The next day Nicolai was able to arrange multiple trades. Maxine’s work on the radio was paying dividends, as increasingly people within the castle were mobilising, merging together into a coalition against the Chosen.

  He had deals with a number of groups, and they set out for the first one of the day. He wasn’t far off his target, and anticipated making enough from this to fulfil his current goal. He would purchase the anti-material rifle afterwards and then go to kill the Angel. After that he would need to go into the jungle to gain food for his Symbiotes. He hoped that the remaining trades would be enough for him to purchase the skin suit, but he thought it unlikely. He could only delay for another day without finding food for his Grasping Finger.

  He told the group of the meet location. As always, he chose a location where he and his group had natural protection and numerous routes of escape.

  That done, all that was left was to gear up and head out.

  ###

  ‘We’ve got them!’ Katnin’s voice crackled into Vikrum’s receivers. ‘Merky says him and his people have arranged a trade. We’ve a location.’

  Vikrum smiled wide. ‘Good.’ But he also felt a pulse of annoyance. Why now? He was in his chamber, and in his palm glittered his Seed. It shone with an array of lights, and it throbbed with desire. To merge with him. At long last, it was complete.

  He had been about to Integrate, something he needed to do immediately. There was only a single day left before he failed his quest, and the only part left to complete was Integrating his Seed.

  He considered, and conferred with Cornwall.

  I want to kill him, he said simply.

  It is very risky for you to delay any longer, replied the AI. Currently you have just enough Loyal to pass the Quest. You should immediately Integrate and complete it, lest an unexpected event happen. If a number of your Chosen were to die, you would fall below the requirement, and may not be able to get it back up before the deadline.

  Vikrum sighed, irritable. Cornwall was right. He knew it. Viper had rapidly become his most significant problem. He’d had Cornwall do the maths, which had led to the discovery that more of his people had died as a direct result of Vipers actions than to any other cause.

  This recent play, with Maxine… Vikrum let out a robotic snarl of rage. They were all gathering against his people, and he’d been forced to have everyone draw back inside, stand down. After the losses they’d accrued that disastrous day in the upper jungle, his total Loyal had fallen below the Quest requirement. He had needed to pivot his focus entirely to getting the survivors all back on side, and then he’d been just above the limit.

  Now, he had the report of Viper, but it arrived just as he was approaching the deadline and had finally completed his Seed. He couldn’t go himself.

  But who to send? The last remaining Level 1 Cyborg, patched back together, certainly wasn’t up to the task—the entire group had failed last time. It came down to Borg and Gilvine, they were the only two he felt capable of handling Viper.

  Borg was increasingly important to him. The level 2 Cyborg was Loyal, and had been doing several necessary jobs—the kind that needed to be kept quiet, especially from Gilvine, who he didn’t trust an inch.

  He also didn’t like the idea of Borg being gone, hunting down Viper, while Gilvine remained close at hand, at a time when he was likely to be vulnerable. He’d already decided he wanted Borg to stick close while he went through the Integration, as his personal guard.

  Vikrum nodded, decision made.

  Gilvine would go to kill Viper. She a Level 2 Cyborg, one who he believed on Earth had worked as some kind of killer. She was perfect for the job.

  And if she was damaged or even killed in the process, all the better. So long as she killed Viper he didn’t care what happened to her.

  As to the group he’d send with her, he opted to pick out any who were still under the Disloyal tag. They could go and risk their lives. He needed to ensure he maintained his Loyal until he finished the Integration. Only then could he relax, as the Quest would finally complete.

  ###

  Nicolai and the others arrived early. He always aimed to get to trades early, so they had time to scope out the area, set up drones, and take up positions. The best way to avoid an ambush was to get there before the ambush was set up.

  The trade was going down in a large courtyard nestled within the castle, which had stone buildings and towers all around it. He had them set up at the exit of one of those buildings where it opened onto the courtyard. This building had numerous routes of exit within it, which they could retreat through, and had two large statues either side of the exit. Good natural cover.

  He had John and Cait take up position on a balcony emerging from the building, one that could be reached from a stairwell inside by the exit. Jo went further up, lurking on the highest balcony available, which also emerged from the building Nicolai had chosen to put his back to. This was the highest point of overlook available around this courtyard, part of the reason he’d chosen this particular spot.

  With him was Beth and Daksh.

  While they waited, their drones spread out through the area. Nicolai posted drones at all of their escape routes, at other high-up points, and within the other buildings. He and the group had amassed quite a number of drones now; stolen from other groups, and purchased from the Trade Link. He would have liked to expand his selection to include hunter killer drones and advanced scan-type drones, but with his current need for funds he couldn’t afford to spend money on such things. Hunter killer drones especially were very expensive. Those the cyborgs had attacked him with should have cost around 40,000 points in total.

  The group they were meeting with was one he hadn’t interacted with before. Maxine claimed to have spoken to them before and said they were “good people.” Nicolai intended to make his own judgements. Supposedly they were quite small, so he hadn’t brought too many goods, just a single bag. There was enough in there to trade for the points he needed.

  At the arranged time, drones spotted a group moving through the opposite building. Less than ten people. They had a couple of guns and moved with wary readiness. Little different to many other of the groups he had met with, recently.

  They emerged from the far side, peering around, taking in Nicolai and the others.

  Nicolai gazed back at them, absorbing the sight of their faces and bodies, seeking signs of betrayal.

  The group gazing back at him set off alarm bells, both for him and Threat Analysis.

  They were nervous, and that was normal—coming and meeting with strangers promising to sell guns, in a place like this, was a worrying proposition. It would have been cause for concern if they hadn’t shown any signs of worry.

  But these people weren’t just nervous. He detected faint signs of excitement. Some were quiet and focused. Others were jittery, moving too much, talking loudly and laughing with one another. All were holding tight to weapons. Many had wide, dilated eyes that probed at the surrounding area, himself and the rest of the group. The body language of people anticipating a fight.

  The leader looked especially focused. He saw the man’s eyes as they moved from himself, then to the others one by one in the doorway. Taking count. The man glanced back at those behind him and turned his body slightly. One of his arms was thus hidden from view, but from the movement of his shoulders and the gazes of the others moving to that hidden hand, he had made some kind of gesture.

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  Cyberwarfare was ready and waiting to intercept and hack into any loosely encrypted communications between the group, but there were no communications to hack into. The other group was not communicating over Local whatsoever.

  The only reason for that was because they worried about the possibility of such communications being intercepted and read by a third party. If they had nothing to hide, then that wouldn’t be a problem and most people would still exchange some idle chat with their friends. But if there was something that needed to be hid, such as intent to ambush, it made sense they would restrict such communications.

  These people weren’t just worried about the possibility that combat might occur. They expected it. They were waiting for it. They were taking measures for it. Cyberwarfare ensure his next communication was sent with heavy encryption, something made easier by patching into Daksh’s more advanced communications hardware.

  ‘We’ve been betrayed. Don’t move too quickly and give it away, but be ready to fight or flee,’ he messaged the others.

  ‘Hi there!’ called out the leader of the other group. They were all clustered at the door they had emerged from, most still hiding in the dark. Ready for a quick escape.

  Through one of the more distant sentry drones, Cyberwarfare detected interference. Someone had just put a wedge in the feed between him and that drone, similar as what he’d done when assaulting the Chosen at the library. The feed began to loop. Most people would have been tricked, but Nicolai wasn’t most people.

  Cyberwarfare took quick measures, anticipating the same. When the next sentry drone was subtly interfered with, it was able to give him a glimpse of what was hidden before the feed was fully interrupted. He was given a brief glimpse of a singular individual.

  In the still image he had gained he saw level 2 Cyborg. It was made of black metal, tall and thin, with various additional modifications. It looked a bit like an AssassinBot, a common killbot model. Via some other picket drones he was given a few more still images, gaining an idea of the overall Chosen group. Alongside the Level 2 there was also a band of perhaps twenty Chosen.

  The Chosen had come to play. However, for whatever reason Vikrum hadn’t come himself. He had sent one of his so-called Elites instead. A level 2 Cyborg was of significantly more threat than the four level 1s Nicolai had faced before. Fighting them would be a risk.

  He considered. The safe option was to signal an immediate retreat. The incoming Chosen were still quite distant, and he had an escape route setup—there was a nearby balcony from which he and the others, via carrying one another with Pegasi rings, could quickly relocate to a lower area. As the majority of the Chosen alongside the other group were unlikely to have means to follow, it would be an easy way of avoiding combat or at least significantly stacking the odds, as any Chosen capable of following would have to do so alone.

  But the safe option was not necessarily the correct option. If the expected gains from fighting had been low, he would have signalled the retreat as it wouldn’t be worthwhile to take the fight.

  There was one deciding factor. The level 2 Cyborg was carrying an anti-material rifle, the very item he had need for. If he could get his hands on that it would allow him to move his plans forward by a couple of days. With time as limited as it was, the risk was worth it.

  Once that Cyborg and the others arrived, he imagined this group would join them in attacking him and the others. So far, neither the inbound Chosen nor the group stood before him was aware he knew of the intended ambush. With the ambush known ahead of time, he could turn it.

  Nicolai looked the other group over carefully, hunting for a way to gain an advantage. Being attacked by this group and the Chosen together would make things difficult. He could either order his people to fire and attempt to wipe them out now then await the Chosen, or… or what? The Mask joined with him as he considered the other group, how they stood, how they looked at one another, fishing out the bonds and relationships between them in search of a strategy.

  The leader was standing next to a young woman. The Mask felt that they were a couple; there was a protectiveness from the man. She was also unusually small, less than five feet, and looked like she’d skipped a few meals too many. He guessed her weight at around eighty pounds.

  His head tilted as he considered. His Soul Sense, and therefore the Grasping Finger, had a range of about ten metres. The Soul Snake doubled that range to twenty.

  The far side of the courtyard and the other group was about forty metres away.

  Smiling, Nicolai stepped forwards and began to walk towards the other group. As he walked he charged the relevant Symbiotes for what he had in mind.

  ‘Hello,’ he said, in a welcoming tone. ‘We have the goods. You have your points-tags?’

  The man reached into a pocket and then held up a fistful of points tags, fanned like cards. ‘We do. So bring over the goods, and we’ll see what we want.’

  Nicolai had by now covered ten metres. He kept walking. The man frowned, looking past him at the bags beside Beth.

  ‘What are you doing?’ he asked, and the group shifted warily, watching Nicolai uncertainly.

  ‘I need to count the points-tags first,’ Nicolai replied.

  Nicolai had now covered twenty metres. With his Cultivator’s eyes he saw no signs that any of this group could Cultivate; they had no Soul Senses. ‘Hold your fire,’ he messaged the others.

  ‘You can count them from there, can’t you?’ the man held the points-tags up high, waving them. ‘Bring the goods over, we’re ready.’

  Nicolai activated his Sheltering Glove’s shield, the Soul Snake Symbiote, and the Grasping Finger.

  His Soul Sense abruptly surged forwards, growing more slender as it doubled in length. The Grasping Finger, a yellow line ending in a clawed hand which only those with a Cultivator’s eyes could see, lunged through his Soul Sense. It latched onto the points-tags held in the man’s hand and Nicolai pulled back, the Art snatching them away and launching them through the air towards him.

  It happened so quickly the group only had time to twitch in shock before he caught the points-tags.

  ‘Wait, I’m counting!’ he yelled at the other group as they began to raise guns, just to make them hesitate for a moment. But he didn’t do any counting. Instead he used the Grasping Finger once again, and this time he had to put significantly more Oma into its use. He tensed his body and planted his legs and pulled, grabbing onto the young woman beside the leader. As he did so some of them started firing but almost immediately they stopped, twisting in confusion as one of their members was suddenly whipped away.

  The young woman let out a scream as she was dragged bodily through the air, tumbling towards Nicolai. He knew the confusion she must be feeling, having experienced it himself back when the Mantis Spirit Beast used the Grasping Finger on him. She slammed into him but he caught her and let the force send him skidding several feet backwards.

  When they came to a stop he was holding her tight by one arm and had a pistol pressed to the side of her head. He held her so she was facing the other group. They were staring at him with pale, shocked faces. Their guns were raised but he could feel their unwillingness to squeeze the triggers. He began backing up, dragging her stumbling with him, hunkering a little lower to better hide his body behind hers.

  ‘What the fuck are you doing?! Let her go!’ howled the leader, some of the others yelling out alongside him.

  ‘You betrayed us to the Chosen,’ called Nicolai, voice pitched to carry. The woman he held was letting out quick, heavy, panicked gasps. She seemed frozen by fear, which was good. As a result she wasn’t flailing and jerking as some others might, and her frozen form was easier for him to hide behind.

  ‘Don’t bother denying it,’ he added. ‘I know you did and I know that they’re coming. But when they get here, it won’t be like they expect. You will help us fight them. Otherwise, she dies.’

  In their faces he saw significant fear and shock. This woman was well liked, and not just by the leader. The Mask imagined she must be a core member, practically family to them. It could empathise with the gut-wrenching fear they must be feeling. Nicolai smiled. Good.

  ‘What’ll it be?’ he called out, peering over the woman’s shoulder at the rest of them, gripping tight as she trembled. ‘If you fight the Chosen with us here, then I’ll return her to you. After that, you can join the Coalition. No hard feelings, eh? We’re all just trying to survive out here. This didn’t go how you wanted it to go, but it doesn’t have to go any worse. Help us out, and we’ll help you out.’

  The leader’s face was white, his jaw clenched tight, eyes furious and terrified. ‘All right!’ the man yelled. ‘We’ll help! Just send her back!’

  ‘K-Karim!’ cried the woman, now shaking so bad Nicolai had to hold her tighter.

  ‘Calm down,’ he told her.

  ‘Don’t kill me, don’t kill me,’ she was whispering. ‘Please send me back.’

  His Mask reacted. ‘Don’t worry,’ it whispered. ‘Just be still and everything will be fine. Just relax, okay? Your people care about you, don’t they?’ It asked this last almost desperately, hoping she wouldn’t have to die. His voice returned to being calm and flat as Nicolai added: ‘So long as they don’t do anything stupid, I won’t kill you.’

  He wasn’t lying. If this worked and that group assisted his own against the Chosen, then they would effectively have no choice but to join the Coalition anyway. The Chosen would consider them enemies, traitors. Plus it was simply no big deal to him if the other group and this woman lived or died, they had proven themselves easily read and controlled; no real threat.

  She was nodding. ‘They care about me,’ she managed.

  ‘Then everything is fine.’ He raised his voice, looking back at the rest of her group. ‘She’s going to stay with us for now. Just to make sure. We’ll look after her and once this is over you’ll get her back, safe and sound.’

  ‘Send her back now!’ yelled the leader, and the others added their voices. ‘Send her back or we won’t help, we won’t do shit!’

  ‘I think you will help,’ called Nicolai. ‘Because she’s going to be with us. The Chosen are going to be shooting at us, aren’t they? If we die, she dies. In the meantime, if any of you attempt to cross to this side for any reason, we will kill her. You’re all smart people. Do the right thing.’

  He saw them conferring, and he knew for a near certainty they’d make the right decision. He’d been gradually moving backwards, dragging the woman with him, and now he reached the doorway and disappeared into it.

  ‘Take her,’ he told Cait, pushing the hostage from behind.

  ‘What now?’ Cait asked, grabbing the woman with her bionic arm. ‘Do we run?’

  ‘No. Our position is good.’ He switched to Local, speaking to all of the group. ‘Hold your positions. They’re good positions, you have good cover and lines of sight. The other group are more exposed and will naturally draw much of the Chosen’s fire when it starts. This will give you opportunity to shoot the Chosen. But there is a problem. One of Vikrum’s elites is on the way, a level 2 Cyborg. I have to go and deal with that. In the meantime, you deal with this. Jo is in charge. If things go bad, retreat through the arranged route.’

  He didn’t wait around to hear their worries and doubts, sliding away and disappearing down a corridor.