h.i.v.e. 2 - the overlord protocol

8/13/2019 H.I.v.E. 2 - The Overlord Protocol

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lso by /ark (alden

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=.7.;.>.? =igher 7nstitute o0 ;illainous >du#ation

=.7.;.>.? he @3erlord Proto#ol=.7.;.>.? >s#ape ;elo#ity

=.7.;.>.? *readnought=.7.;.>.? Aogue


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For &arah, 0or /egan, 0ore3er


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g

6ontentsPrologue

6hapter @ne6hapter wo

6hapter hree6hapter Four6hapter Fi3e6hapter &i-

6hapter &e3en6hapter >ight6hapter Nine6hapter en

6hapter >le3en6hapter wel3e

6hapter hirteen

6hapter Fourteen6hapter Fi0teen6hapter &i-teen

6hapter &e3enteen6hapter >ighteen6hapter Nineteen

6hapter wenty
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Prologuehe sho#kwa3e 0rom the e-plosion threw @tto tumbling out o0 #ontrol through the air. =e#ould hear his own 'ui#k pani#ky breathing, suddenly loud within the #on0ines o0 the

helmet. he stars in the night sky spun past #raily, huge pie#es o0 burning debris

whistling past his 0alling body, #lose enough to tou#h. =e thought ba#k to his trainingand tried to #ontrol his plummeting body, attempting to break out o0 the #haoti# spin thathe 0ound himsel0 in as he 0ell. &lowly he brought the tumbling under #ontrol and now he

was Cust 0alling, albeit in a slightly more #ontrolled way. =e glan#ed at the pale green0igures 0li#kering a#ross the headDup display in his helmet. =e was 0alling too 0astE he

needed to slow his des#ent or he


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@ne thousand 0eet.. owns thesedays.< Gregori grinned.

7


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man who was be#oming an in#reasingly irritating thorn in his side. =e sat at the

opposite side o0 the table 0rom Nero, his e-pression unreadable, his 0a#e #on#ealed bya smooth o3al mask o0 0lawless bla#k glass. =is name was 6ypher, and o3er the past

years he seemed to ha3e made it his business to attempt to undermine the #redibility o0

both =.7.;.>. and Nero himsel0. 7t was unusual 0or Number @ne to allow one o0 hissenior #ommanders to #on#eal their identity 0rom the other members o0 the #oun#il, but

in 6ypher. had been

so e-emplary. =e was a te#hni#al genius and his elaborate and #unning s#hemes hadnetted G.L.@.;.>. enormous returns, both in money and power. 7ndeed, many now saw

him as the brightest rising star on the #oun#il. Nero howe3er disliked not being able tolook into the man. by the rampaging plant monster

that the *arkdoom boy had #reated was one o0 these un0ortunate in#idents< and he wasnot keen to dis#uss the e3ents 0urther at this meeting i0 he #ould a3oid it. 7t was not wise

to show any sign o0 weakness to the men and women in this room, Cust as it was ne3erwise to be the slowest antelope when lions hunted.

7 ha3e also re3iewed your preliminary proposals 0or new initiati3es in the #omingmonths and 7 am largely pleased with what 7 ha3e seen. 7 do, howe3er, ha3e a #ouple o0

spe#i0i# 'uestions that 7 would like answers to.< s Number @ne said this Nero #oulddete#t a subtle #hange in the atmosphere around the table. (hile G.L.@.;.>.


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weakly.

Yes, 7 re3iewed them too. 7 0ear that a sudden rise in wild animal atta#ks on ourenemies may draw rather unwel#ome attention . . .. in more #apable hands or perhaps 0inally #onsideredthat your s#hool has outli3ed its use0ulness to this organisation.< Nero #ould ha3e sworn

that he dete#ted a note o0 smug satis0a#tion in 6ypher. operati3es 0or many years without anything o0

this kind happening be0ore,< Nero replied, trying to keep the note o0 irritation 0rom his3oi#e. 6ypher had made it #lear on many pre3ious o##asions that he was not a

supporter o0 the s#hool. 7 see no reason to o3errea#t to what was an un0ortunate butun0oreseeable a##ident.. 0rom be#oming Cust another bloodthirsty #riminal #artel, but

in re#ent months that #ontrol o3er the #oun#il members seemed to be slipping. No, Neromentally #orre#ted himsel0, what worried him most was not that Number @ne. motto aswas traditional at the end o0 these gatherings. he s#reen went dark and as 'ui#kly as

their audien#e with Number @ne had started it was 0inished.Nero rose 0rom his seat as Gregori approa#hed. here was a look o0 irritation on the big

Aussian


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he was instru#ted, slowly turning to 0a#e the two men, one o0 whom was now pointing a

large pistol 0itted with a bulbous silen#er straight at him.here


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6hapter ,wo@tto took one o0 the hea3y ball bearings 0rom his po#ket and looked along the brightly lit

#orridor to the steel blast doors at the other end. =e


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mo3ements, trying to dis#ern a pattern. hen @tto 0elt a 0amiliar sensation, almost like a

swit#h tripping in his skull, and now the beams were no longer Cust a 0orbidding lightshow. &uddenly, to his eyes, the beams were simple sets o0 traCe#tories and

#oordinates, the numbers that de0ined their mo3ement almost seeming 3isible. =e

#losed his eyes and the numbers kept mo3ing and #hanging in his head, theirmo3ements redu#ed to mathemati#al 0ormulae. =e would not ha3e been able to e-plain

how he did it, but slowly these strings o0 numbers resol3ed down to the simple #orealgorithm that the #omputer that must be dri3ing the beams was using to gi3e their

mo3ements the appearan#e o0 randomness.s he opened his eyes again the dan#ing lasers seemed to him to now be mo3ing with

total predi#tability. =e took a long deep breath, pi#ked his moment and walked slowlythrough the beams towards the pedestal. o an obser3er what he was doing would ha3e

looked impossible, like walking between raindrops, but to him it was as straight0orwardand as natural as breathing. &e3eral times it looked ine3itable that he would break one

o0 the beams but ea#h time it would miss by millimetres as he #ontinued a#ross the

room.=e rea#hed the pedestal within se#onds, the elaborate se#urity system still bliss0ully

unaware o0 his presen#e. =e rea#hed 0or the key#ard, but as he did so a dark shapedes#ended 0rom abo3e with a highDpit#hed whirring sound. &helby rinity, suspended

0rom the #eiling on an almost in3isible wire, suddenly hung upside down abo3e thepedestal. &he grinned at him, winked and snat#hed the #ard be0ore @tto #ould rea#h it.

&he hit a button on her belt and the tiny motor atta#hed to the line whirred into li0eagain, pulling her rapidly ba#k into the darkness abo3e.

&e#ond pla#e is Cust the 0irst o0 the losers,< she laughed as she 3anished into theshadows. &e#onds later alarm bells started to sound and a steel #age shot up out o0 the

0loor surrounding the pedestal, trapping @tto, as blindingly bright 0loodlights illuminatedthe entire room.

@tto bra#ed himsel0E whate3er happened ne-t was bound to be unpleasant. he steel

blast doors on the opposite side o0 the room slowly rumbled open and a 0amiliar shapetrotted a#ross the room towards him. 7t was a 0lu00y, white #at wearing a Cewelled #ollar,

not what one might normally e-pe#t to see in a situation like this, but there was 3erylittle that was normal about li0e at =.7.;.>. his was no ordinary #atE this was /s Leon,

=.7.;.>.3asion training, who had been trapped in the body o0her #at e3er sin#e Pro0essor Pike.mind, the s#hool


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&tealth and >3asion training, #onsisting as it did o0 an e3erD#hanging array o0 highly

sophisti#ated se#urity de3i#es that were designed to test the pupils< abilities to the limit.=owe3er, /iss rinity appears to ha3e won the day today,< /s Leon added, #learly

pleased that &helby, who e3eryone knew was her star pupil, had beaten @tto to the

target. Now, &helby, i0 you would be so kind as to use the #ard to release /r /alpense,we #an reset the /ae 0or the ne-t pair.3en a0ter all this timehe #ould still remember the pain he had 0elt when she had died or at least that was

what he had belie3ed had happened.

=e got up 0rom his seat in 0ront o0 the 0ire and walked o3er to an an#ient map that hung0ramed on the wall. =e pressed a #on#ealed button on the 0rame and the map swung

aside to re3eal a small sa0e built into the wall. here was a brie0 0lash as the #amera

mounted in the 0ront o0 the sa0e s#anned his retina and 3eri0ied his identity and thehea3y sa0e door popped open with a slight hiss. =e rea#hed inside and retrie3ed a plain

white en3elope, on the 0ront o0 whi#h was one word, /a-


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Nero stepped down 0rom the heli#opter. >3en through the thi#k #oat he was wearing he

#ould 0eel the biting #old o0 winter here, high in the mountains o0 northern 6hina. =eunderstood the need 0or se#re#y, but he 0ound himsel0 wishing that G.L.@.;.>.


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Yes, ahead o0 s#hedule, a#tually. 7n 0a#t 7 think we may be almost ready to bring

@3erlord online.< &he looked pleased.>-#ellent,< Nero replied. =e had been personally super3ising this proCe#t 0or the best

part o0 three years and it was undeniably a relie0 that there was now light at the end o0

the tunnel. Number @ne would o##asionally assign him to run proCe#ts su#h as this, andnormally they would be minor distra#tions 0rom his duties running =.7.;.>. his proCe#t

was mu#h more important, though, and it would be a relie0 to see it #ompleted so he#ould 0inally de3ote more o0 his time to the s#hool again. =is only regret was that on#e

the proCe#t was #omplete he would not need to spend as mu#h time with Miu /ei. Notonly was she breathtakingly beauti0ul, but they had de3eloped a 0riendship and trust that

Nero 3alued greatly.here are a #ouple more tests that we need to run, but we should be ready 0or

a#ti3ation in a #ouple o0 hours,< Miu /ei #ontinued.7 still say it


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>-#ellent. 7 know that Number @ne is keen to see i0 all o0 this time and money has been

in3ested wisely. 7


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this point.

7 am @3erlord,< the 0a#e #ontinued. (hat do you wish o0 meI.


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struggled to stay upright. here was a s#ree#h o0 tearing metal 0rom o3erhead as the

steel stru#ture o0 the obser3ation gantry 0inal ga3e up its grip on the ro#k #eiling and oneend dropped downwards into the pit. Aa3en di3ed to a3oid the shower o0 debris but her

opponent was not so lu#ky. he end o0 the gantry swung downwards and slammed into

the robot, smashing it to the ground, where it lay still, pinned under the end o0 the hea3ymetal walkway. Aa3en let out a long slow breath and looked upwards. he other end o0

the gantry was still in pla#e twenty metres o3erheadE its supports had not 'uite gi3en outyet. &he slid her swords into her belt and ran towards the dangling gantry, hopping o3er

the still 0orm o0 the giant robot assassin and s#aling the remains o0 the walkway as 0astas she #ould.

&he was about hal0way up when she 0elt the whole gantry mo3e again. Glan#ingdownwards she saw that her opponent was starting to mo3e, slowly at 0irst, 0or#ing itsel0

on to all 0ours, li0ting the end o0 the gantry as it rose. Aa3en #limbed 0asterE the top o0the impro3ised ladder she was s#aling was only a 0ew metres away now. Below her the

robot 0inally struggled to its 0eet, the end o0 the gantry sliding o00 its ba#k and slamming

into the 0loor with a dea0ening #lang. Aa3en Cust managed to hang on as the gantryshi0ted. @ne o0 the two remaining pins that was holding the upper end o0 the walkway in

pla#e ga3e way with a dea0ening #ra#k and the whole gantry pi3oted, lea3ing Aa3endangling pre#ariously o3er the long drop to the pit below.

he giant robot looked up and saw its prey dangling tantalisingly out o0 rea#h. 7t stoopeddown and pi#ked up the lower end o0 the gantry with both hands and shook the entire

walkway. Aa3en #lung on 0or dear li0e as the ma#hine tried to shake her loose, but itwas like trying to hang on to a rodeo bull. he gantry


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the ship began to mo3e @tto realised that he had to a#t now. =e stood up and prepared

himsel0 to run a#ross the do#k, but be0ore he #ould mo3e he 0elt a hand #lose o3er hismouth.

*on


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#old #hill that she was out o0 ideas. &uddenly she #aught sight o0 something big mo3ing

behind the assassin and her eyes widened.Aa3en di3ed to one side as the enormous shipping #ontainer mounted on the ele#troD

magneti# loading rig slammed into the robot 0rom behind like a 0reight train, #rushing it

against the ro#k wall with an enormous #rash. Fi0ty metres away, at the #rane #ontrols,@tto ga3e a little yell o0 3i#tory. Aa3en pi#ked hersel0 up 0rom the 0loor and dusted

hersel0 o00. &he inspe#ted the shattered remains o0 the robot, #rushed between themassi3e #ontainer and the un0orgi3ing ro#k wall. here was no way it was getting up

0rom that.@tto ran o3er to the s#ene o0 destru#tion, a broad grin on his 0a#e, and sur3eyed the

sparking, twit#hing remains o0 the huge robot.Ni#e work,< Aa3en said as another e-plosion shook the #a3ern, but we still don


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6hapter ,hirteenhe =.7.;.>. se#urity guard walked into the detention area and gasped. he man whohad been assigned to the brig lay slumped a#ross the guard station, still breathing but

un#ons#ious. =e ran to his 0allen #omrade and shook his shoulder. here was no

response. he guard had seen the e00e#ts o0 &leeper pulses o0ten enough to re#ognisethe e00e#ts immediately. =e ran o3er to the #ells and realised to his horror that they wereall empty. Pulling his Bla#kbo- 0rom his belt he spoke 'ui#kly into it.

his is Guard 1a#kson in the detention #entre. (e ha3e a 6lass @ne se#urity alert.6olonel Fran#is#o has es#aped..mind.mind


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system. =e looked through the list o0 hidden se#urity re#ordings and spotted another

leading up to the time o0 this ba00ling entry.=.7.;.>.mind, please run ba#kwards through all sur3eillan#e re#ordings within this

ar#hi3e leading up to the time o0 my a##ess,< the Pro0essor said 'ui#kly.

he 0eed #hanged to show the Pro0essor walking ba#kwards away 0rom the entran#e to=.7.;.>.mind


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Behind her Nero pulled the skullDshaped link 0rom the #u00 o0 his shirt and twisted the

#lip.&tay right there, 6ontessa,< the s'uad leader barked. (e ha3e orders to 0ire i0

ne#essary.ighteen=ello again,< @tto said with a grin. Long time, no see..mind replied.

he Pro0essor looked at the s#reen on the #entral hub.

(ell, it appears that you are 0ully 0un#tional again, =.7.;.>.mind, although yourbeha3ioural restraints don.mind replied,

though 7 appear to ha3e no a##ess to se#urity or base de0en#e systems.. at the momentI.mind replied, 0alling silent 0or a 0ew se#onds.

@ne unknown wireless transmission is broad#asting at this time. @rigin unknown,

spe#i0i#ation unknown, prote#ted by e-tremely sophisti#ated en#ryption,< =.7.;.>.mindreported.hat has to be it,< @tto said. hat


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#hamber.

(e ha3e to do this now, Pro0essor,< @tto said urgently as Aa3en ad3an#ed on therobots.

Yes, 7 think you may be right,< the Pro0essor said, staring with a mi-ture o0 horror and

s#ienti0i# #uriosity at the me#hani#al killers that were now ad3an#ing a#ross the gantrytoward the hub. =.7.;.>.mind, 7 am going to open an e-ternal port. From there it.mind replied.

@, @tto, 7


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7


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7 ha3e waited a long time 0or this,< 6ypher said, and brought the two hal3es o0 the

amulet together. here was the brie0est moment o0 silen#e and then the amulet beganto glow with a bright red light.

Nero wat#hed with a #ombination o0 #uriosity and dread. =e did not know how 6ypher

had managed to a#'uire the other hal0 o0 the amulet, but gi3en the trouble that 6ypherhad gone to he had to assume that whate3er the amulet did it was not something good.

You


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*rop them, N@(KK< 6ypher demanded. @tto let out a strangled gasp o0 pain as the grip

on his throat tightened still 0urther.(ing 0elt a hand on his shoulder.

*o what he says,< Nero said 'uietly.

(ing let the swords drop to the ground.Behind his mask 6ypher smiled, turning to the network hub behind him.

70 any o0 you mo3e, the boy dies,< he said angrily.You


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No one else is dying today, Father,< (ing said, and ran at 6ypher. =e stru#k him at a

0ull run, kno#king the detonator 0rom 6ypher


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7.


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7 don


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You ha3e to promise to prote#t (ing,< 6ypher said.

>3ery pupil o0 this s#hool is under my prote#tion,< Nero replied. You are the only onewho


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rendered the Proto#ol useless.. and that made retrie3ing his hal0 o0 the amulet impossible.

h.i.v.e. 2 - the overlord protocol

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