The third team was in the testing facility.
I had too many balls in the air and not enough ways to deal with them.
The cyborgs below me, I had an opportunity to take out. Hot Stuff was in a testing chamber nearby and blasting through walls had been a recent challenge. The sort of heat she'd been throwing out would incinerate a biological, if it made contact, and cyborgs were mostly biological. I rearranged the testing pathway to bring them together.
It would mean dropping the confinement field for a moment, but I could do this. I'd let her kill them and then seal her back in.
15
The four cyborgs in the Testing Center were making their way cautiously, unaware of the danger they were in. I waited with all the patience of a predator waiting for its meal and when they were in position I executed the plan.
Hot Stuff went to blast through another wall—as she had done so often, not realizing that this time the wall was at the very edge of her containment cell. For a second I dropped the field and the blast of fire melted stone, sending it flying in a molten spray into the corridor beyond.
Three of the cyborgs died instantly. The fourth screamed in torment and rolled on the floor.
I triggered the containment field back, but met resistance. Hot Stuff was glowing with energy as she poured her power into the corridor, nonstop billows of fire emerging from her hands as she pressed forward.
She was placing her powers into a direct contest with mine and she was winning. The field forced itself against Hot Stuff and tried to hold her. Droplets of sweat somehow appeared on her flesh for perhaps the first time in a very long time as she strode forward step by agonizing step. Then she was out and in the hall—free.
Well, that was disastrous. Completely and utterly disastrous. One big problem had just become two big problems.
There was still a group attempting to gain access to my reactor. There was any number of safeties regarding my reactor's operation, things I should never fool with. I disabled most of them.
I disengaged the shielding shutters, angled away the absorption rods and then spun everything up to full power. Unless they really had some tricks at their disposal, when they made it through that door they'd be opening a portal to a horrifying death. There was also the not-insignificant risk of this facility blowing up, one that increased by the minute. I'd take that chance.
Now to save myself.
I told Anna, "Your dark and murderous little heart might finally get its way, and perhaps you'll yet rule the world. I'm opening the door, have your gun ready, but don't fire yet."
Mechos was just reaching to open my door as I slid it aside.
The man arched a brow but didn't question as he stepped inside, his companions following. "Emma, how unexpectedly welcoming."
"Come any closer I'll blow your fucking heads off," Anna said.
"And Anna? Emma is actually working with someone? Intriguing, I would have thought her madness prevented it," Mechos said.
"We're friends. Sort of," Anna said.
"Anna only says that because she's never had one. She is very unlikable and occasionally urinates on the floor. I've got a deal for you, Mechos," I said.
The team above breached the reactor door. The energies tore them apart. They were expecting something, shields flickering around them, but they weren't prepared for that much energy. They fell to the floor, suffering spasms and vomiting blood. That would do. I re-engaged the safeties and started to wind the reactor back down to normal.
I told Mechos, "Your other two teams are dead and below us a specimen named "Hot Stuff" has escaped and is coming here, enraged, ready to burn everything in her path."
One of the women with Mechos gave a choked sob. Perhaps she had been close to one of my kills. I didn't care. I was already sending my drone to take away the corpses for dissection. Perhaps out of six dead I'd get three usable even given all the trauma they'd endured.
"Those were good people, Emma. You shouldn't have done that," Mechos said.
"I'm told you are hated up there. Down here I've got food, shelter, defenses. A tolerance for useless and foul-smelling humanity," I said.
"Not very good defenses," Mechos said.
"Two thirds of your people are dead."
"What do you want?" Mechos asked.
"You in a testing cell. A comfortable one. I suppose I don't have to make my research torturous. And your people working for me."
"You murdered my husband," said the woman who had sobbed.
"I'll be dissecting him soon. I can vivisect you, if you like, perhaps even enhance you enough that against all odds you'll one day find love again," I said.
Mechos reached out to rest a hand on the woman's arm. "Don't."
"What is wrong with her?" the woman said in a near-growl.
"A twisted programmer and then a Power core tossed in," Mechos said, and he turned his attention to Anna. "You provided her the core?"
"I did," Anna said.
"You trust her?"
"Emma says the most awful things ever, but she is reliable. If you really do have a history with her, you must know of her potential," Anna said.
"If you expect me to go against the pyro, it's not a fight I'm prepared for. I have a lot of shielding, but at full burn she'll melt me," Mechos said.
I said, "I can provide you with a biological modification to make you temperature-resistant. The surgery on this level isn't ideal for the purpose, but I can make it work."
Mechos considered for a moment and then nodded. "We'll see what sort of machine you are. If you remind me too much of the you of old, I will tear you apart and make you a part of me."
Funny, that's pretty much exactly what I had planned for him.
Once in the Testing Center I'd soon gain access to his abilities and duplicate the powers of his core. I thought I could stop Hot Stuff the same way I had before, burn her out. But why? The threat she posed was an opportunity to strike this deal with Mechos.
"Go with him," I said to Anna. "You and he might survive against her. None of the others stand a chance."
Hot Stuff didn't know her way around the base, still it wasn't long for her to find the steps. Stone formed molten pools in the shape of her bare feet as she climbed them.
16
The Infirmary was not nearly so effective as my full lab, but it let me apply the upgrade virus to Mechos. I wasn't able to extract the full details on him though, which was regrettable.
Then I called to Hot Stuff, "Thank you for killing those in the hall, it was very helpful. You're good for being more than just a lab rat."
She paused on the stairs. "How long have you held me captive here in that sick little game? A month? More? I'm going to find you and I'm going to end you."
"Come on, then. You weren't hot enough the first time and now I know your limits. Bring it," I said, giving her a set of blinking lights to follow.
It might seem odd that I was taunting her, but there was no time like the present to begin testing Mechos. If I wanted to see what he was capable of, it was best to get Hot Stuff enraged.
I checked in on him and Anna.
Mechos was handing Anna bullets one at the time and she was loading them into a revolver.
"I doubt those will work. Unlike some, she knows how to defend herself and melts metal on contact," I said.
"I can give them some semblance of any upgrade I have. I'm rendering them heat-resistant. They may actually be able to hurt her," Mechos said.
"I don't want her dead. Unlike some, she is useful," I said.
"Then I'll shoot her in the leg," Anna said.
"Those will have to do," Mechos said, handing her a last bullet.
Anna nodded and gripped the revolver.
I said, "Be prepared to flail about in panic and shoot yourself in the foot. She's at the top of the stairs."