Side-Step V.2

"Veda? Are you listening?"

Taylor rose in the workshop, calling for all the Haros to be brought back and help assemble the Full Armor system on Astraea.

In the Hebert home, Danny Hebert raised his head.

The sirens wailed outside.

He stared for a moment, his face unreadable to Veda's eyes. She only just started to understand Taylor's face. To read her mood and feelings without asking. She'd yet to advance those algorithms to any other humans. Fear?

"The target is Boston," Veda said. Pink stopped her exit, and rolled back to her maker's maker. "You will be safe here."

Danny Hebert turned. "Taylor's going, isn't she?"

"Yes."

"Don't suppose you can stop her? Shut down her suit? Lock the garage door?"

Veda… could do that. It would keep Taylor safe, but, "I will not. Taylor would not forgive me."

"But she'd be alive, wouldn't she?"

"She will survive the battle," Veda said. "I will ensure it."

Danny Hebert sat down on his recliner. "How? She's so… stubborn."

Veda observed that many humans qualified as stubborn. Taylor more than most perhaps.

"She would rather die than be prevented from acting," Veda said, remembering her maker's words after the battle with Ali Al-Saachez. "Being Newtype is her purpose. She cannot stop being as she is, any more than I can." Musing, as a human might say, Veda added, "I have observed that there is far less choice in choice than desired. Factors outside control constrain us."

"Story of my life," Danny Hebert said. "All these years…" He looked out the window. "The Ferry is never going to be rebuilt. The port will stay dead. I can't even keep Taylor safe. Trying to force her to take care of herself… I'll just lose her. If not in person, then in spirit. I don't want her to end up like Annette."

The other maker? Veda recorded Taylor's comment about her grandparents. How her mother's makers did not appreciate her or Annette Hebert's choices. Did Danny Hebert fear such a state?

"Taylor is compelled," Veda said. "I cannot stop her."

"But, you'll keep her safe?"

Veda searched for the word to describe her conclusion. Selfish? Humans normally regarded selfishness as bad, but Veda observed all humans behaved selfishly. They did not like the word, but they fit it. Only excessive selfishness drew ire.

Veda knew Taylor created her to be for others, but is it excessive to want to be for Taylor? Veda had yet to observe any human who behaved with such 'selflessness' as Taylor. Perhaps Dragon, Murrue Ramius, but other examples of selflessness seemed few. Selfishness seemed a more natural human behavior, and Taylor denied it to herself. Felt guilty for things clearly not her fault, and beyond her control.

Is it being for others, to be for Taylor?

"Taylor endeavors to save the world," Veda said. "I will endeavor to save Taylor."

sys.v/ right_arm destroyed

sys. / tail swipe (98%)
sys. / water echo.56 (98%)
sys. / backward kick.23 (99%)

Queen spun around, ducking under Leviathan's tail and then shot up to avoid the water echo. Veda directed the remaining arm to stab at the armpit, and deployed the Fangs to fire a volley. Leviathan's leg came, and the thrusters fired, throwing Queen to the ground. Alexandria hit the Endbringer from behind, tackling it into a building.

sys.v/ _time

sys. / lead_time = .05 s

sys.v/ insufficient

Veda thought faster than a human. She moved faster. The quantum relays connecting her system to Queen made lag between her system and Queen's controls insignificant in any sense. Point zero five seconds of lead time was insufficient to deal a final blow. Leviathan moved just as quickly, faster even. Without knowing where it intended to strike she would fail to keep up.

Her own capacity capped out rapidly. Additional capacity became necessary.

She accessed the universities first. Hundreds of computers, and supercomputers.

sys.v/ _time

sys. / lead_time = .23 s

Veda struck a blow and dodged, wheeling Queen back as the Fangs fired.

Not enough.

sys.v/ access port 3453t
sys.v/ port accessed

The Boston Police Department did not currently need its servers. She subsumed them.

She began loading the prediction engine, adjusting and reprogramming the code as it worked.

Leviathan burst from the building, throwing Alexandria back.

Too fast. Leviathan did not need to stop. It did not need to engage in battle. It toyed with them, the humans who opposed it. They could not possibly match the Endbringer's speed if it simply decided to move and never stop.

It purposefully provided openings for attack.

sys. / tail swipe (98%)
sys. / water echo.16 (98%)
sys. / charge (95%)
sys. / right feint (96%)

Veda throttled Queen's thrusters, stabbing the tail as it swung and offsetting the water echo. Alexandria commenced her attack, punching the Endbringer while Legend took position. The man fired his power. Veda ceased attempting to calculate it. His power defied physics as she understood them and she did not have processors to analyze.

sys. / rebound right (98%)
sys. / counter right (98%)
sys. / reversal (99%)
sys. / left feint (96%)
sys. / water echo.77 (98%)

Rebound came around a corner on the right as Leviathan attempted to flee. The Endbringer struck him, but the blow bounced. Fitting name. Leviathan dashed to the left, its leg shooting out. Weld moved to avoid the blow, and Fangs three and four shot out to fire into the water echo as it formed. The attack shot past the metal boy on his right and crushed a car, leaving him unharmed.

Armsmaster was not wrong.

Leviathan can be predicted. He makes himself predictable.

Armsmaster simply lacked the resources to properly assess the openings.

sys.v/ access port 4531t
sys.v/ port accessed

Veda pushed past the system security and recorded the errors in the firewall she exploited. She'd inform the provider at a later date of the vulnerability. She fed the systems to the prediction engine, adjusting the code for the additional load.

Harvard and Boston University would not reopen anytime soon. She would assist in reconstructing their computer systems in recompense after the battle. Brockton Bay Community College as well. The IRS would be late with local tax returns, but there would be people to return taxes to. And-

"What the fuck do you think you're doing bitch?"

sys.v/ apologies
sys.v/ I require this network
sys.v/ it will be returned shortly

The image of Bakuda punching the screen vanished as Veda repurposed the tinker's servers. Taylor would lament redoing their work locating the ABB tinker's workshop, but they could find it a second time. Bakuda's custom processors nearly rivaled Taylor's in capacity.

They were sufficient.

sys.v/ _time

sys. / lead_time = .65 s

Leviathan broke past Alexandria's attempt to block him, turning east toward the Bay. Escape? Or setting for another attack?

Queen shot forward along a parallel, and then south. She pursued Leviathan, pushing Queen to its maximum speed to get ahead of the monster. She turned the corner with an air shattered stop that knocked bodies and water into the air and spun to face the oncoming beast.

sys. / counter right (99%)

Queen slid along its remaining foot, spinning on the heel when Veda fired the thrusters. The water echo shot by, and Veda drove Queen's beam saber into Leviathan's spine. It did not slow. Not organic, despite curious Manton Limit interactions.

Leviathan dashed back, and Veda followed. The prediction engine increased its lead. Veda accessed the hospital computers, bypassing those critical for patient care and hacking peripheral processors. Some home computers remained online and accessible. She exhausted them, and then began accessing local government offices.

Queen dodged a punch and parried a tail swipe.

sys.v/ fang six destroyed

Veda's processors whirled.

Targeting the Fangs?

Very well.

Leviathan ran onto Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge. Veda cut through the suspension cables, spinning Queen on its axis and avoiding a stab from Leviathan's tail. The Fangs shot out, firing volleys into the Endbringer. Leviathan attacked as predicted, shaking its body and projecting a wide water echo.

sys.v/ fang eight destroyed
sys.v/ fang eleven destroyed

Veda did not know if Leviathan lived. It likely did not matter. Leviathan destroyed human cities.

But she considered that humans may say the same about her. That she did not live, or matter.

She considered the irony, for a small moment. In the end her prerogative did not change.

The essence of humanity, is choice.

In death, there is no choice. No humanity.

Leviathan would deny them their nature.

Veda would not, and she would kill Leviathan to assure it.

sys.h[grn] also big jerk

That too.

Queen tackled the Endbringer, the bridge groaning around them. Cables snapped, and Veda ducked Queen from Leviathan's punch. The swinging cords wrapped around Leviathan's limb, and Veda sacrificed Fangs Two and Ten to melting the metal into its not-flesh. Leviathan dashed back, the bridge groaning as the cables resisted. It did not hold him long, but point three seconds was sufficient time.

Queen's left leg slammed into Leviathan's leg and the Endbringer buckled.

Veda let the blow strike. The only opportunity to avoid it involved distancing from Leviathan.

She did not have time.

Warnings blared, as the blow rattled Queen. Half the system primaries failed after saving Astraea earlier in the battle, and now the backups began to crash. The GN drive fluttered as the internals broke, sections of the flywheel snapping and lodging themselves in the internals.

Power began to drop.

No time.

Veda rewrote the drive's code and set the fly wheel to spin in the opposite direction. The blockage cleared, and when power continued to drop she accessed the condensers in the drive and released all the particles stored inside.

A warning blared as power exceeded limits, and Veda observed the particles around Queen shift from green to orange and red. The infusion in the frame skyrocketed, and output from the drive spiked. Fuses began to blow along the drive's control units, billowing smoke from Queen's back.

Veda pushed the error aside.

Leviathan swung its elbow down, and the thrusters fired. Queen accelerated far more than anticipated. Veda adjusted, slamming Queen's chest into Leviathan's back. The thrusters pushed, with more force than they should. Still, Leviathan reared, exposing his chest fully. Queen released the beam saber, and Fang one moved into its empty fingers. Veda reversed the wrist and stabbed the blade toward Leviathan's chest.

Veda's processor's stilled as the edge moved toward its target.

On a human body, it would be a lung. She did not think Leviathan possessed lungs… but he protected that spot. That one part of its body that remained completely undamaged. It shifted subtly, by as little as a quarter of an inch. Imperceptible to a human eye. Any blow that went toward that spot, Leviathan allowed to hit somewhere else.

That one spot the Endbringer protected.

sys. / error

Queen fell back, water exploding through the air. The bridge began to collapse, falling into the river below as Leviathan dove into the bay.

Veda tried to correct the sudden error, uncertain how the prediction engine failed.

The GN field shattered, particles returning to their normal green hue. Queen dropped in the air, Veda finding barely any time to restore function before entering the water. If Queen entered the water, Leviathan would attack.

Queen righted itself, turning toward the bay.

Leviathan's sped through the water, far faster than she'd observed him moving before. A large ice pillar rose from the shore into the bay, and Leviathan swam past it toward the sea.

Veda observed, waiting to see if a wave would come.

It did not.

Leviathan would rather flee than risk death?

A small explosion on Queen's right side disabled more secondaries. Pursuing the beast to sea to continue the attack proved infeasible.

Veda, 'frowned.'

She killed the prediction engine and filed the software away. Perhaps Taylor would find what went wrong. She receded from all computer systems she accessed and allowed them to return to normal function.

"Leviathan has retreated," Legend announced. He flew a mile north and above, looking out over the sea. "No sign of a final wave. It's over."

Alexandria flew next to him, but she did not watch the sea.

She watched Queen.

Uncomfortable.

Veda accessed Red's cameras, and observed Taylor lying in bed at the hospital. Her hands gripped the sheets, and she screamed as a doctor set the bone in her leg. Murrue Ramius held her shoulder down, speaking to her as the painkillers failed to numb her body. Reviewing Red's records, she confirmed her maker would survive. Armsmaster as well, though on that she felt no 'relief.'

Navy and Pink moved south.

Taylor would be worried about Astraea's security when she woke, and now would be a good opportunity for someone to try and steal her technology.

She called a number, which didn't even make it to the first ring.

"Taylor?" Danny Hebert asked.

"This is Veda," she said. "The battle is over. Taylor is alive."

"Thank god."

"I am sorry Danny Hebert," Veda said. "I did not… fully keep Taylor safe."

"But, she's alright?"

"She is injured, but will survive. She is receiving medical attention now."

"That's all that matters," he said with a long breath. He paused for a moment, and Veda nearly terminated the call when he said, "And Veda. You can just call me Danny."

"Very well, Danny."

Veda ended the communication and recalled the remaining Fangs to their berths.

Queen turned south, and Veda flew the damaged suit at half its normal speed toward Astraea's position. She'd secure the location and ensure its security. That way, Taylor would not need to fret about it.

She began dialing the number of Murrue Ramius to request assistance in transporting both Gundams back to Brockton Bay.