V O L U M E . S I X : C O D E_R E S E T

Chapter 156.5: Dense and Loud.

Interlude

Delta came through the door of the underground room and stopped.

The space had been finished properly since she'd last seen it. The concrete floor ran wide and open in every direction, the walls cold white and catching the square LED light off their surface. Along the walls, armor stands floated in magnetic suspension, each one lit from above by a small spotlight, not to hang the armor but to display it, the way something worth making should be displayed.

Numbers marked each position: 03, 04, continuing down. Most spots were still empty. Delta had more work ahead of her.

The room was labeled now, Armory Bay , in a font that matched the building's aesthetic, the old aluminum door replaced by a thick automatic panel that read approaching E-UNITs and G-Bots without being asked.

Gamma was sitting on one of the white benches along the interior wall, smooth, rounded, no sharp edges anywhere in the design. She was holding a piece of armor close, turning it in her hands, but her mind was somewhere else entirely.

"Gamma."

She came back, head snapping. "Yes!" Her eyes found Delta.

Delta sat beside her and dropped an arm across her shoulders. "Did the revival process leave something behind? Dave worked through the night on you, he wouldn't let the E-Medics near the reconstruction, said your architecture was above their operational range."

Gamma smiled quietly. "I can hear him saying that."

Delta raised an eyebrow. "That's the first time I've ever heard you say something at a normal volume. What is it. Tell me."

"I'm conflicted." Gamma stood up. The yellow in her eyes was steady, focused. "Are we doing the right thing?"

Delta blinked.

"Why are we here?" Gamma held Delta's gaze. "In a foreign country, while our country is being reshaped without us. Reaper replaced an entire population with our kind, relocated them, buried some, killed others, and we're here filing case reports and taking down low-level terrorists who aren't strong enough to make us draw a blade. Except 02. Why are we sitting on the sideline of the thing that actually matters?"

"I can't follow you." Delta stood. "You know this is a strategic withdrawal. 05 briefed you."

"I know it's a withdrawal. The strategic part is what I'm questioning." Gamma exhaled. "We left a home that father built, every decision in that building had his hand in it somewhere. And don't tell me this stay is temporary, because we have a military installation going up here. That's a long-term investment." She looked down. "We both know how capable 02 is. So why is she waiting? Is she afraid of him?"

Delta's expression went flat. She stepped forward and delivered a swift, metallic chop to the top of Gamma's head.

"Are you slow?" Delta kept her voice level. "I thought G-Bots were supposed to be the advanced models. After that, I'm starting to think 07 has a faster processor than you."

Gamma grabbed her head. "That was completely unnecessary!"

Delta covered one ear. "There she is. Speedy-Loudy, as 03 named you."

"She did not!" Gamma flared bright yellow.

Delta pulled her back to the bench. "The problem with 02," she said, in a tone that indicated she was going to be reasonable about this even if it took effort, "is that she's more capable than the situation can comfortably hold. Which is its own kind of curse."

"How is being too capable a curse?!"

“Okay,” Delta covered both ears. “I regret waking Loudy up now.” She continued anyway. "If she weren't a serious threat, Reaper would never have looked at her twice. He wouldn't have sent his finest operative after us. But she can't release that power freely, because her priority is keeping her sisters alive, sisters she lost for twenty-five years. You can feel that in every decision she makes."

"Then we push forward!" Gamma's volume climbed back to its natural setting. "If she's strong enough that even Reaper is cautious around her, she has a real chance against him!"

"You're doing the yelling deliberately now."

"Maybe." Gamma smiled with the specific innocence of someone who is absolutely doing it deliberately. "I'm committing to the character ‘Loudy’."

"I didn't name you that." Delta came close to laughing. "Anyway. She can't move yet. Yes, she has a chance of winning, but what happens if she loses? Who faces him after that? The E-UNIT couldn't. We couldn't." She paused. "The last time we faced him, Alpha was cut in half. Pi was—"

She stopped.

Gamma went quiet.

"It still lands," Gamma said.

"Yes." Delta let the word sit for a moment, then pulled up a screen. "But we're doing something. Look, this is the E-UNIT production facility we're building. We got the machines out of the Hope Bubble. And 02 is planning something beyond that."

"What is it?!"

Delta stood and faced her. "Please go back to being sad. The volume is causing structural damage."

"Who said I stopped being sad?!" Gamma grinned.

Delta closed her eyes briefly. "02 wants to cross the continent and reach the Kasparian and Remidican borders. Reaper deployed the fourteen thousand E-UNIT army there as border security, and she wants to convince them to come back to our side. The production facility won't be operational soon enough on its own. She needs the numbers."

"That's a real plan! I thought—"

Clank.

Delta's hand covered Gamma's mouth before the sentence could finish. "Forget it. The future is dark. We will be decommissioned and mounted as decorations on the walls of Reaper's throne room. There is no hope. Please, in the name of father, be sad again and lower your volume."

Gamma removed the hand and smiled. "Thank you. Knowing there's a plan makes a significant difference." She paused. "One thing, though. Remember how 02 talked about her old team back at the hangar? She made them sound like a precision military unit."

"Yes." Delta's expression warmed slightly. "I expected something close to flawless. What I found was young girls with weapons and considerable personal baggage."

Gamma clicked her tongue. "You're not seeing the full picture. Those same girls complete the mission, smile through damage, keep going after being cut down, and put themselves between the threat and whoever needs protecting. She undersold them badly."

"The baggage is still real."

Gamma stood up abruptly. "Wait ,while we're on the subject! Speedy-Loudy? That name reduces me to exactly two characteristics!"

Delta said nothing. She held Gamma's gaze for a moment, then turned and walked back to the floating table at the far end of the room, resuming the armor work.

"Delta!"

No response.

"Delta, I'm serious—"

The printing continued.

Gamma followed her, still talking, the words arriving muffled and continuous. Delta kept her eyes on the blueprint.

"Audio sensors broken. At least this way," she said, to no one, "I can't hear the yelling."

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