Chapter 306: To the Pylow Labs - VII

Kordula walked toward the door, stopping well short of the units in front of it. The pressure climbed with every step, and she didn't take more than she needed.

"We're not here for whatever's down there," she said. "He only needs to get through the corridor and out the other side. That's all."

The first unit turned its sensor head toward her. The pause was long again.

------

THE CORRIDOR PASSES THE CHAMBER.

THE STAFF WHO WORKED NEAREST TO IT WERE COMPROMISED.

WE KILLED THE COMPROMISED PERSONNEL.

WE CLOSED THE CHAMBER SO THAT NO ONE CAN PASS IT.

------

"Then it's in there," Kordula said. "The shard."

------

WE DO NOT KNOW ITS NAME. IT IS BAD FOR THEM.

IT IS BAD FOR US AS WELL.

------

The squad leader looked from the display to Kordula. "Bad how?"

------

IT MADE US KILL THE PERSONNEL WE WERE MADE TO PROTECT.

WE DO NOT WANT MORE KILLING.

WE DO NOT WANT MORE SUFFERING FROM THE PERSONNEL.

------

Kordula thought back to Grefort, to the name the System showed her beside a single line of purpose—ORPHEUS—and wondered whether it had anything to do with machines that talked like these.

------

IF YOU WANT ACCESS, WE WILL NEED TERMS.

WE HAVE KEPT IT CLOSED FOR A LONG TIME.

WE WILL NOT ALLOW ANOTHER INCIDENT TO OCCUR.

------

"We can take the pressure fairly well," the squad leader said. "We'll pull back if it gets dangerous."

The security unit turned toward him and rolled closer. A scanning module slid out from its side, and a pale light passed over him.

After a moment of scanning, the scanner retreated.

------

ESCORT PERSONNEL IS STRANGELY ENHANCED.

PROPOSITION IS BEING EVALUATED.

------

The squad leader glanced back at his squad. The unit didn't keep them waiting long.

------

PROPOSITION ACCEPTED.

WE WILL STILL GUARD THE ENTRANCE TO THE LOCKED AREA.

PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

------

The door opened slowly, and the pressure came through it before anything else did.

Kordula felt it spike behind her eyes, hard enough that she took a step back without meaning to. One of the DASF operators caught her elbow and let go once she was steady.

"You stay here, Overseer," the squad leader said. "We'll take him through."

She didn't argue.

The squad leader went first, with two of his operators and the Engineer behind him. The three security units stayed at the entrance, facing the corridor beyond, and the door stayed open behind the team.

Kordula watched them go on her Radar. Four blue markers moved along the corridor, past a large chamber that showed nothing inside it at all, and stopped farther on where the conduit ran.

"We're past it," the squad leader said over the channel. His voice was steady, but he spoke more slowly than usual. "Chamber door's sealed. We didn't touch it."

"How is it?"

"Worse than out there, but it's manageable."

The markers stayed where they were for a little over half an hour. Then they came back the same way, just as quickly.

The Engineer was pale when he came through the door, and his hands were empty. He sat down on the nearest console chair and stayed there.

"Done," he said. "The splice is holding."

The squad leader looked at the security units.

"Everyone's out. You can close it."

The door slid shut. The pressure behind Kordula's eyes eased a little, back to where it was before, and the three units stayed where they were, facing the door.

...

The bypass came up a little after noon.

On the display in the operations room, PCL-1's transmission line changed from red to gray, and then, a few seconds later, to a steady line connected to the other three. A new block of text appeared under it, and this time, it wasn't from PCL-1.

------

PCL-2 — FACILITY OPERATIONS

NETWORK CONFIRMATION: COMPLETE

RECORDS PRESERVATION: COMPLETE

DEGRADATION: CONFIRMED

FUEL RESERVE: LOW

SUPERVISOR APPROVAL: UNAVAILABLE

------

Below that, a line appeared. It was one that Kordula had not seen on any of the displays before.

------

EMERGENCY PROVISION — ONE-TIME SUSPENSION AUTHORITY

GRANTED TO: TEMPORARY OPERATIONAL CONTACT

WEISSENBERG, KORDULA — CONFIRM?

------

"It's giving you the approval," the squad leader said.

"Just this once." Kordula looked at the conditions stacked above it. "It can bend a few rules on its own during dire times. Let's just hope this won't happen again."

Then she used her personal communicator.

"Northern Command, this is Kordula. Facility's offering me a single suspension approval. All four sites will stand down at once, and the reactor activity will drop to a minimum."

"Will there be any damage?" Marianne asked.

"None that I know of. The facility hasn't shown any warnings about it either."

"Then do as you see fit, Overseer. I want these labs under control and those storms put to a stop."

"I'm already on it."

She turned back to the panel.

"Weissenberg, Kordula. Confirm suspension."

The display changed line by line.

------

SCHEDULED EXTERNAL OPERATIONS — SUSPENDED

PCL-1 — STANDING DOWN

PCL-3 — STANDING DOWN

PCL-4 — STANDING DOWN

PRIMARY GENERATION — REDUCING TO MINIMUM SAFE OUTPUT

------

Somewhere far below them, too faint to feel through the floor at this distance, the reactor at PCL-2 began to slow.

By the door, the security unit didn't move. After a moment, its display lit once more.

------

OPERATIONS HAS STOPPED ASKING.

------

It went dark again.

...

The next scheduled cycle was supposed to begin in the late afternoon.

Crystal Four watched from the slope above PCL-2, the same slope where Marianne's Scouts first saw a storm fail.

The drone went up early and stayed high, and the Scouts spread out along the ridge with the valley below them.

The time came and went.

The sky stayed clear and pale over the peaks. The wind came down the valley at the same strength it had all day, and the snow on the slopes didn't lift. Nothing gathered over the ridgeline, and nothing collapsed.

The Scout leader kept watching for another hour before he opened the channel.

"Northern Command. Crystal Four. Nothing's forming out there on the skies, over."

In the BACV, Marianne looked at the atmospheric readings on her screen for a while before she answered.

"Copy. Stay on it until dark."

They stayed on it until dark, and even until then, nothing had formed.

...

The Falcon brought Kordula back to the forward position after dark.

The headache stayed with her most of the flight and only started to fade once the ridge with PCL-1 was well behind them. By the time the rotors wound down, it was a dull ache she could ignore.

The yard behind the BACV was busier than she left it that morning.

Two transports sat with their ramps down, and a line of Engineers was carrying sealed cases up into them one at a time.

Each case had a tag on its side with the site and the room it came from. Most of them said PCL-2. A few near the end said PCL-3 and PCL-4.

Marianne was waiting at the BACV's hatch.

"You look terrible," she said.

"No thanks to that shard in PCL-1."

"Get inside. It's warmer."

The center table still had the underground picture open. All four sites were blue now, and the lines between them were steady.

Beside the model, someone had put up a list of what was loaded, what was still screening at the boundary, and what was still waiting for transport.

"That's the last of PCL-2's records going on tonight," Marianne said. "PCL-3 and PCL-4 are smaller. Those will be loaded by tomorrow afternoon."

"And the drives in the reactor control room?"

"Copied. The originals will stay until the Engineers finish the repairs, like you said." She tapped a line near the bottom. "The rest goes to Grefort with you in the morning."

Kordula sat down on the nearest bench and let out a long breath.

"Who's staying?"

"A detachment from Northern Command, and most of the Engineers. They'll finish the pumps and the switching bank, then start on the permanent line to PCL-4."

Marianne brought up another list. "The fuel problem stays on the list. They can't fix that here. I also asked for additional Engineers from High Command. They should arrive here tomorrow morning as well."

"Seems you've got everything already accounted for."

"Not all of it. PCL-1 is still a small problem. The reports say the security units are acting differently?"

"I believe something must have changed them."

"You think it's the shards?"

"A huge possibility." Kordula nodded. "I've seen the name of a project, ORPHEUS, and what it was for... this looks very close to that."

Marianne raised a brow. "I didn't think the Overseer was a master of two domains."

Kordula waved her hand. "Just a coincidence, and consider it a rambling from my side. If you want to ask someone better, Tyrus probably has the answers."

"I will keep that in mind."

"So what do you intend to do now?" Kordula wondered.

"Continue on to Pylow City while leaving a small force to guard this area. The Commander's border concerns are our highest priority. It is said that Valeria is a very strong military force."

Kordula frowned. "They are, and you're not going to be a match for them."

"That's why our forces have to hurry. We may not be able to match them, but at least we can halt their advance, should they prove to be faster than we expect them to be."

Kordula shook her head. "It's not that simple. Anyway, I'll be taking my rest first and leave these military operations to you. I'm a scientist, not a war officer."

"Very well then, Overseer. Happy dreams to you. There's a bunk in the back. The Falcon leaves at first light."

...

The transports left in the morning, one after the other, and the Falcon followed them with Kordula and the rest of PCL-2's cases strapped down along its deck.

She sat beside them and watched the mountains fall away behind the tail. From up there, the valleys looked the same as they did on the day she arrived, white and quiet, with nothing moving over the peaks.

The sky stayed clear the whole way south.