“Use the Zapper!” Bulco yelled; his eyes looked normal now. He ran at one of the legs and punched it hard. The Puncher sprang forward adding to the force. Between the weapon and the exoskeleton, the Engineer’s strike had fourteen points of strength behind it. The mining rig’s limb was yanked out of the ground by the force and the entire thing wobbled, taking several precious seconds to stabilize itself.

That was all the time Lana needed. She drew out the small alien weapon and fired at the console. The weak beam hit, blasting it to bits and exposing the circuitry behind. The excavator tilted violently, nearly losing its balance, and Lana dropped the weapon to find a handhold. Two of its eight legs hung limply from its side but the other six worked furiously to balance it. Lana was almost hurled away. Her hand waved frantically looking for a purchase. She reached through the broken console and grasped a scorched, cylindrical component.

Tec extraction commencing.

Beams of light shot out of the twisted metal and flowed into Lana and her companions.

Extracted 12 Tec (15% success rate).

Level 5 reached

Before Lana could make sense of the multitude of messages on her view, Bulco shouted. “Holy shit. I just hit level five.”

“Me too,” Nori shot back. “Lana, whatever you did, don’t stop. The machine looks like it's about to get its shit together.”

The giant excavator stopped thrashing and was slowly rising to its full height. Three light consoles flared up to life on other parts on its ring body and streams of information ran on their monitors.

Lana’s hands clutched the machine with a death grip as even more data streamed across her own view.

Path crossroad reached. Choose one:

Admin: improve systems access and information gathering

Agent: Improved communication and networking

The excavator finished recovering and wobbled on its six remaining legs.

Lana stared at the closest console, three meters away, and made a decision.

Admin.

She released her grip, stood up, and launched herself to the next console. The machine turned and she nearly missed her mark, but her foot caught on a bend in the metal, which was enough for her to shift to face the console.

The same message as before appeared, but this time a new option showed.

Defensive mode engaged. Interface locked. Hack?

Yes! Lana thought desperately. Nori had finally fumbled a dodge and one of the giant legs kicked her, launching her dozens of meters away, despite her boots.

A myriad of pictures and text appeared on Lana’s view. She didn’t know what it meant or what to do with it. All she could do was watch in desperation at Bulco, who held up another giant boulder as the machine charged and stepped on him, burying him under the heavy load. Then nothing stood between it and Nathan's still unmoving body.