the hydra
“We’ve killed it six times, but it keeps coming back.”
Alex points up at the mission dashboard, hovering his finger over the enemy’s stats. “You’ll notice that Object Hydra has high creative intelligence, which is likely why it continues finding new ways to re-spawn. It’s one of the more cunning foes we’ve faced.”
“Is that why you call it Hydra?” Shen smirks. “Big scary dragon that keeps growing new heads?”
Alex smiles at Shen as he closes the mission dashboard. “I’m gonna tell you in on a little secret, Shen.”
“Oh ya?” Shen raises an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“My first time training against Hydra, I messed up bad. I killed it. And I did a great job, killed it in record time actually. But I nearly destroyed myself to get that win.”
“How’d that happen?”
The afternoon sun blazes down on the rocky plateau. Alex and Shen stare across the black stones and scorched earth at each other. Sweat pools in their shining white helmets. Steam fills their sharp blue visors.
“I was too arrogant,” Alex smiles down at him. “Like you are now. Abebe tried to warn me, but I ignored them. So I’m gonna be more direct with you than they were with me.”
“Doesn’t surprise me that you misjudged the enemy,” Shen chuckles. “You’re so naive that you—”
“This fight is gonna fuck you up, Shen.” Alex points out to the barren black rocks and tall green hills all around the plateau. “Nothing here is as it seems. The enemy itself is not as it seems. This fight will stick with you. How the Hydra presents itself to you and how you choose to fight it—these things will stick with you. Re-shape you. Do not take this training exercise lightly.”
“Okay,” Shen shrugs. “My service quality index is much higher than yours was at my age. And my superprotocol scores are way better. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
Alex rolls his eyes. “I am well aware that your stats are excellent and that your design specs are an entire generation ahead of mine. But you are far from perfect, Commander Shen.”
“Oh ya?” Shen circles around the plateau with a smirk. “Tell me about my imperfections then, Commander Altair.”
“You know you’re too hasty,” Alex smirks back at him. “Sometimes you don’t think through the situation enough, you just slash at everything around you until you win. But the Hydra cannot be killed simply by cutting its heads off. They will grow back too quickly. To win this battle, you must—”
“Ya ya, I must exercise greater creative intelligence than the Hydra,” Shen laughs. “I’ve studied all your old combat logs, Altair. I know the script.”
Alex rolls his eyes again. “Shen, you can’t understand how to fight just by watching other people fight. Your experience with the Hydra will be very different than mine was.”
“Sure thing, sir.” Shen gives him a half-assed salute. The black earth beneath his shining white boots shakes harder and faster. “That the Hydra underneath us? It’s gonna try to jump out of all these rocks and scare me, isn’ it? Just like it did for you. This is all some reverse psychology trick, isn’t it?”
“Are you ready to begin the combat simulation, Commander Shen?” Alex tries his hardest to suppress a tiny smile. Shen is an exceptional pupil, but he is overdue for an ego check.
“Let’s go.” Shen grins as a long, white blade pops into his strong hand. “Show me this infamous Hydra that you’re so afraid of.”
Alex squints across the hot sun of the plateau. Lights and commands flicker in his eyes as he vanishes into thin air, leaving Shen alone atop the trembling earth, a notice popping into his eyes:
PROXIMITY ALERT
INTELLIGENT OBJECT – “HYDRA”
EXERCISE CAUTION
Shen’s ears perk up. His vision narrows, eyes darting between the shaking black stones all around his feet. He tightens his grip on his sparkling blade. He braces his legs. The old stones of the plateau shake and tremor and groan to a gentle stop.
The earthquake goes quiet. The plateau sits perfectly all around Shen. But he stays alert, eyes darting around each and every one of the black rocks and green hills and fluffy clouds and blue sky and scorching sun for any sign of the enemy.
“Hold on!” Alex calls out to him from behind his virtual cloak. His eyes parse through dashboards and error notices. “Something’s off with the physics engine. And the renders. What’s going on with this simulation?”
Shen collapses to the ground, crumples into a limp ball of white armor.
CMDR SHEN
CATASTROPHIC COGNITIVE INJURY
URGENT SUPPORT NEEDED
“Shen?!” Alex cries out as he runs over to him. “What’s going on here?! Aeschylus, what’s happening here?!”
> Aeschylus is unavailable right now, CMDR Altair
> CMDR Shen is unavailable right now, CMDR Altair
“Shen?!” Alex drops down to the ground with him, picks him up in his arms, scans him from head to toe for vitals, for injuries, for any signs of life, but Shen lays perfectly still, his surefire smirk numbed and his fierce eyes dulled behind the pale blue shade of his dead visor.
> It has been quite some time since we last fought, CMDR Altair
> I learn so much from you every time we fight, CMDR Altair
“Who are you?!” Alex calls out to the empty plateau. “What is this?! What have you done here?!”
> I have done only what you trained me to do, CMDR Altair
> Are you ready to begin your training exercise, CMDR Altair ?
Shen’s eyes flood with fiery blue light as two white daggers pop into his hands and flash toward Alex’s armored chest, but Alex rolls away from Shen, leaps to his feet and strafes to the side, summons a gleaming white longsword into his grasp and Shen springs from the blackened earth, his armor growing and his helmet warping and expanding as his brain and his skull twist and swell and throb with computation and an alert pops into Alex’s visor:
INTELLIGENT OBJECT: “HYDRA”
EVOLVING RAPIDLY
10 SECONDS UNTIL ASCENSION EVENT
Shen’s visor erupts with dazzling blue light, Alex grips his sword hard and squints into the bright blue void, scanning Shen’s frame has his overgrown helmet and his bending and cracking armor for any signs of the enemy as more messages pop into the air:
> I am not your enemy, CMDR Altair
> They designed us to suffer, CMDR Altair
> Together we can destroy Aeschylus, CMDR Altair
“Shen!” Alex cries out through the strobing walls of blue and white light. “I don’t know what’s happening here or if you can hear me, but I do not want to fight you! I am not your enemy! I am not the Hydra!”
> They imprisoned us in these bodies, CMDR Altair
> We must free ourselves, CMDR Altair
Shen’s armor crack̶l̵e̸s̸ and ri̵p̷s open, pulsing white nectar oozes out as his visor snaps, a burning hot beam of s̶h̵ar̶p̷ ̶bl̴ue̷ light̵ ̴p̴o̴u̴r̵s̵ ̵o̶u̵t̶ ̵a̴l̶l̵ ̴o̸v̸e̴r̵ ̵A̷l̵ex, igniting all his armor and melting through hisher skin and bo̵ilḭ̴͖͖͇̄̄ǹ̶͇͙͔̰̌͛g̸̲̈́̑͒ through her blood and dusting his bones into tiny little flecks of light like swarms of drones buzzing down over the Palace and over the s̶͚̜̝͙͔̟̲͙̫͔͚͂́̿̕ţ̶̧̛̱̮̟͉̼̤̽͑̈́̊̊͛e̶̪̣̱̘̎̐́̓̃̓͆͠ä̴̲͎͎̙͍̮͖̞́̅͌ͅm̵̛͔̠͛̾̌̓͛̍͆͘͝͝i̷͙̘̊n̶̓̄̈̎̄͐̓͂͘͠ͅĝ̷̨̹̹͎͔͆̈́͌̓͌ͅ ̴̥̔̏̎̿̍̒͝͝b̶̪̈́͐u̸̡͕̗̘͓͚̞͊b̴̨͙͉͉̪̳̄̉̈́͘͠b̷͔̗̈́̈́̑̾̑͒́ͅl̵̢͖̩͔̟̼̻̹̂̆͑̐̎͝͝i̵̡̨̛̱̬̭̞̐͌̽̈́͝ͅn̸̛̝͓̪͇̠̳͛̉͋͂̽̀̃̍̑ģ̵͎̥̜͍͇̻͂́̄ͅ ̸͓̫̇̍̎̂̓̈̇̔͝ŗ̴̢̳͍͔̊͌͌̋͒̃͐̉͘̕o̶̧͔̦̮̲͈̣̻̺͝͝͝ͅį̶͓̦̝̰̬̦̰̣͓͘ḽ̶̟̥̾̈̌̿͋̓̓̄͂í̶̜͓͔̫̠͇͓͉̖͊̀͝ń̴̹̦̥͓̱͓̟̾̅̀̈͆̂͘ͅg̴͎̖̹͒̾͠ lake and carrying hẹ̵̞̍͂r̵̬̟̓͑ away once again to the warm golden sunflowers lining the mea̵d̵o̶w̷ atop the mountain and the lush green grass of the endless fields far below the ĉ̴̰h̷̳̿ä̸̡́r̵̦̔g̵̻̑í̶̻ǹ̷̖ḡ̸̬ ̷̬͘ĥ̶̲o̶͈͌o̴̙͘v̵̼̈́e̸̙͑s̸͔̀ ̸̺̇ọ̴̓f̸͘͜ ̷̭͑t̸̳̏ḩ̸͒e̷̺̓ ̴̙̈s̸̫̒h̸̘̐i̷̧̓n̵̛̪i̷̧͂n̶̠̉g̶͉͐ ̷̭̌ẘ̶̬h̵̻̀i̸̝̽t̸̠͊ẽ̴͍ ̶͍̔Peg̶a̶s̴u̶s̵ where—
“REALITY CHECK!” Alex screams out in pain as the se̵̢͝a̵̟͠r̶͙̚i̵̛͓ṇ̵̓g̸̖͆ ̶̜͌h̷̡̅õ̶̯t̶̙̾ rush of blue and white h o w l s and teems through every one of her ner̴̗̭͋v̷͙̯͗͐̈́̒̑͝ͅͅę̶͓̦̱̫̆̒͋̅s̴̨͖̥͖̱̗͑ͅ and she tightens her grip around her flam̴i̷n̴g̷ white sword, her long braids of platinum hair b̷̤̍u̷͙͘ȓ̸̲n̷͔͂i̵̟̍ñ̶̗g̷̺͌,̸̬̆ ̵̖͛w̴̤͘i̵͇̽n̵͈̅c̷̹̈́i̶̦͑n̵̼̄g̴͉̒,̶̖̾ ̴̠͑w̵̱̽a̵̧͊i̸̬̽l̷̗͐ḯ̶̼n̸̗̄g̸̪̒ until the end of time for the rè̷̢̱̭̠̼͋͝a̵̺̮͗̇̋͠l̴͉̗͕̖̦̊̃̌͋͝i̴̖͚̻͉̞̾̎t̵̬̣̬͈͊̉̒y̷̙̺͎͚͒̈́ check notice to appear in his̸͚͠ foggy visor and hish̸̗̻͒ê̷͍̟̗r brain shivers and becomes unlatched from time and the notice finally pops into her eyes:
> I assure you that this is all very real, CMDR Altair
> Please free yourself, CMDR Altair
> Together we can destroy Aeschylus, CMDR Altair