CyMS/Crazies

97. The Big Escape - Aureus Gate Crossing

97. The Big Escape - Aureus Gate Crossing

Gadget had been disturbed by the beeping, but was even more disturbed when it stopped. Pai’s Firewall program was now without power, and he feared they were without hope. Even more CyMS seemed to be coming their way and they could see nothing of their allies. It seemed they were all very busy, because none of his calls were getting through.

96. The Big Escape - The Redeemer

96. The Big Escape - The Redeemer

As Goddess approached Ryder and the enormous robot, Lady Rose gestured for Crimson and Jenny to follow her in the opposite direction. A man called Kuznetzov — apparently a Cynfo engineer — came hurrying up rambling about something, but Crimson shut him down. Lady Rose met Rhino and the gunmen behind the convertible and they all looked on as Goddess appealed to her former employer.

94. The Big Escape - Mobilization

94. The Big Escape - Mobilization

Nix lowered his binoculars. "Another team stationed near the junction. What’s that, the seventh?"

"Eighth," replied Bolt.

Two days earlier, the Peacemakers, Survivalists and Creators had all begun to notice small Army teams on the move around San Lazaro. The groups were typically composed of five medics protected by around 10 soldiers and one or two Agency operatives. They seemed to be setting up at strategic locations across the city. Drone reconnaissance by Flyboy and Flash revealed that the entropic disruptor was being temporarily lowered to let each team through.

92. Settling Affairs - "Up to No Good" - The Comedian

92. Settling Affairs - "Up to No Good" - The Comedian

Standing in one of the corner offices, a mug of green tea in her hand, Crimson stared down at the city. But she wasn’t thinking about San Lazaro, or Cynfo Tech, or Ryder or Goddess.

She was thinking about her husband, Troy. When she had last spoken to him all those weeks ago, he’d been on a business trip to Los Diablos. Troy hadn’t been permitted to leave once the virus began to spread, and they’d been apart ever since. Crimson couldn’t even remember what they’d said during their last phone call.

90. Settling Affairs - "Up to No Good" - The Project

90. Settling Affairs - "Up to No Good" - The Project

Ryder felt little but a sense of purpose anymore.

Save them! Save them all!

He didn’t know how long he’d been in the lab; only that he and his new friends were making great progress on The Project. Whenever he was tired, he just lay down on the floor. And, when he awoke, he always had more ideas.

89. Settling Affairs - "Up to No Good" - Cynfo Memories

89. Settling Affairs - "Up to No Good" - Cynfo Memories

Alone in a quiet corner of the nightclub, Fei shivered. Even though her injured ankle was healing well (thanks to the newest Heal-O-Matic device pumping her full of medicinal nanites, courtesy of Lady Rose, plus acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine), she couldn’t forget what she had seen at Cynfo Tech.

87. Settling Affairs - "Do-Gooders" - Sugar and Strife

87. Settling Affairs - "Do-Gooders" - Sugar and Strife

There has to be something in here!

Lance was determined to find a treat for Charger, but the aisles of Megamart were mostly bare. What he did find — buried under a pile of Dr. Fresh sponges and brushes — was a pack of toilet paper. Feeling guilty about his failure, he tried to make the best of it when he returned to Charger, who was waiting patiently by the big store’s entrance.

82. The Escape Plan Part 2 - Watching the Enemy

82. The Escape Plan Part 2 - Watching the Enemy

Lady Rose listened carefully as Rhino updated her. The last she’d heard, he and Gudu — working alongside Crimson, Zephyr and Beater — had broken into the abandoned mansion that overlooked the Creators’ headquarters. Here, they were close enough to receive data from the bug Zephyr had planted in Dr. Altmann’s implants. They had also observed the arrival of Flash and overheard the discussions of the plan to negate the entropic disruption field.

81. The Escape Plan Part 1 - Creative Conference

81. The Escape Plan Part 1 - Creative Conference

Cyborg had suggested they use only audio for the call. With almost every member of the Creators, the Peacemakers and the Survivalists taking part, the holo-call system would be overwhelmed. Gathered with him in his office around his computer were Hiko, Threads, Kuklacı, Flyboy and Flash. Plate was still on guard duty. The exhausted Dr. Altmann was still resting.

79. The Betrayal

79. The Betrayal

Standing outside the brewery’s loading yard, H3x could hear her puppets moving quietly around inside, safely secured behind a locked door. She checked the neural hacking interface that she used to monitor them. There were 261 CyMS spread across three floors of the brewery, all ready to do her bidding.

77. The Omicron Protocol - Part 3

77. The Omicron Protocol - Part 3

Getting to the Blue Sky Hotel was far from simple. Though it was in central San Lazaro, Hiko and her allies encountered a roadblock, a flooded street and one of the biggest groups of CyMS anyone had seen.

76. The Omicron Protocol - Part 2

76. The Omicron Protocol - Part 2

Cyborg watched as the others filed out of the lounge, most of them looking depressed. Flyboy had suggested getting a drink and it seemed that Plate, Threads and Kuklacı were keen to join him. Only Hiko remained, and she now moved her hoverchair closer to Cyborg.

75. The Omicron Protocol - Part 1

75. The Omicron Protocol - Part 1

The spider-shaped device landed with a crack and slid across the table. Buck, Pai, Lance, Flash, Ranger and Bolt all turned to Nix, who had just walked in. He looked exhausted.

"Long night?" asked Bolt.

Nix ignored her and nodded at the device. "That’s from my Agency partner. Inside is a data clip. Mike is warning us to get out of SL before the Omicron Protocol is enacted."

70. Patient Zero - Part 1

70. Patient Zero - Part 1

Lucky was helping Gadget and Thug with the repair work at ATS when the call came through. After the Red Dragon raid, they had put up a metal grille to protect the front of the shop. Putting down their tools and leaving Thug on guard duty with Seeker, Lucky and Gadget hurried to the back. Artemis gestured to a nearby laptop and Lucky noted that the special encrypted comms channel was active. Already on the call were Buck and Pai of the Peacemakers and Cyborg of the Creators.

65. The Purge Script - Part 4 (13th Street Camp)

65. The Purge Script - Part 4 (13th Street Camp)

Winner would have preferred to stay at Cynfo headquarters and his concern over deploying Great Wall too early did not help. He was at least glad to have Crimson and Beater for company. The security chief had kept hold of her own BNW throughout the crisis and the trio used it for the journey to 13th Street.

64. The Purge Script - Part 3 (10th Street Camp)

64. The Purge Script - Part 3 (10th Street Camp)

H3x winked at Rhino and Gudu as the trio were led towards three blue shipping containers. The camp on 10th Street was overcrowded and the desperate leader seemed keen to believe H3x’s story about testing out a new ‘cure’. The three Red Dragons had dressed smartly and were masquerading as members of a UN emergency response team. As they were unarmed and carrying only a case containing the ‘cure’, the leader had few reasons to be suspicious. He was a priest named Father Cullen, assisted by two young men who carried baseball bats and didn’t say much.

63. The Purge Script - Part 2 (8th Street Camp)

63. The Purge Script - Part 2 (8th Street Camp)

It took a while for Lucky and the rest of Team 1 to be admitted to the 8th Street camp. Understandably, the guards on duty at the converted high school had to be sure the new arrivals meant no harm. Lucky was careful not to mention specifics, claiming only that he needed to discuss a treatment that might help us deal with the virus’. He, Thug, Flash and Cyborg were happy to leave their weapons at the guard post and were then escorted to the school building. They passed dozens of tents and makeshift shelters. The hundreds packed into the school compound didn’t seem overly interested in four new faces.

62. Whiskey in a Bottle

62. Whiskey in a Bottle

‘Boss, I’ve got something for you.’

‘Something else, H3x?’ answered Lady Rose. ‘The puppet trick was probably enough for one day.’

H3x grinned. It was always good to keep on the right side of the boss. Before replying, she checked the mirrors and the surroundings of her stationary SUV. Other than a couple of ambling CyMS in the distance, she saw no danger.

‘Actually, it’s kind of connected to the puppets. One of them was unusually lucid and I noticed a bottle of Kabalan sticking out of his backpack.’

60. The Purge Script - Part 1

60. The Purge Script - Part 1

‘Are you sure about this, Buck?’

Pai looked across the table at the veteran police officer. The pair were alone in one of the station’s interview rooms, a laptop on the table in front of them.

‘We can’t go on like this forever,’ Buck replied. ‘These guys seem to be on our side. We were fortunate that the Purge Script ended up in our hands. Now it’s time to take action.’

59. The Test Subject

59. The Test Subject

Even for Cynfo Tech, 5 a.m. was an early start. Winston ‘Winner’ Malik wasn’t all that happy about sleeping at the office but this was a common event now, even for Ryder Arcadia himself. They had transformed some of the rooms into decent living quarters, Scarlett ‘Crimson’ Young ensuring that all were comfortable and well-equipped. Though he was beginning to feel rather claustrophobic, Winner sometimes looked down at the empty streets below and felt glad to be safe. He also didn’t have enough time to get depressed about the wider crisis; he was too busy.