V O L U M E . S E V E N - P H A N T O M S . A N D . P R E D A T O R S

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Chapter 164: Dressed for War

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The main hall was quiet until dozens of metallic footsteps broke it open all at once. The E-UNITs had been called in by their captain and Albert together, urgency flagged, goal described only as preparing for the future. Albert's name appearing alongside 02's on the summons was unusual enough that the team had been speculating about the content before they'd even arrived.

They found 02 and Albert standing on the white metallic stage. Between them, an object sat behind an energy barrier, opaque, impossible to read through. Behind the stage, 05 was loading a presentation onto the large screen, moving between slides with the focused efficiency she brought to anything technical.

The team took seats across the rows of soft dark grey chairs that filled the room. The chairs ran wall to wall, hundreds of them, filled by only a few dozen.

Infinity sat herself among the others, performing 24 with the consistency she'd maintained since taking the role. She could feel 02's gaze on her even when the captain wasn't looking directly at her. Something about it was different from the other sessions. She filed the feeling away.

06 glanced sideways at her. “24, you’ve been quiet.”

‎ Infinity nodded once, then folded her hands the way 24 used to.

02 cleared her non-existent throat. The room settled before she'd finished the gesture, the captain facing them was enough. Albert and 05 moved to stand beside her as she brought the microphone up.

"Sisters, thank you for responding quickly, even those of you I pulled off active duty." Her voice was level, unhurried. "We've been receiving pressure from our contractor about our approach to the terrorist engagements. That pressure is actually a problem wearing a reasonable costume, and the problem needs addressing now. Let's get into it."

She stepped aside and let Albert roll the framed object forward.

"The attacks are becoming less frequent but significantly more destructive," 02 continued. "Yesterday's mission confirmed that Black Voltage can source whatever materials they need. The bomb we removed by force was seventy-five kilograms, it was primed and positioned to lift the entire station to street level. If they had placed it somewhere where extraction by air was impossible, or scaled the quantity up further, we would not be standing here."

Albert took the second microphone. "So we worked on the problem ourselves over the past months. What we've developed is meant to let you complete these high-risk missions without factoring in your own hardware as a liability."

05 stepped forward. "The revival system has a gap, three minutes minimum to prepare a dying unit for frame transfer. In a live situation, three minutes and travel distance can cost lives. And the revived frame isn't always clean. Speed-building produces units that haven't been properly verified, and the arriving E-UNIT sometimes inherits technical issues."

Albert moved to the energy barrier. "So, what if the frames were harder to destroy in the first place?" He tapped his screen. The barrier dissolved into particles.

The armor stood revealed.

White and clean, dense and deliberate, almost knight-like in its presence. The frame was humanoid and feminine: narrow waist, wider hips and thighs, a stance built for balance and movement both.

The head was sleek and angular, almost fox-like, no facial features at all, just a single glowing blue dot centered on the face. Segmented interlocking plating, primarily white, black understructure, blue highlights running the joints. Beside it stood a massive rectangular shield, white surface, blue framing, the words E-UNIT in clean military font across the face.

02 stood beside the frame. She was 1.72 meters. The armor matched her exactly, which meant the shorter E-UNITs in the room were, for the first time, looking at something that would bring them to their captain's height.

Albert faced the room with the expression of someone who had been waiting for this moment. "The Bulwark Frame. Built to hold its position, absorb impact, and control the shape of an engagement. The tradeoff is speed, the weight costs you mobility. Which is why…" He moved to the frame's back. "…we embedded thrusters directly into the structure, with these wings to compensate. You won't be able to sustain full flight, but you can reach elevation, cross distances quickly, and jump between positions without needing your standard thrusters."

"Combined with the Burster you've already tested," 02 said, stepping forward, "this armor lets you breach fortified positions and absorb the kind of high-volume explosive damage Black Voltage has been building toward. Push it hard, but don't push it past the design limit."

A hand went up from the seating. Infinity's.

"Captain, why the upgrade now? This looks significantly heavier than what we'd need for standard terrorist response. Are we facing something new?"

"Good question, 24." 02's eyes sharpened. "We're splitting the team into two cells. The primary cell holds the city with the strongest possible number of units. The second cell has a classified assignment outside the country. The primary cell will need reinforcements to match the number loss. That's the scope of what I'm sharing today."

‘If 02 leaves the country…’ Infinity pressed. "Who's in the second cell? Where are they—"

"24. Classified. I said it clearly."

"We're a unit." She stood. "Information about missions affects all of us. Why are you keeping this from—"

"Us?" 06 turned from the seat beside her. "I don't need briefing on a mission I'm not running. Why are you pushing this hard? This isn't the first time a captain has held classified details."

"It happening before doesn't make it right." Infinity kept going. "We deserve to know where our captain is going."

02 glanced at 05. A notification landed in her HUD.

02 exhaled through her vents. "I should have known. The moment I mention the link, the universe finds a reason for me to use it." She looked at Infinity.

[System override detected.]

Infinity went still. "What is happening." Then she stood and moved between the rows toward the stage, not by choice, her body moving in controlled silence, her eyes shifting to full blue. She stopped beside 02 and stayed there.

[MANUAL CONTROL: DISABLED]

02 put an arm around her shoulder. "05. Confirmed?"

"Yes." 05 closed her screen. "I've read her SSD directly. This is not 24. It's Infinity on active infiltration, her designation is visible in the terminal."

The room went dark in expression but stayed quiet. The memory of what Infinity had done the last time she was in their space was present.

02 turned to her. "Infinity. What is your mission?"

"To report significant actions by this team and build a counter-position for the next engagement. Personal objective: gather intelligence to support a response on Obsidian's behalf." Her mind was running at full speed underneath it. ‘ No. I can't stop this. What is happening to me?’

"How long have you been performing 24?"

"Since before arrival here. I replaced 24 during Obsidian’s harvesting week. She was taken, and I've held the role since then. E-UNIT 24 is contained inside Elysium, operationally broken. Location classified to Golden Circle channels." ‘ The whole plan—'

05’s voice dropped. “That’s why Dave’s system never flagged a death.”

Chairs scraped back. A shield snapped half-open. Someone’s boots hit the aisle.

02 raised one hand. The motion died mid-step, as if the building itself had issued a command.

“Nobody touches her,” 02 said. “You want 24 back? Then you don’t destroy the only piece of the system that knows where she was taken.” She shifted her gaze back to Infinity. "Why the gaps in performance?"

"Insufficient baseline data on 24. My stored information on her comes from 05's interaction logs, which are limited, given how little direct contact 24 and 05 had." ‘ —is finished.’

02 patted her head once. "05, if I keep her in the link, does she get revived?"

"No." 05's expression carried something that was close to satisfaction. "She stays with you. Honestly, better outcome than I anticipated."

"Explain."

"The link." 05 moved toward Infinity with scientific interest. "Can I run analysis on it when this is done?"

"Later." 02 faced the room. "Given what we've just found, everyone lines up for 05 to scan. Especially the units who returned from Elysium. This meeting is dismissed."

The room stirred, voices starting up. 03 raised a hand. "Captain, what happens to her?"

02 looked at Infinity standing silently at her side, eyes still full blue, no control over any of it. A prisoner trapped behind her own face.

"We keep her," 02 said flatly. "She’s the only living route to 24.” A pause. “And it seems Reaper just donated a new asset to our armory. "

Infinity kept her gaze forward.

‘I am finished.’

‎