It wasn’t the sight they were hoping to see upon entering the facility, and in terms of omens it didn’t speak well to their prospects. There wasn’t a chance to take anything about the new world in as their first sensation through the door was the fresh stench of death.

 The colossal lifeless body that lay just beyond the door was perhaps the most humbling thing any of them had seen so far. He was a good bit bigger than Lindsey, not that it mattered when faced with a gun.  He was young as well, probably a co-worker.  The facts that he hadn’t been moved or attended to meant they were either alone or there were more grizzly discoveries waiting for them.

“How long?” Elliot had to ask.

“I’m not a medical examiner by any means but I don’t get a sense of rigor mortis setting in. It was probably just before our giant friend made her entrance.”

Just another victim of Mutatio and there was nothing about this one that could be called accidental. Until proven otherwise Elliot was going to treat every victim of the Doctor equally, large or small.

“Can we do anything, at least cover him up?” It was a stupid question, he knew they couldn’t leave such blatant evidence about, but it didn’t feel right to just work around a corpse.

“The time it would take to move… ‘that’ is time better spent actually helping the cause,” Jenson said. He was the oldest of those assembled. In his thirties though one who seemed to have aged prematurely, he could have easily passed for forty.

“Him, not that, we’re better than the doc,” Elliot corrected softly, not able to work up the anger he wanted. He might not be able to do anything for this guy, but he didn’t want Mutatio’s line of thinking infecting anyone else. An uphill battle all things considered, but with all the power he had right now he couldn’t afford as looking at everyone like an enemy.

Averies didn’t address either of them instead he looked up to where the giant had been working. “I’m guessing that’s our best bet for any kind of immediate access.”

“I don’t suppose there will be a more sanitary option?” It didn’t take a genius to note that the way the poor guy was sprawled out that he had probably been working when he was shot. Unfortunately no one had any better ideas, “didn’t think so.”

After a moment of awkward flight, what with carrying all three, they came to rest on the cubicle and thankfully it wasn’t quite as grizzly as Elliot had been expecting. There was a blood splatter on the computer screen but luckily no giant sized gore. If one could look past the blood, it was easy to appreciate the sight of a computer at about as tall as a two story building.

“Bit of luck looks like he was logged in when he was shot,” Salmond said looking over the display.

“Bit of luck that they even have computers to begin with. We could have been working with microfilm or worse!” Jenson laughed,  “Surprised the outside world developed this much without Archimedes.”

Despite the horror of the situation it was a definite’ boys with toys’ moment as the scientists were naturally intrigued with the foreign technology. The idea of ‘in different circumstances’ was becoming all too common for Elliot and it was starting to become annoying. Here they were in what was for all intents and purposes an alien world. So much could happen in in a century, what was similar, where had they diverged? He was sure the others had the same thoughts about that even as the three of them scrambled over the key board like overly curious mice.

Some things were definitely similar to life in Archimedes however. While the others were naturally concerned about  the computer Elliot’s eyes drifted to the man’s personal effects. Pictures of family, maybe friends; one stood out in particular with the young man holding a young girl who was about five.

Suddenly he felt like he needed to clear his head.  “Guys I’m going to do a little more in depth exploration. Coms on in case I need to rush back here.”

They gestured in vague fashion signaling they heard him. The lot of them acting like a kid barely paying attention to their parent.

Elliot took off not imagining what he might find. Something, or someone, had set the doctor off and he didn’t have the benefit of jets to get him around. So it had to have been either a really disastrous first encounter or something that had been apparent and obvious that Doctor could reach by himself.

Still it wasn’t like he was going to have a hint rise up and smack him in the face. The only thing he could do was…

He had put good distance between himself and the initial room. The corridors ran deep and looked to branch off up ahead. It might have taken a good deal of exploring had a hint not practically slapped him in the face.

A piece of paper, on the giant’s scale, was marked with yellow and blue highlighter, with a message that was as blunt as possible. [Gold or Dynamo first branch on the left.]

His initial thought was trap but the doctor could have easily just ambushed them outside the first door. A swift kick to the APC from Lindsey would have taken the wind out his sails and probably killed his comrades to boot.

“I suppose a trap is better than sitting around all day,” he said with a smirk. Further down the corridor were identical signs to the first one. He supposed Mutatio had done that just in case he had been especially thick and missed the first one. Elliot got the impression the doctor didn’t think highly of his intelligence.  That was fine with him. If the Doctor wanted to hold his hand and gloat about just why he was in the right Elliot would let him. It would make shutting him up all the sweeter.

He followed the signs and it led him to something of an un-used office. One thing he had noticed so far was aside from the desks where Lindsey and her partner worked most of this complex seemed entirely unused.  Even without the area dedicated to Archimedes he would guess, were it on the proper scale, it would take up a couple city blocks. Gauging by a couple maps he had seen it likely had several levels as well. So where the hell was everyone?

Yet another mystery for the pile, but it could wait until he found what Mutatio had wanted him to see. The room looked relatively mundane. Table, desk, no personal effects, and completely un-offensive art on the walls, he probably could have walked into any office downtown and would have seen the same thing. The difference, of course, being he wouldn’t feel like a mouse in any of those offices.

He settled down and out of habit checked his armor’s power supply. Still at a 100%, though they did charge up back at the base. His father assured him it would be good constantly running for three days. That of course didn’t take into account anything he might encounter over the course of those three days. God willing this would be over in a day or less but Elliot was a tad pessimistic.

Nothing was readily apparent of what Mutatio would want him to see. By now it was obvious it wasn’t a trap, and he seriously doubted Mutatio would take the time to lure him to a random room for no purpose…though he had to admit that would have been an amazing way to slow him down.

No he had to think smart as he couldn’t afford to be impulsive, not this time. All too often in the old days he was content to shut his brain off and let his dad do the heavy thinking. That wasn’t going to cut it now.

“Okay…the signs can be dismissed. Their vague and written by a giant, but a message is going to be something discrete, easily over looked, probably on my scale.” It all seemed logical enough. If Mutatio had something he wished to tell them, he’d make it obvious enough for him, while being  unknown by his supposed enemies. Mutatio didn’t know who exactly was coming after him but thought it would be obvious enough for someone from Archimedes to discover.

He settled down onto the desk and thought.  It had to be subtle and it had to be something quick. No way Mutatio spent hours setting this up. 

Looking to his side he saw a pile of sticky notes, left apparently unused in the corner of the desk, behind some pen holders and other useless office supplies.  Worthy of note though that it wasn’t covered in dust and had an old English A scribbled on top. That design was used for much of Archimedes’ official documents and paperwork from the government.

He quickly flipped to the next note and was unsurprised to find a message.

[Despite what you may think I do care for our city, and should my efforts fail the continued existence is my top priority. Details on the ‘wall’ can be found in their database documents under the title ct1. I know you wish to come after me but please read document ct5 and the video that accompanies it first.

The shift changes every 12 hours. They’ll be a new shift at 6 pm be done before then.

I doubt they will read into it, or find this message, but destroy it after reading. Good luck to you whoever you are.

Long live Archimedes

-Mutatio]

Elliot grimaced but tore the message free. It would be so much easier if the Doctor was the cackling villain variety.  Still Mutatio at the moment was the least of their concerns. He checked for a clock in the room, not trusting this world’s time to be synched with Archimedes standard, and hoped it might still be running despite disuse.  One basic black and white hung on a corner wall and was still running thankfully. It was 2 pm. Fantastic, four hours till everything hit the fan.

He took off as time was not their friend. Careening back the way he came, snatching Mutatio’s hints off the wall as he did so. If the doctor was right they had all of four hours to save the city. An unescapable distraction while the doctor got further away.

<v>

For Lindsey alertness came slowly and steadily. She’d been locked into her fog like state of compliance for hours so when it subtly began to fade her reaction to it was slow. They were in her car leaving the complex behind them. Mutatio’s last orders were their destination and nothing more. He had her turn on the news and then retreated into his resentful silence.

Lindsey was completing her orders and that damned device made her love any second of it. Still so long as she didn’t do anything to go against his orders she was allowed to think, and she certainly had plenty to think about.

She was going to die. There was no way around that now. He had willed away her of their first encounter. Kept her from her alerting her superiors, kept her from getting any help, if they would have even bothered, they may have put a bullet in her head just to limit the risk of exposure.

Given her current condition it may have been a mercy.

Then there was Archimedes of which she had a myriad of thoughts; some in direct contradiction with each other. When she started it was just the city in a bubble of which the politics surrounding its fate were so far beyond her pay grade it was best not to think about. It was there, it wasn’t going to change, there was no need to worry about it. There were those that wanted the situation to change, she heard the whispers, but her only concern on the matter was her job security.

The project had faced budget cuts and neglect for years. She could count the staff on two hands. There were talks about decommissioning the whole thing, though they assured her it at least wouldn’t be within the next year.  Out of sight out of mind, she would have been content to go through another year and then be reassigned when her time was up.

Archimedes was never referred to as a city, or a people, it was a contagion, an anomaly, one that threatened the world at large but was thankfully safely contained.

Mutatio had forced her to dramatically alter her views. He eliminated the notion of a passive threat and Archimedes was no longer an anomaly, or simply a contagion. It was a city, a vibrant one at that. The thought of a ‘decommission’ now horrified her. She hated Mutatio, what he had done to her, what he had made her do. She’d gladly squish the bastard if given a moment’s freedom.

But trapped in her mind as she was, all she could do was think, examine the possibilities.  What would she have done in his stead? How would she act if she knew that not only had Archimedes been abandoned but that there were plans to deco- no, just like anomaly, and contagion it was hiding behind language. Not only had Archimedes been abandoned but that its citizens faced the possibility of extermination! If certain players got their way they’d see every man, woman, and child wiped from the world.

It’s was a weighty matter, one that occupied her full attention, so that when the grip Mutatio had on her mind waned ever so slightly it went initially unnoticed, and when it slipped entirely the realization did not immediately result in Mutatio’s deserved death.

She hesitated in just that moment when she had the opportunity to flatten him like a bug, but as Gold found out earlier ‘he who hesitates is lost.’ Mutatio’s eyes snapped open from his brief slumber and she recoiled as if she touched a hot stove. It wasn’t due to Mutatio reasserting his will, but because she came to a decision about what was the right choice. A simple independent thought before the doctor’s vice like grip could once again claim her mind.

‘At least I can choose how I go out.’

She forced a hard right with the steering wheel and slammed the brakes. Even as Mutatio asserted his will the jeep was already going into a rollover. The jeep flipped and spun across the desert highway. A surge of relief filled her at least before everything went black.

*****

“Are you seeing clear enough?” His father wasn’t joking about the new communications system. Communicating wasn’t an issue even outside the city. Nicholas was coming through perfectly and after a moment he could see the old man on his HUD with clear definition.

“Can see everything you see kid.”

“I take it you’ve been following our progress then.”

“I suppose we should be grateful to Mutatio for laying out the basics for us.  Your team is busy relaying everything they can about the previous wall. Given what we know on our own about its properties we’re filling in a lot of gaps. Getting up a proper wall may take us beyond the four hours but we can do enough to keep up appearances.”

“I think they’ll be too distracted by the murder of an employee by a rogue agent to investigate any inconsistencies…makes me wonder if he was planning for that too,” where did the genius end and the coincidence begin. It was starting to bug the hell out of Elliot.

“Don’t fall into the trap of giving him too much credit. I don’t doubt his intelligence but I severely question his control. A high IQ doesn’t mean he can’t be a psychopath.”

Elliot didn’t share his thoughts on the matter. “Will we be able to transfer this information back to the city?”

“It’s a matter of working out compatibility. Computers seem to be in the same family, but positively archaic, and that’s not even accounting for size.”

The young hero smirked, “But,”

“Two hours.”

“You shouldn’t be having this much fun, especially with your injuries.”

“Villains to chase, mysteries to uncover, a world to explore; the dirty little secret you no doubt know my boy, we don’t just get into this kind of life because it’s the right thing to do.”

“And there’s the Minister.”

He noticed his father become slightly redder but his son did not press. “Dad, how good are this suit’s navigation systems?”

Thankful for a change of topic he answered without thinking. “Impeccable within the city, and you should at least have the capability for pinpoint directions outside of it.”

“Interesting, I also see I have a wealth of information on old maps.”

“Elliot…”

“From what I understand at the moment I’m a glorified paper weight. The gathering of information and implementation of the wall isn’t dependent on me at all is it?”

Nicholas went silent though was no doubt trying to think of something, anything, to dissuade his son from what he was currently planning.

“I’ll take your silence as a no.”

Again Nicholas didn’t have a response.

“If we’re going to have any peace with the real world, it doesn’t do us good for Mutatio to pile up more bodies in the meantime.” He watched his father’s expression. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he was thinking of the girl and Elliot had to hit on that.

“Mutatio fully believes he can ‘solve’ the problem. Given everything we’ve seen do you really want to give him the chance to?”

“Keep in constant contact.” Nicholas said, clear in the fact that he had nothing to stop Elliot and moved straight to parental concern.

“Done.”

“Keep checking your energy usage. If you think you can’t make it back you’re turn return Mutatio or no.”

“Gotcha.”

“And damn it this is seek and retrieve. You’re not Dynamo out there as messed up as it is to say do not play the hero.”

Elliot bit his lip and couldn’t hold back a sincere grin. “mmm no promises.”

****

Careless! Unforgivable! For all his plans, all his boasting, lives taken and ruined, and he nearly made it all moot by drifting away to sleep. Only a moment’s lapse and it was all it took to nearly bring it all down. If it wasn’t already ended, his shield saved him the worst of the accident but the car was beyond saving.  The jeep now rested on its roof with its windows shattered and the beginnings of a fuel leak developing. Miles from civilization still the next town might have been on the other side of the world!

Mutatio composed himself, his rage would do nothing to aid him now, and had already hindered him in Archimedes. He would not be undone by this, he would persevere, a strong mind prevails. For the moment he would take stock off the situation. The girl still likely had her phone. He could contact someone and procure a new ride and host in one fell swoop, but before that the grizzly task and retrieving it from her likely corpse.

He braced himself for the sight. Despite the day’s efforts death was quite the new subject for him, one that was not fully enjoyed especially on the scale that Lindsey would present. However upon coming to the driver’s side of the jeep, the obvious body was nowhere to be found. He looked down the road expecting that maybe she had been flung from the car, but to no avail.

“Quicker than I expected…” his thought went unfinished as he noted a hint of movement out of the corner of his eye. Despite his failures, the scientist in him could not hide the joy of a new discovery. He strode forward; the glass to the window was shattered so he had no trouble walking through. The object of his attention lay crumpled in the corner.

She wasn’t in good shape after the crash. She had no shield to protect her. There were bruises running along her face, blood dripping from her mouth and along her side. But none of that was what caught the doctor’s eye. No, it was a matter of scale, and the fact that Lindsey was now of lesser stature than Mutatio himself.

“Now that I wasn’t expecting.”