Thursday, September 16th, 3086, Mission High School
"Two weeks passed between my failure to stop the sale of the bomb and the Techna's Winter Solstice Ball. " Miun said after Mieu opened the class. "Not a lot happened between during that time. A therapist came from New Camineet to see Tim, and that combined with medicine helped him to come out of his depression."
"I read the history book and atlas that was in Tim's box. The atlas was mundane, but the history book was... amazing, to say the least." Miun wrote 'Nelson' on the board, followed by a seemingly random series of squiggles. "The whole book was written like this - in such small print that it was near the edge of my ability to read it. The beginning of the book was a table translating these squiggles into words. For example," Miun turned back to the board and wrote under the squiggles, 'Nelson hoisted on his flagship before the battle: England expects that every man will do his duty.'
"I can't help thinking that the book was written for me. No human could read it, and a cyborg couldn't understand it. Of my sisters, I was the only one with a history degree." She paused. "The information in the book wasn't any use to me on Palma - and that leads me to think that if someone put it there, they only did it to let me know that someone's watching 'behind the scenes', so to speak." She shook her head. "Here I am, an android, thinking that some greater power is guiding things. I know it sounds funny now, but... as the year goes on, you'll see why I think that way."
Nicole raised her hand. "What was the thing you found most history in Earth's history?"
Miun glanced at her sister, who nodded. "I found the actions between the Earth's nations to be fascinating. On Palma, having more that one country was a rarity. Yet, on Earth, there hundreds at times."
Miun cleared the light board. "It was the evening of the ball..."
May 6th, AW1276, Miun and Mieu's house, Techna, Palma
I reached behind my neck and closed the clasp on my necklace. The large blue jewel that hung on the gold chain was identical to the one that was set in Mieu's chest. Dr. Syre gave it to me that day I was awakened and told me never to lose it.
I looked in the bathroom mirror. I tugged at my black with red trim dress uniform, and my gold crossed swords insignia on my shoulders glinted in the light.
I went out into the living room, where Tim and Mieu were playing cards. "That looks good on you," Tim said.
"Thanks."
There was a knock on the door. It was the driver that Pyre had ordered. "Ready, ma'am?"
I nodded.
The Techna Winter Solstice Ball had its roots in the first winter after Techna's founding, where the colonists had a grand party to celebrate the harvest. Over time, it had evolved from a ball to a ball with some awards, to a little ball with awards for art, movies, and so forth.
We passed through a police cordon in front of the Techna Grand Hall. Photographer got as close as they could, ready to snap pictures of stars.
Pyre was waiting for me. "Good evening," he opened the door.
We walked together into the courtyard. Standing in the courtyard was a life sized statue of Queen Alis the Great, her sword lifted in the air. We went through the foyer and into the main hall. Pyre led me down the blue carpet past tables were celebrities were already enjoying hors d'oeuvres, over the small dance floor, and on to the stage.
There was a table set up on stage. "We'll be sitting here," Pyre said.
"With His Grace?"
Pyre nodded. As if on cue, the Duke of Techna walked out from backstage. "General Pyre," the duke said, extending his hand, "it's good to see you."
The Commanding General of the King's Army and a Duke were technically of equal rank, but Pyre bowed nevertheless as he shook the duke's hand. "And you, Your Grace. May I introduce my chief advisor, Colonel Miun Rydori."
"So young," The duke said to me, "yet the General holds you in high regard. It's a pleasure to meet you, Colonel."
I bowed. "It's a honor to meet you, Your Grace."
Pyre pulled out my chair before sitting himself. "Where is Mr. Sa Riik?"
"He had to use the faculties," The duke answered. "Here he comes now."
A tall man with straight black hair and green eyes sat down next to me. "Mr. Sa Riik," General Pyre said, "This is Colonel Miun Rydori. Miun, this is..."
"Akar Sa Riik, CEO of Sa Riik Robotics. It's a pleasure." I said.
Akar leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. "The pleasure is all mine, Miun."
The duke got up and stood at the podium. "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the 1532nd Techna Winter Solstice Ball. If you feel like dancing, now's the time. Maestro!"
"May I have a dance, Colonel?" Pyre had a slight smirk on his face.
"Of course!"
For all of Pyre's good traits leading men, he was a terrible dancer. After the third time he stepped on my foot, I said with a smile, "I'll have to buy new boots if you keep that up, sir."
He laughed. "I think that's enough dancing."
On the way back to the table, I whispered to Pyre, "Do Akar and the Duke know about me?"
"Just Akar."
Dinner was served and the award show was begun. I kept noticing Akar sneaking glances at me. He had this odd look on his face - I couldn't tell what it was.
Just after the award for the year's best computer game was announced, I needed a flurry of sensor sweeps around the building. The scans were of the same type that the Techna police sensor trucks used. I figured it was just a standard precaution.
The show continued and Mieu's and my favorite singer won song of the year. I mentioned to Pyre that she was my favorite, and, overhearing, the Duke said, "Well, go backstage and get her autograph!" I did, and returning to the table with a smile on my face, I noticed that Pyre was gone.
"Where's the General?" I whispered to Akar.
"He had to take a phone call."
I sat down. Pyre came out two minutes later and whispered in my ear, "Come with me."
I followed him to a secluded area backstage. "What is it?"
"The TPD got a call an half an hour ago stating that there is a bomb under this hall. They sent out sensor trucks, and... it seems we've found our mission cobalt bomb."
"I'm ready, sir." I said without hesitation.
"Thank you, Miun. We can't evacuate up here, Miun. It might cause a panic throughout Techna - and it would be bad even if the there was some sort of dummy rigged up instead of a real bomb."
"I understand, sir." I took off my necklace and handed it to him. "Where's the nearest sewer entrance?"
He led me to the women's bathroom. "Just outside the window. Eagle Team is coming - radio them when you're done." Pyre said. "Good luck."
The window is the bathroom was high on the wall and just big enough for me to squeeze through. I jumped up and hung on to the windowsill. I pushed the window open and pulled myself up and through. I tucked into a summersault while in the air and hit the ground rolling. I sprang to my feet and carefully removed the manhole cover and dropped into the sewer.
I landed on the walkway making almost no noise, thanks to the micro-sound cancellation field generators in my feet. The stench of the sewer was incredible. If I were human, I'd have been gagging and throwing up.
The TPD was still scanning up above, so I could use my own sensors without being detected. I found the bomb easily, and started to head that way.
"What sensors do you have, anyway?" Nicole blurted out. Mieu stifled a chuckle.
"Mieu and I have a special mesh inside our armor rib cage that can do basically any type of sensor sweep, including hyperwave."
"No way!" Eric exclaimed from the back. "My dad works at Boeing-Lockheed and he says that a HADAR unit would take up half this room!"
"Yes - Palma's are like that too. Our sensors are just one of the many things that we have that are far too advanced for Palma's technology." Miun said. "Anything else?"
"Wait," Nicole said, "Aren't hyperwave sensors used for detecting spaceships light years distant? Why do you need that?"
Miun nodded. "Most of the time, they are. We can retune our sensors to show us in great detail what is happening within a couple miles. However, there's not many opportunities for us to use it - it causes a great deal of radio interference, makes us light up like a floodlight on thermal scanners, and our makes our entire body hum very loudly. Neither of us got to use it on Palma except for once in testing."
I came to a corner and I stopped. Something didn't feel right. I pressed myself against the slick wall and peeked around the corner.
Two men wearing gasmasks where sitting next to a sound cancellation field generator. One of them saw me and raised his rifle. I pulled my face back, and a bullet tore through the corner of the wall.
I realized instantly that this was an opportunity to take care of the two men without having them warn whomever else was down here. I stumbled back, and making sure the men could see me, fell off the walkway and in to the scummy water.
I swam to next to where the two men were and sprung from the water. I spread my arms and clotheslined both men while in the air, and the rifle fell to the ground. I landed on my feet and dove on the rifle and rolled back on my feet.
I shot the cancellation field generator twice and tossed the rifle in to the water. One man was laying motionless on the ground, and the other was slowly getting to his feet. I rushed over and punched him hard in the jaw, dropping him. I pulled off each man's gas mask and tossed those into the water.
I continued toward the bomb, and my path led to a rusty steel door. I opened it and found a ladder. I quickly climbed in and opened the door at the top of the ladder.
A short, dark blue haired man wearing a black cape looked at me when I opened the door. "So, they managed to sneak some one in?" He said. "My cyborg here," he patted the shoulder of the armored cyborg next to him, "will allow you live your final moments in peace, as long as you don't do anything stupid." He pulled out an escapipe. "I, of course, need to go." He pushed the button on the escapipe and disappeared.
I looked the cyborg over. I didn't know what type it was - it wasn't broadcasting the standard identification signal. It had a light cannon attached to one arm, and it was heavily armored. I wasn't punching through this cyborg's armor.
I charged it as fast as I could, my claws springing out from my wrists. I slashed two surprisingly deep cuts in the cyborg's armor before it grabbed me by the shoulder and tossed my 165 pound body aside, I twisted in the air and sprung off the wall back at the cyborg. The boom of the cyborg's cannon filled the small round, and three rounds exploding on my chest and stomach. My armor took the punishment, but the force of the explosions knocked me aside, and I slammed face first in the wall. I rolled on to my back and go to my feet.
I decided to try another tactic. I dodged side to side while edging closer to the cyborg. The cannon boomed again and again, but the worst that happened is that a shell nipped my arm. When I got close enough, I struck.
In a flurry, I drove my claws into the cyborg's eyes, and then I raked the red gem in the cyborg's chest that acted as it's backup visual sensors. The now blinded cyborg managed to toss me aside again, but this time I had the upper hand.
I detected the cyborg's sensors probing for me, but I knew it wasn't detecting anything. My spoofing system was simply absorbing the signals and not providing a return, so to the sensors, I wasn't there. I clawed the cyborg's chest again and again, eventually exposing its brain box. One good pull and the cyborg crashed to the ground.
I immediately turned to the bomb which was on the ground. I had disarmed bombs like this many times in training, but I couldn't help feeling a little nervous. I found the wire I needed to cut, and using my claws, snipped it. The bomb's timer stopped.
I sagged against the wall and looked down at my body. The skin of my chest and stomach had been blown away, exposing my solid armor ribcage and the armor mesh that protected my lower torso. I took off the remnants of my uniform jacket and let my autorepair system get to work repairing my stressed armor and regrow my skin and faux muscles.
"Carl, you hearing this?" I radioed.
"Loud and clear. We'll be ready in five minutes. How's it going?" He radioed back.
"The bombs disarmed. Make sure you bring a shirt, please."
I watched as my skin slowly knitted itself back together. Suddenly, I picked up a transmission.
"Tiza, where's the boom!" It was a woman's voice.
"Any second now!" That was the voice of the man I just met, "I left Warren to guard it!
I couldn't get a fix of the woman Tiza was talking to, but I did get a fix on him. I relayed that information to Eagle Team.
A minute passed. "I thought you set the bomb for five minutes, Tiza? Where's the explosion? The woman was irate. "Did someone show up? Could your cyborg have been disabled?"
"N-no! My cyborg was stunner proof! And my lookouts would have warned me about anyone carrying a rocket launcher or something!
The woman growled. "That bloody weapons dealer sold me a dud! Come on back, Tiza. We'll have to think of something else."
A member of Eagle Team radioed me and told me that they couldn't find anything at the location I gave them. I sighed.
Carl entered the small room and tossed me a T-shirt. "Here," his voice was muffled by his gasmask.
"Thanks." I put the shirt on.
"Pyre wants to see you at the base. Somebody's waiting for you up top to drive you there."
Two hours later I was waiting impatiently in front of Pyre's office at Techna's military base. There had been a flurry of activity - representatives of the King, Duke, and the Mayor of Techna came in and out, each of them wrinkling there nose at the stench that had filled the lobby.
At last, Pyre called for me.
"Miun, I can't thank you enough for what you did tonight," he said.
"What do you know about this Tiza, sir. I'll start hunting him tonight."
The general held up a hand. "Miun, you've done more that enough for now. Go home. Let me tell you, you need a shower."
"But, sir..."
"Miun, I thank you for your eagerness, but we're still figuring things out right now. I'll tell you what we know as soon as I know it."
I sighed. "Yes, Ewin."
I went home. Mieu was on the couch. "I heard it on the news," she said. "And by the stench, you took care of it."
"Yeah." I hurried into the shower. I didn't want Tim to be woken up by the smell of sewage.
