Synchronization
The water pressed against Jackie from every direction, a constant reminder of how far she had actually traveled, and that she was no longer in the familiar air-filled world. Her ocular implant adjusted automatically, casting a faint luminescent overlay over her surroundings, picking up the subtle currents and variations in the pillar's energy. She focused, her mind tuned to the minute vibrations that ran along the structure beneath her.
And Orion continued to watch.
Jackie still hadn't realized that he was there, how could she, there was much too much to do. The pillar before her, its surface pristine lacking any algae due to the shimmer of the red repulser light that continually ran up and down the length of all six pillers, had begun to tilt slightly due to the previous battle between powerful cyborgs. Her cybernetic arm adjusted with millimeter precision, guided by the ocular system's predictive overlays, as BDJ provided real-time metrics and her ocular system observed in a constant one hundred and eighty degree arc.
"Structural microfracture at 2.3 meters from base," BDJ intoned. "Repair trajectory requires 0.27 degrees counter-rotation for alignment. Torque calibration at seventy-eight percent."
Jackie's natural eye darted across the pillar, while her cybernetic eye tracked the overlay. With a flick of her gun-arm's articulated repair tools, she applied a fine stream of nanite adhesive, letting the molecular repair bots fuse the fractured alloy into a stabilized lattice. The system was seamless—almost imperceptible to the eye—but to Orion, it was poetry in motion.
From his position, mirrored across the circumference of the pillar circle, Orion studied her movements carefully. He mimicked each flick, each micro-adjustment, calibrating his own tools to match her motions. BDJ, observing through both Jackie's ocular feed and Orion's projected repair patterns, noted the growing synchronization.
"Observation," BDJ said. "Subject is executing repairs at 98.7 percent precision. There is a mimic rate of 94.3 percent. Alignment effectiveness increasing exponentially."
Orion's eyes narrowed behind his visor as he adjusted. He wasn't here to compete; he was here to ensure the pillar's counterpart stabilized. And yet, watching Jackie move, so deliberate and calculated, he couldn't help but feel a strange… rhythm. The two of them, so different from each other, were now operating as one. One pillar moving in response to the other, counteracting the shifts caused by the earlier battle and stabilizing the island above.
Jackie felt it too, though she didn't know why. Each adjustment she made seemed to ripple across the water in ways she couldn't fully track. The island's balance was responding to her, but not just her alone. Something else was anchoring the other side.
Tally's voice broke through BDJ's calculations. "Another influence detected. Unknown vector at 0.52 meters from pillar axis. Alignment trajectory adjusting autonomously."
Jackie's focus didn't waver. She continued to guide her nanite repairs, her gun-arm slicing with precision, fusing microfractures, and reinforcing the pillar's structure with fluid metallic bonds. Even the smallest misalignment could have destabilized the island above, sending it tilting perilously. Her neural interface processed thousands of micro-adjustments simultaneously, the ocular overlay highlighting stress points and the optimal reinforcement angles.
Below, in the city of Subaquilus One, Kieran moved cautiously along a narrow maintenance corridor, hidden in the shadows. The city, centuries old yet, even the old technology was technologically advanced. It stretched around him like a mechanical labyrinth. Skyscrapers with faintly Western architectural flourishes rose above domed streets, and neon-lit walkways wove intricate patterns between them. The water refracted the lights, making the structures shimmer like an underwater aurora.
Kieran paused, crouching beside a maintenance hatch. His optics scanned the area. Cyborg patrol units moved past, unaware of his presence. His own body was a patchwork of enhancements and outdated systems—carefully balanced to allow him to blend into the city while retaining the capabilities he would need to act.
He accessed his portable encoder, a compact device no larger than a palm. It could take his message, compress it, scramble it, and send it as bursts of light across the city's subterranean fiber network, hopping from node to node until it reached the Resistance safehouse. He typed a brief coded message:
"Subaquilus stability critical. Island above at risk. Need immediate coordination. Observer in position."
The encoder broke the text into microbursts of photonic data, each packet wrapped in a cipher that could only be decoded by those with the correct key. Once it transmitted, the message vanished, leaving no trace of its origin. Kieran exhaled slowly. Every second counted, and the city's vast population of maintenance cyborgs would soon notice the shifts above if the pillars failed further.
Back above, Jackie continued her work. A sudden pulse of water shook the pillar, forcing her to stabilize her position. BDJ noted the stress point, calculating countermeasures in real-time.
Both she and Lyra continued as BDJ and Tally fed them both information.
"Adjustment required: micro-torque at ninety degrees from axis," BDJ instructed.
Jackie complied, her gun-arm applying precisely the correct pressure. As the nanite adhesive hardened, the pillar straightened slightly. The alignment with the second pillar became visible through the ocular overlay—a perfect mirror. The currents of energy flowing through the structure were now almost symmetrical.
Tally's sensors detected a fluctuation. "Unknown external interference stabilizing the opposite pillar. Operator efficiency at ninety-six percent. System recognition: organic or semi-organic humanoid."
Jackie's focus remained unbroken. She could feel the water's subtle vibrations, the pull of the island's weight, and the responses of the nanite repair swarm. Everything she did was magnified across the distance between the pillars, and she had to trust that the counter-adjustments on the other side would keep the system in balance.
Orion mirrored every movement, his systems tracking her arm, her neural interface signals, and the minute corrections she applied. By the time BDJ calculated the overall stress distribution along the pillars, both structures were now moving in near-perfect harmony.
"Synchronization achieved," BDJ reported. "Island stability improving at exponential rate. Projection: potential equilibrium in ninety-three minutes if current pace maintained."
Kieran watched from his hidden corridor. The city below was reacting as the water pressure transmitted through the structural pillars. Maintenance cyborgs scuttled through corridors, their optics scanning for anomalies, while above, the island continued to seem stable. He accessed his decoder again, ensuring the message reached the Resistance without detection.
In one of the city's quieter sectors, he found a console used for structural monitoring and activated it briefly, siphoning environmental data and Subaquiluse One integrity readings. The interface displayed complex fluid dynamics of the water above and the micro-shifts in the island's core. Kieran stored the data in encrypted modules, knowing the Resistance could use it to anticipate further destabilizations.
"Energy patterns consistent with above-surface micro-alignment," Kieran murmured. "If the system realigns the danger will be averted. Can this girl do this all on her own?"
Meanwhile, Jackie worked tirelessly, adjusting, recalibrating, and reinforcing the pillar. Her ocular system now highlighted the stress points in a gradient from deep red to pale blue, showing where the repair nanites needed to bond more aggressively. She applied the tools with fluid precision, the gun-arm responding to her neural interface without hesitation.
Tally interjected once more. "Sensors indicate semi-autonomous repair alignment. External operator remains undetected. Suggest continued observation."
BDJ added, "Operative Orion exhibits high-level adaptation to current repair demands. Predictive model indicates increased efficiency over next phase due to continuous alignment feedback."
Orion, still mirroring her every action, noted the efficiency in his own calculations. Every adjustment she made allowed him to anticipate the counter-adjustment needed for his pillar. Soon, both pillars moved in concert, like twin metronomes maintaining a delicate balance.
Kieran paused at a junction, glancing back at the city's main structural spire. He noted the interplay of light and shadow, the way cyborgs navigated the narrow pathways, and the tension in the city's maintenance infrastructure. He had to be careful. One wrong move, one miscommunication, and the Resistance could be compromised.
His hands moved deftly over the decoder, re-sending a confirmation to the safehouse: "Observer operational. Alignment in progress. Do not intervene unless critical."
Above, Jackie finally allowed herself a brief pause. Her ocular overlay displayed the realignment of the pillar, the nanite adhesive hardening into a seamless lattice. The currents around the structure had stabilized enough for her to momentarily assess the synchronization with Orion's pillar. The system was holding.
BDJ's voice broke the silence. "Microfractures contained. Structural integrity at eighty-seven percent. Operative Orion has mimicked well, alignment enhanced."
Jackie exhaled, her chest rising and falling slightly. Even underwater, even under immense pressure, she had done what she had come to do.
Orion's mirrored adjustments had worked. Both pillars were now stabilizing, moving in concert as the island's weight slowly shifted back into equilibrium. The subtle vibrations in the water, the almost imperceptible hum of the structure itself, signaled that the island would no longer tip dangerously—for now.
Kieran watched quietly in the shadows, the city around him alive with activity, repair bots scuttling, energy flows stabilizing. He allowed himself a rare breath of relief, though he knew this was far from over.