Defection (MentalModel!Brothers and OC)

Chapter 22

"Why did you talk me into this?" Jon asked cautiously as the darkness that had encompassed the bridge of the U-96 became illuminated by several tactical screens, his hands tightly clutching onto the arms of the chair he was sitting in.

Choro barely glanced back at him, most of his focus on the holographic screens that displayed the low munitions storage, the current health of the hull, the Klein Field, various subsystems, and the topography of the surrounding waters as the submerged submarine sped towards the coordinates that were given by Oso and Kara.

"You're the one who didn't want me to go onboard," I stifled a laugh from my wheelchair, the wheels fixed into place by nanomaterial that had formed a rail system, "You could've stayed ashore."

"And let you go out to sea still crippled while under my watch?" Jon scoffed as he turned to look at me, "No thanks...I'd never hear the end of it from Mom or Dad."

I merely shrugged, "You're the one with standing in the military, not me."

"Captain," The child-sized Mental Model called out calmly, drawing my attention before two communication screens opened nearby -- one red and the other blue.

"What's your status?"

"Holding off the pesky flies," Oso laughed through the red channel, the small screen expanding as his image crackled to life on the hologram, "We haven't detected anything other than the five ships circling on the surface."

"Have they tried to dive to you?"

"A few times," Kara sighed as his screen enlarged to reveal his image, some disappointment obvious on his face, "The attempts were repelled and divers pushed back to the surface."

"How are you feeling, Choro?" Oso focused on the submarine, "The report you sent was worrying."

"I am functional," The response was direct, "I do not leave my shipself with my Union Core."

"Think that's what these humans are after?" Kara lifted a hand towards his chin, briefly touching it before looking elsewhere. An alarm sounded through Oso's and Kara's screens, jolting my attention and spreading tension through the submarine bridge.

"That sounds bad," Jon muttered under his breath as I looked towards both Mental Models.

"What's going on?" The strain in my voice was obvious.

"Damn...!" Oso's image jolted on his screen before Kara's communication screen closed on its own, "They've rigged some kind of...electromagnetic system of sorts!"

"The signals I am picking up are in close proximity," Choro reported as he partially turned towards me, the green screens highlighting some of his face, "They are similar to what I experienced."

"Oso, Aku!" I shouted towards the now-glitchy screen showing Oso, his face tensed in pain as the alarms continued, "Can you perform any countermeasures?"

"If it's what Choro had experienced, then wouldn't that mean those two are going to lose control of their nanomaterial?" Jon asked, leaning forward in his seat as the submarine accelerated more towards the coordinates.

"Correct," The response was calm despite the worrying situation, "Our arrival time is two minutes."

"Oso, Aku, I need a response," My eyes scanned the map, seeing seven marks growing closer. Two of the seven were my ships, the marks revealing the symbols indicating which ship was Oso and Aku, or Kara. The other five remained as yellow triangles that seemed to be forming a semicircle around the two battleships, pinning them against the shoreline near some cliffs overlooking the Atlantic, "Guys?"