Pieces of You,

Pieces of You, Part 2
By Harris, Mitch, Shaine, and Shatterclaw. Individual rating: PG-13.

Shaine frowned. "They've changed the locks..."

"Try again."

"Damn it..." She bent over the lock and used a few different tricks. On the third try, it popped open.

At the same time, Mitch received a page from his lab assistant: Don't worry - I fixed it. Mitch grimaced, thinking of just how badly the new assistant would probably botch it, but turned his car around. He had a bad feeling about the others.

The door opened onto an empty shop. Shaine walked in, followed by Jinks, and stared at the bare walls and empty showcases. The door to the back room was open, and from it glowed a reddish light.

Jinks began to scan the first room as Shaine headed toward the back. The scene in the other room seemed straight out of a B-movie...

A Boomer stood in the center of the room, wrapped in bandages. Two Boomeroids were trying to free her.

"Hold it right there!" Shaine brought up her rifle and aimed at the Boomer.

"The mistressss hass been waiting for youssssss..." one of the pale yellow Boomeroids said.

"Jinks, get in here!"

Mitch, just arriving at the shop, heard and followed Jinks in. He gaped at the bandaged creature, which started to unwrap her head.

"So good to meet those who would invade my castle.

"I am the Baroness von Ricci."

Rice? But how...

"My children brought you here so that you can join us...become one with us..."

"What are you talking about?" Jinks asked.

"You are the Borg; resistance is futile?"

Ricci/Rice laughed at Shaine. "The Borg are nothing to me! Mere mortal, you will bow before me and become one of my children..."

Mitch smiled, and the smile became a snarl as he slowly unsheathed his twinblades. The Boomer saw, and her palm glowed. A bloodred sphere of energy flew towards Mitch, who dodged. "Cute move!" He was still grazed by the sphere, but he landed on both feet and was able to fire his laser at her the moment he hit the ground.

The bolt hit her thigh, and he fired again as she screeched in pain. The Boomer threw one of her attendants into the path of the attack. Mitch aimed his railgun.

"You have no idea what you are dealing with!" The Boomer floated into the air, shedding her bandages to reveal a sleek body beneath.

"Hey Freefall, how do you like your potatoes?" Mitch tossed his microwave jammer to her.

She caught it. "Well done," she replied, and fired. The Boomers - and the wall behind them - went up in flames. "I think you need to adjust the settings on this, Wolverine. Blackened Cajun Boomer isn't on my list of favorite foods!"

"Let's get out of here..."

Not too long after they stepped out of the building, the entire thing went up in flames. Shaine stared knowingly, then handed the jammer back to Mitch.

"Mitch, don't use that thing again until I have a look at it, okay?"

"Sure, Jinks, but it's a new technology...the bugs still aren't worked out."

"I noticed." She muttered something under her breath. "Back to the base."

///

Evon stepped into the room nervously, as if expecting to be ambushed. He glanced around warily, then walked to the desk and sat down upon finding that there was no one else in the room.

It had to be a trap...a joke...but there was no one there but Erik and his Boomer. He couldn't see the Boomer's face; she was turned partially away from him and her dark, curly hair obscured what little else he might have been able to see. She was small like the others, not particularly different in any way...

"Evon. I'm so glad you finally accepted my invitation."

"I'm just here on business."

"Of course," he purred. "I wanted to talk about your new design. But, seeing as the server just went down--"

"What?"

"It seems that Shaine is capable of more mischief than Others had anticipated..." Others meaning Carter, yes, Erik... "she didn't manage to pirate anything, but she did destroy the entire research intranet... We'll be reinstalling from last week's tape backup, not much loss in anything other than time. What I was wondering about...were the messages she sent with this virus of hers. Two I understood...but the first one..."

"What was it?"

"Third man on a match dies."

"Ahhh, Erik! You need to brush up on your twentieth century history... Remember that class on the Vietnam War she had to take for her general education requirements?"

"Remind me."

"She thought it was brilliantly ironic...well, you know how she hates smoking... American soldiers in Vietnam would refuse to share a match to light their cigarettes because it gave them away to the enemy. First man lit up, the Viet Cong knew someone was there. Second man, they could gauge position and distance... Third man, they fired."

"I see." He frowned. "Cryptography was stumped on that one."

"Well, with all the young pups you've got down there...not to mention the Replicant; she isn't like the real thing at all..."

A small noise escaped Kathy's throat. Damn it, not now...not when he's already questioning...

Evon's eyes widened. "Kathy?" It seemed impossible, but he knew that sound...

She turned.

"You bastard." It was all he was capable of saying.

"Now, now Evon... Be nice. I want us to be family, now... Maybe Shaine needs a little more work, but soon we'll all be together and we can forget about all of the mistakes we've made--"

Evon let loose with a choked stream of curses in German, then stormed out. Kathy winced.

He always was the weak one...why am I so surprised? I shouldn't have expected more from him.

///

"You two get into your street clothes; I'm going to go look at the readings."

Mitch put on a shirt and jeans, then prepared to leave. He passed Jinks on the way out. She was in her lab, bent over a scanner. "Come on, just a trace...just one trace!" she muttered to herself.

Mitch realized he'd forgotten a disk back in the Nest. As he walked away from his car he saw Crimson's Barracuda pull up, driven by Saki. Jim got out of the back seat, slinging an odd-shaped lump over his shoulder.

Coming closer, but not saying anything as he followed Jim in, he could see that it was a black-feathered avian Boomer the size of an eagle.

Shaine turned away as Jim passed, pointedly ignoring both him and his catch. A stench filled the air, emanating from the jellylike goo covering the Boomer's body. He tossed it onto an empty lab table, and the thump startled Jinks.

She looked at Jim...and then at the body...

"There. It's a new type of Boomer."

"What is the meaning of this?"

Shaine slowly walked in and leaned against the doorframe as she watched. Mitch was already hovering over the body, studying it closely but not yet touching it.

"A new Boomer?"

"Did I stutter?" He frowned. "I went back to the woman and her boyfriend's place..."

Jinks pulled out a host of scanning equipment, swiftly recovering from the shock.

"I've never seen this type before!" Mitch said.

"Join the club, Mr. Microwave..."

Shaine smirked. "Maybe Mitch's codename should have been Emeril."

Jim shook his head, then Jinks continued, "And yes, James, you stutter quite badly...you should have that looked at."

"Let me repeat, then. It's a new kind of Boomer."

Mitch ignored them and continued to examine the body. "Intriguing!" Shaine stepped forward in morbid fascination. It was not so much new as it was a different use of existing tech...something that could have been cobbled together by a source other than Genom...

Jim sighed and walked over to a chair, dripping Boomer blood.

"So...is this a genuine Genom model or did they hack it together themselves?"

"It seems to have animal and human DNA," Jinks noted, just as the bird jumped to life. It grabbed Jinks in one taloned claw and reached for Mitch.

Mitch sliced through the arm with a cutting torch, freeing Jinks, just as Jim fired a single shot into its head.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Mitch," she gasped. "James, Mitch, help me get this thing locked down before it kills someone."

Jim shook his head and walked toward the Boomer. He fired three shots into its head and three more into its chest. "There. Now it won't kill anyone." He walked back to his seat and watched as Mitch and Jinks prepared to open it up.

"Shaine, hook the computer up to this thing. See if you can find the shutdown codes."

"I've already got the source copied...good thing, too. Looks like there's not much left of the core unit." She pulled up a cracking program and started to decompile the Boomer's code.

"Thank you, James." Jinks began to disassemble the Boomer.

Jim sighed, and leaned back to watch.

"There are no shutdown codes."

"Great," Jinks replied. "Okay, ten dollars says this is Genom's revenge for clean living..."

"It's programmed to seek and destroy and it was looking for us. There's a second part of the program but it hasn't been entered yet."

Jim smiled slightly. "Oops."

"Just stubs, and I can't tell anything from the way it was implemented. Whoever wrote this wasn't sloppy."

"Great."

Jim wiped off a bit of the ooze clinging to his skin and clothing, then flicked it at Mitch. "So what did you do while I was gone?"

Mitch just smiled.

"Oh, nothing much," Jinks said. "Just found its mother...Mitch and Shaine turned her into a baked potato."

"Oh?" I shot the hell out of that place before I left...what could they have found there?

"This thing has level seven AI," Shaine said. "That's about the same as a human."

"It also has raven DNA..."

"Raven as in the bird?"

"Yes."

"Someone's idea of a sick joke?"

"Gee, Mitch, do you feel like laughing?"

Jim reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. They were soggy. Damn.

"The blood appears to be a petroleum-based fluid," Mitch reported.

Shaine glanced up from the computer screen. "Some of the weapons on this thing are pretty heavy stuff. I guess it pays to be trigger happy sometimes.

"What do you think?"

"She's right, Jinks. This thing has a military-issue heat cannon in the chest. That's big money."

"This thing is unreal..." Jinks stopped and looked at Shaine. "What is the weapons status?"

"Active and armed."

She paled. "Okay. Mitch, help me find its power; we're going to have to cut it before we can go on."

"I've found a large battery..."

"I wouldn't count on that being the only source," Shaine warned.

"Yes, that would figure...between the flight and the weapons...which means we have a rather large bomb on our hands. Can you find them, Shaine?"

"Batteries are in the legs and back. Just behind the wings. I'm not reading any emergency shutdown mechanism..."

She smiled grimly and continued with false cheer: "Though there is an autodestruct..."

"James, would you mind getting the EMP gun from the locker to your right?"

He sighed and obeyed. The gun was five feet long and very heavy. "Okay, Mitch, Shaine, move back. When we're out of the way, James, fire..."

Jim braced it over his shoulder and fired just as the others stepped back. The recoil nearly knocked him over, and the Boomer jumped from the table in the middle of the blue burst, twitching and flopping back, then going still again as a faint smell of smoke filled the air. Jim replaced the gun, and went back to his seat.

"It's fried," Shaine announced. "Everything is gone, except for my copy of the programming. I'll take a closer look later."

"Not everything...the body may still hold some clues."

Jim shook his head. "Jesus...all of that work..."

"Not in vain. We're still in one piece..."

"Yeah," Shaine said, intentionally thoughtless. "And I've got a new toy." He sighed, and she slipped the newly-burned hypercard into her purse. Right next to my lipstick, a book of poems, and an emergency stash of candy...if only he knew...

"And," Jinks continued, "If I'm right, this thing may hold the key to the virus."

"There's a small black box at the base of the skull," Mitch said.

"What? Where?"

Jim picked up the goo-soaked cigarettes again and threw them at the Boomer. "Looks like I have to get another now..."

"Top drawer, to the right! Oh, and there are some cigs on top of the cabinet next to you..."

"Thanks."

"Sure, keep me from smoking them... We should go back, see if we can find more of these."

"You're not going to find any more. Not there, at least. Maybe in a Genom warehouse...but not there for much longer, either."

Mitch removed the black box and Shaine wired it up to an odd-looking device. Pressing a few buttons, she started feeding it input and recording the signals she got back.

"Do you think you could find another?"

"I found this one...and this time I know Genom has them."

Mitch looked up at Jinks. "What do you think?"

"I think that you and Shaine should turn that thing inside out."

"Well..." Jim said, "While I was there actually getting something done I overheard that Rice wasn't completely finished with these.

"I have a theory, James. These were meant to be our replacements." Jinks frowned. "Really. She's not done with them...or was she not done with testing?"

"Just plain not done. The tests showed they were ready for something, so Genom will probably ship them home to be finished."

"Mmm. Most likely the first round of weapons testing, or the first field tests. Who did Rice say it to?"

"Some people showed up - obviously with money, and Boomers up the ass...took out enough, at least. But anyways, she was complaining about not having enough money or protection."

Shaine was suddenly quite attentive. "Was there a blond man, about five foot ten?"

"Jinks! Look at this!"

"What is it, Mitch?"

"It's got a four-plug hole where it attaches to the spine..."

"Hook it up."

Jim puffed on a cigarette and looked at Mitch's latest discovery.

"I've managed to pull the blueprints off of this thing," Shaine said idly. "But what about these people? What did they look like?"

"I was a little busy getting you this Boomer and staying alive...maybe next time I'll just walk down and have a smoke with them, see who they are and what they're about..." He shook his head.

Shaine glared at him. "It's kind of hard to miss the family resemblance. He looks like he could be my father..."

"I only saw the limo."

She frowned.

"Next time," Jim whispered, "You can go...kill ten or so Boomers with just a gun and capture a new type of Boomer...see just how well it can fly without being seen by it... Is that something you should worry about? If so, then ask around...someone might know something..."

"Jinks! I found something!"

Jinks shot Jim a cautioning look, then turned to Mitch. "What is it?"

He had another copy of the black box programming, and had deciphered a different part of it. "I think I know where out little friend came from."

"Where?"

"What do you think, Jinks?"

"It's an odd design...it's advanced enough, yet made in an almost haphazard way...but I assume you're referring to the human DNA, not the mechanical parts."

"Yeah...I've got full writeups on the DNA structure, but no names."

"It'd have to be on file with the local hospitals, maybe the FBI central database, depending. Good job...now we don't have to strip out the raven DNA before we do our search. That can be your pet project. Shaine, can you pull up the core programming?"

"Already done."

"Does it have a manufacturer's label?"

"Yeah. Standard Gulf and Bradley design." She lowered her voice and muttered, "Cheap knockoff..."

"Any link to Genom?"

"No. No Genom parts at all."

"Hmmm...what do you make of that?"

"Looks like someone doesn't want to get his hands dirty."

Mitch grabbed his coat. "I'm off to the hospital, then...call me if you need anything."

Jinks nodded. "Be sure you have a weapon on you."

"No problem, I have my service revolver."

Jinks watched him leave, then turned back to Shaine. "What about the weapons?"

Shaine pulled up a military database. "I'll check on the serials...these are definitely military issue, and not surplus either..." She typed the numbers in. "All of these serials are coming up as stolen from a military outpost."

"Hmmm." Deep in thought, she continued to study the Boomer for a half hour more.

The phone rang. It was Mitch.

Jinks put him on speakerphone. "What have you found?"

"A bum. His name is Arthur Gant. Age 54, died 2024."

"How did he die?"

"Liver failure, probably from alcoholism."

"And where is he buried?"

"Charity Grounds." It was one of the more popular cemetaries, but had its share of run-down plots. It was also where the city disposed of those who had no money to pay for their own burial.

"Okay. Shaine, Vicki, and I will meet you there, and we'll have a look at the grave."

///

Mitch didn't have to wait long before the old, blue van pulled up. "Hey, handsome, you want a ride?" Lark called from inside. She opened the door, and the three Ravens got out.

Mitch laughed. "Good to see you too!"

There were definite indicators of the several strata of society represented in the cemetary. On one hand, towering Romanesque angels and well-maintained mausoleums aged gracefully beneath the omnipresent willow trees, and on the other there were cracked tombstones and weed-covered plots. Among the latter group was the long-untended grave of Arthur Gant.

Mitch looked down at it and nodded. "I have a shovel in my trunk."

"Wait," Jinks said. "I have a scanner."

She took out a small black box and ran it over the grave. "There are a few remains...but no actual body."

"Empty grave?"

"Not entirely empty... Shaine, do you have your laptop?"

"Yeah." Shaine took the black box and plugged it in.

"Make a copy of the readings for me." She peered at the screen. "It looks like a skull and either an arm or possibly a leg... There's more missing than there is actually there."

"I've got a bad feeling about this..."

"I know, Mitch...I have the same feeling. Better grab the shovel."

The grave was relatively shallow but it still took some time. Eventually Mitch hit the top of a wooden box - not a casket - and pried it open.

Jinks flashed a light down into the hole. "This is from the virus...that Red Equinox spread." She jumped down into the hole with Mitch, placed the skull in a bag, and handed it to him. "Let's get out of here."

"I'm with that idea!" Mitch went back to his car with the skull and the rest hurried to the van. Back at the Nest, Mitch placed the skull into an isolation chamber and opened the bag with robot arms. Just then, Jinks arrived with an EMP gun.

"James, can you take us back to the warehouse where you found the Boomer?"

"I guess so."

Jinks looked at the others. "One last field trip for the night?"

"Sure. Why not." Shaine seemed less than enthusiastic about working with Jim, but Jinks didn't say anything.

Jim shrugged. "Fine."

"Good. We'll go in suits this time...and make sure that we end this now." She walked out of the room, followed by Mitch and Shaine.

Jim shook his head. Seems like I'm hearing an echo from a few nights ago...

///

Old Chicago was a subterranean ruin filled with decayed and run-down buildings. Jim and Mitch surveyed the area carefully as they landed, followed by Jinks and Shaine. "Okay, James. The show is yours."

Jim led them toward a warehouse, its exterior fitting in with the grungy feel of the neighborhood. The sounds of a power lifter suit, a bulky and weaponless version of the ADP's K-suits, could be heard coming from it. The Ravens engaged their cloaks and walked toward the open doors of the loading bay.

Inside were four trucks, each being loaded with remnants of the contents of Rice's back room. Rice herself was in the power suit, and her boyfriend was crawling toward one of the trucks. The latter's Frankenboomer host lay on a table awaiting transport. Both of the Boomeroids looked less human than they had before.

"Told you this place would be cleaned out," Jim said over his suit comm. Shaine bit her lip but said nothing.

"Yeah, looks like they're closing shop!"

"We made it just in time," Jinks added.

"Well, it's your call. I got you here...what now?"

"It's your show, James. What do you say we do?"

He shook his head. "Mitch, can you take out the trucks? We can't let anything get away."

"You mean stop the truck? Or destroy it?"

"No...too obvious. Destroy the engine."

Shaine was growing nervous. Whatever those things are, they were human once...but they're also Genom. Does it really matter what happens to them after what they've done? What they would continue to do?

"Don't waste time, just stop them from going anywhere!" Jim's harsh tone snapped her out of reverie.

"Right," Jinks said, and the two female Ravens moved to block any escapees as Mitch fired a grenade at the front end of the closer of the two trucks. It shuddered, then exploded.

Jinks took up a position near the other truck as Jim made his way toward Rice. The Boomeroid had a large-caliber gun and was firing wildly despite the fact that she couldn't see them. "Dammit, not now...where are you?"

Jim grabbed hold of her suit as Mitch fired. The shot hit her power junction, causing the suit to flail wildly. Mitch then moved in and tried to hit her but it was hard to aim due to her erratic movements. Jim grasped her tighter and hit his jet verniers.

The loader suit was heavy, and slowed down Jim's hardsuit considerably. He gritted his teeth and pushed it as fast and as high as it would go, not caring when it showed signs of strain only fifteen feet above the ground.

"Get out of the way; he's going to drop it!" Mitch cried.

At about twenty-three feet the suit's alarms began to sound. Jim kept going. At 41.01 feet it was ready to give. Now or never...

"Die, bitch!" He dropped Rice and his suit shot up further into the air, freed of the extra weight. Decelerating a bit, Jim held his position and watched Rice fall.

She hit the truck and crushed it, spraying fuel everywhere. The observers on the ground could see immediately that she was trying to fuse with the truck and the remains of the loading suit, and opened fire. The truck went up in smoke, leaving the first floor of the warehouse a single, immense backdraft.

Out of the corner of her eye, Shaine saw Rice's boyfriend limping away with one of the Boomeroid bodies. He was on fire, and moving slowly. She started shooting at him, followed by Mitch, but it did little to stop him.

Jim, Mitch, and Shaine converged upon the Boomeroid, Jim reaching him first and slashing down to cut him in two. Mitch's twin swords followed suit, ripping the Boomeroid into even more pieces.

Shaine held back.

Watching from a short distance away, she scanned the still-living body for a core. There was none, only singed synthetic and organic flesh surrounding a roasted human center. Jim fired several shots into the head, then turned and looked at her.

"What the hell are you doing, Shaine? You're hesitating?"

"It was human," she whispered.

He brought his rail gun up and aimed at her. "What the hell is your problem? This is no game. Did you think we'd always be killing Boomers? You're going to get us killed!"

Dully: "If you're going to kill me, do it. But make sure the body is delivered to Genom...you may as well go there yourself, too..."

"This is not the time! Where's Jinks?" Both of them ignored Mitch.

"Aw, shit..." Jim shook his head. "You're pathetic." He turned away and started walking toward one of the overturned trucks.

Jinks's head shot up as she saw them coming. "Not now! Get everyone out of here."

Jim could see that she was setting up a large bomb...thermite, he guessed.

"Come on!" Mitch said, vaulting into the air. Shaine numbly followed.

Jim took a step toward Jinks. "How long?"

"Ten, or less if I hit it with a laser from higher up. This will make sure the virus never gets loose again." She frowned. "What are you waiting for? Go!"

"What about the Boomers? Isn't that what we came for?"

"I have the data we need, and the only thing left is to make certain they're flash-baked beyond repair." The two Ravens launched themselves into the air, following Mitch and Shaine. Jinks fired a few last shots at Rice as she left.

Several seconds later there was a deafening sound as the warehouse went up into a fireball.

"All right, Shaine. What was that back there?"

"Humanity," she said softly.

"And that's your excuse for hesitating? What if Jinks had been in danger back there? Or any of us? You're putting us at risk."

"So you refuse to follow my orders yet you expect me to follow yours without hesitation."

"I am following the most sensible course of action."

Jinks said nothing, but flew close to Shaine.

"If you can't do that, then someone else has to - or else we're all dead."

"We're all dead, James, it's just a matter of time before we find out." Jinks whispered.

"I don't care if it gets me killed...but if you ever pull that shit again I'll pull the trigger myself."

"Fine."

"I can see one of us dying because of our own mistakes...but because of your stupid idealism and double standards..."

"A double standard? Really?" There was a tiny note of humor in her voice. "I give you just as much respect as you give me."

"You've said it youself: you know who you want to kill."

"He may not have any Boomer parts but he's not human anymore!"

"Are any of us?" Jinks interjected.

"Excuses. He'll still bleed the same. This is a waste...you can't hold true morals! Making excuses for your actions..."

"It doesn't matter anymore. My blood or his...no difference. Shoot me or not. Let me at him or not. Just so long as he can't have me again...he'd enjoy that. He would waste that sacrifice..." She sounded cold and remote, a bit shaken perhaps but not feeling any true depth of emotion. "I'm not going to worry about it."

"If it doesn't matter then why are you here?"

"Why not be here?"

"Because it doesn't matter? Because you're risking the lives of those around you?"

The Nest's entryway loomed ahead of them. Jinks flew in, followed by Mitch.

"What are you going to do when we attack Genom outright? When people - not Boomers - are in the line of fire? People with families..."

"Yes, people with families and lives! Not like us!"

"Then I ask again, why are you here?"

"We threw away family and life," she whispered. It had the sound of an epiphany to it.

"And your point?" Jim drove on, not seeming to notice the change in tone.

"Maybe we both deserve to die."

"You'll get your chance at this rate." The pair followed Jinks and Mitch into the Nest. "You shouldn't be here if all you want is revenge."

"What do you want?"

"What I want means nothing. It's what you want, and what you can have... If you want revenge, you'll have to sacrifice your morals. People will die. People died tonight. How many were there when the blast hit? And had no clue as to what was happening? If you can't live with that, can't accept it, then why are you still here? Why even go out and fight?"

Jinks stepped forward. "I can answer that one. We do what we have to do not for ourselves, but for those who cannot do it themselves."

Jim sighed, shaking his head. "Fine. Just remember: I keep my promises." He began to walk away.

Jinks looked after him, raising her hand and letting the ports of her rail gun slide open. After a moment, she let it drop back to her side.