Deuce examined the weapon Quint handed him. It resembled a rifle-style blaster, except the barrel was too thin and the magazine too thick. He found it disconcerting to not recognize this particular instrument of war.
“What is its designation?” Deuce asked.
“I call it an atrocity,” Kyla muttered as she gazed down the field the three of them stood upon.
The artificial sunlight from the ceiling of the manmade cavern they occupied cast shadows beside them, distorted by the remaining stubble of harvested grains adapted to this environment. Fifty meters away at the other end of the field, the carcass of a coyote, exterminated during a livestock raid above ground, hung between two poles.
Quint shrugged. “A correct designation would be disintegrater. But we just call it a grater. Fact is, shoot something with this thing or run it through a grater, you get the same result. Go ahead, fire it.”
Deuce aimed the weapon at the carcass and tapped the trigger. The coyote burst into a cascade of bite-size pieces, hide and meat and organs raining down in a two-meter radius around it. Only the main part of the skeleton remained hanging.
Kyla’s demeanor was unchanged. “That’s just nasty.”
Considering she was a doctor, Deuce found her remark incongruous.
The grater was effective, but he realized its shortcomings. “This is highly efficient on organic matter, but the fact several of the heavier bones maintained integrity indicates limitations on dense materials. And a coyote is lighter than a cyborg.”
“Yeah, we never bothered to improve the original models before,” Quint replied. “The reason we’re bringing them back to the drawing board now is because we all know the Elite will change the central control module locations on the cyborgs’ tech. We need to be able to kill them once, not have to do it twice like before.”
Something the colonel didn’t say stood out to him more. “This isn’t a new weapon design?”
“No … we developed these a couple of decades ago. But they’re … too messy.”
Kyla rolled her eyes as she fingered a malachite brooch on her shirt collar. “Any new weapon can fall into enemy hands. I’d like the chance to save my patients, thank you.”
Deuce studied them as he contemplated the explanation. “So you could have utilized these against the ameliorated soldiers I commanded before defecting to your camp, but decided not to?”
“Not using them was the lesser evil.” Quint shrugged. “You should be grateful that was our choice. Otherwise you might not be here now. Anyway, we want to restructure the charges to an entirely electrical basis. Shut down the cyborgs’ hearts and tech.”
He was still grappling with the notion that his former enemies had developed an effective weapon they decided against using. The organization Deuce defected from, the Elite, would have implemented these graters with no hesitation.
“At least I can restart a heart.” Kyla’s gaze locked on him.
Quint stated the obvious. “We want your expert opinion on what firepower we’ll need against these new cyborgs.”
“I can’t claim expertise on the next method of attack.” Deuce studied them both. “It’s possible they won’t deploy cyborgs again.”
His two comrades looked at each other. Kyla, who was in her early sixties but only streaks of gray in her upswept hair betrayed age, returned her gaze to Deuce.
“What could be next?” Because of her years, she’d witnessed this entire, ongoing war. “First they used androids. Then they developed super soldiers, which they later supplemented with strategists like you. Now they’ve combined android and soldier into cyborgs. Do we suspect flying monkeys that spit venomous fireballs?”
“I wouldn’t put it past them,” Quint grumbled. He was in his thirties and had only ever known war.
Deuce stared at the grater as he considered why he was here. Chronologically in his twenties, he had been trained for warfare by the Elite as long as he could remember. They had created him for warfare. Unlike the genetically improved soldiers who could only follow orders, the Elite engineered him to think strategically.
But they considered his creation, and the twenty-three other prototypes like him, to be a failure. Creations that could think for themselves were considered a potential threat, which was why so few were produced.
And some of those thinkers had defected before him, joining forces with these people he used to know as rabble. Those predecessors were now dead. Defective prototypes were overwhelmingly targeted in battle. But in his case, joining the rabble became his only chance to continue living.
Like the grater he held, the prototypes were judged to be undesirable for service. He and four others who still survived were given one option to remain practical to the Elite. They had to submit to biotechnical modifications that included interfacing with the core data system.
By this time Deuce started considering Elite philosophy to be incorrect, and having those private doubts made public would get him executed.
He’d been created to bring a war to its end, and failed. And now the rabble looked to him to help them end this war. His new society believed in Rules of Engagement. How does one defeat an opponent who doesn’t share that outlook?
“Utilize both.” Deuce returned his attention to them.
“Both of what?” Quint asked.
“Both designs.” He held up the grater. “Implement your modifications. But also increase the charge yield on these models. They could prove advantageous.”
“They could be suicidal.” Kyla frowned.
“You must be prepared for anything if you want to end the war.”
“I want to end it.” Her gaze locked on his. “But not by getting us all killed in the process.”
“Let’s not forget we’ve got an alternative,” Quint muttered.
Deuce’s attention shifted to him. “What alternative?”
“That’s a discussion for another day.” He shrugged.
The only alternative Deuce could think of was retreat. But there was nowhere in the world safe enough to retreat to … was there?
###
Here’s is this month’s submission to #BlogBattle, and the word of choice this time was Brooch. I know other writers can get more creative with that prompt, so feel free to check them out!
This story is sort of a prelude to next month’s installment, which is why it leans toward being a philosophical recap. If you want to check out previous submissions to this serialization, here’s a link to last month’s entry and you can work your way back. Since I plan to compile these into a novella when they’re completed, I’m not highly motivated to organize them now…!
a. e. branson 
[…] “Degrees of Evil” by A. E. Branson […]
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What a place to stop! I have to know what the alternative was, after all, it might come in handy one of these days!
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Glad to pique your interest! For now I’ll just say the alternative will unfold as the arc shifts….
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I didn’t realise you plan on continuing it!
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Oh yeah, I’m foolish enough to do such a thing…! 😉
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Looking forward to it!
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Thanks!
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Reblogged this on Anita Dawes & Jaye Marie ~ Authors.
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Can’t wait for next month, sense a battle coming. By doing continuing episodes means some episodes have to be reflective and connect events. Then fitting prompt words can change direction. I am enjoying your continuing story.
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Thanks so much! I’ll admit there’s a few battles left before the serialization concludes. With your Himalaya stories I know you’ve been coping with the prompt words for a while, and I’ve been impressed with how you fit them in. It’s all part of the fun!
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Ahh, the Imp with a name. Really liking this Abe. Even down to the self debates on survival by Imp. It’s a quirky thought process with elements of trust still biting me. How does a created AI know for sure it’s free thinking all the time or being given that ability as an algorithm deployed purely for tactical reasons and infiltration?
It’s reading like Imp is truly self aware and had rationalised “sides” based on personal survival criteria. That’s a brilliant angle to take because that data stream is always active…if circumstances changed on the other side would the rational move too? It’s almost mercenary in that debate thread.
Again well narrated to us. But… a few more blog battles to wind this serialisation up? Did I read that here in comments? Surely this is but one arm of a book chapter… no pressure 😂
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Glad you’re enjoying contemplating Deuce’s motivations, Gary … although I blush to admit all his ‘improvements’ are genetic, so he’s 100 percent biological. There’s a reason the Elite changed their game to using super soldiers in the history of this war, a detail I was saving for a future installment. 😉 Next month I plan on introducing a new character who will be more technologically influenced, however, so I think you’ll find him interesting…!
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Here’s a thought Abe. When I wrote I Am Corona, which was a full AI self aware system it created human clones. By knowing the full genetic code and how it worked at the molecular level it could manipulate it in much the same way you would machine code. Implanting memories and kill switch triggers that could be turned on to make the biological unit do what it was “programmed” to do when constructed (grown). If you take genetics to it’s raw DNA strands it’s not much different to AI software. Bit more complex in higher organisms yes, but knowing there is current research into memory implants does creates an angle for tampering with false memories AKA Total Recall. If the system creating the Elite is half as savvy as it appears then would they know this, but maybe struggle with units developing initiative thinking and self preservation…or use it to make the perfect infiltration system to be activated later. If Deuce malfunctioned, or the whole Elite cast developed an evolutionary trait that suppressed the initial programming then they would go rogue de facto.
Obviously I Am Corona require a disclaimer now…although…and here’s my rub, that AI created a virus called the God Strain. Sent if back and left me with a doomsday pandemic… I have since stopped writing such things as it seems what I write happens #horror.
Oh, the above is a sure sign your world build is excellent. I am invested in your characters hence the desire to ramble.
Looking forward to this new beastie too now. But new prompt next week already seem hard to believe!
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Ah yes, I remember your Corona story – every time the clone got to close to the truth he got ‘deleted’ and replaced! It can be eerie how we writers sometimes touch ‘prophetic’ future, but since we’re observing and studying society and events to mine gold for stories, it probably shouldn’t be a surprise we hit a prediction now and then!
New prompt word only next week … another year flying by!
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You have an excellent memory Abe! I ought to go back to that tale at some point. A digression from dwarves…
Very true, this year has become a blur already. Half the time I’ve no idea what day it is. Must get my Thursday prompt post sorted too. It’s a All coming round way too quick.
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I guess the flying time is just evidence of how much fun we’re having… 😉
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[…] Last month’s edition was sort of a lead-in to this one if you missed it. And as for an update on the next book, I should have some bigger news next week…. […]
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Ah, this was fantastic! Also, so sorry it took me so long to read it! Quite far behind, catching up slowly. I’ll be savouring this one for a day before reading Evil by Degrees — even if I want to dive straight on in!
Brilliantly written, and I’m loving where the story is going. I love that we’ve gone from IMP to Deuce — such a cool character arc, as are those of Quint and the others. “Fact is, shoot something with this thing or run it through a grater, you get the same result.” So dark, but I loved this bit — made me grin wickedly!
Quite telling that the Rabble refused to use a weapon they had in their hands. Really retained their sense of humanity, unlike the Elite. I wonder — will Deuce persuade them to fully use its capabilities, and will they be reluctant? Will his cold, analytical approach raise eyebrows, or be met with enthusiasm? Is it okay to use such a brutal weapon against an unflinching enemy, or should one be above that? Can one be “above” such things during times of war? And just what is this alternative? Great questions you’ve made me ponder, A.E.! I’ll be thinking them over before I read the next one. 🙂
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Glad you’re enjoying how this tale is progressing, and I can totally relate to falling behind. Doing that myself the last couple of weeks, and need to finish reading this month’s stories before the month is over!
Your questions certainly touch upon those moments when we must decide where to draw the line. Rough to face in reality, but we sure do love them in fiction. Go figure! 😉
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