The battle at the lab

Sparks flew as steel clashed above Kensu’s head. AIDA’s and the military’s drones were fighting desperately for control of the lab.

AIDA had the advantage in numbers, but the bulky military drones weren’t easy to bring down, their guns ripping across the AI’s minions with ease... when they managed to hit them. The AI's perfect reaction times and coordination left them with few openings to exploit their superior firepower.

The ground assault team, however, was faring better. Making slow but steady progress into the lab. AIDA tried to suppress them by firing her jury-rigged air guns, but, her drones simply didn’t have the caliber to penetrate the armor of the bureau’s inspectors, who recklessly charged towards the drills and spikes with little regard for their own safety.

A couple of squads with actual soldiers hung back behind the relentless assault. Unlike their brash peers from the Bureau, they were slow in their advance, always taking cover and watching each other’s back. Their methodical approach allowed them to exploit the openings that the suicide clones created and take ground from AIDA.

Kensu hid under the desk from the mayhem around him. Eventually, he figured, not even AIDA could resist the onslaught. But, would the authorities prevail before she released the Pathogen? That was the big question. He couldn’t risk it. He had to make use of the chaos to try to stop AIDA but with his injured leg…

The wounded scientist tried to use the Pathogen to his benefit once more, willing it to heal the open gash in his thigh. To his credit, it somewhat worked. The wound was closed, but not gone. It would still be days before he could walk, and he probably wouldn’t be alive by then anyhow.

“There’s the freak!” Kensu looked up. One of the inspectors had broken AIDA’s front line and was staring him in the face. “You owe me an eye!”

The inspector raised his sword, Kensu braced himself, and- a drone rammed the man at full speed, piercing his armor with its spikes…That’s it! AIDA still felt the urge to protect him. Loathe as he was to take advantage of the AI’s sympathy, If Kensu put himself in harm’s way, then maybe he could give the military the opening to… blow her up.

Kensu gritted his teeth. It wasn’t an idea he liked, but in the absence of a better one… the injured man crawled out of his hiding hole and sat on the ground. He waved his hand at a squad of three inspectors coming his way. “Hey idiots, I’m here! Come get me.”

The inspectors paused for a second. “That’s obviously a trap.”

“True, but if even one of us gets him, it will be worth it.”

The squad rushed forward, blades in one hand, guns blazing in the other. They shot at Kensu, but AIDA was quick to divert some drones to act as his shield, sending others to intercept the attackers. The Inspectors managed to shoot down at least eight of the attacking drones before they managed to kill them.

Kensu’s little stunt had somehow thinned the swarm a bit, diverting resources from the more important fronts. The military was gaining ground. He had to keep it up.

“Hey guys, over h-what?!”

Two claw drones grabbed Kensu’s wrists. “Sorry Kensu, this really is for your own good.”

“Wait, no! Damn it!” The drones dragged him into the nearest hiding hole, which happened to be the underside of his trusty desk again. Well, at least his work wasn’t in vain, he could hear the rifles of the soldiers getting closer, as well as the machine guns of the military drones. Wait, was it his imagination, or were the drones shooting at their guys?

Judging by the streams of obscenities coming from the other side of the table, Kensu figured it wasn’t his imagination. He heard someone give the order to take cover, and then the rifles fell silent. Above him, he also could not hear the telltale sound of steel rending into itself. The only battle that kept raging on was that between the relentless Inspectors and the drones. Had AIDA…?

Kensu felt the table shook as someone, presumably a soldier, took cover on the exact opposite side. “… you told me the drones were hack-proof!” Kensu heard a soldier yell.

“No. I said the AI would need a quantum computer to crack our firewall!” another voice replied, masked by the static of the radio. “It has one now.”

“Great… I guess I can see why the General wanted that AI so much. The situation here is FUBAR. Can’t you hack them back? We have quantum computers too!”

“We are trying, but… we are not making much progress.”

“We’ll try harder! We are getting pounded over here, I think even the Bureau will run out of troops soon.”

“We are trying as hard as we can, but the AI is fighting against us too. So, unless you happen to know the password-”

“…I do.” That’s right. It was revealed to Kensu when he answered the secret questions. “The password is AidaSato94#, but the o is a zero,” he yelled.

“What? Who said that? That voice sounds-”

“You have to trust me, that’s-“ the table shook as the soldier vaunted over it. A man wearing an infiltrator suit was staring right at his face. Kensu somehow recognized him, and he recognized Kensu. “You are the freak!”

“Hi Sergeant, I would put my hands up, but, you know.” Kensu nudged towards the drones keeping his hands glued to the floor.

A bullet flew right into the Captain’s head, prompting him to duck and take cover under the table. While he had to scoot over in the limited space, he nonetheless pulled out his pistol. His trigger finger was itching, but the man did not bring himself to shoot.

“If you aren’t going to kill me, you should tell your operator the password. It’s AidaSato94#, but the o is a zero.”

“If you want to help us, tell your AI pal to stand down.”

“Does it look like we are pals anymore?” Kensu once again nudged his head in the direction of the drones holding him captive. “Or that she will obey me?... You should hurry with that password thought before she kills more of your guys.”

The Captain thought hard, but could not come with a reason not to at least try. He reached for his radio. “Try the password AidaSat094#.”

“… that worked! I’m in. Now, let’s see...” Kensu exhaled in relief. Hopefully, they could the lab down and end the battle.

“What are you playing at?” the Captain waved his gun in front of Kensu’s face. “You know the Bureau will still want your head, right?”

“Well, they only have to wait a bit to get it. I only have a couple of… God, how much time has passed? Hours? Minutes? Left to live anyway.”

The Captain took a glance at Kensu. His eyes lingered on the bloody cut on his leg. “That doesn’t seem lethal.”

“No. I’m infected with the Pa-“ Kensu caught himself. He didn’t have time nor energy to recap the whole story to the Captain. “It’s the Jovian Flu. Let’s just say the Professor had an old strain stashed away in his lab.”

“Wasn’t that eradicated… Wait, so that’s the bioweapon the Professor was developing?”

“Something like that.”

The cacophony of bullets died down. The Military Drones had their rotors turned off and plummeted to the ground. One landed right outside the table, startling the two men hiding underneath.

“Good news, we couldn’t take back the drones, but we did find a way to deactivate them,” the radio buzzed. “Bad news, we didn’t find a way to shut down the AI altogether, so we still have to deal with that.”

“Ask her if they can shut down that tower thing,” Kensu said.

“Why?”

“AID- The AI is trying to release a cure for the Jovian Flu. The disease was never truly cured. It lays dormant in every human out there. “

“Why would we want to stop that? Doesn’t that help you survive, as well?”

“The “cure” has a 37% lethality rate. If it goes out…”

The Captain lowered his gun. “Millions would die, but how do we know you are telling the truth?”

“You are in her system… check her files. Hell, check the security recording from this morning if you want more confirmation.”

“Operator? You got that?” The Captain talked to his ear. There was a brief moment of silence, and then…

“Yes. Oh my God, the freak is telling the truth.”

“Freak?!”

“Sorry, our little codename for you.”

“Captain… everyone… listen up! New orders from the General. We can’t let that-“ The operator was suddenly cut off.

“You hear that guys?” the smug voice of the Inspectors chirred on the radio. “It seems like the military’s out-of-control bioweapon is about to be released!”

“Shame we’ll have to arrest high command for being responsible for the worst plague since the Black Death…”

“…leaving their jobs open for the Bureau to step up.”

Kensu peeked outside. The Inspectors had stopped charging and were brandishing their swords towards their fellow soldiers. It seemed a new front had opened in the battle.