Children of the Virus

16: Drone Army

Toshiro and Ren huddled in their camouflaged car under the large tree, beads of nervous perspiration dotting their faces. Above them, the sky had turned into a churning sea of mechanical locusts, blotting out the sun. The relentless drone hum drowned out the sound of the vog stacks, serving as a constant reminder of the ever-present danger.

"Can you believe this?" Ren whispered, her voice barely rising above the noise. "The IC must have voted to let Zo into our airspace. Zo thinks he's got us pinned down with his toys."

Toshiro peered out the windshield through a tiny gap in the foliage that shrouded their vehicle. "We are pinned down," he muttered, his prosthetic arm creaking faintly as he shifted to get a better view. "If we're caught, we're dead. Every move we make is a gamble now."

"Then let's make it a calculated one." Ren pulled out a touchpad from her pocket, her fingers dancing over it with practiced ease. "I've coded a trojan."

Toshiro looked puzzled. "A trojan virus?"

"It's my custom malware disguised as a signal coming from an owl in the forest—Zo won't see it coming."

Toshiro shook his head in disbelief. "Are you serious? We're battling a drone army from hell and you're talking about trojan owl signals. Have you completely lost your mind?"

Ren rolled her eyes. "The point is to hack one of Zo's scout drones. Those things tap into every woodland critter to establish a living surveillance grid. Zo would never suspect a biological carrier to be carrying a digital payload. It's our best shot at infiltrating his system."

"Or the quickest way to get ourselves killed," Toshiro countered, as he pointed toward the masses of weaponized metal and plastic hovering above them. "Zo's network is no playground. If anything goes wrong, those drones will swoop down on us before we can even blink."

"Then we don't blink," Ren said firmly, her gaze locked onto Toshiro's. "We do this for the Rebellion—for everyone who's counting on us. I'm not letting Zo win this round."

"Risking everything on a long shot," Toshiro sighed, the weight of the decision heavy upon him. But he knew Ren was right. The stakes were too high to sit idly by. "Alright," he conceded.

As Ren continued to prepare the trojan owl signal, one of the larger drones floated overhead. The downdraft and turbulence in its wake made the tree sway as its leaves gave off a fierce rustle.

When the large drone had passed, a swarm of smaller drones followed closer to the ground. They flew parallel to the valley above the tree canopy.

Toshiro was getting nervous. He pointed at the swarm. "They're getting closer," he said.

Ren nodded without lifting her head or opening her mouth.

A second large drone passed by overhead—the wind from its propellers like a storm. Toshiro's eyes widened in fear and desperation as he leaned over to Ren, his voice barely audible over the chaos. "This is crazy!" He hissed urgently into her ear. "We need to stay hidden if we want to survive this!"

Ren asked, "Where's your nerve, Toshiro? I thought you were a legend." She added, "We must find out what the drone army is plotting."

Toshiro sat back. A sense of dread washed over him. He knew that, at best, he would likely be caught by Zo and taken back to the prison he had worked so hard to escape.

"Here," Ren said, tilting her wrist so Toshiro could see the schematic of her trojan virus. "This is our bait. It mimics the biological signature the drones hunt for."

Toshiro watched a simulated owl glide across the hologram, its wings beating a silent rhythm. "And if it works?"

"Data," Ren replied with a grim smile. "It'll download all of Zo's most precious intel."