"Cybersix not here." Fixed Idea-88 said to Jose.
"How long have you been here?" Jose asked him.
88 looked up at the clock, "Big hand on 11, little on 6."
"Thank you. You can go to lunch now."
"Cybersix might come." The Fixed Idea insisted.
"I don't think so."
"Cybersix sad. Is she okay?" he asked as he rose from the desk.
"I don't know." Jose turned with a frown on his face, his mind going over the last few days.
Because the rescue mission had been led by a cyber, and due to the (thankfully minor) injuries suffered by Cyberdragon, the Cyber Training Review Board had stepped in and started an inquiry. In deference to the board, Von Richter thanked the entire group in general terms before turning Type 37 over to the tender care of a cyber Drill Instructor to work off 30 pounds in three days. Otherwise, he reasoned with obviously delighted malice, his explanation of escaping on his own when the prisoners made a jailbreak and making his way back to civilization through the jungle would not hold water.
The board of cyber trainers explained that the inquiry was necessary to learn from the mistakes of others. The other cybers had to be told what wouldn’t work. The significance of that statement escaped nobody’s notice.
Because of her lack of training with the equipment, they excused Cyberdragon’s rough handling of it that resulted in the communications breakdown. They commended her for following her mission orders not to communicate with the penetration team until told otherwise, and highly praised her quick thinking and brave action that took down the watchtower. This added even more to her new found confidence. However, they disregarded her insistence that she was to blame for the failure to initially detect the watchtower. They reminded her that she had not been trained in Reconnaissance techniques.
He had been pleased when the board praised him for having followed his mission orders to the letter. He'd been able to hear everything happening due to the superior electronics he'd installed in the walker. He' been very tempted to wade in and use the four missiles stowed away in his walker. However, Cybersix had spoken to him privately, apart from the others, and had insisted that he promise to obey her orders to the very letter. He made that promise, and found it almost unbearable to listen in on the radio conversations. But the board said that using the missiles would have aroused Cornazon’s suspicions and compromised the cloak of secrecy surrounding Von Richter’s entire operation. His restraint had been commended, as was the design of the walker. The board had been very impressed.
He had just gotten out of his interview with grandfather, who also had been delighted with the positive report the board had given him, and had praised him in equal terms. He'd been trying so hard to please and impress everyone with his gadgets and inventions, that being praised for doing nothing had been a surprise. An interesting puzzle on adult behavior for him to ponder.
After reminding Terra that he was now Terra and no longer Tango, the board had also commended his discipline in following the orders of the mission commander. They referred the exciting news of his seemingly rapid acquisition of the knowledge on how to handle and fire the AK-47s to Von Richter and the Technos for analysis. They hustled him out to the firing range immediately after he testified, but the final report was not expected for a few more days.
Based on Grizelda’s report, Kayla also had received warm praise. They agreed with the mission commander that she be re-graded on Spying and Stealth, and jocularly warned Grizelda that Kayla might be the team leader next time. Her vital role in mission planning was also noted with approval, and she was invited to take Leadership training whenever she wanted. The invitation alone was regarded as a high honor among the Cybers, for only the most promising and the best were allowed to attend.
Grizelda, while praised for excellent decision making in the field and team leadership, had been mildly rebuked for not establishing an "all clear" signal to tell the others when it was safe to communicate with them. She nodded in agreement with that assessment. It was also added to the training of several topics, and she was also invited to take Leadership training at her convenience.
Jose's heart sunk when the board began to tear into Cybersix. Having been on the receiving end of such scoldings, he sensed her hurt as they hit her with one criticism after another.
They found that she had failed to properly train Cyberdragon on the use of the communications equipment. In fact, her use of the Special for reconnaissance on the mission was openly criticized, sweeping aside the fact that father had told her to select a team of Specials. She should have known, they said, that he would have approved the use of an additional Cyber for reconnaissance if she had felt it necessary. They dismissed the fact that her conversation with father had led her to believe that no such Cyber was available, since they noted that there were other ways to accomplish the same end without an extra team member that she had failed to consider.
They were not impressed with Terra’s positive testimony about her attempt to provide a diversion to give the penetration team a chance to escape. She should have had Terra shoot from the cover of the jungle they pointed out, rather than endanger herself. Worse yet, the incident showed that she had failed to take advantage of newly discovered capabilities in those under her command. This was inexcusable given the fact that those subordinates were all Specials, who were always monitored for such surprises as a matter of policy.
But all these would have been irrelevant if she had recognized the possibility that a watchtower was under the tree. She should either have performed the reconnaissance herself or directed the penetration team to check the situation out first. Reliance on Cyberdragon was uncalled for, given the existence of a cyber trained in reconnaissance on each team. They pointed out that the assumption that Cornazon was smart was overly broad, since she could have reasonably assumed that he would be very cautious instead, electing to have partial coverage rather than settle for no coverage at all. Which, in fact, was one of the principles that governed the security arrangements of all of Von Richter’s own installations.
To her credit, they highly approved of her selection of the team members, approved of the ingenious way Terra was employed, and did not fault the mission planning. Based on what could be known, they agreed that she and Kayla did an excellent job of planning the mission. Her failure was in not being aggressive enough to recognize the gaps in her tactical knowledge, nor in taking reasonable actions to fill in those gaps.
Jose felt like crying when he saw her lower her head, cheeks blushing red, as they stripped her of her Leadership ranking. To add insult to injury, they made her failures the main subject of the next refresher training course for the cybers in the field, broadcasting her punishment far and wide to each and every one of her cyber brothers and sisters. Then they rubbed it in when they incorporated those failures into basic training courses so that nobody would forget for years! Different parts of the mission were added as a planning exercise to theTactics and Leadership courses. You'd think once was enough, but no, some would see her getting hammered two or three times before their training was over!
"I should have gotten in closer for a better look!" Cyberdragon complained as they gathered outside of the training building where the inquiry had taken place. She had suffered a few cuts on the skin covering her wing bones and a few tears in her sails, but they were healing far more quickly than expected. Half of her bandages had come off during the course of the inquiry.
"It was night and they had the lights off." He had tried to point out, "And if you’d gotten closer, they’d have seen you!" He turned and gave the building the finger, "Who do they think they are?" he fumed. He was THAT CLOSE to getting the walker out and using the missiles on THEM!
"20-20 Hindsight." Kayla had shrugged, "What did you expect?"
"Yeah, but you’d think they’d wipe the crap off their stupid butts before using them to look with!" Grizelda complained, "I’d like to roll their damn report up into a nice tight tube and stuff it up their- Hey Six!"
Jose had turned with everyone else, but she was walking away, her head bent and shoulders slumped. He knew exactly how she felt at that moment. All the mean, insulting words he had thrown at her to help bolster his puny ego came flooding back to him.
"I should have run after her. To tell her everything would be okay. That I thought she was wonderful! That I was so sorry for every mean word that I ever said!" He thought ruefully. "AAAARRRGGHHH!" He grabbed at his hair and jumped up and down in anger and frustration, "WHY AM I SO STUPID?"
"Juno not stupid."
He glanced around, and realized he was in the garden. Terra was rising up out of the ground near a large bird-of-paradise bush and flowed over to him, "Board said Juno was good in obeying orders, just like Tango did. The Board said the walker was a good thing too."
If it had been anybody else except a mission member, Jose would have slugged them. As it was, he laughed and ran his hand through his hair, "You weren't there after the meeting to see Cybersix, did you Terra, er Tango?"
"No. Had to go to shooting range. Tango did well. Just like Sierra, they said."
"Really?" that was an interesting fact, "Exactly like Cyb- um Sierra?"
"Yes. What happened to Sierra?"
"She was very sad and didn't want to talk to us. I was mad because I should've gone after her and helped make her feel better."
"Yes, Tango notice." He started to shake, "Tango is worried about Sierra."
"You and half of the compound." Jose thought, "I am too. I've got to talk to grandfather and tell him I can't find her. He wants to see her."
"Tango will tell Sierra when Tango sees Sierra." Terra promised.
"Thanks Tango. Oh, remember not to use the code names in front of everyone else, okay?"
"Tango will not." Terra promised, sinking back into the earth.
Maria was at the screen door when Jose ran up the steps, "Did you find her, Jose?"
"No Gramma." Jose shook his head, "I can't find her. She was scheduled to tutor Fixed Idea-88 at 11:30, and it was about 12 when I got there. She wasn't there, and not in her office either."
"I called her dorm. She's not in her room either." Maria looked pensive, "It's not like her to miss a private session with a student."
"I've got to tell Grandfather." He told her, kicking off his shoes.
"What in the world?" she exclaimed.
Jose turned to look, and blinked in astonishment.
-----------
"That was a so-so lunch." Kayla
thought sourly as she walked back to work from lunch, "That and everybody
just quiet and eating by themselves." It was almost spooky, the unusual
silence that dominated the cafeteria
She stopped by the long glass window to look at her 512 CPU Linux Beowulf cluster farm. She then looked down at the humidity meter and groaned. No wonder the computers were giving her fits! The humidity had been high for days, and she hadn't noticed. Better have some technos look at the dehumidifier train again. It didn't help that she'd been away for several days, first with the rescue, then sitting and answering questions from the Training Board members on their stupid inquiry. Out of curiosity, she had hacked into Cyberdragon's spec files after she had escaped them. Cyberdragon's night vision scores were three times better than a Cyber's. If Cyberdragon couldn't have seen that watchtower under the tree without giving herself away, then a cyber sure couldn't have!
"Damn by-the-book assholes." She thought as she turned to enter the computer control room, "I suppose if you're gonna make a mistake, then you'd better do it while going by the damned book!"
Cornazon was probably cannier than anybody had thought. Why conceal the watchtower under the tree so well, that NOBODY would see it until it was too late? The southeast corner was the best way to come in and go out. "Hmm, I wonder if-" "OH CRAP!" she exclaimed with exasperation when she entered her domain, "Who's the idiot Idea that grabbed my katana AGAIN?" Giving that demonstration of Ninja sword skills using her singing Katana had been a mistake, she thought angrily. Every Fixed Idea now just HAD to hold it, gawk at it, and listen to it. She had caught one holding it, and he'd dropped it when she'd yelled at him: the mark was still in the floor in front of where it was hung.
"But I'll getcha THIS time!" she gloated. She'd mounted a webcam to take snapshots of that wall every two seconds, match up successive shots, cache any that showed differences, and go into movie taking mode. Hopefully, she'd get a glimpse of their tattoo as they reached for the katana.
With a chuckle, she went to the big screen console and checked the directory where the file should have been stored, "Yep! There's a file! A smart one too!" she noted the timestamp, "Came in several minutes after I left for lunch. Let's take a look at you!" She double-clicked the file.
Her smile dissolved into dismay as the image of the culprit appeared on the screen, "Oh NO!" she moaned.
She began to call up programs, copy files, and type in commands, her heart pounding in her chest. She then dashed out of the computer center and started leaping across the compound toward the main Residence.
She landed at the foot of the main staircase and ran up to Maria and Jose.
"Kayla, What's wr-" Maria started.
"NO TIME!" she gasped, pushing by them and bounding up the stairs.
Quaren went into a battle stance, relaxing only a little when she saw Kayla, "What's the problem?" She demanded.
"Gotta talk to Father! NOW!" Kayla insisted.
"Wait! You can't just go barging in!" Quaren stepped in front of the door.
"It's important!"
"But he's expecting-" Quaren started.
"LET HER IN, QUAREN!" Came Von Richter's voice from within the room.
Quaren shrugged and opened the door to let in Kayla. She held it open when she saw Maria and Jose coming up the steps.
Kayla ran up to Von Richter, who was staring at his monitor while on the phone, yelling, "-OF THAT! I DON'T CARE WHAT THE SCHEDULE IS! GET YOUR DAMN TAILS IN HERE THIS MINUTE!" He slammed the phone onto the hook and turned to Kayla, "When did this happen?"
"About thirty minutes ago, while I was eating lunch." She leaned over and typed in the unlock code to his computer. Von Richter then activated a program and typed in his password.
Maria and Jose walked up, "What's going on, Kay-OH!" She gasped, hand going to her mouth.
Jose gawked at the image of Cybersix on the monitor walking up to the wall, taking a katana, and turning to leave. The look of sad determination on her face frightened him.
"The singing one." Kayla murmured, "She took the singing one. It's so sharp-" she stopped.
"It'll slice through cyber flesh and
bone like a hot knife through butter." Jose thought, shivering.
-----------
"It-it's all for the best."
Cybersix stopped and bent over, panting just a little. The katana hummed as it slid off her back and slapped her side. She turned her head and gazed at the long, wrapped handle. She swallowed hard.
"I can't stop the pain. There'd be problems if I-"
She jerked her head, "They know! Better keep going!"
Slinging the katana back onto the center of her back, she continued leaping through the jungle understory.
"So many problems now… It'd be better if I was gone."
She could hear the roar of the falls in the distance.
"Not far. Need just a little more time."
-----------
The high power, ultrasonic siren pulsed
its silent message of alarm throughout the valley that held the compound.
The Fixed ideas dropped their axes, hoes, saws, and other tools. They started running to the main Residence.
The Techos carefully put down their test tubes, measuring instruments, and notepads. They pulled off their lab coats and tossed them into the hampers next to the Laboratory exits as they came out.
The young cybers gleefully abandoned their classes, lessons, and combat training sessions to follow their instructors.
Cyberdragon cocked her head, stalled, wheeled about, and pumped her wings to get more speed, wondering if she had missed something or someone. A feeling of dread arose in her heart.
"Oh SHIT! That can't be good!" Grizelda spun around and sprinted back along the path she had come.
Terra reared out of the garden like a huge,
living wave of mud. He threw himself onto the upper balcony and pulled
the rest of himself onto it.
----------
The jungle gave way to giant, moss covered
boulders as Cybersix arrived at the falls near the compound. "Just a
few more minutes." she thought as she looked up the gray granite walls
next to the falls. Up to the small ledge three quarters of the way to the
top that hung out over the thundering, falling waters that crashed with
a roar several hundred feet below her. She threw a glance at the sky, confirmed
that no one was searching for her, then began to leap up the wall, nimble
as a mountain goat.
-----------
"I didn't think she'd take it that hard!"
Cyber-91 shook his head.
"If you'd listened to me and 738 and just suspended her, this wouldn't have happened!" Cyber-74 snapped back.
"She acted negligently!" 91 insisted, "We agreed on that, didn't we?"
"SHUT UP!" Kayla shouted at them, She glared at them and wiped her tears away, "Just-shut-UP!"
"Has anyone seen Cybersix around lunchtime?" Von Richter asked through the microphone. Quaren had wheeled Von Richter out onto the balcony overlooking the crowd of his children who were gazing up at him. Maria was standing behind him, wiping at her cheeks and trying to stay calm.
A Fixed Idea raised his hand, "Uh, I did!"
"Where? Which way was she going?"
He scratched his head, then pointed.
Cyberdragon jumped off the balcony and soared into the air, Big Bird leaping off after her.
"Not good." Grizelda shook her head, "Toward the falls." She leaped off the balcony, landed on the ground, then started leaping toward the jungle, followed by Kayla and the board members. Cyber instructors yelled out orders, organizing the Cyber trainees into a search chain while the others returned to their duties, pensive and plainly worried.
"All we can do is wait now." Von Richter sighed.
Maria leaned over the balcony, "287!" she called.
A Fixed Idea housekeeper stopped and turned toward her.
"Did you find a note in her desk or bed?" Maria asked.
She shook her head sadly, waving her arms helplessly.
"Oh God!" Maria covered her eyes and turned quickly into the house.
"What's wrong?" Jose asked anxiously, "Don't they always leave a note?"
"Not always." Maria shook her head, "I
think, if you don't leave a note, you just want to be forgotten."
----------------
Cybersix swung the katana against the
hard granite wall. Stone fragments flew everywhere as the katana moaned
it's deadly song, cutting a deep groove into the stone. She swung again
to widen the gash.
Picking a spot, she rammed the hilt of the katana deep into the gash. She then stepped back and around to stand in front of the naked blade.
She gazed for a long moment at it, the tip hanging in the air mere inches from her skin. She then looked around at the living, green expanse all around her. In the distance, she saw the perpetual fog cloud that hid the compound.
"Your Leadership Ranking is permanently revoked."
"Revoked."
"Revoked."
She moaned, turned away from the view,
and flung herself at the blade.
--------------
Cyberdragon's keen eyes swept the jungle,
while Big Bird, surrounded by a squawking multitude of jungle birds flew
through the understory, flickering in and out of view.
A flash of silver! Where? She was too far away from the falls, but began to beat her wings anyway, trying to coax more speed out of them.
It seemed like an eternity before she got
close enough to spot the gleam of silver against the gray bulk of the granite
wall. "It's so close to the falls!" she thought as she angled toward
it.
----------
When the Cybers finally arrived at the
foot of the falls, Cyberdragon was sitting on a boulder, face in her hands.
Big Bird was cooing gently, patting her head and trying to comfort her.
At their grim looks, Big Bird just shook
its head and pointed upwards to the ledge high above their heads.
----------
Von Richter sat at his desk and looked
out the window over the compound.
"These last few days have been hell." He thought sadly, pushing his wheelchair away from the desk and rolled it in front of another window that looked out over the cemetery.
The honor guard of four Cybers, standing at the four corners of the freshly dug grave, looked uncomfortable between the Two Technos and Two Fixed Ideas standing between them. Having to stand at attention, they looked detached and uninvolved compared to the somber, respectful appearance of Cybersix's former students. Protocol dictated that the Cyber honor guard be terminated after 72 hours, but Von Richter doubted that the protocol would be honored by the Technos and Fixed Ideas.
That scene summed up the emotional mood of the compound since the discovery of the katana embedded into the granite next to the falls. There was no trace of the body. Kayla wanted nothing to do with the katana any more, and a shocked Dr. Zacharias understood completely. They buried it next to Cyber-29, for lack of anything better on which to focus their grief, since it was literally covered with her blood. The Cybers, true to their military orientation, had to be stoic about it, leading to the mistaken impression, and rising resentment, among the others that they didn't give a damn about her. Not true at all: Maria was exhausted trying to comfort the stream of cybers that risked discipline by breaking curfew after taps to sneak to the residence by twos and threes at all hours of the night to cry their hearts out on her shoulder.
"It's so hard." She had told him that morning, "The question that keeps coming up is 'Why? Why did she believe we didn't love her anymore?' They look at me with those beautiful black eyes you gave them, and I just can't help but remember her."
And then she cried on his shoulder until she had fallen asleep herself from exhaustion.
Sighing, he turned his wheelchair around and rolled it back to his desk. On it was a fake-leather lab book and a thin report outlining the findings of the latest Cyber Training Board inquiry. He picked the report up and reread the sections he had highlighted.
"The scene indicates that Cyber 6 impaled herself on the katana, it being sharp enough to easily pierce any ribs that it might encounter, as well as allow smooth, unimpeded withdrawal from her body. Since her body was not found, it is conjectured that severance of the spine had not occurred. The assumption that either the heart or a major artery were pierced imposes a limit of 30 seconds of active mobility before unconsciousness and death results. Given the amount of blood present on the katana itself, on the granite wall into which it was secured, and in the pool at the base of the wall under the katana, the board conjectures she allowed herself to bleed internally and externally for 25 seconds. The remaining five seconds leaves adequate time for her to pull herself off the katana and jump into the falls.
"The board conjectures that Cyber 6 acted in this manner to ensure her demise and to not leave her body behind. Had she jumped into the falls without employing the katana, there is no doubt that instinct would have taken over and forced her to save herself. The chances of survival, although not assured, were very high, for Cyber 6 maintained her leadership training and physical readiness at a military-action level, even while being on a special assignment status that did not require this level of readiness. Only by inflicting this severe wound upon herself could she be sure that her chances of survival were near to zero: unconsciousness would probably have resulted upon impact at the base of the falls, if not before then.
"This inquiry would be remiss if it did not report, with great regret, that Cyber 6 surely suffered great physical pain during these last 25 seconds of her life. Computer models of Cyber heart design indicate that the heart would continue to beat, despite being pierced by the katana. The continued contractions around the blade would inflict pain equivalent to a sustained and continuous heart attack. Death comes from shock, due to loss of blood and the accompanying drop of blood pressure, not from the cessation of heart function. Extreme respiratory distress from a collapsed left lung should not be discounted….
"The board respectfully requests that current Cyber psychological models be re-evaluated in the light of this tragedy, and that Leadership teaching modules be revised accordingly. Nothing in the models or in the experience of the board members indicated that she would react in this manner. We humbly suggest, as a start, that the circumstances surrounding her extended special assignment might have violated some assumptions, altered some critical variables, or introduced some unknown and unforeseen factors unaccounted for in the models. This knowledge would not have altered, in any way, the findings or the discipline of the previous inquiry that lead to this unfortunate occurrence. However, the training board assures everyone whose hearts have been saddened by this terrible loss that preparations would have been made beforehand to forestall this tragic train of events.
"The board acknowledges its failure to properly monitor Cyber 6, or assign a Leadership Rank Cyber to monitor her during her extended special assignment and afterwards. The members regretfully conclude that this alone would have played a large, if not decisive, part in forestalling this sad incident. The board members hereby appoint the Drill Instructors to monitor us during this difficult time. We also will unconditionally submit to any further discipline imposed by superior command. The protocols of Training Board Inquiries have been modified to ensure that monitoring is in place at the start of any inquiry and continues as long as necessary.
"The board also acknowledges the lack of a psychological profile of Cyber 6 during her last four days of life in this report. We admit our inadequacy in this area, and leave the task to others better qualified than we. Like everyone else, we are at a total loss to try and explain her feelings and thoughts that drove her to do this to herself."
Von Richter sighed again and tossed the report back onto his desk. He then picked up the lab book and began paging through it. It had been discovered by the Fixed Idea responsible for running the garbage processor and recycling center, and had been retrieved to ensure that it had not been accidentally discarded. The head techno took one look at it before calling him. It did not contain lab notes.
It was Cybersix's daily journal.
He paused to look at the entries. Some detailed delight in the progress of her students. Others were notes to herself on improving her modified phonics reading plan. All were written in her small, neat, rounded cursive writing style that looked almost ornamental, and which delighted the artistic eye.
Sadly, there were too many entries where she openly wondered about her place in the world. She was plainly uncomfortable being a cyber unconnected with that for which she had been created, raised, and trained.
There was an entry just before the mission, hastily scribbled in, where she expressed her hopes that all would go well, but also her pride at being chosen to lead the mission.
The worst entries were after that. The first entry after the mission was an excruciatingly explicit detailing of her failings that seemed to predict the findings of the inquiry that was just starting when she wrote it. The last sentences in that entry read: "I hope I don't lose my leadership ranking over this. I don't know how I'll handle losing that. It's the only thing I have to show that I'm worth a damn as a Cyber."
The next entry: "They did it! they took it away! Oh, what am I going to do? Who am I? What am I worth to anyone? How can I face my brothers and sisters after this?" Her handwriting was agitated, strained. It had lost its ability to enchant the reader by its very appearance alone.
Von Richter closed the book before reading the last entry that complained of the aloneness and pain she was feeling, "I failed you, my dear child. How could you be alone surrounded by so many who loved you so much that their grief is stressing the bonds between themselves and your Cyber sisters and brothers? I'm starting to see discontent even within the Cyber ranks!
"And I had such hopes for you. Your reluctance to kill Cornazon and his men revealed the kind of caring for Normals that I was seeking for so long. Although there are some who can take my place and lead our family after I am gone, they would be followed only out of a sense of duty. But you, you they would have followed out of love, born from the love and concern you showed them. Were you aware of the bonds you were weaving in the classroom and private tutoring sessions that knit their hearts together through a common experience, and in turn knit themselves to you as their leader and friend? If you had done well with Amato, I could have died happy, knowing that I had left my family, and my world, in gentle, capable hands.
"Your hands.
"But now you are gone.
"I feel so poor…"
End of Chapter 4, Dark Branch.