Spirit of Fire

SPIRIT OF FIRE

Rain fell and thunder roared in a beautiful suburban neighbourhood. The car careened through the streets at breakneck pace, tyres screeching on asphalt. Dana, wrestled with the wheel as she fled, pursued by two unmarked cars. In the passenger seat, Hansol bled profusely, he looked bad. Sweat matted his brow, pulse was low.

‘Come on, come on. Don’t die on me Hansol.’ Growled Dana as she turned violently onto the interstate narrowly avoiding a crash with a small Sedan. A high-pitched ring filled the air, as the wing mirror evaporated from a bolt of laser fire. Experimental weaponry, this was meant to be a routine job dammit.

‘Destination, is now 10 miles.’ announced the A.I.

‘Fuck,’ She cast a quick glance at Hansol to check his vital signs. Status, she thought in her mind. The neural link gave her a quick appraisal. In her HUD, she could see the damage. The A.I gave her a readout, Vital signs dropping, Severe internal haemorrhage detected. Subject needs urgent care or uplink. Brain death imminent. She hit the gas, as she turned into the highway. Switching to handsfree she thought, and the A.I took over. She pushed the seat back and reached in the back for her kit. The car lurched violently as the A.I drove, zipping through traffic at over seventy miles per hour she searched frantically in the dark, hands outstretched, she felt something and grabbed.

Dana lowered the passenger seat, opening the rectangular box. A display readout requested her biometrics, she pushed her fingerprint, gaining access. From it she extricated the med box, bioform in hand, she carefully opened Hansols jacket. A circular hole the size of her fist stared her in the face, his internals were cauterised. On his chest, lay a heart shaped locket, it was open and inside the hologram of a little girl flickered. He was lucky the blast didn’t hit him directly or she’d be dragging his corpse back to HQ.

She pushed the foam through. In her HUD she saw his vitals stabilise. A slight sigh of relief escaped her, and then the rear window exploded.

Time slowed for a moment as shards of glass blasted through the car. Rain flooded inside. She pulled out her side weapon. Aiming squarely at the pursuing car, she fired back a few rounds. That’s when she noticed the helicopter. Flying above the highway, it rose, searchlight castling a beam in her direction. This is it, she thought. We’re done. She still had one trick up her sleeve. Below the highway ran a river.

Engage Information Transfer Protocol. She thought to the A.I

‘Information Transfer Protocol is ill advised for non-cybernetic BCIs’ said the AI. Hansol’s brains wasn’t fully cybernetic, but she knew had to save something of him. Just do it, she thought.

‘ITT Protocol, engaging, please connect subject’ Without hesitation, she pulled the transfer cables from the cars dashboard and plugged them into Hansols transfer port. ‘Transfer engaged, wireless transfer in t minus 5 minutes. Starlink backup engagaed.’

Another blast from laser fire hit the car. Damaging the taillights. Dana pushed herself into the backseat. She had to buy them a few minutes, she doubted the helicopter would fire in a crowded highway. She pushed the secret compartment in the backseat, a scanner examined her eyes and opened a small compartment revealing her trusty Type 2 Steyr SSX sniper rifle.

‘Come on baby, one last time.’ She crooned. The A.I weaved through traffic, trying to throw off the two pursuing vehicles.

Head down, rain pouring through the broken window. She engaged her targeting module. Dana’s visor lit up with her targets. She took a deep breath, aimed her rifle, the unmarked cars raced through civilian cars, but no matter. She aimed square at one of the drivers and locked on. He noticed, tried to back away but too late. Dana fired. A burst of blood filled the cars windshield and the car swerved, then flipped. Dana smiled for a moment, relishing the kill then suddenly a laser bolt, hit the wheel, the car lost control and it crashed through the highway’s barriers. Gravity gave way and the car fell, towards the river below.

‘Transfer complete,’ said the AI as the car hit the water.