The tunnels were way too quiet.

  After that early ambush, we only encountered a handful of scattered packs wandering through the tunnels. Consisting of no more than half a dozen Antithesis at the same time, they were so laughably weak that most of them died before I even spotted them.

  After encountering the fifth such pack and no other resistance, I started to get antsy.

  “Alright… What's going on here? Even if there were a fucking herd of Model Seventeens down here, I doubt they could keep every Antithesis in the area from running out to defend the hive. The Antithesis are hardcoded to do two things, collect biomass and defend the hive, and right now, they’re not doing either of those things,” I huffed.

  “Maybe they’re too busy repelling the other team?” Deadbeat suggested.

  “That’s possible,” I muttered. “I guess I should check in and find out. It’s been like an hour since I talked to them.”

  Flipping over to my augs, I sent out a ping to the others. To my surprise, it was answered immediately.

  [Hey hey Teddy, how are things going on your side?] Angeline chirped.

  [It’s quiet here, way too quiet,] I replied warily. [How are things going with you?]

  [We’re encountering light resistance, but nothing we can’t handle,] Angeline reported. [I actually expected much heavier resistance considering this hive has been pumping out thirties, but we haven’t even seen a Twenty-Three in a while.]

  [Me either,] I muttered. [Where exactly are you guys?]

  [We’ve been making our way southwest; that’s where my scouts have been encountering most of the Antithesis. Wait, I’ll share my coordinates with you,] she said. A second later a data stream hit my augs, containing an updated map along with their current location.

  It took me a minute to figure out how to overlay and combine their map with mine. The three-D topography messed with my head, but when I finally figured it out, I was surprised.

  [We’re not that far from each other. We must be moving down parallel tunnels,] I exclaimed, sending her my combined map.

  [Hopefully that means we’re slowly closing in on the hive,] Angeline declared, delightedly.

  [It’s either that, or we’re slowly being lured into a trap,] I replied sourly.

  [What are the chances that we’d BOTH fall for an Antithesis’ tricks?] Angeline laughed.

  [Normally, I’d say it’d be pretty unlikely,] I grumbled. [But the last time we faced Antithesis this strong was in Jasper, and they turned that tunnel system into a fucking labyrinth in order to confuse us. Who knows what this lot is capable of?]

  [Point taken,] Angeline replied, sounding a little more sober now. [I’ve been holding back my scouts after losing so many to the random patrols, but I’ll redouble my efforts to find a way through. See if I can find anything.]

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  [I also suggest we link our maps, and location data, going forward,] I said. [I know we’ve been giving pings, but if something happens to one, or both, of our teams we might have to react quickly.]

  [And you know how to do that, do you?] Angeline asked. I could hear the amusement in her voice.

  [Nope, but I’m sure Nyx does. I’ll ask them to do it,] I replied. [I really don’t think we should be running around without some sort of backup plan right now.]

  [Sounds good. I’ll ask the others to hold on until we get the link working,] Angeline agreed. [Anything else you want me to pass on?]

  [Just… be careful out there,] I mumbled.

  [You too,] she replied lightly. [Talk to you soon.]

  As soon she cut the connection, I stood up straight and glanced around the darkened cavern. “Hey Nyx, I assume you were listening to our call back there…”

  I was. It would be exceptionally easy for me to take both data streams and combine them into a single, realtime map. Would you like me to start right away?

  “If you wouldn’t mind,” I replied.

  An instant later the map in my hud updated. The previously rough connection that I’d managed earlier was aligned with far more precision. There were even additional details on the map that I couldn’t make out before.

  “Where did these details come from?” I asked suspiciously.

  Your augs are taking in a lot of extra data, but they only add things they have a 100% certainty about. Sections that are heavily shadowed or slightly out of sight won’t map. I, on the other hand, am more than capable of filling in that information using extra data from the bears and generative algorithms.

  “In other words, you’re guessing,” I grumbled.

  No, I’m taking in additional data and improving the generative model.

  “If you say so,” I muttered as I scrutinized the map.

  I hadn’t noticed before, probably because I hadn’t quite lined the two maps up properly, but the tunnel system was far more uniform than I’d previously realized. The other team wasn’t just moving down a tunnel nearby but a completely parallel branch of the tunnel system. I hadn’t explored that much, but I could see that many of the side paths Bandit had ignored would have connected directly over to the other team.

  Not only that, but it seemed that the tunnels where Angeline had been losing most of her squirrels were the connecting tunnels between the two of us. Suspicious.

  “We’re going to take a detour,” I declared to my team.

  “Now? But we’re getting close!” Bandit declared. “All the trails seem to be converging just ahead.”

  “Yeah, but if we double back to that last intersection, we’ll be able to meet up with Angeline and the others. I find it a little suspicious that we’ve been traveling down parallel paths and haven’t met up yet… almost like we’re being lured somewhere. I say we try and meet up while we can,” I explained.

  “Makes sense to me,” Deadbeat agreed. “You want to call them back to let them know we’re coming.”

  “I should…” I muttered as I turned around and started heading back up the tunnel.

  I’d just passed the rear rank of bears when something changed. A wave of force erupted from the depths behind me, echoing through the tunnels. I couldn’t see the wave, but I could feel as it passed through me.

  The effect was so strong that my bones shook, and my vision blurred at the impact. Then… it was gone, echoing back towards the town.

  Before I even fully recovered from the effect, the tunnel began filling with Antithesis. A horde of Twenty-Threes burst out of the branch behind us, and a wave of the smaller models came stampeding down the path we’d been passing down.

  “Ambush! Behind!” I yelled as I brought my rifle up and started chipping away at the nearest Twenty-Three. The oversized shrub was far closer than I liked.

  “In front too!” Bandit shouted. “Why now?”

  “Figure it out later! Eyes on the fight!” Deadbeat yelled.

  I stepped back, mentally going through my assembled force, and assigning them to the appropriate fronts. Half of my force whipped around, emptying their weapons into the oncoming swarm.

  Thankfully the moose were far more accurate and effective than they had been on the surface. Their coilgun volley scythed through the Twenty-Threes, eviscerating the entire pack within seconds. With that threat taken care of, I sunk back behind the lines to check what was coming from the other direction.

  In the middle of the tunnel, not even a dozen paces away from the front line, Bob was brawling with a pair of Twenty-Three-THs, fully aflame. The pair must have come rushing forward, intent on driving my force back towards the flanking attack.

  It probably would have been an effective technique if Bob gave a shit about fire.

  As I watched, Bob casually reached out, grabbed one of the oversized lizards by the head, and snapped its neck. Volatile liquids leaked out of the dead monster’s mouth, causing the inferno to spread, but the big bear didn’t care. He stepped right up to the second monster and started delivering hammer blows to its face, all while being absolutely bathed in its flame.

  The heat was so intense that I had to bring my arm up to block my face, even through my armor’s insulation. Thankfully the torrent only lasted a couple seconds before Bob finally managed to land a haymaker, crushing the creature’s face.

  The tunnels fell silent. The short, but intense, fight came to an abrupt end.

  I glanced at the mounds of dead Antithesis surrounding me and blinked. “Where the fuck did that come from?”

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