Chapter 30: Brothers

  Ravine finished bringing everyone up to date. "So yeah, this is everything." She looked at Irene, then Zhon, then Roan.

  Roan cleared his throat. "So this whole time, this whole exploration thing we were told to do from the beginning..." He clenched his fist. "It was just so we would evolve?"

  "I'm not sure I'm ready to accept all of this, but we have a new mission now," Irene said. "Did she say anything about that?" She gestured toward Ravine.

  Zhon cut in. "Wait, wait, wait. Before all of this, you said she could bring back Aria, right? How do we know we can trust her? After all, she had no problem using us and the others. What if she just decides to stab us in the back once we help her, or worse, once we go to space? We have to think of those things."

  Ravine sighed. "I know all this must be hard to accept, but it's not like we have much of a choice or much time for that matter." She crossed her arms. "We can still keep an eye on her. Plus, it wouldn't be to her advantage to betray us anyway. She has no army, and if what she says is true, what could she do alone? Razak managed to produce android soldiers that can't be swayed, and if she was to do it alone, she would fail humanity and us once again."

  "Well, when you put it like that..." Roan conceded.

  Mother Phoenix approached them. "Well, are you done bickering? If so, follow me. I will now explain the plan."

  Zhon looked at the others with squinted eyes, shook his head, then started following Mother Phoenix. As the others fell in line, Mother Phoenix turned her head slightly toward Zhon as she floated.

  "I can still sense that you are angered with me, which I understand, but I promise once we get through this, I will bring your friend back."

  "The simple fact that you keep dangling her as if she is a reward is the very reason I do not trust you for shit," Zhon said angrily.

  Mother Phoenix slowed her pace. "Have you maybe thought of the fact that your friend is not made for combat and that she very well could die again in battle? You should know that better than anyone else on this team, as you also are not. Things could get hectic as soon as we infiltrate the Mother Ship, and I do not want to have to babysit two of you. It is too much of a risk."

  Zhon tried to argue back, but Irene tapped his shoulder and shook her head. He sighed.

  Soon after, Mother Phoenix waved her hand at a wall, and it split in two with a mechanical whir. "This way, please."

  As they passed through, they entered a room illuminated by small blue lights that converged to project a schematic of the Mother Ship. She gestured toward the large black table. "Take a seat. This might take a while."

  They all sat down. Roan joined his hands together on the table. "So this is the Mother Ship? I kind of expected it to be, you know, more out there."

  Mother Phoenix chuckled. "We made it from scraps of an old station. It is even a miracle we managed to make it work in the end. Razak is a genius." She cleared her throat, becoming nostalgic. "The ship is made of six main layers. To enter, we will need to sneak in. There is no other way around it. Trying to take the ship head-on would lead us to be obliterated immediately."

  "Well, what do you suggest? We will take your lead," Irene said.

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  Mother Phoenix nodded. "The ship has a pod deployment sector where future squadrons rest until they are deployed. If we manage to open them from the outside, we can get in without being detected."

  "Wouldn't that kill those androids, which is what we do not want to do?" Zhon said, putting a finger down on the table.

  Mother Phoenix rested her head on her knuckles. "Not exactly. None of you is actually 'alive' until you arrive on the site of your mission. You are usually, well, inactive. They are essentially just machinery until activation."

  Zhon groaned. "Still, it's messed up."

  "More will perish if we do not act, Zhon," Irene said. "The sooner we get this over with, the better. I do not want to have to do this more than I have to."

  "Once inside, what do we do?" Ravine asked Mother Phoenix.

  Mother Phoenix swiped her arm, and the ship was shown from the inside. "Once inside, we will need to make our way to the factory on the second layer upward. If we are lucky, we might be able to recruit some androids that could help us. But if not, we will head to the third layer, which is the main one."

  She zoomed in on a room full of android guards and a large holographic table. "This table is how we control the ship and what happens in it. As you can see, there will be lots of guards, probably in other layers too, so we will need to stay sharp. Once we can get control of the table, I will be able to put an end to Razak's control and proceed to help you get your friend back. Sound good?"

  "Two questions," Ravine said. "First, what will happen to the Mother Ship once we get rid of Razak? And second, how the hell are we going to get to space? I know you showed me a ship that you used to go on with him way back when, but things are different now. Even if we find one, it must be rusted to hell now and unusable. My last one is—we both know you are an entity with no physical form. How did you go to space the first time? Shouldn't your servers be bound to Earth?"

  Roan muttered, "Not to be a smartass, but that would be three questions, Ravine, not... well, you know."

  Ravine looked at him for a few seconds, then shook her head.

  "I would be able to continue overlooking it and sending new androids to Earth to repopulate it, as was always my objective," Mother Phoenix said. "To answer your second question, I strongly hope we can find one still in condition to bring us there, but if not, I trust that our friend Zhon will be able to make something that works. After all, if Razak could years ago, so can he."

  Zhon's eyes widened in surprise. He composed himself. "I appreciate the trust, but I am a tech guy, not the second coming of Jesus. I can try to make it work, but I won't pull any miracles. Got that?" He looked at Mother Phoenix.

  She nodded. "Any help is still help." She continued, "I discovered while being with Razak that I could integrate into android bodies and coexist with them for a period of time, which acts as a mini-server until we make it to space."

  She turned to face the team. "I will now ask you a question of my own: who is willing to cohabit with me until we get to space?"

  She looked at each of them. When she made contact with Zhon, he leaned back. "Shit, don't look at me. I am absolutely not keeping you inside me. I don't even know you. None of us do." He smirked and looked at Ravine. "Except you." He chuckled evilly.

  Ravine scoffed. "Way to throw me under the bus. But I guess I can do it. After all, I was inside a past version of her for a while. It wasn't so bad." She shrugged.

  "It will only be like having a voice in your head. It is of no ha—"

  Suddenly, a loud whirring sound erupted, and the ground shook violently.

  "Everybody out of the room! Let's see what's going on!" Irene commanded.

  As they struggled to find balance, they made it out. Through the windows, they saw four massive white ships circling the research center. As the noise became unbearable, Ravine screamed through it, "What is this?"

  Mother Phoenix looked at each ship. "Looks like he managed to find us. Perhaps we won't need to find a ship anymore. Think of this as the last mission of the 11th Squadron before heading to space—survive the arrival of your brothers."

  As she spoke, pods were deployed around them, landing with loud thuds on the streets. As the pods opened, many androids emerged—some male-looking, some female-looking.

  "They—they look almost just like us," Roan said.

  "Well, not only that, but they are better too," Mother Phoenix replied.

  Irene drew her greatsword. "I guess we do not have a choice."

  "This is going to be a pain in the ass, isn't it?" Roan said.

  Ravine drew her spear. "Roan, get in your mech right now. We can't risk losing you."

  Mother Phoenix approached Ravine. "This time, let me fight with you. Let me help you."

  "You better not disappoint me," Ravine said.

  Mother Phoenix responded with a slight smirk. "I promise you won't."

  As their fingertips touched, a bright light burst forth as they merged.