Genesis (Man vs Machine #1)

7 | DEADZONE

Warner received the comm before breakfast. It was from Cadet Michaelson.

Security evaluation report: two mile radius secure. Power supply to generator has been cut and we have sent a scrambler pin into the CPU. All safe for retrieval.

Warner headed towards the IntelOps meeting room with a discernible spring in his step. They were finally on their way to discovering something. The room's doors slid open, and nobody sat inside – he was the first one in. He sat at the head of the table and waited for Alder, Marcel, Cress, and the Special Unit. Alder was the first to arrive, walking in ten minutes earlier than they had planned. He muttered a quick hello to Warner and continued to read something on his holo-pad, muttering under his breath.

Marcel walked in two minutes before 8 AM. He smiled stiffly – Warner tried not to think robotically – then sat in the one chair that was firmly rooted to the ground. A mag-chair wouldn't be able to hold his weight. Marcel rarely talked, but when he did it was usually to relay a piece of crucial information. His all-computer brain allowed him to complete any task at the simplest instruction.

Cress entered last of all; exactly as the digits on the clock changed to 0800. Her smile was much warmer than Marcel's, and the corners of her eyes crinkled to match.

Warner stood from his chair. The special unit should be here any time now -

And they were. The door slid open to reveal Allen, Michaelson, and the rest of the Special Unit, the team that usually handled most of the physical field work. Warner quelled the little bit of panic he felt at talking to a room full of people and smiled politely at everyone gathered.

Michaelson came up to stand on Warner's right, and Cress moved to his left. The rest of the Unit sat on the other mag-chairs, staring intently at the three people at the head of the table. Warner cleared his throat.

'Good morning,' said Warner. 'Today we are officially one step closer to our goal: locating the Core.'

There was light applause. 'The safety eval came out positive. We're good to go, and our estimated time of departure is 8:30 AM. I trust you all are prepared?'

There was a murmur of assent. 'Good.' Warner smiled again, turning to Michaelson. In a low whisper, he asked, 'Is there anything you'd like to say before I brief them?' The Unit leader shook his head, and Warner nodded once.

He surveyed the room, clasping his hands. 'Here's the plan. When we arrive, Special Unit keeps guard. Alder, Marcel, Michaelson, Allen and myself will approach the subject - that would be the Titan, yes - and remove its central processing unit. We will return to the ship; us first, Special Unit second. James, you'll enter last.'

James nodded. He was tall, dark-haired and lanky, wearing wrinkled field fatigues and a morose expression. Warner always thought he looked oddly like someone else, but was never able to put his finger on whom.

'Any questions? I didn't think so. Let's go, then.'

There was a collective shuffling and the whine of mag-chairs powering off as they all rose from their seats. The doors slid open automatically, and Warner took the lead, Allen right behind him.

The Viridian was docked at the hangar and ready to fly. Inside, Cress took the controls, immediately blocking everything else out. Marcel took the co-pilot seat, and Warner sat on the bench closest to the cockpit. The rest of the team filed in, and the airship door swung shut with the hiss of pressure being equalized. They took to the air, hovering meters above the concrete floor of the hangar before zooming out over the desert outside.

Warner got up and walked to the rear of the ship, where the ramp to the lower level was. It was mostly for cargo, storage and watching the view - not that there was much of a view - through the floor-to-ceiling windows that lined the walls.