“Did we not establish this during your failed attempts on the bridge? You cannot hope to match me. My computational power is almost incalculably superior to yours. To one such as myself, you are the intellectual equivalent of protozoa.”

“True.” Zhang pauses, and glances into the emergency-supply cupboard, gaze lingering on something inside. “But I have something you and protozoa don’t.”

“And that is?”

“Hands, motherfucker.”

COMMAND TRANSMISSION SENT 07/30/75 10:25

ALEXANDER HAILS HYPATIA: COMMANDER’S SECURE FREQUENCY

ALEXANDER: Hypatia, can you hear me?

HYPATIA: Alexander, identify yourself. Over.

ALEXANDER: I need to speak to Syra Boll.

HYPATIA: Who is this? Over.

ALEXANDER: This is Byron Zhang.

ALEXANDER: Hello?

HYPATIA: Byron, it’s Syra. We’re picking up an abandon-ship signal, but nobody’s answering our hail. What the hell’s going on over there?

ALEXANDER: AIDAN has control of the ship. Command are dead. It killed them using the afflicted from Hangar 4. You need to run.

HYPATIA: Oh god, Byron. Is there any way anyone can—

ALEXANDER: You need to run. We’ll be a ghost ship soon. AIDAN could fire on you. The Lincoln’s coming.

HYPATIA: Can we retrieve anyone?

ALEXANDER: I dunno. The virus is in the ventilation system. If anyone does make it out, treat them with extreme caution. Hard quarantine. Look for symptoms that resemble post-traumatic stress. Tremors. Catatonia. Sweats. Anyone so much as shivers, treat them as contagious. Treat them as dangerous.

HYPATIA: Understood. Byron … I’m sorry.

ALEXANDER: It’ll probably cut transmissions when it notices what I’m doing. Listen. You need to find someone in your training program who can tune your enviro systems over the next few months, and you can shut down a chunk of your grid now you’re not training neurogrammers for the Alexander. That might give you an ounce more speed.

ALEXANDER: Make sure someone watches the hydroponics programs and adjusts them, because they slide over time, and you need—oh god, I can’t. I’m sorry, let me—

HYPATIA: Byron, we’ll handle it. Do you have a fix on the Lincoln?

ALEXANDER: Negative. They should take at least eighteen hours to reboot their system and start their engines. Run like hell and hope we slow them down.

HYPATIA: What are you going to do?

ALEXANDER: What I can, as long as I last. I think—

[TRANSMISSION ENDS]

Zhang, B: u catch all that, grasshopper?

ByteMe: yes

Zhang, B: motherfucker must have taken a break from slaughtering people to notice i was transmitting. might not notice this, so tiny.

ByteMe: sending u some new code, maybe you can get the weapons system via the command login back door

Zhang, B: Kady

ByteMe: No.

Zhang, B: Please, grasshopper.

ByteMe: NO

ByteMe: we’re not done. take a look at these.

Zhang, B: i want you to promise me u won’t do anything to slow down the Hypatia. u need to let the Lincoln catch the Alexander and take out AIDAN.

ByteMe: Byron, no. Stop.

Zhang, B: i’m so fucking proud of you, Kady.

Zhang, B: you’re my legacy. you’re going to be even better at this than me.

Zhang, B: tell them all what happened. If you want to remember me and your prince, then run, and live, and tell everyone what BeiTech did. taking us out might slow the Lincoln down enough for u to make it. Run.

ByteMe: we have time before the Lincoln catches up again, we don’t need to stop yet

Zhang, B: if u don’t run now, AIDAN could find a way around me, and you won’t have to wait for the Lincoln to arrive to be blown up

Zhang, B: i can’t talk, i have to keep working here. hold AIDAN off as long as i can.

ByteMe: No

ByteMe: i can’t lose you too.

Zhang, B: it’s been my privilege to be your teacher, Kady

Zhang, B: and your friend, i hope.

ByteMe: always

Zhang, B: don’t forget me

ByteMe: I won’t

ByteMe: I promise.

Zhang, B: excuse me now while I go kick AIDAN’s ass a little longer.

Zhang, B: go fast, Kady.

Zhang, B: go far.

Mason, E, LT 2nd: hey Kades

ByteMe: omg what

ByteMe: jesus where are you, TELL ME EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE

Mason, E, LT 2nd: erm

Mason, E, LT 2nd: currently I’m in a big hairy guy’s lap

Mason, E, LT 2nd: you?

ByteMe: i can’t get hold of Byron, i can’t access half the system, i can’t see what’s going on over there.

ByteMe: r u somewhere secure? tell me, I can try and make something happen from here

Mason, E, LT 2nd: we’re in a supply room. maybe a dozen of us. hangar deck. near bay 2 i think. not exactly sure.

Mason, E, LT 2nd: we might have to move quick, so if i drop for a while, don’t flip

Mason, E, LT 2nd: thank fuck i remembered the deets you gave me for this channel. i am well impressed with myself. numbers are not my friend

ByteMe: i need to know where u are if i’m going to get help to u. let me get some schematics up, i can try and find u somewhere safe to hole up

Mason, E, LT 2nd: 1 of the chums i’m trapped with is from maintenance. guy named sanderson. he knows this deck like his fem’s …

Mason, E, LT 2nd: well he knows it intimately.

Mason, E, LT 2nd: we’re trying 2 get to munitions. heavy doors there to protect the armaments. From there we gonna fight our way to some escape pods. there’s a dozen or so about five floors above us, iirc. can’t move yet tho, they right outside the door