Ghost in the Machine

Rex Robinson placed his hands on his hips, his famous smile never fading, “What are you waiting for, friends? There’s some strange things afoot. I’ll explain on the way.”

“Sure you will,” Ryan Bennings quickly pulled his energy pistol and fired a shot, blasting a hole through Rex’s forehead.

When Rex hit the ground, there was an audible CLANG while sparks shot out of the fresh wound. His head turned with the smile still firmly in place as wires and bits of metal spilled out from the hole in his forehead.

“One of Rex’s robot dupes,” Intrepid exclaimed, “I thought all the robots were locked in storage while you rebooted the ship’s systems.”

“They were,” Ryan carefully approached the robot.

“Is it a malfunction?”

“I don’t think so,” he stooped down to study it, “The dupes were designed to distract an enemy while the real Rex did whatever he needed to do. This one followed its designated program considering it apparently wanted to lead us somewhere that, more than likely, would be detrimental to our health.”

“Which means someone dangerous is on this ship.”

“We need to find the others,” Ryan stood up with his pistol at the ready.

“I agree,” Intrepid told him, “But if we leave this place, we might stumble into the trap this thing wanted us to fall for.”

“Conversely, the threat could always decide to come to us now that Plan A didn’t work.”

Just then, robot crew members began flooding the room, swinging strong robotic limbs at them.

In another part of the ship, the Cavalier peered down the hall curiously as the visage of Rex Robinson moved toward him, “I understand this must be one helluva shock,” the dupe told him, “But I need you to listen to me, carefully.”

“Rex?,” Cavalier shook his head in disbelief.

Alysa Saraki stood behind him and after a quick mystic scan, made a discovery, “Hey, whoa! Whoever it is, it ain’t Rex… It ain’t even human.”

While their attention was turned, the robot crew began racing down the other end of the hall, pinching them in. “We got company,” the Cavalier pulled his sword and charged the group, swatting them away, one-by-one. Alysa, meanwhile, fired a concussive blast into the Rex-dupe’s chest, then turned to Cavalier, “Da hell is going on?”

On top of the ship, Astra Machina and Shujai fended off three sky bikes ridden by robot crew mates, one of which, curiously had twin Rex Robinsons (one piloted while the second sat on the back and fired an energy rifle). Astra elongated an arm and punched through the bike as it flew overhead, sending it careening out of control. A moment later, it exploded against a rocky hill. Meanwhile, Shujai took to the sky and fired twin bio-blasts that destroyed the remaining bikes.

“That was our robot crew,” Shujai said curiously, “Is there something wrong with the ship’s systems?”

“Let’s get inside,” Astra told him, “I can access the ship’s database and find out.”

Inside, Intrepid flew down a corridor, grinding a robot along the walls until it broke apart. Ryan ran after with his pistol drawn. “Slow down,” he panted as he struggled to keep up. Not far away, the Cavalier landed on top of a robot and split its head nearly in half with his sword. Intrepid then whipped around the corner, which startled him and Alysa.

“Ah! Damn, girl!,” Alysa leaned against the wall to find her bearings once she realized it was Intrepid, “A little warning?”

“So, you’re up to speed on the killer-robot situation,” Intrepid took a look at the mechanical limbs littering the floor.

“Did you get a fake Rex Robinson?,” Cavalier asked.

“Yeah, we got a Rex dupe,” Ryan finally caught up to them and began breathing heavy as he leaned against the wall “I shot it in the head. Really didn’t need to see that shit right now.”

“Same here.”

“So why are the robots attacking us?,” Alysa asked.

“I think I know,” Astra and Shujai joined them, “I looked into the database. After the reboot, the ship accessed its own files and then sent the robots to attack. It doesn’t appear we were hacked and everything else is running fine so there was no malfunction. The ship decided to do it on its own.”

“Like it was sentient?,” Ryan asked curiously.

“I thought so at first but after I tried to communicate with it using binary, it didn’t respond. It was like something was alive inside it, then left.”

“Like a possession,” Alysa surmised.

“Can machines be possessed?,” Intrepid asked incredulously.

“I don’t think so.”

“You can use your magic to sense this kind of thing, right?,” Cavalier motioned toward the destroyed Rex Robinson dupe, “Why not scan the ship? See if there is something here that shouldn’t be.”

“Good idea,” Alysa closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment, then quickly opened them, “Oh yeah, someone’s on the ship.”

“Are you sure?,” Shujai asked, “Alarms should have gone off if someone broke in.”

“I’m telling ya’ll, there should be five souls and an AI on this ship and I am picking up a sixth person downstairs.”

“Let’s go meet our new neighbor,” Ryan checked his pistol and led the way.

They descended a flight of maintenance stairs, avoiding the elevators. As Ryan was the most knowledgable of the ship’s layout, he was in the lead with the rest following.

“Are you sure someone is here?,” Astra asked Alysa politely, “I’m not picking up any life forms.”

“All I know is that a soul is down there.”

“Is there a possible explanation for the discrepancy?,” Intrepid asked.

“Whoever it is, they might be dead. I seen someth’n like that before when me and Farrell Creed ran into some vampires.”

“Vampires?,” Ryan stopped and turned to her curiously.

“Yeah, I couldn’t get a sense of vampires because they didn’t have souls. This person does so it ain’t a vampire but at the same time, Astra ain’t detecting lifeforms. So… I dunno, it’s a dead guy with a soul?”

“Okay, so we’ve confirmed vampires are real and this person is not alive,” Ryan continued on.

They made their way down the steps to the bottom deck which had pipes running along the ceiling and walls with several dark corners and nooks.

“Bennings, you know this ship better than anyone here,” Intrepid began “What could be of interest to an intruder down here?”

“The engine room. It’s a big Dyson Sphere powered by… and I’m sure at least someone can guess…”

“Neutronium?”

“You get the gold star for the day.”

The engine room was a wide open area illuminated by a strange blue glow. The Dyson Sphere consisted of a series of gold, intertwining halos all revolving in different directions and at different speeds with a crystalline ball of energy in the center. “It’s Earth-made but more or less looks like a U’ntari engine,” Shujai remarked.

“Rex made use of the knowledge he stole from your people,” Ryan looked around the area, “Anyone see anything?”

“No,” Cavalier took a glance at the spinning discs, feeling strong vibrations as he approached, “So it’s safe to be this close?”

“Don’t worry, it transfers its power directly into the ship while giving off about as much radiation as your cellphone. You can still raise little Cavaliers someday, if that’s what you want.”

“Didn’t Shujai’s boss try to blow up the planet with this shit?,” Alysa asked, “Maybe the intruder is planning to do something like that.”

“This engine is powered by Neutronium energy but likely doesn’t have raw Neutronium at its core,” Shujai explained, “There is no danger of turning it into a bomb. It isn’t any more explosive than your planes.”

“And a gold star for Shujai,” Ryan continued to search the area, “Seriously, where is this guy?”

“But the energy contained in this engine could still be used for a variety of other effects,” Shujai continued.

Intrepid peered through the darkness, “I’m not detecting anyone, even with my enhanced senses.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Ryan turned to her, “It’s looking like no one is actually-”

The man in the old gray suit either teleported into the center of the room or finally made himself known but in either case, he was an unexpected addition to the group. The long beard and equally long hair tied back made Ryan Bennings think of a famous historical figure. He wanted to make a joke but he was cut-off by the Cavalier who had a similar thought which was more factual than humorous:

“Rasputin.”

“At your service,” the undead Russian bowed his head slightly, “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Sir Knight.”

“Rasputin?,” Ryan echoed, “As in Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin?”

“The same,” he answered.

“He’s supposed to be dead, right?,” Alysa asked as she raised her palms and summoned mystic energies.

“A few times over,” Cavalier elaborated.

“Let’s cut to the chase, as you say,” Rasputin straitened the lapels of his suit jacket, “Yes, I’m back. Yes, I have been locked inside this ship for the past several months but thanks to this gentleman,” he pointed to Ryan, “I was freed. I sent the robots in the hope of destroying you lot or, at the very least, distract you long enough for me to achieve my goals. But now you’re here and I have to be a bit more hands on.”

Rasputin raised his hands and there was a flash of light. Then, the team found themselves on a hillside overlooking a body of water, Hyperion’s Light resting on the other side.

“It’s a safe bet he has something in place to keep us locked out,” Ryan began calmly, then turned to the Cavalier, “But before we get back inside and find out what that guy wants, would you mind explaining how a long-dead historical figure just yeeted us out of my ship?”

The Cavalier took a breath and began, “Rasputin fought… the original Cavalier and the Femme Phantom back in the Cold War. Apparently, he reincarnated himself to take over the world but he was killed for the second time. He came back a few months ago and fought me, the Phantom and Rex Robinson in Paris. Some kind of spell about me and the Phantom meeting up brought him back that time. Rex used Hyperion’s Light to beat him by, I dunno, reversing polarity on the Tractor Beam or something and held the guy place while Femme Phantom phased through him. It tore him apart molecule by molecule.”

“His consciousness likely remained inside the ship while his physical form was reduced to scattered molecules attached to light particles,” Ryan surmised as he crossed his arms, “He said I freed him. Rebooting the system involved shutting off the Tractor Beam so that probably allowed him to reconstitute. It all sounds like a pretty nasty situation, not that I feel too sorry for the guy.”

“Now we only need to find out what he wants with the ship’s engine,” Intrepid explained, “It’s powered by Neutronium so tell me, Shujai, what is the full extent of what he might do with it?”

“Perhaps you are better equipped at answering that question,” he responded, “Astra said Rasputin accessed the ship’s files before he recreated his body. Surely, you would have a better idea of what information Rex Robinson had in his database. That could better explain his motives.”

In the ship, Rasputin raised his hands and closed his eyes as the Dyson Sphere continued to rotate. The energy from the engine began to escape the spinning rings, flickering into the dark before being drawn into Rasputin’s palms. A smile crossed his face and when he opened his eyes, they glowed with power.

Next: Lock-Out