CONFLICT SPIKE
The 500-meter hydro-lock was a massive docking hub. It spanned the ring of hydro-stabilizer pillars, linking each colossal structure to a state-of-the-art, pressurized wet-dock. The Tragger Esson Deep-Run Hull was secured at its central docking cradle, its surface mass streamlined and polished, refracting the ambient light of the deep-sea solution to make its hull effectively stealth-cloaked.
Jackie led the way, Lyra and Aiden close behind. Pressure instantly plummeted as the saline solution drained around them. The environmental mix inside the airlock was cryo-chilled and tasted stale to their heightened senses. All three cycled their bio-filtration masks, taking deep breaths as the inner door slid open and revealed the brightly lit access corridor leading into the Tragger Esson.
Before they were midway, the primary access port at the end retracted into its circular housing like a disassembled turbine. General Gregor Thorne stood in the aperture, his face a sheet of battle-hardened synth-steel, his gaze laser-focused on Jackie's optical rig.
She offered him a flicker of a smile.
"Get over here, girl! How do you always manage to jam yourself into a High-Threat Loop?!"
He didn't return the smile, but Jackie read the data behind his flatline expression—he was relieved to see her green-lined. His power-assist chroma-arm slammed against her cybernetic shoulder rig, the dull thud of metal on metal jarring to outsiders but standard audio protocol here.
"I am fine, Gregor," she replied, her face firming. "But you have been running the correct Threat Assessment this entire time. I require the Ordnance Layer. It is time I initiated Asset Augmentation Protocols."
Gregor looked at her for a long moment, then began a slow, deliberate nod of authentication. "Asset Augmentation? You use interesting terminology." His eyes flashed to Lyra and Aiden, then back to her.
"They just rode the ascent with me. I think they're looking for passage to Stratos Pelagia."
He nodded again. "Intel confirms." Before he could process any further, the submersible's comms crackled with static.
"We need to talk before you make any wild protocol deviations, Jackie."
General Thorne rolled his eyes, a flicker of organic disdain, as he turned and pulled Jackie along with him. Lyra and Aiden took the chance to disengage, their boots echoing softly on the metal flooring as they moved toward the rear of the sub's main bay. General Thorne ignored the sound, focusing entirely on the mission.
He deposited Jackie into a tight, insulated re-integration booth. "Wait here. I already received your directives. They will retrieve you from this position. I will hold Patrick off until you've secured your internal assets." He placed his hands on her shoulders—like her, he had one organic and one cybernetic arm, but they were mirror opposites.
The contrast was striking: the warm, wrinkled skin gripping her cold chrome; the smooth, polished synth-steel touching her organic flesh.
He looked into her eyes.
"I operate on military hard-code through and through. The way your command directives filtered down…" He paused and shook his head. "…it bypasses every known channel. I know what it means. But I trust your commanding officer. If you ever need to hit the burn-out switch."
He pulled out a compact sapphire-sheen Spark emitter—the People's Voice emblem.
"This can be masked onto your alloy chest. It appears entirely regulational to anyone running standard sweeps. Against your integrated chassis, it's virtually untraceable by most counter-intelligence rigs. It's a direct, encrypted line to me. Triple-tap it, and it initiates a priority beacon signal. I will find you, Jackie. I will always find you."
He straightened and looked down at her. "I trust your commander, so I will not fight this. My old gut is telling me that we need this system-state to execute. But remember, in this game, you can not trust anyone. Even Patrick and I may fail you when the data-stream goes dark. You understand?"
She nodded. Her optical overlay remained flatline; her cortex was locked. She already knew this was the only way to proceed, and General Gregor Thorne's actions solidified that knowledge for her.
Dr. Patrick McGregor turned to begin his rant when he heard the lab doors cycle open. He stopped with a frown when he only saw General Thorne.
Thorne's eyes flicked to Patrick's assistant, then back to Patrick.
"Clarissa, stand down. Disengage peripherals." Patrick's assistant frowned, but immediately complied, turning and exiting the lab. As she did, Gregor Thorne settled heavily into the booth with a deep, metallic exhale.
"I think Jackie has decided to fork the timeline with the Resistance."
Patrick's eyes darted about, trying to parse the meaning of the words—as if his internal processor were struggling with a catastrophic error.
"We can't allow this protocol deviation."
"It's already executed. I told you we should've given her the key-data from the jump."
"You told me!?"
A spike of vocal distortion erupted from the lab. Clarissa, waiting just outside, shook her head.
That cycle, Tally transmitted the Tragger Esson chassis schematic directly to Jackie's cortex mesh. BDJ spoke, a smooth synthetic whisper in her inner ear.
BDJ: "AI Tally requires rendezvous at the given location in twenty micro-cycles. Avoid thermal or kinetic detection."
Jackie rolled her eyes. "Every move is a system check."
She processed the schematic, pinning it to the top-right corner of her Heads-Up Display (HUD), and she was gone, a blur of kinetic energy.
Her optical rig maintained constant environmental sweeps, mapping thermal signatures and predicting crew travel patterns.
She reached the meeting spot in exactly twenty seconds. A long, low synthetic chime echoed as the hatch hissed open to let her in. Lyra scoffed, a rare sound.
"I told you she would beat any time-hack you gave her."
"You did. But twenty seconds is Nova-Tier." The voice was both synthetic and organic, a low-frequency blend.
Mikael Draven's left optical sphere was polished obsidian, its surface catching a continuous data-glitch. He looked at Jackie with a nod of cold approval.
"Boss, I think your Asset Augmentation is justified. We may finally have the kill-team we need."
BDJ immediately sounded an alert as they heard boots approaching.
BDJ: "Cybernetic signature confirmed: Dax Calder. Cross-referencing against Ally Index."
Jackie looked up, her face schooled to the flatline. Commander Calder gave a slow, deliberate nod of authentication.
"You remembered the Handle."