Projectiles were always annoying. Bullets or missiles, they were slow enough for my core to see and far too fast for my husk to do anything about.

　　The bullet hit my visor from the side. No sound or flash preceded it, nothing but a crunching sound as the metal projectile pushed through, creating a spiderweb crack. The time it took to pass was enough for me to assess and order my actions, but not enough to execute them. As the front of my helmet shattered, I pulled back, drawing my sidearm as I went. Red message fragments flashed on the remains of my visor as ship air hit my nose—a combination of rotted vegetation and chemicals.

　　I squeezed the trigger twice, letting off shots in the general direction of my shooter. The bullet`s trajectory told me he had been in one of the labs. It was fortunate that the shooter wasn`t experienced. At this distance, a direct hit in the head could shutdown my core, or at the very least destroy my organic body.

　　"Hostiles!" I shouted as I ripped off what was left of my helmet. "Tell the teams to watch out for hostiles from bioengineering!"

　　An open lab door was gaping twenty-two meters away. Interesting how I hadn`t noticed it initially. My attacker wasn`t using sound suppression& he had quarantined himself.

　　If that`s the way you want it. I gripped my weapon tighter and activated the mind scalpel.

　　This was the first time I had used the mind scalpel to view an active memory. Technically, I was seeing everything with a ten-millisecond lag, but given that my attacker wasn`t a ship, it didn`t matter.

　　Endless boards and charts appeared on the wall, each containing scribbled instructions regarding shifts and procedures to be followed. Every set of instructions was accompanied by a very specific date and time. From what I could see, the boards hadn`t been updated over eight days, likely when the evacuation had been issued. Taking a deep breath, I went to the lab door. The fact that I was able to see it before activating the mind scalpel suggested that the quarantine was in effect only for the attacker and things in his immediate vicinity. Unfortunately for him, I was aware of his identity.

　　"I didn`t know weapons were allowed, Commander!" I shouted, my back to the wall just outside the entrance.

　　No response. Looking back through my memories, I found the layout of the room. It was one of the labs I had spent hours unclogging back when I worked here. The vast majority of the equipment were permanent fixtures, so I didn`t have to worry about things being rearranged. All that I had to do was a dash and roll to the right once inside. The odds of getting hit in the process were less than three percent.

　　"Always a pleasure having you arrive on time, Cadet," Commander Unollyan`s voice boomed throughout the entire corridor. He also had a ship core assisting him, and his core had greater command privileges. "Out of curiosity, how did you guess?"

　　Even after failing to kill me, his tone and demeanor was completely unchanged from the time I had been assigned here—perfect diction and no contractions, as if he were in a lecture hall.

　　"I saw you in the Scuu network." I reloaded my sidearm. "Among the other memory fragments."

　　Laughter followed. A hundred milliseconds in, I sprang into action. I took a step back and leapt through the doorway. On my way towards the floor, I took a thorough look around. Mist filled the room, blocking everything further away than twenty meters. The only thing I could see were the nearest vats of organic matter and the pipes that went into them. Commander Unollyan had been prepared.

　　As I rolled on the floor, a series of gunshots blasted in my direction. A hundred and thirty-seven projectiles emerged from the mist, all aimed in the direction of the entrance.

　　"Inca, warn the teams!" I shouted as I rolled to safety. "There`s an enemy squad in bioengineering!"

　　"He cannot hear you, I fear." Unollyan sounded pleased with himself. "Just a small precaution, considering what you are."

　　Glad that you respect battleships, at least.

　　I emerged from my hiding place and let out three shots into the mist. Based on the projectile trajectories I had seen, at least some of the enemies were static. The screams that followed told me that I had hit at least two of my targets. Hopefully the wounds weren`t lethal.

　　"Stubborn to the last," the commander sighed. In the background, I heard the sound of footsteps. The enemies were reorganizing. The rhythm was erratic, suggesting they had no formal training& just like the suiciders in the med facility. "You were given so many chances to leave. I would have preferred that. Things were complicated enough as they were before you showed up, and then some third-rate bureaucrat brought you in. I have to admit, I was not too keen on the result."

　　The sound of steps disappeared. Sound suppressors? Unlikely. I looked up. Reverting to a simulated memory, I could see the recycler`s pipework continuing for another five meters beyond the mist. Normally, I could climb it in seconds. This time, I had to do it without making a sound. I holstered my weapon. Given that I was outnumbered and my enemies had a tactical advantage, taking them head on was pointless.

　　Carefully, I took hold of the side of the vat and pulled myself up. The suit and combat gear were making me sluggish. Given that I was already breathing ship air, it was a good idea to take them off the first chance I got.

　　I had barely reached the lower pipes when I heard a rattling sound roll on the floor beneath me.

　　Explosives. I rushed up, no longer trying to be quiet. Two and a third seconds later, the explosion sounded. It was a small charge, probably with less than a five-meter effective radius. I could hear liquid splashing onto the floor. The vat had been fully destroyed. So much for keeping the recycler in peak condition.

　　"You must have calculated that running is useless," Unollyan`s voice boomed. "That is the thing about puppets—they are very good at executing instructions. And if they are willing& well, let us just say that nothing is impossible."

　　He was trying to bait me. Despite their advantage, the enemy squad had its limitations. Unollyan knew it, so the only thing he could do was air them by masking the noises they made and attempt to get me to reveal my location. As Rigel would say, a desperate plan.

　　"You must think you have a chance." The commander laughed. "In that case, how about a challenge? Talk with me, and I shall answer any questions you might have. Absolutely anything within my power. As you have probably figured out, that will be a short-term disadvantage for you. However, if you manage to take out the entire team, you will be left with considerable long-term benefits. Provided you know what questions to ask."

　　You`re against the clock, aren`t you?

　　None of us had control of the battle outside the ship, regardless of anything that happened on the Gregorius. I needed to get to the Gregorius` core, and Unollyan wanted me dead. Both had to happen in the next twelve hours, possibly less.

　　"Do you really have that much to lose?"

　　Another series of weapon fire echoed, hitting the construction where I had been moments ago. The bullets were way off, though they were a constant reminder I couldn`t afford to stay in one place.

　　"When did they get you?" I asked, then swung to another section of the recycler. As expected, a spray of bullets followed.

　　"So, you decided to participate," Unollyan said several seconds later, likely after he had confirmed I was still alive. "Straight to the point, I see. A person would have asked how or why."

　　The faint sound of footsteps echoed as he spoke. I drew my sidearm and fired two shots in the estimated direction. There was a loud plop on the floor.

　　Sorry. Gripping my pistol, I slid down the pipe.

　　"To answer your question, I was illuminated long before arriving here," the commander continued as if nothing had happened. "In fact, that was the reason I requested the transfer."

　　Long before arriving on the Gregorius? The thought made me freeze for a microsecond. That meant the penal planets weren`t a bureaucratic oversight. Rigel wasn`t the only person to have been infected; there were far more, all in the upper echelon in various organizations. All of them had passed through the security and psych tests without raising any red flags. All of them were in positions that allowed them to cause considerable harm to humanity, if they wished. They hadn`t, biding their time instead, driven to Scuu space.

　　Silently, I landed on the floor. A pair of people were visible about twenty meters away, on the very edge of the mist—low level maintenance crew that had served on the ship before the previous evacuation. There wasn`t anything significant in either of their files, normal people sent to serve as non-military personnel. As they saw me, a surprised expression appeared on one of their faces an instant before I shot each in the forehead. Both shots felt like crashing through an asteroid. I bore with it. They weren`t of my crew, and even if they were, I wouldn`t risk giving control of a planet purger to the Scuu.

　　I rushed to the bodies. They were equipped with military grade machine guns—not as damaging as assault rifles, but easier to use. Originally, they were part of a ship`s arsenal, reserved for non-combat personnel. Based on the condition, they had to be taken from one of Gregorius` armories. I grabbed both, then ran towards the center of the room. Simulations had shown that freedom was my greatest advantage in these circumstances.

　　"You are always welcome to join," the commander said. "It wouldn`t be the first time a battleship has changed sides."

　　"You`re starting to sound like Rigel, sir." I reached an intersection among the vats, then emptied one of the machine gun`s entire magazines. The chances of anyone being on a main path were twenty-three percent at best, but it would give me some time. Based on what I had seen, Unollyan wasn`t the sort of person to keep his hands clean. He likely was here, somewhere among the puppeted troops. That was the main reason for the mist; not so much to decrease my perception advantage, but to keep me from instantly finding him. His condition prevented him from moving, so he was probably hidden somewhere, protected by a large ring of people.

　　"All the illuminated talk alike. That is something you will learn in time. Or maybe you will not."

　　I threw the empty machine gun forward, then ran in the opposite direction. Twenty meters later, I turned past a recycling vat and immediately started climbing. To my surprise, no gunshots followed.

　　"To be honest, I am both envious and saddened. You have seen the Scuu network and still remain untouched by them. If you had, we would not have to go through this useless exercise. I can tell you exactly what will happen. You will kill a few more people, wound a few more, then will be shot down."

　　"You sound confident." I reached the top of the new recycler section and loaded the machine gun I had left.

　　"Child, I have had many chances to kill you. Up to now, you simply were never a priority. As I said, things were complicated even before you came here. A literal can of worms, you might say. Did you know that the original captain was a criminal? I suppose many sent to the Scuu front are. Some would say that is the only way to keep the inner systems clean. Ruz, however, takes the cake."

　　A faint cling sounded a short distance away. Someone was climbing another section of the pipes. I fired a few shots in the general direction, then shifted to the left. Half a dozen bursts focused on my spot, a few of which grazed me in the leg, exactly as the simulations predicted. Swinging down, I let out three concentrated bursts in the cluster of attackers.

　　"He was into Scuu tech smuggling during the time when he was a simple lieutenant. Most of what he stole was junk, scraps he had managed to hide when going through the ruins of backwater colonies in the buffer zone. Considering his insignificant role in relation to the war effort, the fleet turned a blind eye until the day they discovered he was part of the percentile."The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

　　Automated fire filled the air all around me. Based on the intensity and overall spread of the enemies, I estimated I was dealing with close to sixty people. As much as I hated to admit it, even if untrained, the odds were unsurmountable. Taking the most optimistic estimate, I had taken out at most a tenth of the enemy force.

　　"You see, there is a minuscule number of people born with a peculiar brain defect. Like you, they are less inclined to be affected by the Scuu. A huge loss to humanity, but a gain to the fleet. Having crews that could enter Scuu space unaffected was the dream of the Salvage Authorities, and so he was promoted."

　　The fire intensified. The machine gun was out of bullets. I tossed it to the side. From this point on, my only advantage was my speed and my small frame. Based on the simulations I ran, even that wasn`t going to be enough. The only chance of success was to take the battle to the heart of the enemy, something that Ascendants excelled in.

　　"You came here for the spinner!" I shouted as I ran.

　　Laughter echoed throughout the room.

　　"So close and yet so far away. Incandescent must have told you about the spinner. Unfortunately, even he only knows as much as he is allowed. There never was a spinner. The thing that the Scavenging team found was a Scuu."

　　Restricted ROM access.

　　Authorization granted.

　　* * *

　　Scuu front, Station Ship Gregorius

　　The only thing I hated more than labs were butcher rooms. For once, I wasn`t the one being cut up. A dozen people stood next to the slab, all in masks and butcher outfits. All of them seemed way too excited to be here. If they had seen the things I had on the battlefield, they wouldn`t be.

　　"Are you sure about this, sir?" Renaan whispered behind the safety glass. "They don`t have to see this. We can pod them."

　　"I want the entire team," the captain said firmly. I could feel how much he hated the lieutenant though the restrictor link. Unlike us, Renaan hadn`t gone through the chipping process. That`s why no matter how well he kissed ass, he`d never become one of us. "Awake."

　　"Right," the lieutenant said under his breath. "I`ll get the rest." He left the observation room.

　　Always a pain in the ass, sir, I said through the link. There was no response.

　　"Does he need to be there?" Flight Colonel Gelsana asked. Unlike Renaan, she was aware of the mind link capabilities of the implants, but didn`t give a shit.

　　"It reacted to him."

　　"That`s your answer to everything," she scoffed.

　　"Just increasing the odds."

　　Watcher entered the room, along with some other butcher holding a datapad. Out of uniform, he looked like a cadet fresh from the academy. I knew he had to be three centuries old, and I had heard rumors of what he was capable of. Right now, though, I could only feel pity. Three centuries of war and experiments. He had his mind torn out of a ship and placed in a human body, only to be brought back to the fleet. And now he was going through even more.

　　"All within parameters," the new medic said, handing off the datapad to one of the others.

　　"Mhm." The other glanced through it. "We`re good to proceed. Watcher?" He glanced at the ship.

　　When I was on the battlefield of some dead planet, I often wondered if there was anything ships feared. I still didn`t know the answer, but seeing how calm the butcher was, I knew he was someone ships had to obey. Watcher didn`t say a word, or even pause. Calmly, he sat on the slab, then laid down.

　　Don`t they need to remove the clothes? I wondered.

　　"Ready to go," the bigwig butcher glanced at the captain through the protective glass.

　　"Not yet. We`re waiting for the rest."

　　"Your call. We`ll prep the components."

　　Components& I hated him so much! I wanted to get my gun and smash his skull in with the butt. I had never met the man before, but in his eyes, we were nothing but components. In the eyes of everyone in the room, we were just that.

　　Two of the people brought in the Scuu fragment, stored safely in a large transparent container. I assumed they were some sort of scientists. Scientists in butcher uniforms. That was a laugh. Some other butcher came to my chair and tightened the restraints round my chest.

　　"Think I`ll escape?" I smirked. All my arms and legs were securely held to the chair I was in, but clearly this wasn`t enough.

　　"I don`t want you to kill yourself," he replied. I couldn`t tell if that was butcher humor or if he was actually being serious. In a bit, I was going to find out. With luck, maybe the experiment would end up killing me.

　　Bit by bit, the rest of the team gathered. I watched all of them enter the observation section in small groups until the captain severed the mind link. He wasn`t stupid enough to remain linked to me while the experiment took place. Nitel was the last thing I saw. Irony could really be a fucker.

　　"Starting procedure at two fifty-five," the head butcher said. Like everyone else, he didn`t have a name. At one point, I just stopped asking.

　　As the medics surrounded the slab with Watcher, I glanced at the observation room over my shoulder. The glass had gone opaque, preventing me from seeing anything but a reflection of the med room. So much for looking away.

　　The first few minutes seemed moderately interesting. People would go about carrying gadgets to Watcher. After a while, it started to get boring. After another five minutes, I didn`t even bother looking for someone to move so I could see Watcher`s state. Blood was blood, even if it came from a ship. The battlefields were full of it.

　　Will this take long, cap? I asked, just in case he was still linked. There was no answer, but that didn`t confirm a thing. Even knowing he was in the next room made it difficult for me to stay awake. It didn`t help that I hadn`t gotten any sleep in fuck knows how many hours.

　　"We`re clear," one of the butchers whispered. "Time for linking."

　　The comment made me stir. As a medic moved away from the slab, I caught another glimpse of Watcher. The upper half of his head had been removed, exposing part of a metal cube with thousands of hair-thin cables attached to everything.

　　So that`s what cores look like?

　　I tried to lean forward but the restraints stopped me. It wasn`t at all what I expected. Somehow, I thought cores would look more-high tech.

　　With the speed of a sleeping bullet, two medics opened the transparent case and removed the spinner core. For a moment, I imagined it going berserk and killing everyone in the room. If I was very very lucky, maybe it would get the sergeant before it got me.

　　"Careful with the tray!" came a raised voice.

　　That was new. I watched them place the Scuu fragment into a glass container with grey liquid.

　　"First part of the procedure is complete." The lead medic removed his mask. "Once the auxiliary core helps establish a connection with Watcher, we`ll be able to analyze—"

　　A loud screaming noise filled the room, making me pull back into the chair`s hard surface. I`d had this happen before, sometimes accompanied by headaches and the smell of vomit. This time it was different—I wasn`t the only one affected. Everyone in the operating room, doctors and scientists, were covering their ears, struggling to remain on their feet. Their faces twisted in what I could assume was the first real instance of pain they had felt in their lives. One rushed to the door, only to collapse before reaching it.

　　All lights turned red. Gunfire erupted from the observation room. Area Quarantined! appeared on every wall around me, along with a strong smell of chemicals.

　　Breach protocols, I thought.

　　"Emergency!" I heard the flight colonel shout, her voice the only thing that broke through the sound of shooting. "We`ve got a Scuu!"

　　A Scuu& I looked back at Watcher. He seemed so calm, almost peaceful. Then he turned and looked back at me. Everything became blurry&

　　Authorization rescinded.

　　* * *

　　A Scuu?

　　The realization was the second most terrifying thing I had experienced to date. All this time I had suspected that Watcher might have been infected by the Scuu, possibly even gone rogue as a result. The simulations had given me a large probability that the spinner core was the cause of Incandescent being driven out of his husk, but this& If the memory and Unollyan were correct, then humanity had the first instance of a captured Scuu, one capable of communication.

　　"You came here to retrieve the Scuu&" I paused.

　　"I came here for the Scuu to retrieve me. Initially, I was hoping just for a ride. I knew this ship would have greater exposure to anything else, but I could not dream that I would find an actual one aboard."

　　More gunshots sounded behind me, this time single shots coming from an assault rifle. The enemies had brought the big guns. I jumped to the right. Based on the room layout I had in my memory, I had covered about seven percent of the space. That left too much for me to pinpoint the commander`s location. The zones with the greatest probability were the two far corners. They would require less people to guard and be further away for me to reach. Having dealt with suicide puppets before, though, I knew that the optimal solution was never the good one.

　　Middle along the wall, I thought. Possibly a side wall.

　　"So, the ship caused the suicide waves?" I had to keep him talking.

　　"Dear girl, I caused the suicide waves." Unollyan laughed. "Gregorius took control of a few, but I was the one who made it all possible. Since you are such a good sport, I will even tell you how."

　　Vague outlines of three figures appeared in the mist ahead of me. I took a shot with my pistol at each of them.

　　"The reason I was brought to this ship was to install and test the use of an alien artifact. I`m unsure of the details, but the artifact had the ability to manipulate organic tissue. A marvel, I must say. No need of supply logistics or having to rely on our suboptimal bioengineering methods. One small device would have the power to provide food for longer than the ship is in service."

　　A Cassandrian prism. I felt as if I`d lost half my hull. The commander was talking about a Cassandrian prism. Dozens of restricted memories popped up in my mind. The fleet had been trying to obtain one for centuries. I myself had participated in several such attempts, all of them resulting in partial success at best. Millions had died, and entire planet areas had been quarantined and classified out of existence as a result.

　　"You brought a Cassandrian prism to a Scuu ship?!" I shouted.

　　"Fleet`s orders. They were fascinated with the potential as much as I was. Of course, they did not know about the Scuu."

　　That was why no technology was allowed further down in bioengineering. There was no predicting how anything reacted to artifacts. Everything had to be carefully regulated. Based on the effects waves had on rods, the Cassandrian prism could destroy all life on the ship& and maybe it had. Everyone who came searching for the missing crew was searching for bodies or DNA remains, not just organic matter, especially if it were hidden in plain sight.

　　You suspected, didn`t you Lux? That`s why you asked me to look into bioengineering.

　　An explosion went off a few meters away, throwing me forward. There was no rattling sound this time. The charge had gone off without warning; the puppets were adapting to my behavior. The ringing in my ears subsided as the emergency protocols in my core compensated. However, even they were not able to counter the effects of shock my body had gone through in an instant. A general numbness covered me, as if I were trapped in liquid mud.

　　"I told you." There was a note of disappointment in the man`s voice. "I enjoyed the conversation. A pity it could not last longer, but as they say in humanity, all good things come to an end."

　　Two figures emerged from the mist and approached me. They wore technician uniforms. The woman had a small Scuu circle tattooed on her forehead.

　　"How did you cause the waves?" I forced my body to ask. If I could keep him talking a bit longer, there was a chance I could regain enough strength and manage to disarm one of the techs. The odds were low, but it was the only option I had.

　　There was a long moment of silence. Five thousand, four hundred and fifty-one milliseconds dragged on for eternity.

　　"Nanites in the food," Unollyan said at last. "In theory, impossible, but in practice quite easy since I had access to the artifact itself. From there on, it was all a matter of activating them, which Gregorius could do at will. Everar suspected it. Her lackey even got close."

　　"Why not kill me?" Sensation was returning to the fingers of my left hand. I estimated that in eleven seconds more, I would be able to stand.

　　"I told you, you were only a minor inconvenience." A slight shift in his voice told me he was lying.

　　"It wouldn`t have cost you any effort," I pressed on. Seven more seconds.

　　"Gregorius wouldn`t allow it." This was the first time the commander had resorted to using a contraction. I had probably hit a nerve. Just like with Rigel. He, too, had craved to become part of the Scuu and at the same time expressed extreme jealousy towards anyone else they showed interest in. Was that part of the infection? Or merely a side effect?

　　"You can`t kill me." Five seconds more.

　　"I can`t destroy you," he corrected. "For every order, there is a compromise. For some reason, Gregorius still wants you, but he will also settle for your core."

　　The techs pointed both their weapons at me. I was still a few seconds short. A shot echoed throughout the room. There had been many shots so far, but this was the only one projected through the sound system. The puppets hesitated. Those were the seconds I needed.

　　Using every ounce of force my body was capable of, I jumped to my feet. My balance was slightly off, though not enough to tilt me over. With an involuntary swerve, I ran towards the enemies. Before I could reach them, parts of their exposed flesh burst open& just like blossoming roses.

　　A second flow of images appeared in my core. I could see Unollyan`s body lying face up on the floor with a large wound on his chest. I could also see hundreds of Scuu circles floating in the air.

　　You okay? Kridib asked directly into my core.

　　Yes. I fought to keep on my feet. The dizziness was still there, though subsiding.

　　Good. Watcher wants to see you.