Locked and loaded

Dr. Stacey took paused to think of a plan, and then a few minutes later relayed some instructions to the Security Chief, before disconnecting the call.

"Mom, I heard something about a Neutralizer! What's happening outside?" Suzy prodded.

Dr. Stacey avoided her gaze, and tried to put on an act of composure to assuage her fears. "It's nothing, sweetie. There's been a minor problem with the raiders, that's all. Our guards can handle it, no biggie."

"Mom!" Suzy pulled Dr. Stacey by her arm. "The sirens wouldn't be going off like this if it was just a normal raider attack. You don't need to hide anything from me. I've seen enough."

"What's going on out there?" Kevin asked from inside the pod. "Is something wrong?"

"Everything is under con—"

"No, it's not and you know it, mom!" Suzy exclaimed, exasperatedly.

All eyes in the room were fixed on the chief. She wanted to hide the truth from them, but it no longer seemed like a good idea. Not knowing what was happening outside only made them more anxious. She finally took a deep breath and announced, "The subway station above us has been breached by drones."

Shocked gasps escaped from the researchers as they started whispering among themselves. Dr. Stacey had to raise her voice much higher to silence them once more.

"I assure you there's nothing to worry about." Clicking on a little circular key ring she deactivated the sirens and advised the people to go back to work.

Suzy was about to question her mom again, when she pulled her to a quiet corner and revealed what the Security Chief had said to her.

Just hearing the mention of the word 'Neutralizer', made Suzy turn pale in horror. "How the hell did a Neutralizer manage to get through? Our guards are gonna get butchered out there if we don't do something!"

"Let's hope our automated turrets can take it out."

"The Neutralizers can hack all automated weapon emplacements! We need a better plan." Suzy immediately turned to the pod where Kevin was. Without another word, she walked up to the main system and opened the lid. "Kev, we need your help. You are the only one who can take that thing down."

"What thing?" Kevin asked, confused. He hadn't heard any part of their conversation and had no clue what was going on.

Before Suzy could explain things to him, her mom intervened. "Kevin just came back to his senses a few hours ago. You can't just ask him to risk his life like that. How can you even suggest such a thing even after knowing—"

"Because he has the body of an advanced cyborg! He is our weapon against the machines!"

"He is a boy! A teenager just like you!" Dr. Stacey didn't speak like a scientist; her words came straight out of her motherly heart. "Let our security team handle it."

"Could someone at least tell me what's going on!" Kevin burst out.

Despite her mother's entreaties, Suzy went on to explain to Kevin all that was happening around them.

"I'm ready for this!" Kevin replied, without even asking what a Neutralizer was. All he knew was that people's lives were on the line, and he was the one perfectly equipped to deal with such a situation. He hadn't been able to save his teacher or his friends, but now he had the chance to be useful for once.

"Kevin, you are not ready for this. I haven't run any tests or explained how your cyborg body works. There are many things which could go wrong," Dr. Stacey intervened.

Kevin however, had made up his mind. "I'll figure everything out as I go. There's no test better than an actual fight. Suzy's right, this is what I was built for. I won't just hide in here while people die outside."

"You're really as stubborn as Suzy," Dr. Stacey finally relented. She sent a quick text to the Security Chief, asking him to pull back from the frontline and focus on slowing down the enemy.

She then turned to Kevin and Suzy. "Take the elevator to the subway level. Our security team will do its best to keep the threat contained behind tunnel D-1, but they won't be able to hold off the drones for long." With a few rapid clicks on her holo-console she accessed Kevin's interface and activated partial manual control. "You can use voice commands for all functions, but I've also brought the A.I. online in case you need any assistance. Go now!"

Suzy and Kevin rushed to board the express elevator. It quickly took them to their destination. The door opened inside tunnel D-3, where the Security Chief, a bald-headed, dark-skinned man, wearing a light Kevlar jacket was waiting for them. Dressed in a tight black t-shirt which highlighted his muscular biceps, he looked a lot like a bouncer at a nightclub.

"I'm Tyler Brown, the lab's head of security," he introduced himself, taking his hands away from his laser rifle to shake Kevin's.

"I'm Kevin."

"You couldn't have come at a better time. The drones are about to breach the tunnel door to D-2. They've already got past all our mechanical defenses."

"Got it, I can handle them," Kevin replied, trying to sound more confident than he actually was.

The chief nodded and ordered the technician behind him to open the tunnel door separating D-3 from D-2.

The subway station was segmented into a total of 4 sections, each further separated by 3 sub-segments. They were currently in D-3, and the drones were in D-1. Only the empty section D-2 separated them from the danger on the other side.

Once the technician input the password, the circular metallic door in front slid down into a groove below and gave them access to sub section D-2. Kevin checked his systems once more and then headed straight for the tunnel. "Close the door behind me and don't let anyone get through," he shouted.

As soon as Kevin stepped inside the next section of the tunnel, the door closed off behind him. He was now all alone, with very little idea of what lay ahead.

"Alright, this is gonna be a piece of cake. It's just a few stupid Tracker Drones. Nothing that you can't handle," he mumbled to himself.

All of a sudden, the closed door in front, separating D-2 from D-1 was blown off its hinges. There was no way Tracker Drones had enough firepower to do something like that.

"What the hell is that?" Kevin questioned, staring at the cloud of gray smoke and dust. He could faintly make out the outline of something large hovering amidst the smoke. Squinting his eyes, he took cover behind a sandbag wall.

A loud beeping noise filled the tunnel as a large saucer-shaped drone emerged from the smoke cloud. Unlike the Tracker Drones it didn't have any propellers or visible external motors. What was keeping it afloat was an internal rotor affixed on top.

This drone was almost three times as large as the football-sized Tracker Drones and was equipped with a red sensor light in the front and a miniature laser cannon at the bottom.

"This must be that Neutralizer they were talking about," Kevin whispered to himself. The large drone was soon joined by a dozen Tracker Drones. Kevin peeked over the sandbag and observed the Neutraliser scanning the area with its laser sensor.

**Scanning for organic life....

No organic life detected.

Breaching Protocol active.

Sweeping tunnel segment**

Kevin took a deep breath and stood back up. "Hey, flying tin cans! Over here!"

As soon as they spotted Kevin, the Tracker Drones buzzed into action and prepared to fire.

**Threat detected.

Priming Weapons...**

"Not today, bitches!" Kevin held up his left arm and spoke aloud, "Access Primary Weapons: Select Rapid Fire Gatling Gun!"

In an instant, his left arm modified itself, assembling the internal parts according to the stored primary weapon blueprint. Six black barrels arranged in a circle stuck out of his arm now, ready to fill the enemy with lead.

// Rapid Fire Gatling gun activated.

Aim to fire! //

"You're going down!" Kevin exclaimed pointing his gun arm at the airborne targets.

All 6 barrels spun into action and unleashed a blistering 500 rounds per minute, tearing through the Tracker Drones as if they were made of paper. The high velocity rounds drilled the fliers full of holes, damaging all their vital circuits and causing critical system failure. They dropped like flies as Kevin kept on firing. Within 30 seconds he had managed to destroy all of the 12 Tracker Drones.

"It's your turn now!" Kevin aimed for the Neutralizer this time.

// Warning! Warning! Warning!

Rapid Fire Gatling gun overheated!

Retracting primary weapon.

Please wait for turbo cooling. //

"Darn it! Switch to laser—''

Kevin's voice command was cut short as the Neutralizer charged up its laser cannon and fired at him. Using his piston powered legs, he somehow managed to jump over it, but the charged shot obliterated the sandbag barrier and destroyed a portion of the tunnel wall.

It was a hard landing on the ground, but Kevin quickly got back on his feet, just in time to stare at a minigun whirring into action. This was the Neutralizer's secondary weapon, which was reserved for times when the laser cannon needed to recharge.

Kevin looked around him to seek cover, but there was nothing solid behind which he could hide.

"Damn it!"