The Enemy of My Enemy? Pt. 2/Chapter 14
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“Stop,” Mitzie said as she raised her hand. “Advance Guard One says that poisonous gas was released when she entered that tunnel. It looks like we need to find another way for you boys. Some of the Girls will continue down this way. We will have to watch out for more traps.”
“I don’t smell anything,” one of the scouts sniffed the air
“She says it’s odorless and invisible, Cutie,” Mitzie pinched his cheek. “But now that we’ve set off one booby trap -- Did I say ‘booby?’ Ha-ha -- they might know something’s up.” The guys were putty in her hands.
They found a locked entrance to a well-hidden service tunnel and opted to make their own door in case this one had an alarm. It was a long hike but the smaller tunnel took them most of the way to Replico’s central office building.
Gaines Co. and Replico had been major competitors. Both companies had located their headquarters in the most technologically booming city in the country since most of their suppliers were also located there. In addition to the subways, the tunnels included a vast network of access to buildings above ground and to underground shops, but there were also the drains, the sewers, power lines and communications lines that required access.
They reached the end of the line for the cables that ran through the tunnel that they were in. It was there that they made their own exit into an underground plaza that was once a break area for employees. They were now well within the gates of the huge complex.
It was new territory for the scouts, but Mitzie and the Girls had uploaded the police maps and knew exactly where they were. It was dark in the abandoned section of the complex, but they remained cautious. They knew that Replico was one of the biggest companies still in business and that they should expect resistance. But they didn’t expect what they saw next.
As they gathered into a long underground driveway leading to the main building, the lights flashed on and killer robots swarmed into the tunnel from the opposite end. They moved quickly across the floor, walls and ceiling like giant bugs and were coming straight at them.
Lori was surprised to see Mitzie smiling as the tall android handed her Portia’s Thinking Cap. Just as quickly as the robots appeared all the Girls carrying pulse rifles immediately took distinct positions along the edges of the tunnel. Some even stood on the shoulders of other Girls. Their minds were synchronized and they opened fire as one.
Rings of powerful electromagnetic blasts glided across the surface of the tunnel like cleansing waves and immobilized the assassins in their tracks while knocking out the power to the alarms and booby traps. “Remind me never to piss Portia off,” Lori mumbled.
“Okay, who’s got the bug spray? Those things will reboot any minute,” Mitzie said. She knew that the killer robots had shielding and surge protectors from her look at Sparky. The Girls with flashlights stayed close behind the scouts as they cleared a path through the center. The scouts squirted the liquid on the robots where Mitzie told them the CPU’s were located. They reached the other side of the tunnel as the fumes from the dissolving synthetic skin was becoming more than the scouts could bear.
“What have we here?” Barris said as he stood over two fallen robots. Stuck underneath was a womyn in her early thirties.
“It looks like a guide to me,” said Lori as she walked up beside him.
The womyn was afraid. She looked at Lori, “Where did all these men come from? Why are you helping them! Why are you dressed like those androids!?!” An employee of Replico could tell that Lori was human simply by Lori’s manner and her imperfections. (It never dawned on Lori that Mitzie had the exact same skin flaws as Portia did even before her body stocking covered them.)
The womyn became even more distraught when Mitzie joined them. “Where did you get her? That prototype android was outlawed!”
“She talks too much,” Mitzie said observantly, but also as if she was trying to hide the truth behind the womyn’s last comment.
“She’s going to do even more talking,” Lori directed at the frightened lady.
The womyn screamed. “You can’t win! These new robots are as strong as that prototype! HELP!!!”
It was much easier for the Girls to see in the dark chamber. The humans didn’t see when another killer dropped from the ceiling of the loading dock they were now in. It landed hard on Mitzie, but the pretty female soldier didn’t waver. The creature’s talons tore at her and penetrated her armor but were stopped when they hit her mesh body covering.
She pulled the monster free and threw it at a support beam with a force that could only be matched by Portia. The synthetic creature easily corrected itself before it smashed into the concrete post and dented the metal underneath. It then jumped from the beam onto the floor. The searching flashlights made the scene even more chaotic.
The creature was wearing a backpack similar to the one that Sparky had worn when Mitzie first encountered the robot in the tunnels (though she no longer had any memory of that incident). Before the beast even hit the floor it reached back and pulled out its own electromagnetic gun and fired, but the weaker blasts were instantly absorbed by the ingenious covering on her body.
The mesh glowed for a moment with each impact and gave Mitzie an eerie quality. The killer robot didn’t waste any time as it removed a grappling cable from another corner of its pack and slung it at her neck, but she moved just as fast as the other robot and caught the wire before it made contact. She used her own strength to pull the monster off the ground and swing it at the wall.
As it flew through the air, Barris shot a stream of fluid at it and it hit the floor convulsing violently. Some of the substance had splashed across Mitzie’s body armor and she quickly unbound it from her frame. She stood topless in her see-through catsuit just as the rifle Girls arrived from the tunnel.
“Watch where you’re aiming that yucky stuff!” she said bitterly while the men couldn’t help but stare at her. They practically drooled.
“You were saying?” Lori casually quipped to the stupefied womyn.
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