Chapter 87: This Is Unfair

Chapter 87: Chapter 87: This Is Unfair

Chapter 87: This Is Unfair

The four of them approached the wreckage and immediately realized the explosion had been far more destructive than any of them expected. The charge Axel had thrown into the opening had detonated inside the enclosed body of the living truck, apparently setting off the enormous supernatural energy it had been gathering during its transformation. What remained of the eighteen-wheeler barely resembled a vehicle anymore.

The frame had been twisted into grotesque shapes, several wheels had been thrown across the highway, and scorched pieces of machinery lay scattered among chunks of burned flesh. Dark red fluid coated parts of the pavement, while fragments of steel and organic tissue had been thrown far beyond the main wreck. Carrie White took one look at the scene, turned pale, and hurried to the shoulder before vomiting.

"This wasn’t just our explosive," Dr. Seth Brundle said as he studied the destruction. His earlier excitement had been replaced by a much more focused expression. "The blast must have triggered whatever energy that thing was storing inside itself."

Seth nudged aside a warped panel and picked it up by an undamaged edge. Flesh-like tissue had grown directly through the steel, the two materials fused so completely that it was almost impossible to tell where machinery ended and biology began. Even Seth, who normally became delighted whenever reality violated common sense, stared at it for several seconds without speaking.

Lionel Cosgrove carefully moved around another piece of wreckage. "People actually built this?" He looked toward the field of burned metal and meat scattered across the road. "Because if somebody made this on purpose, I’d really like to know what kind of nightmare their engineering department looks like."

Axel Vance remained silent as he studied the remains. The broader cult he had been fighting certainly possessed enough insanity to modify human bodies, but this did not feel like their usual style. Those people preferred grotesque enhancements and experimental killers they could parade around as proof of success; this living truck felt like something developed according to a different philosophy entirely.

That distinction made Axel even more cautious.

They continued toward the center of the blast.

There, half buried beneath twisted steel, sat a huge mass nearly six feet tall. Burned muscle, blackened machinery, and shattered components had collapsed together into something resembling a giant tumor growing out of the wreckage. Despite everything that had happened to it, the mass was still faintly pulsing.

Seth’s eyes immediately lit up again. "That has to be some kind of central core." He crouched slightly and leaned closer, studying the rhythm of the movement. "Maybe a biological engine, or an interface system connecting the organic and mechanical structures."

His hand started moving toward it.

"Back up."

Axel’s voice stopped him.

Seth sighed and reluctantly withdrew his hand. "You ruin all my best ideas."

"Your best ideas usually involve touching things that tried to kill us five minutes ago."

"That’s how discovery works."

Axel ignored him and raised the enchanted chainsaw.

He fed Psionic Power into the Spirit Binding weapon, and the motor answered with a deeper growl. A faint silver-white glow spread along the chain while Lionel and Seth moved several steps back.

Axel brought the chainsaw down against the pulsing mass.

A violent metallic screech filled the highway.

Sparks erupted where the chain met the hardened outer layer, mixed with fragments of burned tissue and metal shavings. Whatever protected the core was much tougher than ordinary steel, forcing Axel to hold the weapon steady while the enchanted teeth slowly worked through it.

He increased the flow of Psionic Power.

The silver-white light brightened.

The chainsaw finally began cutting deeper.

Scalding vapor escaped through the widening gap, and the living mass convulsed violently as though it could actually feel pain. Axel did not stop, forcing the enchanted chain through layers of fused flesh and metal until a long opening formed across the core.

Then the outer structure split apart.

Everyone froze.

There was no engine inside.

No transmission.

No recognizable mechanical control system.

Instead, the center of the mass contained a hollow biological cavity.

A man was embedded inside it.

His upper body was bare, while countless thick fleshy conduits and dark metal-like connections ran from the surrounding structure into his torso, arms, and spine. Below the waist, his body had almost completely merged with the living machinery.

Carrie immediately turned away.

Lionel stared.

Seth’s smile disappeared completely.

Axel recognized the face.

It was the black-eyed man in the cloak they had run down earlier on the highway.

The operative was still alive.

Barely.

The instant fresh air entered the opened cavity, his body convulsed and he coughed a mouthful of blood across his chest. His breathing came in shallow, uneven gasps as his completely black eyes slowly focused on Axel and the others.

Axel could feel the man’s life fading rapidly.

Whatever kept him alive inside the truck had been destroyed.

The operative tried to lift his head.

Another cough interrupted him.

Seth stared at the conduits disappearing into the man’s body. "They turned him into the control system."

The black-eyed man’s gaze shifted toward Seth.

Then Lionel.

Finally Axel.

There was rage in those unnatural eyes.

Not fear.

Not even pain.

Just offended fury.

His lips moved.

"This..."

Blood filled his mouth.

He swallowed with difficulty and forced out the rest.

"...is unfair."

The last word left him with a wet gasp.

Then his head fell sideways.

His chest stopped moving.

The man was dead.

Almost immediately, the biological connections surrounding him began to react. Several conduits twitched as though recognizing that the person they had been attached to was no longer usable, then slowly released their grip.

The corpse slid forward.

It dropped out of the cavity with a heavy, wet impact.

Carrie gagged again and turned completely away from the wreckage.

The core did not die with its pilot.

Instead, the huge flesh-and-metal mass continued beating in a slow rhythm.

Axel tightened his grip on the chainsaw.

Seth walked around the opened structure with a thoughtful expression. "So the truck itself was the weapon platform, this was the cockpit, and that guy was effectively the driver." He glanced toward the twitching conduits. "The question is how he actually controlled something this complicated."

Axel stepped closer without touching anything.

He focused his senses on the remaining biological connections.

There was energy in them.

Faint.

Unfamiliar.

It did not feel exactly like his Psionic Power, Holy Reading, Spirit Binding, or anything Carrie had produced. Some kind of supernatural mental or spiritual force lingered throughout the interface.

"He wasn’t using mechanical controls," Axel said. "He was driving it through some kind of spiritual connection."

Seth’s eyes widened.

Then understanding spread across his face.

"So the human body was both processor and power source." He looked back at the dead operative. "A living controller connected directly to the machine."

His gaze slowly shifted.

Toward Lionel.

Lionel noticed.

"No."

Seth raised both hands innocently. "I haven’t even said anything."

"You looked at me with your science face."

"My what?"

"That face you make right before somebody gets hurt."

Seth ignored the insult. "You have supernatural energy too, right? Different from Axel’s, but your body clearly produces enough of something to interact with Spirit Binding."

Lionel frowned.

"A little."

Seth immediately became interested. "Then theoretically, if the interface responds to spiritual energy rather than one specific biological signature—"

"No."

"—you might be able to connect—"

"No."

"—and possibly control—"

"You are completely insane."

Seth shrugged. "Science has heard worse."

Lionel stared at the pulsing core.

Then back at Seth.

Curiosity slowly replaced disgust.

Axel saw it happen and sighed.

Lionel rubbed his chin. "Actually..."

Seth smiled.

Axel said, "Don’t encourage him."

"I’m not encouraging anybody."

"You’re smiling."

Lionel ignored both of them and looked toward the surviving conduits. "If something goes wrong, Axel can cut the connection immediately, right?"

Axel’s expression hardened. "That doesn’t mean this is a good idea."

"But it makes it a less terrible one."

Seth placed a hand dramatically over his heart. "Brother, your sacrifice for scientific progress will never be forgotten."

Lionel gave him a flat look. "If I die, I’m haunting you."

"That would also be scientifically interesting."

Carrie stared at all three men as though she had made several terrible life decisions in the last twelve hours.

Lionel stepped closer to the opened core.

One surviving conduit twitched near the edge of the cavity. Its end resembled a soft biological interface rather than any normal mechanical connector, moving faintly as if searching for something alive.

Lionel hesitated.

Then grabbed it.

The response was immediate.

The conduit latched onto the back of his hand.

Lionel’s eyes widened.

"What the—"

A strong pulling sensation ran through his arm.

His supernatural reserve began draining into the connection before he could consciously stop it.

At the same time, something completely different entered his awareness.

Lionel froze.

For one impossible moment, it felt as though his body had gained another limb.

Not an arm.

Not a leg.

Something larger.

Something surrounding him.

He could sense the flesh-and-metal core as though it were an extension of himself.

Seth stepped closer. "Lionel?"

Lionel did not answer.

The huge mass beneath them began beating faster.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Dark red light appeared inside the ruined tissue.

The pulsing accelerated.

Lionel stared at the core in stunned disbelief.

"I can feel it."

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