B2-5
Kaelid:
The enhanced agents stepped into the chamber's light with movements that were too precise, too coordinated to be entirely human. Eight figures in matching dark leather gear arranged themselves in a perfect semicircle, their weapons held with mechanical steadiness. When the lead agent spoke, his voice carried no inflection, no emotion, just the cold efficiency of a tool designed for a specific purpose.
"Surrender the subjects for proper evaluation," he said, his eyes fixed on him and Rannek with the intensity of a predator studying prey. "Resistance will be met with appropriate force."
Kael stepped forward, placing himself between the agents and the boys, his military bearing evident in every line of his body. "These children are under Collegium protection," he said firmly. "You have no authority here."
The lead agent's head tilted slightly, processing this information with the same mechanical precision that characterized all his movements. "Collegium authority superseded by Imperial security protocols. Enhanced individuals of this classification require specialized oversight."
"What classification?" Theron demanded, his academic curiosity overriding his fear. "By what authority do you claim jurisdiction?"
"Resonance-class enhancement without conditioning," the agent replied, his gaze never leaving the boys. "Unprecedented development rates. Potential integration. All factors requiring immediate containment and study."
The words sent a chill through the group. The agents weren't just here for him, they somehow knew about Curio, about the unique nature of their enhancement. The implications were staggering.
Brannic's golden eyes swept the chamber, assessing tactical positions and escape routes with the practiced eye of someone who had survived countless battles. "Eight against seven," he murmured, "but they don't know what we're capable of."
The dragonkin's spear lowering into a point first defense that left nothing to the imagination as to his intent to protect his companions.
"They're not people anymore," Kael said quietly, his voice carrying the weight of someone who had seen the cost of war. "Look at their eyes. Whatever process created them stripped away everything that made them human. They're weapons that look like people."
Indeed, studying the enhanced agents more closely revealed the disturbing truth of Kael's observation. Their faces showed no expression, no recognition of the moral weight of their actions. They moved with perfect coordination, but it was the coordination of machines, not the natural teamwork of living beings working together.
"We won't surrender," Rannek said, his voice steady despite the fear that he could sense through their connection. "We've seen what you do to people. We won't become like them."
The lead agent processed this response with the same mechanical efficiency. "Resistance noted. Initiating containment."
What followed was unlike any combat he had ever experienced. The enhanced agents moved with inhuman precision, their attacks coordinated to the split second. But there was something fundamentally wrong with their enhancement, where he and Rannek's abilities felt natural, integrated with their consciousness, the agents' enhancements seemed imposed, artificial.
The first agent to attack moved with blinding speed, his enhanced reflexes allowing him to close the distance to Brannic in the blink of an eye. But the dragonkin was ready, his own natural abilities and years of experience allowing him to anticipate the attack. The butt end of Brannic's spear connected with the agent's jaw with a sound like breaking stone, sending the enhanced human flying backward into the chamber wall.
But the agent simply rolled to his feet and resumed his attack, showing no sign of pain or disorientation. Whatever process had enhanced him had also removed his ability to feel fear or hesitation.
Kael engaged two agents simultaneously, his military training and natural skill allowing him to hold his own despite being outnumbered. His sword work was precise and economical, each strike designed to disable rather than kill, but the agents seemed to feel no pain and showed no concern for their own safety.
Stepping in and around the agents striking when he needed to in order to disrupt their movement and coordination.
"They don't fight like people," Kael called out between parries. "No self-preservation instinct, no adaptation to changing tactics. They're following programmed responses."
They found themselves facing three agents who seemed specifically designed to counter their abilities. One moved with enhanced speed that nearly matched their own reflexes, while another displayed strength that rivaled Brannic's natural power. The third seemed to have some form of enhanced perception, anticipating their movements with disturbing accuracy.
But it was in this moment of crisis that the true nature of their enhancement became clear. Where the agents fought as individuals following programmed responses, the boys fought as a connected unit. Their time training with each other allowed them to coordinate their attacks and predict what the other would do with a precision that no amount of training could replicate.
His map visible to himself only right now showed him the positions of all combatants in real-time, allowing him to guide Rannek's movements while anticipating the agents' attacks. Rannek's intuitive abilities let him sense the artificial nature of their opponents' enhancements, finding weaknesses in their programming that could be exploited.
"They're not adapting," Rannek called out as he dodged a perfectly executed but predictable attack sequence. "They're following preset patterns. If we can break their rhythm..."
Kaelid understood immediately. Using his map display to coordinate their movements, he and Rannek began fighting in ways that violated the agents' programmed expectations. Instead of engaging directly, they used the chamber's layout to their advantage, forcing the agents to adapt to situations their programming hadn't anticipated.
The result was chaos in the agents' ranks. Their perfect coordination began to break down as they encountered scenarios their conditioning hadn't prepared them for. One agent, programmed to pursue a specific target, found himself attacking empty air as he used his map display to guide him into a feint. Another, following a preset attack pattern, struck the chamber wall when Rannek's intuitive dodge took him out of the expected position.
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The boys only had simple short swords but their coordination allowed them to parry and strike at the agents, working with openings the other made, and defending when one would have missed it.
Marta proved her worth as a militia-trained fighter, her spear work keeping one agent at bay while the others dealt with more immediate threats. Her training in group coordination allowed her to anticipate the flow of battle, positioning herself to support the others without getting in their way.
Theron, despite his academic background, showed surprising competence in the fight. His crystalline monitoring device seemed to interfere with the agents' enhanced senses, creating moments of confusion that the others could exploit. Able to defend himself from direct attacks with a seemingly plain staff that was able to absorb and deflect the agents blows.
The Pulse-Keeper fought with the methodical precision of living stone, its crystalline formations creating barriers and obstacles that disrupted the agents' movement patterns. Artificial minds confused by stone-logic, it observed between attacks. Cannot adapt to deep-thinking.
But it was the freed prisoners who ultimately turned the tide of battle. The delver gremlins, despite their weakened condition, knew the mine tunnels better than anyone. They began triggering cave-ins and rockfalls that separated the agents from each other, breaking their coordinated assault into individual confrontations.
'This way!' one of the gremlins called out, pointing toward a passage that his map hadn't detected. 'Secret path to surface. Praxis not know about it.'
The group began fighting their way toward the escape route, but the agents adapted their tactics, trying to cut off their retreat. It was then that the true cost of the battle became apparent. One of the freed Petrakahrn, weakened by captivity, stumbled and fell directly into the path of an attacking agent.
Brannic threw himself forward to protect the fallen prisoner, taking a blow that would have killed a normal human. The dragonkin's natural armor absorbed most of the impact, but the force of the attack briefly drove him down to a knee.
"Brannic!" he called out, his enhanced perception showing him the extent of the dragonkin's injuries. There was extensive bruising and a few scales had cracked, but nothing that would require immediate attention.
"I'll live," Brannic growled, struggling to his feet. "But we need to move. Now."
The escape through the secret passage was a nightmare of narrow tunnels and unstable rock formations. The delver gremlins guided them through passages that seemed impossible for human-sized beings to navigate, but somehow they managed to squeeze through spaces that the larger enhanced agents couldn't follow.
Behind them, they could hear the agents attempting to pursue, but their artificial enhancements seemed to work against them in the confined spaces. Their perfect coordination became a liability when they couldn't adapt to the irregular, organic nature of the natural cave system.
"They were like us, but... empty," Rannek said as they finally emerged into the pre-dawn forest, his voice carrying a mixture of horror and pity. "Enhanced, but without any of the consciousness that makes enhancement meaningful."
Theron was frantically checking his readings, his crystalline device showing the aftermath of the battle. "Your energy levels are still depleted, you haven't fully recovered yet," he reported. "And Brannic needs medical attention."
The dragonkin was leaning heavily against a tree, his golden eyes dimmed with pain but still alert. "I've had worse," he said, though his labored breathing suggested otherwise. "The important thing is that we got everyone out."
The freed prisoners huddled together in the forest clearing, the delver gremlins and young Petrakahrn clearly traumatized by their captivity but grateful for their rescue. The humans among the group were in worse condition, their minds damaged by the consciousness extraction procedures they had endured.
"What do we do with them?" Marta asked, her militia training providing protocols for refugees but nothing for victims of consciousness experimentation.
"Get them to safety first," Kael said, scanning the forest for signs of pursuit. "Then figure out how to help them recover from what was done to them."
It was hus map display that detected the lone pursuer. A single enhanced agent had managed to follow them through the tunnels, moving with the patient persistence of a hunting predator.
"We're being followed," he warned, his map showing the agent's position about a hundred meters behind them. "Just one, but it's not like the others."
"How is it different?" Kael asked, readying his weapon despite his exhaustion.
"More... aware, I think," Kaelid replied, struggling to interpret what his enhanced perception was telling him. "The others felt artificial, programmed. This one feels more like a real person, but still wrong somehow."
The agent emerged from the forest with the same mechanical precision as the others, but when it spoke, there was something different in its voice, not emotion exactly, but a kind of analytical interest that the others had lacked.
"Fascinating," it said, studying the group with the intensity of a scholar examining a rare specimen. "Resonance-class enhancement without conditioning protocols. Natural consciousness integration with artificial enhancement matrix. And the energy patterns suggest..."
The agent's head tilted as it focused on something that the others couldn't see. "Class-A consciousness entity detected. Symbiotic relationship rather than parasitic integration. No wonder the development rates are unprecedented."
"What are you talking about?" Theron demanded, though his academic curiosity was clearly warring with his protective instincts.
"The boys' enhancement isn't purely artificial," the agent replied, its analytical tone making the words even more chilling. "They've formed a symbiotic relationship with their enhancement cores, with Class-A integration and interlink."
Kael stepped forward, his weapon raised. "You're not taking them anywhere."
"I am not here to capture," the agent replied with the same analytical detachment. "I am here to observe, to gather data, to understand the nature of this unprecedented development. The boys and their consciousness integration represent a breakthrough that could revolutionize enhancement technology."
"They're not test subjects," Marta said fiercely, her spear pointed at the agent's chest. "They're children."
"They are the key to understanding natural consciousness enhancement," the agent corrected. "And they will be studied, whether they cooperate or not. The Empire's needs supersede individual preferences."
The standoff stretched for long moments, with the agent showing no sign of aggression but also no indication that it would simply leave. It was studying them, cataloging their abilities, gathering intelligence that would be used against them in future encounters.
"We should go," Brannic said quietly, his injuries making it difficult for him to remain standing. "This one isn't here to fight. It's here to learn. And the longer we stay, the more it learns."
As they began to withdraw, the agent made no move to follow. It simply stood in the forest clearing, watching them with the patient intensity of a predator that knew its prey couldn't escape forever.
"The subjects will be located for containment," it called after them, its voice carrying across the forest with mechanical certainty. "Natural enhancement cannot remain hidden indefinitely. The Empire has need of such capabilities."
The words followed them through the forest like a curse, the promise of future confrontation hanging over them like a storm cloud. The Praxis knew about them directly, understood the true nature of their enhancement, and would stop at nothing to claim it for their own purposes.
The first confrontation was over, but the war for their freedom had only just begun.