Gord Zajac - Major Karnage

It was a squidbug.

“This is my latest acquisition,” the drone said cheerily. “I only picked him up about a week ago. I’m hoping that he completes my collection. Admittedly, this collection still requires the horned worms and winged leviathans, but they’re simply far too large to keep in this enclosure. One must make sacrifices after all.”

The squidbug snarled and scratched at the glass, pounding at it with its fists. The tentacles around its mouth splayed out, revealing a sharp beak. It turned to bite and snap at the glass, its twin tongues slithering out, smearing slime across the glass.

“I’ve never seen one so enraged,” Sydney said.

“That’s because it has been cut off,” the drone said. “These creatures do not act of their own free will. There is a guiding force behind everything they do. They are analogous to workers and warriors in a giant ant colony. There is something—a queen of sorts—that guides the entire ecosystem. These creatures adapt and change to their environment almost instantly. They have been engineered by some sort of intelligence, and that intelligence continues to mold them as the infestation progresses.”

“How?” Karnage said. “How do they do it?”

The drone shot out a hologram of a rotating three-dimensional graph of gyrating squiggles. As Karnage saw it from different angles, he was reminded of the squiggles on Cookie’s arms.

“The alien infestation uses ultra-violent transmissions,” the drone said.

“Don’t you mean ultra-violet?” Sydney said.

The hologram disappeared and the drone turned its lens towards Sydney. “Absolutely not. I meant ultra-violent. Ultraviolent transmissions are unique to this invasion. They are actively assaulting the electromagnetic spectrum, intermittently obliterating and inserting themselves between the extreme ultraviolet and super ultra-violet wavelengths. Theoretically, this should be impossible. And in practice, it often is. Yet this unique band consistently and continuously shows up in my data, usually in erratic oscillations measured in yoctosecond bursts. Millions of orders come in on each burst. One for each and every creature in the invasion, right down to the smallest bacterium.”

The drone hovered down to Karnage’s shin and tapped on the metal band under his pants. “It is these very same transmissions which I am using to contain the genetic infection. The band gives off ultra-violent transmissions, ordering the exo-DNA to maintain itself in a holding pattern and await further instructions.”

The drone hovered up and tapped on the acrylic ceiling. “I have similar shielding around the entire compound. I have reason to believe that these ultra-violent transmissions are two-way. This intelligence has been keeping tabs on every step of the invasion, right down to the mutation and division of individual cells.”

It gazed longingly out into the mist. “I would love to see it up close. I find myself wondering what it would look like. We always speak of the human race as being made in God’s image. I’d love to see the god that made all this.”

Karnage pressed his hands against the glass. He felt more helpless than ever. How were they going to stop this? If only we’d known about it sooner, he thought. If only—

He turned to look at the drone. “How long have you known about this?”

“Decades,” the drone said. “Not the full extent, of course. I didn’t fully realize the implications until—GRAAK!”

The drone squawked as Karnage slammed it against the glass. His Sanity Patch buzzed. “Warning. Sanity Level upgraded to Peachy Keen. Please refrain—”

“Why didn’t you tell anybody?! Why didn’t you try and do something about it?!”

The drone’s tendrils flickered and stabbed at Karnage’s fist in agitation. Its voice stayed cheerful and bright. “I have been doing something,” it said. “I’ve been studying it quite extensively—”

“You’ve been sittin’ back and lettin’ it get away with blue bloody murder!” Karnage slammed the drone against the wall again. His Sanity Patch crooned “Tangy Orange.” “They practically got us swallowed up whole, and all you can do is sit here and study the fucking things?!”

Pain stabbed into Karnage’s shoulder. His arm dropped, letting the drone go. The drone quickly flew up out of reach. Karnage saw Sydney’s pinky on his shoulder. She shot him a warning look. “That’s enough.”

Karnage set his jaw. “What about you, Captain. Did you know about this?”

“No,” she said. “He never told me.”

“Why not?”

Sydney dropped her eyes. “He was trying to protect me.”

“Protect you from what?”

“Perhaps you’ve glossed over the bit where I mentioned the genetic modifications handed out under the guise of vaccinations?” the drone said. “Where do you suppose they came from?”

“The Dabney Corporation?” Karnage said.

“Precisely,” the drone squealed with glee. “You’re not quite as dumb as you look, Major.” It was feeling braver now that it was out of Karnage’s reach. “Until I could understand the full extent of the infestation, I did not want to endanger young Sydney. I am her guardian after all. Perhaps that was an error in judgement on my part, but what else could I have done?”

Karnage set his jaw. He shot the drone a dangerous look. “Plenty.”

“I beg to disagree.”

“Beg all you like. You still chickened out!”

“Let it go,” Sydney said.

“No, I’m not going to let it go.” Karnage turned towards the drone, and stabbed a finger at it. The drone drew itself up against the glass. “I want to meet that fucker face-to-face. Let him tell me man-to-man why he didn’t have the guts to do something about this. No more of this hiding shit, Unk. You hear me?!”

“No,” Sydney said. “You can’t.”

“Why? You afraid I’m gonna hit him?”

“Yes.”

“You’re goddamn right I will!” The Sanity Patch crooned “Sharp Cheddar” as Karnage rounded on the drone. “Come on, you coward! Show yourself!”

Sydney brandished her pinkies. “You’ll have to go through me first.”

Karnage cracked his knuckles. “Fine by me.”

“No!” The drone dropped down between Sydney and Karnage. “No violence. Not on my account.” It focused its lens on Karnage’s face. “You wish to see me face-to-face?”

“I do.”

The drone nodded. “Very well.”

“Uncle, no!”

The drone turned to Sydney. “The major is right. I owe him an explanation. I owe it to the world. I have hidden away long enough.” The drone drifted down the tunnel, calling, “This way, please.” Sydney glared at Karnage. “If you hurt him, I will kill you.” She turned and walked away.

The drone led them through the terrarium. The tunnel curved around and came back up into a concrete structure. The drone stopped right before the exit in front of a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY. They passed through, and down a flight of stairs into a maintenance hall. Rust-streaked pipes lined the wall of the narrow corridor. A few aging fluorescents flickered inside their steel mesh cages above them, providing spotty lighting. The floor was cracked and stained. The concrete had crumbled away in places, showing rusted reinforcing rods.

The corridor came to an end in front of a dented metal door marked KILLER WHALE TANK. The drone opened the door, and soft blue light poured through the frame. They walked through.

The room was filled with a giant inverted dome made entirely of acrylic. The tank held a dark pulsing mass. Giant rusted pipes ran down the sides of the tank and into the floor. Pools of water lay on the floor. The room was filled with drones, adjusting valves and manning small digital consoles. Wires spread from the consoles into the tank.