C H A P T E R - 3 Orchestrator & Conductor

The Maestro, the conductor? What are those?

Many questions generated collided with many thoughts in my head.

The conductor? Something that surpasses those Apex Seekers? A weapon? What are they, why they’re able to transform, and how far have they surpassed the human entity. Are they really beyond our god(s) creation?

‘We —the Maestro, the conductor.’ Do these supreme beings reside in more than one being? Not just only Noel. Now I really questioned, what really happens upon the Apex, are they conspiring something over us the underworld people. And lastly, why does Noel choose to fight on my side I mean on the underworld side. Is there anything behind her considerable action?

I guess I have to wait for proving it, I got nothing owed to this Underworld either. In fact, I wasn’t raised here at all, I was descended from the middle-level floor ‘the sanctuary’. Our whole city falls down in that past, leaving us to become part of the underworld. We were the fallen here, unwelcomed by the underworld, treated as an outsider that’s why I was never considered any friend here. Not a real friend of course —never was one of them.

…

“The conductor?” Warren is curious, more like surprised along with terrifying sensation.

Note: the term conductor is an orchestral conductor who conducts and orchestrated the whole band, meaning: an entity that synchronizes a whole high-specs first-class androids armies. One Apex seeker can synchronize only 1 to 2 first-class at their maximum capacity.

— A first-class droid isn’t just an ordinary robot framework, it is a very extraordinary one: it’s operated by a complex neural-machine system that is beyond human brain simulation that operates on each of it independently. Therefore imagine yourself running an endless amount of artificial brains.—

“Mind me running some test case?” Noel replies. Not just only those old tin robots, but she also controls the big crane behind to rip off the rooftop of Warren’s bunker in area-6 as her showcase’s example. “Now can you let go of my brother?” Dangerously glares, Noel is still good at holding her irritation from what just happened. Meanwhile Allen standstill for what he witnessed, taking some moment, taking a deep breath, and taking a deep break. More like shocking, of course, he is.

“Allen, I’m sorry.—I’m…—I’m not meant to hide it for you but you know…” She’s having a hard time explaining something beyond anyone's expectations. Even if I’d had such a power it still won’t be able to make it becomes something acceptable for anyone else as well. But it’s just more than shocking or astonishing. That’s something a lot more beyond than I expected of her.

“Noel —I —I’m terrified as well.” Honestly, it would be the option to just go straight-forward with it. But, she cries.

“Listen I’m not distrusting you or anything, it just dis—“

“Disturbing— I know broth—e, Allen. I’m sorry, I should leave. Maybe.” She smiles at her tear, sending a message as ‘Thank you for the short journey braadaaa’ even she does not say so, but I know it is her intention.

“Listen, Noel— I don’t care okay you’re still my sister, not actually my sister 100%. But you know, you’re still a good sister who carries on her lovely soul.”

“Brother…” Noel delighted, somehow, more stable. As well I regained my confidence to keep trusting her.

“Man, have I just witnessed a fcking love bird? Should I call a sweet reunion of the lost siblings?”

“Shut up you idiot!!” We both yelled at Warren, except there was a bullet shot fired. Oh— Noel, she commands I forget, now she is entitled to world's deadliest little sister for sure.

“That is just a warning you muscular rainbow!” There it is, she warned with her command, shooting at a gap between Warren’s crotch. He was almost unable to have a little sister/brother for his lovely daughter, but Fawn could do the job for him. I mean if Warren was forced to deactivate his future generations in a permanent way. And yelp, Warren is chilled down the most, once upon a time in his life down the way to his lovely ass. I mean an ass but not lovely, just paraphrasing. As we are about to continue, Noel is somehow not on her emotional track anymore.

“You bastard I almost had a wonderful feeling from my braadaaa—!!”

*bang

She fired one shot on Warren’s leg, let's say that this is your weakest punishment mate. “Goddammit did she just shoot me, Allen?”

I nod, knowing that she is way further than any Nuclear warheads in the world now (if those still exist). Suddenly, Warren regrets his mouthful experience as he makes eye contact with my furious Noel. “Okay chills, okay? I just tried to make money, thinking that selling Allen’s Automata isn’t a big deal.” Said Warren, but I would like to make such a suggestion to him.

“Bud, she’s angry do not mention her as Automata.” I insist on this warning.

“Oh shet..” Now he gets it.

“Do you think the Apex will spare you for knowing their secrets?” Asked Noel, pretty logical, it is all making all senses now why they’d hunt down Warren after spiting the fact. It is their trade secret after all, who else wouldn’t? Meanwhile, Warren went pale, quite hard to see him in this situation huh? He's pretty sure he’s fcked up Apex or Spectres isn’t on his side for sure, also Noel heavily mads at him. Can’t imagine how’d he will make it out in one piece.

“So Warren tell me, did you make any contact with any of the Apex, or city officers.” Noel asks.

“I didn’t.”

*Bang* Shot fires.

“I did!! —Goddammit —Mother…”

“Ah-ah-aahhh—!!” I warned him, poor Warren.

“ M—other’s—lover” Nice comeback. Yup, that’s it play safe Warren, don’t mess with Noel. That was a merciful one that it is another mark on your leg, not on your crotch.

“I’m deadly serious how did you contact them you muscular.” You forget ‘the Rainbow’ Noel.

“Why does it matter to you girl? Just from a device that they gave us.”

“It does matter because—, A device? You gonna kidding me. It is a locator, not a device, now they’re coming.” After a moment of pause from Noel, she looks like she realized something very serious. Did Noel just dig into something on her mind?

Noel run to me, grab my hand and I was taken away carried by her. “Hey Noel, since when did I become one of your grocery lists?”

“Not the right time to play brother, —and all of you take your cover— now!!!” She shouted so loud. Warren was carried with his leg injury by his own kin, they seem to confuse, not knowing of the consequence. Also, me as well until I look up.

The sky under the undercity’s plate filled with th swarm, our dark shadowy junkyard now being explored. The light trails were flying over the skies breaching from the city gaps of the upper floor, these are drones? The flashlight lightened, the junkyard is now being explored and the crowds panicked by the terrifying sounds of a big drone’s wind blade slicing the air like an electric fuzz. Not only one but a squadron of these scouts roaming in the high air.

She puts me down right next to the wreckage cover. “Allen do me a favor, close your eye.” I follow her guidance.

“Ouch!” My eye closed, then the feeling of intense pain was injected. She was biting me for sure, but I feel like burning on the bitten area, on my shoulder? I sense a little flash even though my eyes were closed.

“Now brother, cover me do not let these scouts find me.” Suddenly Noel went silent, covering her head, and closing her eye. I don’t know what is this about, but no better option for now. I tear a piece of canvas from the wreckage to cover Noel while I lie next to her and act like I was injured. She bit me quite hard, I watch the blood on my palm where it came from my shoulder. “Damnit an orchestrator? Are you serious? Fine—!” Noel mutters, she wakes up alongside with interference of falling drones, crashing down the grounds.

“Now they no longer belong to any network, I cut all transmission in this area. Anyways make sure you have your face covered brother.” She dug into a pile of trash and then throw a half-mask at me.

“Isn’t that those android scanners were able to scan my entity.” It’s not a reasonable option to wear a mask at this age when they can scan through your biometric entity.

“Except, you were filled with my Nar-mites. The nanobots that can interrupt any kind of scanner with my preset configs, the only things that Nar-mites can’t interfere on is only the vision. So wear it, those droids cannot capture my identity, but not for you brother.”

We conceal ourselves in the cover and start by moving slowly from place to place. A few minutes after all flying drones were taken down, the heavy engine sound interferes. I heard the nozzle of jet engines echoing from above. Two gigantic aircraft with many air turbines disturb the whole district, and the presence of death is not that far.

“So they’re doing the analog way now. I see —” Noel talks to herself, commenting on what she just glimpsed. Sling ropes were cast down from the half-football yard size aircraft (the premier league football yard). So this is the sprectre squad. A few operators rappelled down to the scavenger's yard, alongside stomps from the machines. These sprectre droids jumped right after drops of operators (officers) without any assistance of slingshots or rappelling. Meanwhile, within that terrifying presence, I notice something odd. A cable is attached to those operators from the droid to the operator.

“You notice it’s as well right? That’s their umbilical cord, that’s why I used to call those droids an actual dog. They’re now using the analog way because I put an interference on this area already.” Noel implies that there’s no transmission command, no signal, no radio, everything will be fought and evaluated offline. So, these special ops were trained with their manual on ‘how to handle the conductor’ pretty well. So if the conductor were able to command any Apex’s unit meaning if we cut their umbilical cord of the spectre's.

“I know what you think brother, but those cords were something extraordinary. They reinforce it well in order to capture the conductor, otherwise, I would be able to take control of their armies easily. The cords were strong enough to cuts the concrete with those droids' brutal force.” Noel mention it up while I searched for anything sharp around us.

“So, here is your belonging. But do not think of something relentless, I got some plan brother.” After Noel handed me the Axe I lost, she insists on me to station next to her. Watching those people being executed, seem like Noel didn’t lie about how Apex sought the truths in their own way. But it’s still painful to watch our people massacred in front of us. They were executing the armless people, those spectre units, those operators. Do they still remain moral against humanity?

“Stop–!!” I rushed out as I see the droid heading to the kids in the hideout, that little brother is protecting his own sister.

“Allen no— Arghh!!” Noel without hesitation breaks up her plan with her fusses. She leaps and rushes like a cheetah, using her inhumane choreography while accelerating her speed in order to create a motion that uses her own momentum forces, to land and takes down the droid with her accumulated speed by turning it into twisting torque forces. She grabs the droid’s head and decapitates it by twisting with that accumulated torque she gathered on that run. Noel landed in front of those kids, holding the spectre droid head on her hand.

“Are you guys okay? Run fast—, find the cover evacuate now, fast.” Within a few seconds, the operator who controls 5 droids (was 6) discovers an abnormality, soon those remaining droid divisions will gather up at Noel. He signals his sign language to other operators for covering his upcoming attacks.

“Noel watch out!” I shouted out to warn her, on the other hand, that also revealed my position.

“Stay in cover brother!! I will be there soon.” She yelled, now digging into the droid corpse that she just decapitated. An abundant bullet shoots at my cover while it starts to break up little by little as the droids are moving forward.

“I cannot hold any longer Noel.”

“Hold on–!” Suddenly a big metal dropped in front of me, it was a dragline’s crane bucket that cover me. Without hesitation, I jumped into the heavy metal bucket as Noel commands it to pull upward. When I look down, Noel pulls out the gun from the droid. She shoots the officer in his head causing the rest of the five droids went halted, then she fires on the origin of his umbilical cord attached to the droid to release those nightmare robots from individual control.

“You’re mine now.” Noel casts her arm over the squad. She hacked five hackable droids that had just been released from their analog controlled cord, fortifying her army incorporates with the tin robot and the crane she had. Now she is even stronger than to be taken down. The sling ropes dropped from the second aircraft, a reinforcement huh?

“Now it's showtime, I will let you see what’s the difference between human newbies and the conductor.” Noel, then, prepared to dance with elegant choreography. Synchronize and assassinate three operators in a row which gain her more droids on her hand. Then an orb dropped down along with the vibrant color droid from an aircraft.

“An orchestrator?” Noel looked up. It is a group of pilotless droids that are within range of the orb, a wireless transmission shouldn’t be allowed in Noel’s interference area? What are they? She mentioned ‘an orchestrator’ right?

- Orchestrator & Conductor part I -