Eagle X, Mission 21: CTRL

Part 25: Patricia

Through the door and past a security fence, Patricia arrived at a ladder leading up through a hatch in the ceiling. She climbed, forcing herself to move at a normal pace. The R.Nano2 rushing through her veins made everything seem a few seconds slower as if she herself were overclocking her senses. But she needed to rein in the rush and allow herself to analyze her surroundings. There was no way of knowing what or who waited for her at the top. Austberg had been simple to deal with, but an augmented group like him might prove more challenging.

In the back of her mind, under the surging nano, she felt Chillard through their bond. He was in distress. She hesitated, wanting to attempt to tap into the station's network and spy on their situation. Surely Liam's tactics and Scott's skill could carry them through the worst of what Mastermind-308 could bring to bear. That had been her thought process before Austberg, before she realized the Core AI had begun to fabricate tools of war he didn't already have. She should have realized with those skittering drones. The superthinker would not hesitate to utilize everything at his disposal... Patricia wasn't sure why she'd assumed otherwise.

What if he tackled the team with a tool she hadn't prepared them for? What if Mastermind overwhelmed them before Spider could devise a plan to counteract it?

Patricia emerged from a floor hatch and into a room of tall data nodes arranged in concentric rings around a raised platform. On the platform sat a single two-foot cylinder attached to a display. The ceiling sat sixty feet above where smaller nodes hung down. She scanned her surroundings, but found no sign of Onika. Every few nodes was a narrow path through which to pass, above which leapt arcs of lightning. She'd never seen this specific arrangement style, but Patricia knew a core nexus when she saw one.

Passing beneath one such light pulse, she caught a glimpse of someone walking down a similar path, attention focused on a datapad. Drawing her shotgun she continued towards the center platform. Approaching footsteps brought her up short, and she took cover as best as she could. A man with angular features and a business suit stopped beside her hiding spot and scanned the room.

"Austberg has not returned," he said to himself with Mastermind's voice. "Have the intruders slowed him down?"

A noise caught his attention and he turned away from Patricia, though they were close enough to touch. She followed his gaze to Onika, accessing one of the nodes with her datapad-mini.

"I've found an interloper," he said. The nodes around him flared and his posture became rigid, less relaxed. "I'm not interested in the human. I want that curious felarnian."

Patricia smashed his face into the nearest node and dropped him into a heap with a blow to the temple. Onika jerked away from her work at the sound and her eyes lit up. Patricia joined her at the node.

"I didn't think you'd get away," she said. "He was equipped with a strength enhancer. What are you wearing?" She plucked one of the metal plates and it clanged. "I kinda like it."

Patricia ignored the last question. Knowing about The Pale Garden's R.Nano was just as dangerous as having it in your system.

"Mastermind likely knows we're here."

"Most of the clones here are preoccupied with maintaining the nodes and network equipment. A few walked right past me without looking up. We might be safe for the moment."

"I doubt that. We need to shut him down."

"The nodes are batched in smaller clusters within the network. I've set two to do a diagnostic then system wipe and shut down. In about ten minutes he'll lose those sections, hopefully we can sabotage enough before he notices the first one."

"Crude, but it could work. Keep at that while I upload my killswitch virus. This is the kind of problem that should be attacked from multiple angles."