Watching through Anath’s visor as she advanced into the dark parts of the devastated shopping-mall, I felt almost as if I was watching a horror-movie, just with the difference that I knew it to be real. I almost expected some strange, mutated monster to jump from the shadows, even knowing that such a thing was highly unlikely. But it just would not do to let Anath advance on her own, not if I could help it. Taking the information gathered by her suit was easy, I had made it after all, and by drawing upon Galatea’s help and using the aircraft’s systems to add computing power allowed me to do analyse the information in ways I had not previously considered.

“Anath, I will overlay an echo-location system into your display. In addition, I will add the location of the trapped people to the screen, I managed to clear up the echoing sounds and locate them.” I told her over our connection, not wanting to alarm her by suddenly changing her field of vision. The other part was to help her, she was in the darkness and even the night-vision systems could only do so much. Trying to follow the sounds was harder due to the fact that they reflected and echoed in the broken space, leading her off trail.

“Thank you.” Anath answered, sounding quite grateful.

She continued on her way having to dodge debris and even an area where part of the ceiling had come down. A few times, I would have been stumped how to continue on but she managed to surprise me by using her slender and petite body to squeeze through small openings or using her super-strength to simply brute-force her way through.

Finally she got to the trapped people. When she first entered their space, they all shied back, her black-clad figure likely looking intimidating and scary in the darkness. I could see that there were more people trapped than I had expected and that it was a mix, mostly women and children, but there were people of all ages and both sexes.

“Greetings, I’m here to help. You can call me Anath.” Anath said, making sure to keep her voice friendly, undoubtedly trying to appear non-threatening. After a second, she found a flashlight, bathing the space in light and allowing us to see colours.

A man, looking to be in his mid- to late-twenties, approached her, relief on his face.

“Thank god someone’s here. Can you get us out of here?” he asked, his voice a little shaky.

“We are working on it.” she told him, before speaking softly. “Metis, is there a better way out of here? It will take all day to clear the way I came in and I’m afraid some won’t make it that long.” she asked me, causing me to frown. Part of me started to think of alternative exits, using one drone to look the destroyed mall over closely, trying to find something. Another part looked at the images she was sending, taking stock of the trapped people and realising that she was right, especially one older-looking man seemed to be in a rough shape, his breathing laboured.

“Anath, can you take a closer look at that one?” I asked her. She walked over and a few of the trapped people seemed almost ready to block her path.

“He got hurt when saving us. He made sure that we could escape first.” a teenage girl told Anath. She looked to be in a rough shape but unharmed.

“I can see that he is hurt. Hopefully, I can get him help before it’s too late.” Anath answered, gently pushing past the girl. The others looked alarmed at that pronouncement and instantly cleared a path.

Up close, I was able to get some more information, even if Anath’s suit and mask had so much less equipement in the sensory departement compared to my armour. Still, I was quite sure that he had broken ribs, maybe internal bleeding. We needed to get him to the field-hospital as soon as possible, or the chances of him not making it were quite high.

By now, I had completed the survey and made a plan, together with Galatea. The best way to get those people out would be directly, through the wall.

“Hancock this is Metis, please lead the group you are with outside.” I started to give orders.

“Anath, I placed markings on your HUD, please cut through the walls at those marks, they are flimsy enough that they should pose no obstacle to you.” I continued on her channel.

“Group fifteen, there is a trapped group of civilians, needing evacuation with multiple wounded. I am organising an exit for them, please head to the mall at coordinates X-53Y-42 and assist transportation.” I ordered a nearby group who was mostly bagging remains at that time.

“Metis, this is Hancock, please confirm, we are currently trying to open a path to a group of survivors.” Hancock replied, causing me to mentally growl. What did he think I was, an idiot?

“Yes, I am aware of that. Please move to coordinates X-55Y-41 and get the large ladder there. It will be needed in a moment.” I confirmed my orders, hoping that he was following them.

There was a confirmation from Group fifteen, telling me that they were on the move, while I saw Anath move over to the wall, asking the trapped people to move aside. They looked at her a little worried and there were noises of shock when she raised the Khopesh and hacked into the wall, causing the flimsy drywall-sheet-metal combination they had used to part with a noise of tortured metal. After hacking a few more times, she gave the triangular section she had just hacked out a strong kick, causing it to fold and allowing her to drag the inside wall and the insulation inside, showing her the outside wall. More hacking followed and soon, semi-fresh air from the outside and daylight flooded into the dim and dark space the people had been trapped in.

Meanwhile, I had managed to direct Hancock to the ladder I had seen from the air and got him and the people with him to carry it back to the mall, without too much arguing from him. He had been quite agitated when Anath’s sword had poked out of the wall, a good ten meters above ground, and started shouting at me that it was risky, that we had no idea where the load-bearing structures were and that we would bring the mall down on the trapped people. Not wanting to argue with him, I simply ignored him and when he waited for me to answer him, shouting some more when there was no answer, I fed the Tetris-tune into his communicator, so he had something to listen to.

“Metis, is there a way for me to pass information to you, so you can direct the search?” Mordred asked me, on again another channel. I shunted the job of answering to him over to Galatea who kept track of most groups, directing them using my voice and her immensely bigger capacity for patience and multitasking.

“Hancock, please place the ladder to assist with evacuation of civilians. And be advised, I was full aware of all load-bearing locations, I am not an idiot.” I ordered, just as Anath was folding back the facade-elements to allow for easy access to the newly made exit. It would be annoying if the gurney I had ordered for the old man would be unable to get him out. Just as the ladder went up, group fifteen arrived as well, ready to assist.

I watched and listened as Anath calmed the previously trapped people down, while outside, the first rescuers started up the ladder. Only a few moments later, the procession of trapped people down the ladder began, most of them were able to climb for themselves, others had to be carried, mostly by Anath or Hancock, who used their powers. Sadly, even with Galatea’s help, I was unable to focus on the now solved situation, my attention required elsewhere.

I was a little confused when Galatea started to display information on potentially trapped people, until our connection filled in the blank, the source in this case, telling me that it was coming from Mordred. I made a mental note to inquiry how exactly that worked, he seemed to be able to detect trapped humans, even if they were below ground, or otherwise impossible to detect normally.

Another thing clamouring for my attention was a request for assistance from Pheronica, she was in the refugee-camp and tensions were going up, even with her powers taking the edge off. I did not want to think about the trouble we would have normally, with everyone’s emotions and temper running at hundred percent, the problems caused then would be almost as troublesome as the rescue efforts. Luckily, Pheronica was able to keep everyone calm, even if most people would see the use of her powers as crowd control as problematic.

Good that I was not everyone. I called in additional help for her, before my attention was needed elsewhere again.