Chapter 2:
Even after the exodus from earth, and even after the exploration out of the solar system, humans still used the typical time system. However, each planet or asteroid has it’s own number of hours.
Location: Delta 42, system 36, Akrom
Time: 9:20 17/3/00
Akrom was a peculiar planet. Well, in actuality, it wasn’t a planet; it started out as a lone asteroid about the size of Pluto. But years of development and terraforming, along with the relative quiet it offered, made it a popular place for political leaders and other figures of importance. As a result, Akrom became the capital even before it was officially unveiled. Abstract elegance defines Akrom. The first layer of the atmosphere is comprised of high arches of platinum and titanium. Those interlocked into eerily beautiful skeletal structures leading downward to the sphere’s surface where it vanished into sheets of black crystal. Nearing closer to ground level, those sheets splinter into staircases that spiral slowly to the surface. From space, Akrom resembles something Jack Frost would paint if he went to town with an ink brush.
It started off as a deceptively normal day. Akrom’s sky is constantly filled with the tiny silhouettes of security drones and the larger shadows of winged security personnel. The metallic rustling of platinum feathers are just a bit louder today though, as the arrival of the representatives from every planet teleported in. Naturally, security is tightened in an effort to prevent every possible sabotage attempt at the meeting. But by now, people were getting complacent. There hadn’t been an attack in millennia, and some of the younger generation were convinced the idea of terrorism was nothing more than a conspiracy theory. That naivety was exactly what a certain figure was depending on. He already knew the basic layout of the entire planet; the antimatter formulator would be at the north pole, while the massive capital complex was in the south, nothing else was of importance. Due to the meeting at the capitol, the planet made one mistake, they had to lower the security at the formulator, and although it was still overwhelmingly strong, no attacks have ever been recorded, thus, the people would be off-guard, and most likely, the drones would be shut off, only being sent off when emergencies were needed to conserve power. The figure smiled. It was a pity though, he thought, that the drones would never even be able to come out.
Under the protection of a specialized camouflage suit that erased his presence on even the most sophisticated of detectors, he made his way up the long snaking stairs situated next to the energy tubes. After about three minutes, he arrived at the first gate blocking his way in, a simple yet deadly wave projector; it could be passed through of course, but only by a complex passcode along with a correct ID card and a special drone implanted in the brain. Luckily, or perhaps, unluckily, he had them all. The passcode was easy, a simple hacking computer handled it, the brain drone, although a different kind, possessed all the functions that the security guards’ had, and the card came from a guard that was unfortunate enough to run across him. The figure licked his lips at the memory; the guard’s screams had been lovely. He continued his way up, and before long, the second obstacle appeared. This could complicate things, he realized, as he looked at the bizarre scene before him. It was a rift around 500 meters wide, and there were purple cubes floating randomly, along with five figures armed with two GENESIS model rapid-fire railguns. The purple cubes probably contained guided nano parasites, five laser cannons, and a wave projector to trap and quarantine targets. He took a look at his own inventory; some raw nutrients for rations, a small lighting gun, a fusion sword, three vacuum grenades, and an electromagnetic pulse bomb. He couldn’t use the bomb. Not yet at least, it was crucial for the final step. He prepared for the crossing.
He activated his levitation and floated as swiftly as he could without touching the cubes or security. There were a few close calls, the most harrowing being when a guard yawned and almost touched his leg. Once he reached the other side, he deactivated his boots, and continued. So much for difficult, he thought, I was at least expecting random flight patterns.
By now, the suit was becoming uncomfortable, its skin tight fit making it difficult to breathe properly after an extended period of time. Time is of essence now; he’s never failed an assignment before, and he wasn’t going to tarnish that reputation on such a monumental job. With this in mind, he lengthened his strides, deciding that due to the thinly stretched security as a result of the meeting, the risks of being confronted with a corridor crawling with guards was low. Low enough to provide sufficient buffer for some shortcuts on his part. Using one hand to pull the face mask away slightly to allow more airflow to his lungs, the figure jogged up the last staircase leading to the formulator. He pushed open the delicate, iron gate surrounding the formulator and… leaped back a couple feet to avoid being sliced to pieces by the thirteen lasers positioned around the structure.
Flurble, he sighed in irritation, time must have made him senile because it was common knowledge that the government did everything in threes. Even peasants knew that. Now the alarms were flaring and he could hear the footsteps of guards and the familiar sound of magnets being activated. Well, now he really needed to hurry; he approached again and tossed in a few decoy scraps. When the lasers activated again, he noted the positions of the cannons and the size of the laser beams. The second time he threw in decoys, he began picking out weaknesses; the lasers, he noticed, always shot down what was near the generator first, and its reach didn’t extend outside of the iron bars. Additionally, while the recharge speed was an amazing .05 seconds, the reaction speed was only .1 seconds. He logged the data into his brain drone, preparing to get to the formulator just as the fastest guards appeared.
Stealth was worthless in this situation, so he turned on his levitation boots for short bursts of speed, took out his knife and gun, and blew up the first three guards with his gun with a satisfied chuckle. Using the recoil from the blast as a boost, the man shot towards the formulator. With the brain drone’s help, he sped down the pathway, dodging the the beams with relative ease. He also kept track of the arriving guards’ movements; the job was made easier by the fact that he was already in the red zone. Even if they could see him, the guards couldn’t shoot for fear of damaging the formulator. The last obstacle was designed to be nearly impossible to pass without specific precursory measures and consequently, there was a drawback. Loopholes were beautiful. His hand touched cool metal and he smiled, turning around the see the detectors and lasers all aiming at him. Menacing and useless. The paradox made him laugh.
Forty meters from the formulator, trapped on the other side of the slender corridor, the guards stood frozen in place at the implications of this particular security breach. The consequences only grew more grim when one guard pointed out the small box attached to the formulator. A few clicks and the activation of a visor later, the small timer attached to it became apparent as well. The guards were now in an impossible dilemma, they obviously couldn’t deactivate the bomb or whatever it was by hand, the lasers tore up everything. Nobody, whether it was a planet’s representative, or an even greater power, would be allowed across. They could attempt to shoot the box, the snipers would be accurate enough, but they didn’t know if the box would explode on impact, and even if it didn’t, they couldn’t risk damaging the formulator, as it provided energy for the whole planet, and especially on a day like this, where all the leaders of the planets were gathered, an incident like that could very well cause the collapse of civilization.
Their attention snapped back to reality though when the lasers went back to firing, meaning that the infiltrator was going back, the guards positioned themselves in a semi-circle where they predicted he would come out if he escaped the lasers. They suddenly heard a voice behind them.
“Hey there, wanna play a game with me? If you win, then the EMP is disabled, if you lose, well… then it means all of you die! Let’s begin!”
