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 175: The Paradox of 11

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"Put me down!" 03 fought gamma with both hands, pushing against the grip, her feet finding nothing useful. "The captain is alone out there facing those things and we're running in the opposite direction! I said put me down!"

Gamma kept running, not at her ceiling but close to it. "Captain's orders. You're the E-UNIT here, you're the one who's supposed to enforce them. And think about it practically. What do you actually do when you get there? She said it needs speed. You are currently the farthest thing from speed."

"It doesn't matter." 03 finally wrestled herself free and hit the grass. "What can she do against giant mechanical worms?"

"Do you not trust her?"

03 stared at her.

"Is our captain not capable?"

03 looked down. "It's not about that."

Gamma stepped in front of her. "Then let me be clear. You would be another liability on that field, the whole engagement requires speed and you can't give her that right now. I'm not looking down on you. I am describing the situation you're choosing not to acknowledge."

"So what? We stand here dangling our feet while she fights alone? She can't be revived, Gamma. There is no backup frame, her mind lives in the crystal. If those worms reach her—" 03 stopped herself. Turned around. "I'm done talking. I'm going back."

SEEK.

A knife with yellow energy lines landed in the grass two centimeters from 03's feet. It dissolved into particles. Gamma's voice came out low and close to a hiss. "Don't ignore orders."

03 turned slowly. Her Burster was coming up. "Friendly fire doesn't—"

Gamma was already there. The blade was already at 03's neck, a touch, not a cut. She was two millimeters from the helmet, her eyes level with the visor's blue dot. "You're not built for this fight. Lower the gun, 03. Don't make me guarantee you won't raise it again."

03 put the Burster down. She looked into Gamma's eyes for a long moment.

"What a disgrace." She pushed past her and sat on the grass.

Gamma held position for one breath, then dissolved into yellow and completed a full circuit of the surrounding area before returning, before 03 had finished sitting. "Enemy cell. Twenty of them, north. 11 is with them. New suit."

03's eyes went wide. She got up and moved to the top of the nearest hill, staying below the ridge. She looked over.

A training range had been assembled quickly in the low ground, sensor arrays arranged to capture performance data, the layout rough but functional. 11 stood at the center in the SKOTIA suit, running close-range combat drills with the E-PHONEUS.

"Why here?" 03 kept her voice low. "The whole country and she picks this exact location?"

"I don't know." Gamma's yellow glow dropped to almost nothing. "I hate her more than I've hated anyone. She told Reaper exactly where we were and what we could do before he came for us. He arrived prepared. That's why my sisters died the way they did."

"I know what it costs to lose sisters." 03's voice stayed level. "But stop glowing or you'll tell them exactly where we are."

"Right. Sorry."

"11 was the only sergeant 02 ever promoted." 03 turned to Gamma. "Highly trained, highly capable. We need to move carefully."

"Why did she leave?"

A voice came from above. "Because of how humans treated us."

11 was hovering over the ridge, the Liberta 02 sniper aimed down at them, crystal glowing red through the SKOTIA plating. "What a pair. Yellow crystal and the sub-captain."

03 scanned the surrounding ground. The E-PHONEUS had materialized around them, blades and knives out, blue edges ready. "We're surrounded by Elysium's operatives." She looked up at the weapon. "Wait. Is that an upgraded Liberta 01?"

"Beta built the original." 11 lowered her aim. "I reduced the charge latency and tightened the shot grouping."

"No way." 03 stood up. "I have been asking Dave to do exactly that for months. He says the Liberta 01 is already optimal."

"Is he still that bad?" 11 pulled her hood back and descended to the ridge. "I used to watch him take unnecessary breaks just to avoid fixing us. That dirty laptop, those conspiracy theory videos about the crystals being alien technology—"

"He's started calling the captain 'blue alien' in mission briefings," 03 said. "It's escalating."

"He did not."

"He did. And the captain tolerates it completely, and 19 defends him the moment anyone raises it. She's started picking up his sense of humor too, dry, flat, slightly too long between setup and punchline."

"I knew they were talking behind everyone's backs." 11 sat on the grass. 03 sat across from her. "I took a day off and monitored her to confirm it."

"Deeply unsettling of you."

"I'm not at 05's level yet."

"Fair enough."

"She kept going back to him in the evenings," 11 said. "Watching him work. I think she genuinely wants to understand mechanical engineering."

"Criticize him as much as you want, he's still the best we have." 03 smiled. "Although he's started wearing an E-UNIT hat. Something's happening to his hair."

Gamma stepped between them. The E-PHONEUS closed in around her. "03."

"I know, I know." 03 rolled her eyes. "11, have you heard the theory going around about 04?"

"What theory?"

"That her warmth is performed. That she deactivated her emotional driver after 02 died at the factory site, and has been operating without it since." 03 leaned forward. "05 is running a formal investigation. 04 keeps refusing system checks."

11 pressed her hand to her forehead. "Why didn't any of us see it?"

As their voices dropped, Gamma turned to the E-PHONEUS who had settled beside her.

"So. What are you?"

P140 spoke. "Trained operatives under 11. Stealth and intelligence work."

"You're not going to attack me?"

"We hold until 11 gives an order. Until then, we stay alert."

Gamma ran a quick scan. "You're E-UNITs."

"We were shells in the Omega network, mindless and connected." P140 removed her black mask. "Lord Reaper gave us our systems. He brought us into existence, effectively."

Gamma was quiet for a moment. "If he hadn't killed my sisters the way he did, even I barely survived the encounter, I could have agreed with most of what he's built here. Sentient robots deserving their own country. I understand the principle." She looked at the ground. "But all he sees in us is the crystals."

P140 shook her head. "Be honest for a moment. If he had walked into that hangar peacefully, would you have listened? Would any of you have heard a word he said? Would you have considered that your father was flawed and needed to be stopped, or would you have stood with Nick without a second thought and killed Reaper the first chance you had?"

"He is a killer who wraps mass murder in a noble cause." Gamma stood. "Defending his methods is agreeing with his methods."

The E-PHONEUS rose and formed a loose circle. "Maybe some of us do."

Then every head turned west.

A blue point in the distance, coming fast.

11 stood and raised four fingers. The E-PHONEUS read it and were gone in the same moment.

11 looked at 03 one final time. "Tell 19 I'm doing well. And that her obsession was wasted effort. I want to know what her face does when she hears it."

03 laughed. "Guaranteed."

11 touched the ground. The teeth of a Mecha-worm appeared beneath her feet. "Chrome. I followed your instructions—" Her voice dropped as the worm rose just enough, closed around her, and pulled her out of the location without disturbing a blade of grass.

03 watched the ground settle. "That was a remarkable exit."

02 stopped beside her, still holding Infinity. The energy foot was visible where the left leg ended.

"Captain!" 03 threw herself at her. "Why did you send me away? Am I that much of a liability?"

"Yes," Infinity said.

03's expression flattened. "You're speaking through her now?"

"No, I gave her freedom of expression while ago," 02 said, setting 03 down. "Talking to myself was becoming a problem. And I'm starting to respect her, allowing her to speak doesn't cost anything."

"Captain, she's the enemy. Conversation gives her intelligence."

"You spent fifteen minutes gossiping with 11," Gamma said, pointing at 03. "Wait, Captain, your leg—"

02 raised it. Internals visible through the near-transparent energy construction, sparks drifting at the edge of it. "I know. They were sentient, they understood timing and positioning. We need to move. 24 is waiting."

03 looked at the energy leg. A thought was forming behind her eyes.

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