Starsnatcher - Trapped In An Alien World [COMPLETE]

Chapter 6.7

I couldn't believe it really happened.

My new senses would have overwhelmed me had my stone not adjusted my brain. Luckily, I still had Crick's nanobots on my eardrums.

My vision sharpened. I saw everything in crisp colors like through a camera with strong contrast.

We were still in a warehouse-sized room. Fortunately, the walls bore holes from acid Cherub spat. Cherub pulled itself together and pointed its weapons at us.

Kira picked up Layla's body.

And we ran away.

My stone didn't outright stop time for me as Kira's did. However, it increased my thought speed enough to inspect how Cherub aimed its missiles. Then, anticipating the firing time, I and Kira dodged.

Even in our perception, the aim-dodged projectiles flew ridiculously fast. They punctured walls and tore open new escape tunnels for us.

We entered a machine room full of cabinet-sized defunct nanofactories. Kira and I leaped from factory to factory, each jump taking between one-point-eight and two-point-five seconds.

I focused on another long-range transmission. "Captain! I don't need the tree anymore! Make sure it doesn't hit the station!"

Behind us, Cherub split into several "children" again. Its missiles and lasers flew at us from different angles.

A stray laser grazed my back.

Kira destroyed a missile launcher with her blaster without turning around. A benefit of enhanced memory.

The launcher exploded and took the surrounding laser turrets down with it. Meanwhile, Crick gave me a brief confirmation that they got my message.

We reached the end of the room. Kira sliced a hole in the ground with her blaster. She jumped through it and so did I before it closed.

We fell a few dozen feet before hitting the floor below us. Kira sliced another hole. We jumped down into the room below.

It was a big room without much furniture. Only near the opposite wall did we see big nanofactories and piles of debris.

Kira and I leaned against the nearby wall, panting. She did that cleverly. Cherub is big and it has two ceilings to cross to get here. Dissolving an entire ceiling will take time and it won't get much mass through small holes like the ones Kira created. In fact, the ones she carved with her blaster have already closed thanks to the nanotech.

"Let's discuss strategy," I said. "I wish I still had my guns, now that I have enhanced dexterity like you."

Kira put down Layla for a moment. "Strategy? I blew up a ton of its weapons and it didn't even slow down to curse me. This thing's immortal!"

"It's not beyond the laws of physics though. Its abilities likely come from nanobots. That means it needs an energy source and a computer to work. If we find either of them, we can win."

Kira looked skeptical. "Pretty sure it has no central computer. Would be like a self-destruct button."

She had a point there. When Cherub invaded my nervous system, I felt its thoughts, but I didn't feel a centralized brain. It felt more like all of Cherub was the brain. Maybe parts of Cherub also took over the space station and made these doors from before open so weirdly.

That only left one option. "Kira, do you remember anything that looks like a battery?"

"Dunno, you're the one of us who studied physics."

Another point for her. How could I ask her to search without knowing the target?

I glanced left and right, seeking anything that might give me an idea.