chapter 213

After the video call with the camper ended, the entire station ground to a halt. For a few hours now, most everyone had been watching what was happening in the system. On the web, there were now a couple of new news channels fully dedicated to what was happening.

My mind flashed back to the conversation with the overseer. He had truly not been happy with what I had done, even if I never expected things to have escalated this much.

The entire time, he focused on how reckless and disappointing my actions were, but at the same time, I got the undercurrent that he had thoroughly enjoyed seeing those leaders he must have dealt with constantly killed in such a manner.

There were small skirmishes around the entire system, and thanks to there not being any distance for signals to travel, everything could be observed almost instantly. The campers were not only attacking each other but everything else moving out there.

This was not simply a case of sitting back and watching as your enemy ripped each other apart. There were casualties among people who had nothing to do with the current conflict. While that viewpoint was echoed a lot on the web, another, bigger side had already declared that anyone in this system was already a part of this struggle.

Because of this, basically everyone who wasn’t on the campers’ side was currently heading towards the station. It was the only safe place where you were guaranteed not to be attacked, at least by other ships.

On the outside, Sam’s unit, backed up by additional security units, was currently holding off an attack by camper loyalists. It turned out that they didn’t actually call themselves campers. That was basically a slur everyone else used to refer to them.

That was a topic talked a lot about on the web, as they wondered why I had started the negotiations off so confrontationally. That was a big oops, one that FH blamed herself for. Honestly, I didn’t give a shit. That name described them incredibly well, and anyhow, I wasn’t even certain they would survive as an organized group after what was currently happening.

We could have finished off the attackers quite a while ago, but as Dean pointed out, them not having any powered individuals allowed us an opportunity to get our combat units some proper training relatively safely.

Another benefit was that I wouldn’t have to listen to another rant from the overseer about destroying the station infrastructure if we used some greater weaponry to deal with them quickly.

Sam was barely using his skills, although when he did use them, he was devastating. The ability to shoot through protective barriers, making it so that cover—something that usually meant you were safe—now did nothing to protect you, was a heavy morale blow.

More and more of the attackers barely kept themselves from running away, but I suspected that was only because they had nowhere else to go. The station security had already backed them into a corner, as all possible routes of escape had been cut off.

Some of them who broke were filled with enough fervour to try to rush in with bombs. Those were the ones Sam dispatched before they understood that they had barely made it a step closer to our lines.

It only took them twelve more minutes, twenty-one since the start of the attack, for the final few to break and try to make a run for it. They were mercilessly cut down by the station’s security.

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“All clear,” came through the bond as Sam announced the end of this particular confrontation. Most of the forces came back on board to resupply and to be checked over for any battle damage.

“The factory buildings all remained secure. It was a good idea to make them sturdier so they could withstand some damage,” FH said to me as we had both been observing how everyone handled this attack.

“Yes, indeed. Bob has been doing really well at thinking ahead. One day, he will be quite scary when he’s in command of tens of thousands.”

There was a pause before FH spoke again. “I am afraid I am too small for something like that.”

“Once again, you will not be abandoned. All I need to do is conduct some more tests. I am quite certain it would be possible to either upgrade Forward Horizon outright into something bigger or even transfer you over to a different vessel. Don’t ever think I’ll leave you behind.”

She didn’t answer me out loud, but through our bond, I could feel the thankfulness and happiness radiating from her.

This brought up an important problem. My hands now made life. It wasn’t the same life that was made by a woman and a man, but it was thinking and feeling, so it was close enough in my book. Never in my life had I ever asked any of my patients or friends who had children what it was like to create life and let it fend for itself when it grew up.

In some ways, there was more responsibility because, while people could grow up and fend for themselves, my sword would never be able to do that. It would always need someone taking care of him. On the other end of that scale was the seed that was still inside my inventory.

It had taken me days to truly understand what I had made that day. My memories were hazy, as my Truth had basically overtaken me. Fortunately, the training I had been doing meant it didn’t overwhelm me completely, and I had a feeling that if it had, the end result would have been worse.

As always, moderation was the key. The same should be taken into account whenever I made something. There was a chance that I could learn to control myself enough not to impart a soul into something more complex that I made, but that would take a lot of practice.

So never shall I make tens of thousands of crew members just to make them. Never shall I make thousands upon thousands of souled equipment just to make them. Only necessity should require such a commitment. Only certainty of need should justify the action of creating life.

This vow to myself seemed to settle something inside of me. While I did not know exactly why I needed to make this seed, everything that was me told me that it had wanted to be made in the way that it was, and that I would know when to use it for when the time came.

If I hadn’t lived in a megacity for as long as I had, that uncertainty would have definitely affected me more than it currently did. FH and Lola definitely weren’t handling this as well as I was. They were filled with worry and uncertainty. Feelings that, even though they tried to hide them, I could still sense through our bond.

Sam and Dean were a different kind of worried, their worry being more about not even understanding what this seed actually was. It seemed that it was true that not understanding could mean less concern than truly comprehending the problem to a deep degree.

Then there was Bob.

“As long as it’s in your inventory, it’s stored properly.” That was literally his only answer to that particular problem. The face Lola made and the feeling I got from FH made it hard for me not to burst out laughing.

More time passed as the system continued to grow more peaceful, at least on the surface. Under the surface, the tension seemed to rise. That tension was broken when another broadcast blanketed every channel, coming from the same place where the leaders of the campers had answered my call to them.

The video flickered on, stabilising quickly. On the screen was the same command centre as before, but it now looked like a scene from a horror movie. Blood still covered many of the surfaces while the dead were being dragged out.

On the screen appeared the main leader of the campers and the only one who seemed to have survived. He was covered in blood spatters, giving him a sinister visage. His survival was not a surprise to me, as he was a powered individual. In fact, he was B-ranked. At least, that was what the Overseer believed.

That means he was one rank above the Overseer and two ranks above me. No wonder more regular weapons could not end him. In this system, he was a powerhouse at least in terms of individual power. The biggest advantage we had was the number and the synergy our skills had compared to what he might have managed to scavenge.

“You have made me kill many of my people, and many more will die because of your foolishness.” He didn’t seem to be speaking directly to me, but rather to anyone who opposed him.

“This is a declaration of war. We cannot share this system anymore. Make your peace, because soon you will all be put to rest.” The screen went black, and the signal cut off.

There was a pause during which the entire station seemed to fall silent. The Web then spiked in traffic. A moment later, I received a call request from the Overseer. It seemed like it was time for war, and from the look and sound of it, it wasn’t going to be a drawn-out strategic war, but an all-or-nothing attack that was going to come for this station.

If we survived what was to come, then this was actually a good development. “Prepare for war,” I announced through my bond to everyone who was a part of it.