53 Book 4 - Chapter 111

Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy M1 Y:2142

Inter-Academy Round 2 Fortescue Points: 193, Rank: 6, PR: 0.4825

Tier 3 Daedo M-Rank: 140

Term: 3, Round: 3

Daedalus Operating Capital: +2,600,000 bitcreds

"And the last thing I ate or drank was at the workshop. I had a glass of water, with my father, when we were reviewing the anti-ingress performance of our exos and mechs while in the desert," Daedo finished.

Master Nader was silent for a moment.

"Turn everything back on, including your AI," she said.

Daedo did as ordered.

"Your AI would have seen these events not only through information stemming from your senses but also the sensors on your bodysuit. Which I believe are excellent. Send me that data now," Master Nader ordered.

Daedo hesitated only a moment before asking Myrmidon to doctor the exchange with Mace, when her finger entered his mouth and the glass of water she provided.

Daedo: can you make it look real?

Myrmidon: I have little experience or applied learning in this area. I will attempt to slice out a section of data.

Daedo: hurry any delay will make her suspicious.

Daedo flicked up a file for Master Nader to accept and she hesitated momentarily before accepting.

Myrmidon: her AI was scanning the file for trojans.

Daedo's feelings were not hurt because she did not trust him fully. She always taught that good security should ignore human trust, it had no place. Human intuition, on the other hand, should always be listened to and investigated. Daedo's only instinct right now was to run out and warn Mace to escape.

A small bug, which was what seemed likely, should not precipitate a life-threatening scenario. But this was Master Nader, she had a history of ruthless solutions. He also knew her more than most, she had loyalties above her cadets and the Academy. Ones which overruled what would be an appropriate response otherwise.

Daedo tapped his foot impatiently and unconsciously. All he wanted to do was to get out and warn Mace. Take her to safety. She had her reasons, which he could guess, knowing parts of her story and Master Nader's.

Master Nader's head swivelled towards his foot, "Nervous?" She accused.

Daedo knew he had to get his heartbeat under control. He invoked a breathing exercise used in yoga and focused on slowing his heart.

"I'm concerned about what you will find," he stated truthfully. A pseudo-truth that was slightly misleading was his best strategy. Hopefully, she considered him to be a naïve almost thirteen-year-old child.

"I will need time to analyse," she replied, "Dismissed."

Daedo left her office dutifully, sat down at the communal table and donned his helmet.

Daedo: what is the probability Master Nader or Zeus will notice the data is altered?

Myrmidon: If they review using a method with several passes, correlation and cross-link matching. Eighty-four percent.

Daedo: Master Nader and her AI Zeus are nothing if not thorough. We must act now.

Daedo removed his helmet, approached Mace and tapped her shoulder. There were over six ways to contact her with a helmet on. Daedo opted for the low tech method. They were always monitored, it wasn't perfect, but, he would act casually and buy them as much time as possible.

Mace removed her helmet and looked up at him. When their eyes met, she knew something was wrong without a word being spoken.

Daedo turned and walked towards the exit. Mace followed.

They walked towards the M1 Thoth gym and entered. They still hadn't spoken, which wasn't unusual for the pair.

Daedo didn't want to waste any more time, "Can you interfere with the academy surveillance?" He asked directly.

Mace nodded. She was apprehensive. She knew what she did, but she didn't know why Daedo was acting this way. Was he hurt by her betrayal? Or something worse? Mace tried not to think too hard about the possible scenarios. But that level of composure was impossible for her to achieve.

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Her usual calm exterior was cracking and she nervously said, "Yes. I can…." Before breaking off mid-sentence. The information was not necessary. She activated dampeners and a broad spectrum interference device that she possessed.

Any competent AI would be able to lip-read from a vid feed, so Daedo donned his helmet again. They would still speak normally, but his mouth would be hidden.

"You need to run – Now - I'm not sure how long it will be before you are discovered," Daedo said sadly. "You can go to your parents, or to our workshop or even the Sahara base. But you need to run - now."

Mace simply stared at him in disbelief.

"I can't," she replied finally. "Unless," she added thoughtfully. "Tell me what happened. Exactly. Why do I need to run?"

"You know why," Daedo said.

Mace shook her head. She would not reveal information - it had to come from him.

"You have already put me in a…..," Daedo stalled searching for the right word. "A position. One which I am not happy about."

Mace was implacable. She was using silence on him to draw more information before an idea occurred to her. She held up her hand in sign indicating he should wait.

She checked for the biohybrid spybot. It had been deactivated, and she was unable to retrieve any data from it. It was dead.

"She discovered it?" Mace asked, and Daedo nodded in reply.

Mace immediately sent a message to her Mother. The target discovered and destroyed the biohybrid almost immediately. I failed in retrieving any useful data.

"What are you doing?" Daedo asked.

"My duty," Mace replied emotionally. She was betraying Daedo's trust right to his face, and it was taking a toll on her.

"Are you going to run now?" Daedo asked her.

"I'm not sure. If they have what they want, it's over," Mace said.

"What's over?" Daedo asked.

Mace let out her breath in a stuttering manner. She was getting emotional when she needed to have her wits about herself, and she wasn't used to it. She was rarely emotional unless it was controlled aggression or an embarrassment on the rare occasion.

"Everything I think," Mace said sadly. If Daedo didn't trust her. If the squad felt that she had betrayed them. It was over for her.

"Mace," Daedo said seriously holding her shoulders. "I don't care what you think is happening, but you need to get out of here now. You can't mess with Master Nader and expect to come out unscathed. You know this."

Her heart was breaking. She had betrayed him, and he was still worried about her. He should be angry. He should have been running back to Master Nader to warn her. Unless. Unless he knew something.

She gasped, "You know!"

Daedo looked confused, and although she could only see his eyes, she saw something dawn on him. He did know. "How could you?" She asked angrily.

"How could I what?" Daedo asked panicking.

"Side with an alien!" She said too loudly and pushed him away.

"You don't understand," Daedo said.

"Understand what? If she is one, she is a precursor to the invasion!" Mace had run the gamut of emotions, and now she felt betrayed by Daedo.

"You don't know anything. And think about it, why would I do that? Especially when you know what we are trying to achieve," Daedo said. "This is what happens when you are not open and honest." He turned his back on Mace and began to walk towards the exit.

Daedo received a flying kick into his back which he was totally unprepared for. He careened to the ground, stunned mentally and with the wind knocked out of him.

His body began to react drawing from the intensive training he had undergone throughout the year. He attempted to jump to bring his feet underneath himself and turn so he could at least face Mace in a crouch.

Moments before completing his move she put him into a headlock with one arm, while pinching a nerve on his shoulder with her other hand, which also attempted to support the headlock.

"Where do you think you're going?" Mace replied. "I'm not going to let you warn her."

"Think about what you're doing. Think about what I could have done," Daedo spoke quickly as he was losing consciousness. He stopped struggling, and she loosened her grip slightly.

"As soon as she discovered the bug I covered for you," he rasped.

"I know," she replied. A few other cadets spotted them. But they were M1 Thoth on a gym mat. This scene was not out of place.

"Why would I do that if I was supporting an Alien invasion?" Daedo asked.

"I don't know. None of this makes sense. Why didn't you out her?" Mace asked.

"She isn't a threat. She is helping," Daedo said, and as he squirmed minutely, Mace tightened her hold.

"Don't move," she said harshly.

"Why didn't you tell me what your suspicions were?" Daedo asked.

"I wasn't allowed, and they aren't my suspicions," she replied. "I was never sure, but she, and you, have as good as confirmed it today."

"What? That Master Nader has excellent security systems? We already knew that," Daedo said.

"Your reaction just now," Mace whispered harshly. "Oh, how could I have been so stupid? I could have squeezed this information from you at any time."

And with her last word Daedo pulled her arm and slipped his head from her grasp. Mace tried to pinch his nerve, but he was already on the move.

Mace swept her leg, but Daedo anticipated the move and hopped over it with a skip. She guessed he would run for the exit and attempt to open a commlink with Master Nader in order to warn her - at any moment. Her interference device had limited range, and as soon as he was ten metres away, he would be able to use his comms.

She lept after Daedo. He was fast, but she was faster. They knew each other well. However, Daedo was still able to surprise Mace. He turned on her suddenly throwing a precise punch towards her abdomen.

The wind went out of her, as she bent over in pain, surprise and lack of breath. She was determined to recover immediately, it would only take him a moment to get out of interference range.

But he surprised her again. He stood facing her in a battle ready stance.

"We can fight. Or we can talk. You choose," he asked.

Mace took a single step towards him and stared at her former ally and friend. She would give him a chance. Time was precious, and if he was talking to her, he wasn't warning Master Nader. Mace had no idea what strike teams were in place, if any, that was information well above her station.

"Talk," she said finally.

Daedo exhaled a breath of relief.

She smiled at him. "You didn't want to fight me for real?" She asked wasting time and attempting to rebuild rapport at the same time.

"Are you kidding?" He stated the question with an incredulous tone. "When have I ever beaten you?"

"In my limited experience there is a big difference between training and the real thing," Mace replied.

She circled him, and he returned the favour by taking a few steps. It was the most intense sparring match they had ever had. The punches were both physical and mental. And the battlefield was certainly unclear.

"I know you can trust me," Daedo stated. Mace thought it was a strange thing to say until he elaborated. "I am the same as always. My goals are the same. My allegiances and motivations are the same. I'm not sure about you."

"How can your allegiances be the same when you are harbouring an alien or agent of the aliens," Mace replied.

"Why is an alien an enemy necessarily? The ones that landed forty-two years ago weren't enemies," Daedo stated.

"Are you so sure?" Mace replied with a question.

"They didn't attack us," Daedo stated.

"But they left behind four parcels to the four superpowers," Mace replied.

"Do you know what they contained?" Daedo asked.

"Not in detail. That's above my paygrade. But I do know they were some sort of alien document officially declaring war on us and giving us fifty years to prepare as a matter of interstellar propriety or some such bullshit."

"You parents almost convinced everyone that there was no alien threat. That it was all baseless rumours!" Daedo exclaimed. "Are you saying they knew the opposite for a fact?"

"Part of their job, I'm afraid," Mace said unapologetically.

"That's stupid!" Daedo exclaimed. "They were actively trying to stop us. Daedalus. From taking action to defend the planet by convincing us the threat wasn't real. How does that help humanity?"

"I didn't agree, and I never tried to dissuade you. But my parents are old school. They believe the International Defence Forces will do the job and the citizens should stay ignorant and calm."

"The so-called traitorous alien agent has been more helpful than your parents and their agency. Whatever it is," Daedo said.

"How by training us?" Mace scoffed. "We have virtually been training ourselves since the middle of term two. By thwarting Fortescue? Please." She said the last with disdain.

Daedo leaned close to Mace and lowered his gaze. "She has been giving me advanced tech. But I guess that is over now."

"What?" Mace asked in astonishment.

"Stuff that I wouldn't have worked out in ten years, if at all," Daedo said.

"You're kidding? The designs? The armour? Everything?"

"No. Not the basic stuff," Daedo shook his head, "The stuff I'm working on with Cisse and the aurora shields. And many others that I had planned to implement over time."

Mace laughed for a long time. It wasn't a jovial laugh. It was an ironically sad laugh. "Now I know how she turned you. She is smart. I give her that."

"She didn't turn me. She only revealed herself because there was no other explanation for the tech she was giving me," Daedo explained.

"She outwitted you Daedo. You are so naïve," Mace said.

Daedo shook his head. "Your beliefs are so entrenched you can't see another possibility. She isn't the enemy. From my point of view, your parents are doing more damage than she is. She is trying to prepare us."

"Why would she do that?" Mace asked.

"They aren't all on the same side," Daedo stated. "The Galaxy is a huge place. Hell, the Earth has rarely been on the same side internally, and we are just one planet."

"Why are they hiding and feeding tech to someone like you then?" Mace asked.

Daedo pointed to his neck. "I'm not sure. They have me on some list of possible defenders with potential."

"Bull. If they came with tech - you know what companies are like. They'd eat it up and protect them," Mace stated.

"True," Daedo nodded realising he did just that, "Maybe it's part of their treaties. Maybe there is another reason. Like why are the companies building the spiral?"

"You are grabbing at straws now," Mace replied.

Mace was interrupted by a signal attempting to reach her. She deactivated her interference device momentarily.

Special Agent: operative 4020 the target is not here. Please update immediately and report for debriefing.

Mace: Did you search all specified areas.

Special Agent: I'm going to pretend you didn't ask that. The target is not on campus. We are confirming with the local security systems the exfiltration path that the target utilised.

Mace shook her head.

"When did you warn her?" She asked Daedo accusingly.

It was Daedo's turn to shake his head. "I never got the chance. I was more worried about protecting you."

Mace began to cry. She had betrayed her friend's trust. Her life was over, and she would only return to her parents and the organisation as a failure. She very much doubted they would find anything. Master Nader clearly outsmarted everyone and would not have left a trace.

The only thing that remained was what Daedo knew. She looked up at him. He was staring at her concerned. He was still worried about her. The organisation would want to interrogate him. They would want to know everything she told him. It was her duty to inform them of everything that she had just learned.

Even if she didn't report everything. They would still interrogate him, based on her previous reports and the fact they wouldn't be alerting the target. They may even use him as bait for Master Nader.

She looked up at Daedo and wiped away her tears. She rarely cried and disliked showing weakness, especially in front of him. She came to a decision.

"It's not me that has to run," she said dramatically. "It's you."