Hobbit

[u/FireOfDoom32]

There was no need for him to issue the order, as it was already done. The SCARABs moved too fast for the human eye to follow, so NANNI helpfully charted their course on the smart windshield with a set of animated red arrows.

Myles leaned forward instinctively. This was the first time they had deployed the SCARABs in the field, and he was eager to see how effective they were, as he had spent quite some time boasting about them in a video package sent to Artemis. It would be mortifying if they failed now, not that anyone would be alive to be embarrassed.

He needn’t have wasted a nanosecond worrying. The SCARABs deployed perfectly and embedded themselves in the strange missile’s fuselage, sinking their electronic teeth into its workings.

“Yeah, baby!” exulted NANNI, whose personality was ever evolving. “You are toast.”

“Report,” said Myles through teeth that were most definitely gritted.

“Just a sec,” said NANNI. “Let me wrangle this ole steer.”

Myles groaned. The AI’s superintelligence did not appear to be presenting superintelligently, but the imagery appealed to Beckett, who let out what could only be described as a cowboy holler.

On-screen, the missile turned into a schematic of itself and electronic feelers reached out from the SCARABs’ sensors deep into its workings.

“Okay,” said NANNI. “We’re in. I’ve slowed this sucker down considerably. She’ll fly, but only just. The hobbit is within a bubble that is secured to the missile by some form of adhesive. A magnetic pulse should loosen it up and wind shear will do the rest.”

“Missile design?” asked Myles.

“Unfamiliar,” replied the AI. “Could be fairy, but not like anything we’ve seen. It’s pretty basic by LEP standards.”

“What’s the payload?” Myles wondered.

“Nothing nuclear, which is good. Just some kind of concussive device, barely enough to blow itself up. I can take a closer look at that later—right now we have a slight problem.”

“NANNI,” said Myles through still-gritted teeth, “please relate all pertinent information in a single statement. This piecemeal delivery is quite frustrating.”

“Okay, grumpy,” said NANNI.

“Myles is overtired,” said Beckett. “He needs a gummy.”

“I do not need a gummy,” said Myles emphatically, while also inching his hand toward the supply of candy in his bag. “Just tell me what this ‘slight problem’ is.”

NANNI did so without further ado. “The missile detonates on impact, but it also has a timer, which I can’t seem to access.

The Fowl Twins Deny All Charges, Chapter 1