Crimson Rain (27 page)

“
They shoot ink? Really, and
where from? I mean, real squids shoot it from the bottom of themselves. I don
’
t see that being an advantage seeing as they are bipedal.
”

“
We made modifications to how
DNA
would form the cells and cause the mutations within the human genome. Through careful manipulation, we were able to cause the ink sacs and the orifice to develop directly under the eyes. Look carefully and you can see them.
”

“
Very clever. How is their strength?
”

“
Roughly twice that of the average human. The mutations did provide a slight increase in muscle mass, as well as density of tissue. However, their bones are no longer rigid and hard as ours are; they are now more cartilaginous. This provides both an advantage and a disadvantage. If struck hard, but not hard enough, they will prove to be quite resilient. However, if hit with the proper force, they will crumple like rags.
As I said
,
t
hey have their advantages as well as disadvantages. Over all, they are stronger than average humans and faster due to the fact that cartilage is lighter than osseous tissue. Their eyesight is unmatched; it is so sensitive they are able to see in almost complete darkness, but with the combination of human
DNA
, their irises are able to adapt to both daylight and total darkness.

“
Their unique tentacle hands provide unmatched gripping power. They are able to fight well unarmed, as well as with plasma blades. They, however, cannot grasp guns or ranged weapons of that nature. They are masters of close combat, which should be perfect for taking down your brother.

“
Also, the tendrils on their face, each
is
able to move independently and grasp objects, drawing in their victims to their large, brutal beaks. Also, the ink glands and orifices being under their eye
s
allow them to shoot a very thick, oily ink about twenty feet. It doesn
’
t smell good and is capable of blinding their enemy temporarily.
”

“
I see, what of the issue of them going berserk? What is the cause of this?
”

“
That
,
we still don
’
t know, but you need to keep in mind we are dealing with a very intricate and delicate system. By manipulating the
DNA
, we are fortunate that we are even able to do this. If one chromosome matches up wrong, we would wind up either killing the specimen or altering it into something unusable. These monsters have their place in combat, but are by no means the end all. Certainly a good shock troop to cause heavy damage and frighten the enemy, wouldn
’
t you agree?
”

Sarah nodded her head.
“
Hell, I am even scared of them.
”

He Who Draws First Blood

“
What are you working on?
”
Crimson asked, sitting next to Max who was drawing up the schematic for something he would have the assembly line put together.

It was the morning after Max
’
s last
“
incident
”
in the lab. Not only had he caused a lot of damage to himself, but he had also damaged some things in the lab. He also used a large amount of valuable resources that Crimson had planned to use for her projects. It would be a few days before they would be replaced, so her projects for Max were on hold. Meanwhile, Max decided he would create some more things for himself.

“
My eye…well, it will be anyway, once I
’
m done with it.
”

“
Your eye?
”

“
Yep.
”

“
Why are you making eyes?
”

“
Eye. Singular. You see this one,
”
he said, pointing to the one he had damaged pretty badly while bashing his head on the pharmaceutical locker,
“
it
’
s pretty busted. Not just the damage I did to it; it
’
s weak…flesh.
”

“
Right… Mine are flesh too. Care to enlighten me?
”

“
You are agile and know how to fight; it
’
s your job…
w
hen you aren
’
t amassing an army, that is. I don
’
t know how to fight. I plan to support you on the battlefield. These arms I made are perfect for it; they don
’
t shake; I could crush a tank with them; they have an electro-nervous system that gives me tactile sensation so that I know how hard I am grabbing, squeezing, hitting, you know, etcetera, but they feel no pain. They are amazing, if I do say so myself, so I plan to use them at range as the perfect hands to be holding a sniper rifle to support you at a long range. If someone sneaks up on me or gets near me, I should be able to defend myself by melee or martial arts of some sort. Also, if someone manages to shoot one off or even slice through it with a plasma blade, well, it won
’
t hurt any. There is, however, one vital flaw, one thing that prevents me from supporting you in practice rather than
only in
theory.
”

“
You don
’
t say?
”
she questioned, raising an eyebrow playfully.

“
My eyes! They suck, I have no targeting skill. At this point, I would be incapable of hitting anything more than five yards out. So… Well, it
’
s really cool actually. I am making a new biotic prosthetic. I will replace the eye that doesn
’
t have my interface chip installed in it. The busted one,
”
—he pointed to it again—
”
that one has got to go. It will be replaced by my Max two point zero eye. It
’
s going to be great, targeting guidance linked from my eye to my arms. I will be able to tell exact distances and velocity of whatever I am looking at. With this information, the auto logic processor will calculate for me precisely where I should aim to hit my mark, as well as move my arms on its own. It is a feature that I will be capable of switching on and off, of course. With this eye, they
’
ll call me
‘
Deadeye Max.
’
Sounds cool, huh?
”

“
Very, did you come up with it yourself…
Deadeye?
”

Max smiled wide like a child and happily said,
“
As a matter of fact, I did.
”

“
Yeah, I could tell. It sounds like something out of some corny children
’
s comic book or something. If it is really what you want to be called, fine, but if we get to the battlefield and someone makes fun of you for it, don
’
t let it distract you and miss your mark.
”

Max made a dismissive
pfsshtt
noise and waved her off.
“
Comic book, my ass. Besides…what
’
s wrong with comics? They
’
re great!
”

“
Figures.
”

“
Whatever.
”

“
Hey, I thought of one other thing that would keep you from helping me,
”
she said nonchalantly as she typed away on a tablet computer without looking up.

“
What
’
s that?
”

“
As far as I can tell, you don
’
t know any martial arts. Nor do you know how to swing any melee weapon properly.
”

Max looked up from his schematic and stared past her.
“
Well…no.
”

“
It
’
s okay, I
’
ve got
some
thing for you. It
’
s in the other room.
”

Max didn
’
t want to leave his schematic, but before he knew it, Crimson had grabbed him by his wrist and was pulling him out of his seat. She led him down the hallway and into a room pa
st
the lab they were in.

The room was vast, white, and the walls were covered in thick, soft padding. The padding on the floor was some kind of foam. It would soften a fall, but not much, and it wasn
’
t so soft that it would hinder movement. The room was empty except for a weapons rack with any form of plasma melee weapon one could imagine. The only other thing in the whole
thirty-by-thirty foot
room was a four armed statue of a skeleton holding carbon fiber electroshock tonfas.

The statue was large and menacing. It had eyes that looked as if it could spring to life at any time. The entire frame of this piece of artwork was made of carbon fiber. Its jaw gaped half open, looking like a ventriloquist dummy that was midsentence. It gave Max the creeps.

“
This is the sparring room,
”
Crimson started.
“
I suggest you find a weapon you feel comfortable with. You
’
re going to need it in about a minute.
”

“
I
’
m not going to fight you. What if I hurt you?
”

Crimson stared at him as if he were joking.
“
First off, you couldn
’
t touch me if you wanted to. Second, you aren
’
t fighting me. You
’
re fighting Luther over there,
”
she said as she pointed to the grotesque statue.

“
Right…I
’
m fighting a statue, how novel.
”

“
Eratus vincu klaas,
”
Crimson said, as if chanting some ancient spell.

The behemoth statue
’
s eyes lit up
in
a pale, sickly green color. They looked eerie and vile; the contrast
of
the sleek black of the carbon fiber against the green gave the statue an almost mythical feel. It began walking toward Crimson and Max at an alarming rate. Max grimaced and Crimson stepped forward.

“
Long time no see, Luther!
”
Crimson called out, waving at the object as if it were a person.

“
Indeed, it has been, Crimson,
”
a mechanical voice bellowed ominously.

Max glared at her and said,
“
How did you program it so intricately?
”

“
Program? It
’
s not a program. It
’
s an intelligence much like yours and mine. Luther is an old friend of mine.
”

“
An artificial intelligence? I thought those were outlawed, banned! You remember what happened in two
-
thousand
-
twenty
-
eight? The stupid American government created one to aid in the civil war that had erupted and it turned on them. It dropped nukes and exploded reactors all across their countryside and exterminated them over night! That was the start of the
G
reat
E
xtinction here on earth and the whole reason we can barely grow real food anywhere! The only saving grace is the AI had destroyed its own mainframe inadvertently before it could back itself up, or else who knows what other kind of havoc it would wreak? And you have one?
”

Luther began to laugh and Crimson wore an expression that stated,
“
Y
ou
’
re an idiot, Max.
”

“
No, Luther was a neurologist studying what made people
’
s personalities. He was developing a type of brain
MRI
that could copy every detail down to the last and store it a
s
binary data. You could then upload your personality into a shell of some sort, such as the one you see in front of you now. However, before his work could be completed, Luther was assassinated. By none other than the lovely Alexarien government. I have no solid proof, but it is what we believe. After his assassination, I went to his lab and did some snooping. Apparently, Luther was testing his own technology on himself and had made a backup of his persona. However, he hadn
’
t perfected the technology yet. I created for him this shell and loaded in his personality, trying to bring my dead friend back. It did. He is who he was
,
the way he responds, voice patterns, feeling, the whole lot of it. However, he has lost his spark of brilliance; nothing makes sense to him scientifically speaking, so he could never assist me as my inventor the way you will.