains of what might have been a bar. It was hard to tell with the room now on the horizontal and all of its furniture crushed. There was a display with drinks now hanging above, and one of the survivors had a bottle and was clunking it against the head of a silently salivating model three.

Daisy took in the scene in an instant, already aware of who was where thanks to her drone. Then she started firing.

A dozen shots later, and the aliens were dead. There wasn't any fanfare. The survivors, panting, bleeding, looking as if they weren't at their best, turned to her like a saviour.

She pointed them back the way she came. "I'm here on a hunt," she said as she walked over to one of the alien corpses. "You're all alive. You'll stay that way if you get out of the area."

"C-can't you help us?" one of them asked.

"No," she said.

Right now, she had no points to spare, and stopping to help them get to safety would mean putting others at risk. The math was simple. Getting stronger now meant better results which meant more lives saved.

She didn't like the looks she received, so she moved on, but not before stopping at one of the corpses. "How can I tell if this is a controlled alien?"

Look for an incision at the back of the model three's head, under its carapace.

She tilted the alien's head forward with a boot, then frowned. There was a cut there. A shot from her Pillowfriend opened it up, revealing a long worm, its body split apart to send tiny root-like feelers through the alien's skull.

"So, that's the model seventeen's worm?"

Yes. It's well planted as well. At a guess, this model three was infected some two to three hours ago.

Daisy looked about, both with her own eyes and the drone above. "So, where's the alien, then?"

If you keep moving and keep killing, it will find you.

"I don't like the way you phrased that," she replied. "I want to find it, not the other way around."

With your current tools, that might be difficult. The model seventeen will certainly create an ambush for you if you're disruptive enough, however. I... am uncertain of your chances in case of a strong ambush.

Daisy didn't like it.

If she was going to fight, then she wanted it to be on her terms.

But then... if she knew that she was going to be ambushed, and prepared for it, then there wasn't that much of a difference, was there? "Let's keep moving, and keep preparing. By the time that ambush starts, we'll be ready for it."

***