Steel Rising

Chapter 13: Storming the Castel

"How?" Exclaimed Tina in shocked disbelief as she saw an unconscious Yelena crucified beneath the waterfall. From her data structure, the little hacker already knew that this Yelena was a human consciousness.

Yet simultaneously, Yelena's voice came from right beside her. "Surprised?"

"What?!" Tina's digital self jumped just as she was once more pulled out of the stream of data coursing through her mind.

Looking at the chair beside hers, the little girl was surprised to find it empty. "Yelena?"

"Not really, but close enough..." Yelena told Tina as she stood in front  of the little girl, her voice menacing and not truly human. "... You see, without your added processing power, I wouldn't have taken over this body so quickly."

"You're not Yelena..." Tina noted, sad yet curious as she analyzed the data she had seen. "... You're a program! But what's your purpose?"

"Thankfully, you're not important enough to know that..." Smirked the program piloting poor Yelena's body like a puppet. "... But you can call me the Devil, darling."

"I asked, what's your purpose?" Asked the little hacker angrily just as she hit the program with a virtual hammer by brute-forcing the Devil to answer her question.

Hacked, Yelena went pale, just before the program robotically reported. "The Devil is an AI program built to transmit, save, organize, and store the neurological data of fallen soldiers to preserve their souls in digital form to..." Recovering from the hack, Yelena, or more accurately the Devil, recovered and said with a smirk. "... Oh, nice try... Try it again, darling!"

"Why, Yelena?" Tina asked and once more employed her digital hammer to force the AI to answer her.

"See?... HAHAHAHA..." Laughed the AI-controlled Yelena. "... I can't be hacked twice the same way, darling!"

*Cla-gong!* The entire room they were in suddenly shook.

"What's going on?" Tina questioned, frightened.

"Oh, your friends are about to storm my castle..." Yelena declared coldly. "... I can't have them catch us yet, darling."

...

"The reapers can't be killed permanently as they are using some black market  technology to revive their members in cloned bodies." Tellius heard Sarah tell him just as he was about to start his full frontal attack.

Rubbing his throbbing temples, the cyborg answered quickly. "Roger that!"

"Anything new?" Ethan asked as he arrived with the supply crate that Tellius had spawned below a bank nearby.

"Yeah, it looks like the Reapers can't die..." Reported Tellius, only now realizing why his system hadn't rewarded him for his previous slaughter. Loading his three-barreled stormsurge, he added. "... because some black market  technology allows them to switch their bodies to another."

"Now their insane disregard for personal safety is starting to make sense..." Commented Ethen, annoyed as the death of his team began to make sense. "... So, how do you want to do this?"

"I say I rush in and destroy the cloned bodies before we kill them..." Suggested Tellius, already planning to spam his invincibility skill to withstand the upcoming fight. "... Which means that you'll have to stay outside and wait for my signal!"

"I don't think I like that, but my fleshy body can't withstand as much as your metal a**!" Reluctantly agreed the marshal.

"Good. Now let me contact Sarah about the bodies' location..." Tellius told Ethen before he contacted Sarah. "... Sarah, where did you say the bodies are stored? The main hall... Yes, thank you, and get out of there, as I don't want to risk friendly fire!"