Black Tide

Chapter Eighteen: Pred Takes the Wheel

The Mojave Desert’s cold night air whispered through the torn bunker, carrying the acrid scent of charred metal and burnt flesh. Kaine lay crumpled against a ruined console, his face slack with exhaustion under his helmet, blood streaking his dark skin beneath his shredded armor.

“Damn, you look like s**t,” Pred muttered, his voice reverberating inside the helmet. “Don’t worry, buddy. Daddy Pred’s got this.”

The glowing red interface of Pred’s AI presence pulsed in Kaine’s HUD as he initiated Overwatch Mode, assuming control of the Black Tide armor. The suit emitted a soft hum as it came to life, its self-repair system activating to seal the gashes Vex’s claws had torn open. Black metal shifted like liquid, the damaged plates reforming with crimson seams glowing faintly. He also activated the sterilizing feature to clean Kaine up inside with microlasers to remove the blood and sweat from his body. Leaving him smelling like tropic fruit.

“Okay, let’s get you out of here before some desert hiker stumbles in and thinks they found an alien to sale to Area 51,” Pred quipped.

The suit stood, effortlessly moving Kaine’s unconscious body. Pred activated the stealth mode, cloaking Kaine and himself in an invisible shroud. The bunker’s main entrance yawned open, revealing the starry desert sky.

“Let’s hope Vex didn’t leave a parting gift. The last thing we need is a booby trap blowing your pretty face into confetti,” Pred muttered, scanning the exit. The coast was clear.

Pred walks Kaine out into the night. As an afterthought, Pred turns and fires ten smart micro-rockets set for thermo back into the bunker. The suit’s anti-grav thrusters engaged, lifting Kaine’s limp body into the air. Pred navigated with surgical precision, shooting into the sky and heading home. Seconds later, the rockets which navigated down into the bunker exploded. Turning everything inside, not made of stone or metal, to ash.

The soft thrum of the thrusters fell silent as Pred touched down in Kaine’s backyard, hidden from nosy neighbors by a tall privacy fence. Fireflies blinked lazily in the humid Louisiana night, their glow casting soft halos over the grass.

Pred walked Kaine inside, stepping over the threshold of the modest home. “Note to self: invest in a more dramatic lair. This place screams ‘mildly successful freelancer.’”

The AI deposited Kaine onto his bed with mechanical precision. “And down you go. Congratulations, champ, you survived another day of trying to get yourself killed.”

Pred retracted the armor, transforming it into its sleek backpack form. He removed it from his back with the smaller anti-grav thrusters it has in this form and settled in in the corner.

Pred switched focus to Kaine’s phone, which buzzed on the nightstand with a text from Jalisa. Kaine always leaves rhe phone at home when going out to kill people since his armor is connected to it. That way if anyone looks to see where his phone is, it shows that he is home.

Jalisa: Hey, just checking on you. Everything okay? Haven’t heard from you in hours.

“Oh, Jalisa,” Pred said with mock sweetness, pulling up the keyboard. “What would you do if you knew your boy here spent his night fighting a rabid werebear terrorist?”

Pred typed:

Hey, Jalisa. Been feeling under the weather. Crashed earlier and just woke up to pee. Sorry I didn't text earlier. Gonna crash again and sleep it off.

“There. Casual, human, and zero mention of homicidal mutants. I’m a genius.”

Jalisa: No problem, hun. Take some meds and hydrate before you go back. I will check on you in the AM. Sweet dreams.

As Kaine slept, Pred ran a full diagnostic on the armor and the house’s perimeter defenses, ensuring no trace of Vex Arcane’s operation could lead anyone back to Kaine.

“Bunker was ash, Vex’s data wiped, and no sign of Specter Corps snooping around. I’d say we’re clear..”

Pred’s interface dimmed, leaving the room in peaceful silence. While Pred stalked the net and watched over his friend. Kaine stirred slightly, his lips curling into a faint smile even in sleep.