​Intermission 12. Michael

A cell, Michael’s body motionless.

A data packet with a red-priority flag — critical failure of operation 34-b1-4a. Not a defeat of the squad, but a collapse of predictability — something the system had never permitted.

Analysis.

Little use. The video streams from the visors of the destroyed squad were just cascades of corrupted data. The system tried to restore the data, but failed — distorted silhouettes warped through the interference, writhing in anomalous distortion. The enemy wasn’t jamming the signal; he was breaking the fabric of reality at the point of recording.

Michael closed the corrupted logs and initiated a direct communication channel.

> Status?

A data packet from Gabe.

> Failure. Attempts to obtain real-time anomaly data were unsuccessful. The source generates a field that distorts everything. Our sensors cannot classify it.

> Conclusion: standard units are ineffective. Their operating systems are vulnerable to this type of impact.

> Correct.

The decision was logical and the only possible one.

> Elevating threat level and initiating Protocol Absolute.

A microsecond delay — Gabe’s system processing the order.

> Confirmed. Activating the Angels.

Soldiers with absolute firmware, without remnants of personality or free will. Pure executable code in a biological shell. A weapon that does not fail because nothing human remains in it.

> "Status of 'Object 1'?" Michael sent the next query.

> Unchanged. Brain tissue replaced one hundred percent. Integration complete. Higher cognitive function absent, physiology stable. An empty shell, but the field around it remains stable. It neither absorbs nor collapses.

Michael processed that as well. An anomaly within an anomaly. Possibly the key.

> Prepare “Object 1” for transport to Base Alpha. I’m initiating a full invasive examination.

The connection ended. In the sterile emptiness of the cell, nothing changed. Michael felt no disappointment, no worry. He updated the protocols and moved on to the next task in the queue. The war had come one step closer to its logical conclusion.