Tunnel Rat

Chapter 211: Solutions

Information gathering was only the first step in solving this problem. Milo had options for the second step but didn't like some of them.

The immediate solution that came to mind was to hide. He was already working on a secure base of operations beneath the habitat, and he had several secondary areas in other sections that affected the performance of section E. He could go back to hiding, not venture out, and flee to another part of the hab if anyone started searching section E. There were problems with the Hide/Run plan. His secondary locations were rudimentary compared to his current home. They didn't have a gaming/medical pod and didn't have the machinery he used to create machine parts and his mechanical limbs. Hiding also meant cutting himself off from the gang. A pit opened inside of him when he thought about that. He moved on to the next plan.

The second solution that occurred to Milo was leaving the habitat. He was here because he'd been left here. There was a big world out there. He had a standing offer from Steven of employment and housing. He didn't need to stay here and deal with Victor. Anxiety flooded him just thinking about being forced to leave. Fear of the unknown. Fear of having to rely on someone else. Fear of not having the walls around him that kept him safe. The rest of his brain didn't like those ideas and started listing the reasons that leaving was a bad idea. He had zero first-hand experience living outside of the habitat. Physically, he appeared small, weak, and too young to be treated as an adult. Money could solve part of that problem but also make him a target. Taking Steven's offer meant playing by a new set of rules and relying on Steven or Wally. What would happen if he couldn't live in that framework? There were too many variables. He wasn't leaving the habitat.

Which led him to a realization. Not a logical one, but an emotional one. A decision to not let anyone take away his home. Section E was his. He'd repaired the mechanical systems, fixed the programming, and kept it running for two decades. He felt the same way about the entire habitat to a lesser degree. Manpower and Victor were the invaders, and leaving would be giving them the habitat. Milo wasn't going to leave, so he had to neutralize the threats to his section.

To assess those threats, he needed information—a steady stream of what they were doing. The upgrades to the security system would give him eyes and ears, but he also needed a watchdog that would alert him to problems. This special program would monitor his systems and warn him if anyone was doing something that would cause him trouble or if anything drastically changed in Section H. He already had programs that monitored the mechanical systems. Now he needed more watchdogs to monitor people, tracking their movements, conversations, and electronic communications. Even as he continued to formulate a plan, he typed out the code to create his programs.

The next problem was ensuring that his friends and family weren't in harm's way. If Butch, Mama, and the rest of the gang got linked to him, Victor could threaten Milo by threatening his family. He didn't know how many people Victor had working for him in the habitat or how many more he could bring in. If Victor moved against his family, Milo would stop him. He hoped it never happened. That would mean war, and part of Milo's brain was already working on ways fragile humans could meet horrible ends in the hab and disappear. He didn't want to use those plans but made them anyway. He thought to himself, 'What would Petey do?'.

Could he get rid of Victor by having someone else deal with him? He set his systems to work on the possibility that he could get rid of Victor legally. If he alerted the authorities to his presence in the habitat, would they try to capture him?

Another solution was alerting the people who didn't like Victor. But he worried about bringing confrontation into the habitat—too many variables to control.

He had an idea pop into his forebrain that would help with protection; he just had to figure out how to implement it and sneak it past Mama. Or should he tell her?

For the next two days, Milo sat in his chair and worked on new programs and plans, then set them to work.

Project Watch Lizard was designed to keep him safe. It investigated anyone working in Section E and kept him advised on their movements and their reason for being in his territory.

Project Argos kept track of Victor and Victor's minions and hacked their phone signals, electronic mail, and any programs they used.

Project Hollow began designing a fallback position deep beneath the habitat, complete with duplicates of his equipment, secure access, food and medical supplies, and communications. The first task was determining what stopped the excavators from continuing their job.

The last item on his list for today was one that made him very nervous; he needed to talk to Butch and the gang about Belinda and then talk to her. He didn't know where she fits into this puzzle, and he needed to find out whether she was a pawn or a queen. And what color?

He only had to knock once on the door before Minerva opened it. She took one look at him before yelling, "He's back! I found him". She grabbed Milo by the arm and dragged him inside the house. The enticing smell of his favorite foods came from inside, and he spied several metal pans on the table with heating pads underneath. That was how they had served food at the party. And now it was here?

The room was packed with people. All of Butch's family and the gang were here, mostly sitting on the floor where two videogame consoles were being used. An extra screen was mounted on the wall. Butch was fighting Brad in Age of Dinosaurs: Knock-Out! Brad was using King Rex, popular despite the reach of their tiny arms. Butch was hammering him with the slow-moving but hard-to-damage Anky the Anklecrusher. The fight ended with King Rex limping away and Brad declaring all armored dinosaurs to be 'busted and OP.'

Yumi looked up from where she was dueling Belinda in Big Samurai Heroes 6. Her moment of inattention cost her the game as Belinda's giant robot executed a spinning guillotine attack and cut off Yumi's head. She threw the controller to Milo. "Your turn; I can't beat her." Belinda waved to him and patted the section of floor Yumi had just vacated. "I'm going to kick your robot's butt, and then I need to talk to you about some stuff."

Behind him, Minerva had shut the door, blocking his retreat. She leaned on the door, "You don't get to leave until you eat a meal and talk to Mama. She's next door with two of the little ones. Belinda brought lots of good stuff, but we ate all the manicotti already. I don't know what they are, but they taste awesome."

Milo pushed down his anxiety and waded into the lair of his family.