Enlightenment [Book 2: SEKTOR V Trilogy]

Chapter 32: The Buenos Aires Experiment (Part II)

Chapter 32: The Buenos Aires Experiment (Part II)

As usual, Zulton Toeth was waiting for Wyrex Kutr to initiate contact. Normally this would have irritated Toeth, but not today. This time, he didn't care. Kutr could take all the time he desired. Almost nothing could upset Toeth on this particular day, which was saying something. Zetas were not exactly known for their mirth, but even among his own people, Toeth was considered grim. With his name pronounced /teth/, Toeth was known by many as Doeth. It wasn't meant as a compliment, but it was a name Toeth wore like a badge of honor.

"What is the point of happiness? It is nothing more than a sign of weakness. It brings your guard down and is something that any competent enemy could easily manipulate."

Toeth smiled as he considered the absolute truth of those words.

Still, at least on this day, he was outside his normal element and feeling positively upbeat. How could he not, given the recent overwhelming success he had just led in the field? Moreover, these results would allow him to put previous Terran disruptions and disappointments behind him once and for all. As an added special bonus, he would get the chance to witness Kutr's jealous disgust firsthand as he delivered the good news to him...slowly.

As he waited, Toeth stood alone in a slightly dank, poorly-lit communications relay room. This was the only subaqueous base that managed to survive the recent attacks by Terran rebel forces. This particular facility was situated at the bottom of the southeast Pacific Ocean, which made it well-positioned to support Toeth's recent operations on the southern hemispheric Terran landmass locally known as South America. After waiting for over thirty Earth minutes, the holographic image of Wyrex Kutr appeared a meter above the floor directly in front of Toeth. As before, they communicated audibly.

As usual, Kutr began the proceedings without ceremony. He looked down at Toeth as he spoke in their native Zeta tongue of Xyloq.

"Toeth, you requested a meeting earlier than agreed upon. What necessitates this expediency?"

"Success," replied Toeth without adding detail.

Predictably, Kutr replied in kind. "I see we will once again play your game. I have no time for such nonsense. State your business."

Toeth responded with a forced smile as he looked up at Kutr. "With pleasure...

"Our field test produced results better than expected. The introduction of the bio-nanite population into the local water supply facilitated the desired autoimmune and unconscious responses we anticipated."

"More detail. Quantify your statements," responded an unimpressed Kutr.

Toeth could have dragged this out for some time but decided that minimizing his time with Kutr was perhaps preferable to seeing him squirm indefinitely.

"We executed my plan nearly flawlessly. To ensure saturation, the nanite population was distributed well beyond the confines of the three target outer provinces of Buenos Aires. The process was conducted over 120 hours using several of our small scout drones launched nocturnally from our current location. As anticipated, most of the population, 72 percent to be precise, was infected within three Earth days. The remaining 28 percent comprised a group of upright hominids that either did not consume municipal water or ingested malfunctioning nanites that, in turn, did not initiate or perform as anticipated. My subordinates are investigating the individual impact each of these possible factors may have had."

"As you should," interjected Kutr.

Highly productive input thought Toeth. He was enjoying the fact that he could let his mind run free for once, but his patience for Kutr was wearing thin.