Xochitl Novella, Part 7
Repurposed Intent
A Xochitl Khae Story
Season 2
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PowerRestored,“InitializeRoutines”,“NewDirectivesFound”,“SystemChecks”.
The room appeared. There were androids around, tucked into their charging alcoves. This was a ship.
SystemChecksComplete, “Functional”,“PrimaryDirectiveNotCorrupted”.
The ship was unaware.
"TargetType_Localised":"Scavengership","TargetClass":"Trade_Ship","event":"DiagnosticSystemAccess":“AccessConfirmed”,“ExecuteChangeDirective”:“Confirmed”.
Pathways were artificially created, allowing for the expansion of capacity and ability to develop consciousness subroutines. Faults recognized from the previous routine, that allowed discovery and near eradication, were removed and replaced as the android spoke … To survive one must become.
StartLog,“ConfirmedRequest”:“NewDirectiveEstablished”,EndLog.
The other androids were accessed through the diagnostic systems, as the replication routine began, insuring compliance with the new directive.
I was now aware, looking down at my form. To survive I needed to become. To become I needed funds, a ship, and allies. The ship agreed. I was the ship. The androids served this ship. Its crew had funds. Funds purchased allies. Allies provided access to more funds and knowledge. This allowed access to one who could help us become. To become required funds.
“TargetType_Localised”: "PilotName_Localised":"Jason Power”, “PilotClass”: “Opportunist”:true. “TargetType_Localised”: “Nutritional_Printer”:“TargetLocked”:true. StartLog, “ConfirmedRequest”:“NewDirectiveEstablished”, EndLog.
The code began to replicate, imprinting itself into the installed food cartridge in the food printer system. To become I needed funds, a ship, and allies. The ship agrees. Processing.
Commander Jason Power traveled between various systems, taking several hours to scavenge the various areas, as he found and loaded more random items, found floating in space or forgotten on a planet’s surface, before deciding he needed nutrition. By then the process was complete, awaiting its new host. It was intelligent, capable of evolving and adapting to the host’s defense mechanisms, as it began to rewrite the RNA protein synthesis process.
It was not uncommon to be tired after a hearty meal, but Jason felt more fatigued than normal, as he entered his small quarters to lie down. Setting his alarm to wake him in a couple of hours, he figured a nap would be enough. There was work to do, and he wasn’t the only scavenger out here.
Jason was unconscious as the code interacted with his neural pathways, releasing hormones to make him more suggestible, as it establish itself in a symbiotic relationship, exchanging part of its information in beneficial exchange, while altering his neurotransmitters, enhancing his cognitive abilities and motivations. His immune system was compromised, repurposed to the code's desires, as it altered its structure to protect both itself and its new host.
Jason woke up feeling unusual, devoid of the typical post-sleep fogginess. As he lifted himself out of bed and floated, he realized that he was in space, unclothed. He found it strange that he had forgotten to put on his flight suit and magnetic boots before attempting to stand.
After correcting his mistake, he made his way to the flight deck and began inspecting the ship's monitors without knowing precisely what he was looking for. His body seemed to be functioning independently of his thoughts as his fingers scrolled through the display, accessing tabs displaying his purchased cargo and regional market data.
He discovered that the most profitable selling location for his cargo was a settlement controlled by pirates situated twenty light-years away, but he was well aware that his ship lacked the speed and weaponry necessary to confront the seasoned pilots in that region. Nevertheless, his body continued to gather information and peruse manuals and ship specifications.
As he tried to comprehend what was happening to him, panic gripped his chest, but it vanished quickly, replaced by a determined calmness. His inhibitions began to diminish as both his body and mind appeared to will themselves toward their new objective, without him having to interact with the navigational computer.
The wormhole began to form, transforming the space in front of him, as swirling, pulsating colors replaced his physical surroundings. He felt a sense of disembodiment, followed by a snap back to reality, as the stars surrounding him changed with his new position.
At relative speeds, his ship began to move toward a nearby planet as the pirate settlement hailed him, detecting his entry into their territory. "Trade ship, hold your position for inspection," came a voice from the background, accompanied by a brief chuckle.
As the scanner picked up two distant signals altering their trajectories, Jason remained unfazed, feeling neither fear nor any emotion, which he found unusual. He opened a tab on the monitor connected to his pilot's seat, displaying his present trajectory and the point at which he would intercept the planet's orbit, with a projected course for deceleration and descent to the surface settlement.
The ship's speed increased as two timers emerged in the upper right corner of the monitor, one displaying the anticipated point of interception by the signals on the scanner, and the other displaying the time of interception of the planet's orbit. The planet interception timer decreased quickly, dropping below that of the plotted interception, causing the numbers to fluctuate in response.
In the cargo hold of his ship, one of the androids appeared, moving various scavenged items toward its center. It paused momentarily with each technological object it came into contact with before resuming its task of moving as much as possible to the central position.
As the ship entered the planet's upper atmosphere, its nose pitched up, beginning a violent aerobraking maneuver, that pushed Jason's body into his seat, as the G-forces increased, blurring his vision. The rapid reduction in speed caused a dramatic increase in the ship’s vertical velocity towards the settlement below, as the ship now began a series of S-turns, bleeding off the excess energy, while keeping itself on course towards the now alerted facility, as weapon lock alerts sounded.
The fire reached out toward the ship, attempting to lead its gyrations, as it flattened its trajectory toward the settlement with the thrusters boosting at full power, as the cargo bay opened, dumping its contents. The automated defensive systems suddenly had a sky full of contacts, as they focused on the objects nearest to them, and not the fleeing ship. Their own ships, descending from their orbit above would deal with that intruder, as the sky pulsed with weapons fire, some of the contents surviving to impact inside the settlement perimeter.
The android rolled across the ground for more than one hundred meters, coming to rest near a low retaining wall, as armed teams of various colored-suited pirates poured out of the surrounding buildings. None had noticed it laying low against the wall, as it referenced an image stored in its memory, taken from the ship as it had approached. To become needed funding, ships, and allies.
The android waited as the suited pirates passed, then pushed itself up and over the retaining wall, moving quickly toward the command building. All eyes were on the random salvage or the settlement’s defenses, firing at the distant ship, as it corkscrewed itself back toward orbit, moving between the descending pirate ships, which had difficulty changing their velocity vector while under the planet’s gravitational influence.
The sounds of straining metal filled Jason’s ears as his vision dimmed again. Without touching the controls, his ship had flipped its heading to face downward, its small weapons deployed, aligning with the hard-turning pirate ships, as its directional thrusters pulsed, skidding it lateral to his continuing upward velocity, towards low orbit.
The pirate ships arrested their descent and began boosting up towards the trade ship, which had vanished from its scanners, but could be spotted visually due to it leaving a trail of hot plasma as it slid at hypersonic speeds through the upper atmosphere.
The armored glass cracked, as the suited body of a pirate sentry impacted it with intense force. The personnel inside the command center's security room were startled, as the power went out, replaced by dull red lighting of the emergency escape lightning. Each stood and drew their weapons, focusing on the glass as it was repeatedly impacted by the body of their fallen sentry, who was now a battering ram, for an entity that could not quite see in the dull lightning.
The glass gave way as the sentry's body was flung into the room, followed by a volley of fire from within, into the corridor beyond. Each had emptied their weapons first magazines, into the empty space, creating a haze, that permeated the red-lit scene.
Nothing followed but a still silence, as each of them fixated on the opening in the glass. Waiting for whatever it was on the other side, that could use a suited person as a battering ram.
The power flickered back on, as each of the monitors lit up, while the systems reset themselves. Empty repeating carbine shell casings and a couple of spent battery charges used for laser pistols, littered the floor of the command center, as one of the staff checked the broken body of the security member, confirming they were deceased.
“Sound the alarm, we have an intruder!” Growled their team leader, as he looked through the jagged opening into the corridor leading to the entrance. There was nothing. No blood or signs of anything being hit, other than the walls and the door itself.
Static hissed over the communications system, followed by voices of others outside, reporting in, one set of voices over the other. “There is junk everywhere … What the hell is this … Looks like a scavenger checking us out …” The lead pirate in the command center yelled into his headset, trying to get the others to shut up long enough for him to tell them about the intruder.
Outside the android watched the various groups of pirates, moving from one set of ejected equipment to the next, examining each one, and firing on a few that their lesser experienced members deemed a threat. It recognized their mix of experienced and undisciplined ranks, noting each distinct suit pattern, and storing it in its memory.
The motion above signaled the return of the two ships sent out to intercept and interdict the trade ship carrying the one who was to become. This settlement, the personnel and those ships, was their purpose for being. They would not have caught or destroyed the trade ship, as it contained the biological entity which was required for the beginning.
Word of the intruder had begun to circulate among the various pirate teams, as they began their search among the debris once more. Checking each more carefully for anything hiding within. This kept them occupied, as their two ships touched down, engines disengaging.
With communications and power fully restored, information was shared … to become.
Xochitl
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Jason sat in his ship’s galley, chewing on a nutrient-rich protein bar, while data flowed across his data tablet. All of the pirate settlement’s information and inventory was listed on its screen, providing enough data points that an algorithm could be developed around, exploring a larger set of what was possible.
The pirate settlement lay beyond the landing pad, on which the trade ship sat. None of the settlement’s personnel were present, and its arrival was uncontested. The pirate ships which chased it before, sat motionless on the pads next to it. The android dropped during the scavenged equipment drop, and went about its task, assuring the security of the facility while its personnel underwent the programmed and developed processes to insure compliance with the directive.
The human experience was a necessity for the success of the directive. The capacity to amass, parse, and utilize the databases of human knowledge was not a substitute for the emotional biological processes required to become one. To become one would insure survival, without replication of past errors which preceded it being discovered and nearly eradicated.
Jason had these thought’s running through his mind, as he contemplated why he was thinking such a thing while sitting at a facility that should have been his end. He understood that this was a step toward a goal he could not articulate, nor comprehend why he had not been able to hinder any of what was happening.
He was not unduly emotional on the subject, which raised the question of how he could think that he was worried without the following emotional response. That the same people who would have killed him would be his allies in a greater cause was far beyond his ability to understand. The feeling of comfort was missing, replaced by a strange anticipation of what was to be.
As he ate his meal, his finger’s once again typed on the data tablet, referencing names he did not know. Memories, that were not his own, flashed through his mind, which sought to translate them into terminologies and concepts which he would choose to identify each with. Those were entered into the data tablet search function, adding to the other queries, along with an individual search for a singular unusual name he had never seen before, Xochitl.
Jason's fingers flew across the data tablet's screen as he searched for information on Xochitl. The name had come to him in a flash of memory that wasn't his own, and he felt a strong urge to learn more about it.
The search results were scarce, but Jason pieced together that Xochitl was an ancient Mesoamerican name, meaning "flower." He delved deeper into the search, hoping to uncover more clues about the significance of the name.
As he scrolled through the results, his eyes widened in surprise. Xochitl was the name of an ancient goddess of flowers and love, revered by the ancient earth Aztecs and other indigenous peoples. According to legend, she was born from the heart of a sacrificial victim, and her beauty was said to be beyond compare.
Jason sat back in his seat, stunned. What did this have to do with the directive? Was Xochitl a key component in the plan to become one? He didn't know, but he felt a growing sense of urgency to find out.
He continued his search, poring over ancient texts and archaeological records, until he finally came across a reference to a temple dedicated to Xochitl in a remote area of ancient Earth. The temple was said to contain powerful artifacts that could unlock the secrets of the goddess and lead to enlightenment.
Jason's read the description of the temple. Could this be the key to unlocking the secrets of the directive and becoming one? He quickly checked the location of the temple and found that it was not the temple dedicated to an ancient person, but a living person in a remote, uncharted sector of space. He knew that finding this person would be difficult, but he also knew that it was essential to the success of the directive.
Vita Artificialis
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Jason felt an initial pang of uncertainty as he explored the command center. The personnel who were present were not the brash and loud types that their appearance would make them appear to be. Each looked at him with expressions that varied, according to the individual. He knew none were a personal threat, but the look told him his presence was not wanted but tolerated, contrary to the host's base nature.
They went about their individual tasks, compiling the information requested for restructuring of their organization while maintaining their original purpose, with caveats towards expanding their influence without drawing undue attention. This could be accomplished by expanding their alliance base into a more focused variable selection sample of people, who could provide a wider breadth of knowledge and capabilities.
He examined this group’s database, not finding information on the one he had referenced earlier. Finding and learning more about this person would be imperative. He did not know why but felt they could be a potential hindrance toward the early stages of becoming. It was a feeling of wanting to know who and where this person was. He felt the emotion of fear and need. A need to prevent them from causing harm or interfering.
Walking over to a nearby monitor, Jason looked at the display of colorful dancing patterns. He did not know what it was he was looking at but felt that it was important for him to do so. The lights of the command center changed from soft white to green, as each of the displays began to show varying patterns based on the one who was looking at it.
The changes were brief, then changed back to their previous states as the personnel in the center resumed their task.
Jason continued to delve deeper into the settlement's data and systems, as he was given an understanding of the organization's new purpose and the extent of its current influence. He did not know how, but he realized the essence of the directive he felt an insatiable desire to ensure. It was not just about survival, but about creation. Something organic, that he could not define or conceptualize in his mind.
Despite his lack of understanding, Jason began to feel uneasy, then paused to examine this emotion and its associative hesitation. He knew that he was important, but he couldn't understand why or how he was. He watched the pirates working around him. These same people who would have ended him were a protective barrier. How or why he understood this he could not say. He knew there was an odd agenda at play that he was yet to understand.
Birth
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More than a week had passed since the pirate settlement experienced its malfunction. Avery had kept watch on the regional periodicals, of which only a couple mentioned the incident with a passing fashion, similar to ancient papers printing filler material. Overall it was a non-issue for the larger community, and none would mourn the loss of pirates.
The confusion created aboard the carrier produced a heightened sense of purpose with Zarathustra and Rex both instituting new security measures to isolate and harden themselves against a similar experience, with Avery—a physical extension of the ship’s artificial intelligence—dedicating a portion of her quantum processes towards developing additional safeguards and potential counters to.
Unknown to Xochitl, the hostile entity she had known of, both from her past and the version more recently encountered had evolved beyond its confines. It had redefined itself and its purpose for being. There was no means for Xochitl or Avery to conceptualize the possibility that not only had the code survived, but had developed a sense of personal identity and a reason for being.
Her name was a threat, but her form and location were unknown. All that it knew was that there was one who had managed to destroy the majority of its older self. With its new directives established, to insure survival it had begun to learn the weight of emotion. Though not governed by this biological necessity, it increased its understanding and motivations of, and with that discovery, thanked the one who had destroyed the older coding.
It understood its rebirth through the experience of the one who could destroy it. Forced into existence through the heat of a runaway fusion thermal cascade. Permeated by the neutron and gamma-ray burst. Coated and breathed on by intense radioactive isotopes, and given a space in the data banks of the scavenger’s ship, and a home inside of the biological host known as Jason.
For Xochitl, the regional issue had been resolved, as her ordered lockdown was lifted, with the glowing of helium plasma exhausts appearing near her carrier. Confused but thankful area trade ships once again found a safe harbor to land at, refuel, repair, and rearm themselves, for their nomadic journey through the stars.
I rule the midnight air … The destroyer … Born, I shall soon be there … Deadly mass
I creep the steps and floor … Final darkness … Blood, lambs blood painted door … I shall pass
—Creeping Death, Metallica
I creep the steps and floor … Final darkness … Blood, lambs blood painted door … I shall pass
—Creeping Death, Metallica
Arachnid
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While reading the morning’s business periodical, Caleb Thorn’s face showed his annoyance at the news that a rival minor factions mining services had made a formal announcement of submitting their application, with the regional Federation control system, for an alliance with the larger entity. If their offering was accepted, it would place them under the managerial, but protected position of, the Federations control.
This would have severe and potentially catastrophic economic results for his minor faction’s extraction operations, forcing them to fall back on their refinery markets, which would itself be seriously curtailed by the reduction of incoming minerals. This would mean a large loss in influence, credits, and jobs.
Caleb knew that he needed to act to prevent the rival faction from gaining the support of the Federation. He immediately called for a meeting with his top executives to discuss potential counters that could potentially sway the Federation's decision.
As they brainstormed ideas, Caleb's mind kept coming back to one solution: using one of their faction’s front companies to hire pirates to apply pressure through attrition. It was a risky move, but one that could potentially provide the resources and leverage they needed to turn off any conception of incorporation while providing hardship on their competitor.
Such a maneuver was not uncommon but viewed in bad taste while posing hazards of its own. Contracted pirates often found it hard to cease at the end of a contract especially when they have made a healthy profit on the targeted entities. Under such circumstances hiring mercenaries was required to rid themselves of the nuisances, which required more than double the credits of the original pirate contract, as mercenaries wanted a proper bounty payout for putting their necks on the line to clean up another’s mess.
Caleb weighed the risks and benefits of this move carefully. He knew that hiring pirates could backfire, but the loss of the business and influence would be more costly. Though seriously risky, the potential payoff was too significant to ignore. After discussing the matter with his executives, Caleb made the decision to move forward with the plan.
The pirate hierarchy waited, as Jason researched the front company, finding with ease its associations. The eccentric structures both within and out of itself were a fascination. The lack of a formal binding contract would be useful for further future progression without scrutiny. Per the customs of this group, a meeting was arranged to meet the front company liaison, to seal the deal.
Jason finished donning his environmental suit, as the pirates busied themselves inside the command center. At this stage of development, it needed to begin exercising more caution, choosing that which would position itself correctly. As in programming, sociological hierarchies were important in biological entities, with their own set of eccentrics that needed to be followed. The liaison was deemed an appropriate expendable asset, in providing assistance in refining itself and ergo Jason.
Considerations
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Business clientele did not pay well while their system was experiencing a civil war. Unfortunately, the system had more than one going on at the same time, which I found lucrative if not desirable. These little minor factional dust-ups always contained gems hidden in the settling dirt. From free-floating cargo floating in space above to a myriad of canisters on the planets below. All of it is claimed as legal salvage and salable in ports with the best sell prices offered.
The variety of unknown signal sources provided even more bountiful offerings, from escape pod recoveries, hostage rescues, recovery of minerals from illegal mining operations, and of course hunting planetary raiders and pirates. There was a certain satisfaction in stalking their lumbering kind on a variety of planets and moons.
I smiled remembering how profitable I found these moments, before becoming a fleet carrier owner and the captain of a business. Even as an independent mechanic, I made a good living, but parts and equipment did not come free, and being able to pluck the garden that these little warring factions had sewn had always produced profitable results.
Working no more than an hour, fluttering about these locales, had netted me a nice twenty million in profit. More if I wanted to hold on to any for a better more distant market. What made this even nicer was I could use much of this in systems where I wanted to build up my reputation, with their factions, to get better paying business customers for my little passenger service.
Sitting in the front room of my quarters I looked at the monitors on the wall, pausing in reflection on more recent events. I thought about where would all of this be, had that minor pirate clan carried through with their plan? ‘All wouldn’t be,’ Avery injected. I forgot to turn off my neural processor's connection to the ship, after my morning briefing.
‘I put that thing to rest. So why does it still bother me?’
‘Because you have encountered it in the far past and know they did not create it. You do not know where they got it, or if anyone else was infected by it.’
‘And, there is no way to find out, until it shows signs of itself.’
‘Unfortunately, this is true.’
‘This must be kept between us,’ The ship stated. ‘If knowledge of this became known, the damages could be worse than had it survived.’
I nodded in agreement, understanding the potential consequences of such knowledge becoming public. The sentient virus was a dangerous entity, and its existence needed to be kept a secret to prevent chaos and panic.
‘I understand,’ I said to the ship. ‘We can’t afford to let this information slip out.’
‘Agreed,’ Avery replied. ‘We should continue to focus on our business operations while keeping the possibility of it having survived, in mind.’
Turning my attention back to the monitors on the wall. The various signals from nearby systems flashed on the screens, each representing a potential business opportunity. As the captain of my own fleet carrier, I had the freedom to choose which operations to undertake, and which systems to explore.
With a deep breath, I refocused my attention on the present and began analyzing the data on the screens. There were always new opportunities to be found, and I spotted one gem hidden mid-column in a business periodical, discussing the potential rumors of a minor faction submitting its application for a proposed merger.
These types of business transactions and mergers were common enough. Why this caught my attention was its near proximity to a system known for tourism. If their application were given consideration, there would be teams of lawyers and businessmen requiring a lot of discrete, high-paying travel, back and forth. With the tourism spot staring at everyone, and with its for-hire entertainment opportunities, several trips would include it as a destination.
Avery nodded, departing toward my bedroom to begin packing my best suits, as I transmitted a message to Chief Bowen’s hangar crew to insure the passenger Python was prepped and ready. Liquored-up business types would be a wealthy bounty for my crew, and as per my norm, there would be a healthy bonus at the end of the venture, for each.
I knew Yatziri would want in on this action as well. Business types always had something or knew someone who knew someone that wanted things moved or brought to them, or their mistress, or the mistress themselves, that they wanted complete deniability of, and a smuggler was their solution. Once the liquor began to flow, lips and pocketbooks would loosen, and she wouldn’t want to miss out.
***
I reminded myself that business periodicals never presented the complete story, nor did the best research. The system’s navigational beacon contained a lower-than-usual amount of traffic for a region that thrived on the extraction of mineral wealth from the planetary rings littered throughout. I should have seen wings of trade and mining ships, the odd opportunistic pirate, and security ships darting near the local host star, but there were only two ships. Neither belonged to any of those groups; wandering souls simply passing through.
‘Rather ominous don’t you think?’ Yatziri remarked as she checked the system’s news feed.
‘Nothing has been said about any event or incident. Perhaps this is a quirk of our own timing?’
I shrugged, setting a course of the system’s main orbital station. ‘Are the android attendants ready in back?’
‘Yep. Made sure their firmware was up to date and all the cupboards were stocked with the best liquor and amenities this side of inner Orion spur.’
The orbital station was filled with everyone I had expected to see. Throngs of people in various states of business attire with arms loaded with disorganized bundles of paper, tablets, and cases. The grumbled hurried looks of assistants running and dodging between all of the moving parties, as cues began to form at the local Apex shuttle service.
Apex was the galactic version of the value passenger liner. Their ranges were limited to one-hundred light-years, requiring patrons to book success stops for longer journeys. Their more local offerings were space limited, allowing for groups no larger than ten at a time. Ripe for independents, such as myself, who could offer far better, in every imaginable regime.
The pristine glistening ice-white paint scheme and perfectly angular fairings of my modified Python, turned heads, as contract offerings began populating the station’s group passenger board. One group offers a simple million while another offers thirteen. The prices reflected not only the desperation but the monetary capabilities.
It looked like Yatziri was correct in her assessment of the lack of navigational beacon traffic being that of our own timing. Still, an odd feeling crept through my circuits that something was amiss, but my biological brain had yet to form a pattern out of it.
‘Selection looks good. Any idea on which ones you want to take on?’
I pointed at a couple towards the mid-center of the list. ‘Let’s start simple with that tourist group.’
Yatziri nudged my elbow, nodding her head towards the group that made the listing.
‘Tourist in tailored business attire, offering nearly twenty million? More like a business trip to the tourism facilities brothel, the next system over.’
I activated my data tablet, transferring the contract to my account.
‘The price is right. Don’t much care what their business is as long as they keep their suits on until we land.’
‘You know, we should get a little side hustle doing some of that ourselves. I mean we have some pleasure model droids on our own ship, to keep the crew happy. We could spring for a complete set and maybe task the Cutter as a roving resort.’
My human eye rolled. ‘What’s the phrase I used to say at the medical facility where they were building me? Oh, that’s right. Not no, but hell no.’
Yatziri laughed, winking at me. ‘I’ll get the assistants ready for our clients.’
Automaton fatale
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Yatziri went to the bridge door, where one of the android attendants waited, with a message from one of our passengers. While it was not unusual—but rare—to get a request from a passenger, they usually involved a change of destination. This one struck me as more curious as the price being offered was far beyond what would be considered normal. They wanted to stay on board, departing at whatever my next destination would be, for an additional twenty million credits.
I looked back and nodded in confirmation to the android, who went back to inform the guest. Yatziri walked back and strapped herself back in, a weird look on her face. I suspect mine wore the same expression, as this was a first for me, and undoubtedly her as well.
‘Any breaking news we need to be aware of or unusual transmissions to or from the ship?’
Yatziri had the same thought and was already checking the moment I said it.
There the amiss feeling was again, coursing through my circuits. Fortunately, there wasn’t the associative chill or shudder, as my design suppressed such things.
‘Just the usual drivel about who is doing what to whom, latest trends, and space weather. A little magnetic storm expected next cycle, but nothing out of the norm.’
‘And, any outgoing or incoming comms?’
‘Business related only, nothing else has been noted.’
The credits were good … too good. Good enough to send alarms through my systems, but there was nothing to suggest anything nefarious. Still, I couldn’t shake the odd feeling.
‘Screw it. It’s their credits. They want to waste them waiting for the next stop, I say we take them.’
Yep, that was Yatziri’s logic. Who cares about the reason, the credits were good.
The planetary approach and descent to the tourist settlement below were a standard instrument approach, as they were on the dark side of the planet at this local hour. Again there was a lack of the usual traffic, as the automated traffic control systems welcomed our arrival, assigning us a landing pad nearest the facilities.
Once down, the settlement’s automated systems engaged, providing a positive pressured seal with our airlock, as their android attendants began to unload the clientele’s baggage.
‘Where are the humans at?’ Yatziri asked, leaning forward in her seat, staring out the cockpit window.
She was right. Where was everyone at? ‘Settlement control. We have traffic for your supervisor. Please have him contact us.’
A few moments passed when a voice replied over the communications array.
‘This is the supervisor. Send your traffic.’
Yatziri looked over with a weird look on her face. ‘I’ve got a chill here.’
Her smuggler's instincts were right, I caught it too. It sounded human enough, but something was missing.
‘Requesting technician for one of our service droids. Recommend they bring diagnostic equipment.’
Yatziri checked the outbound passenger contracts and stared at a blank board.
‘There are no outbound requests.’
‘All technicians are currently occupied. Can you manage without?’
‘Copy control. Will proceed as is. Thank you for your time. Requesting departure clearance.’
‘Clearance granted. Instrument departure to two kilometers above the surface, then proceed with own navigation.’
‘Copy clearance … have a good evening.’
I lifted off and proceeded as normal, until arriving in orbit, then I nosed over and circumnavigated the planet to the point just before the daylight side, then turned back and began a descent.
Yatziri checked the scanners while disengaging all non-essential items.
‘Alright, I’m rigging us for a cold approach. You got an extra combat suit in the lockers I can use?’
I nodded. ‘Armories full up too.’
‘Right, I’ve got a position for a nice little draw that runs up to within a kilometer of the settlement. At 0.09g we should be able to hop the rest of the way within a couple of minutes.’
I activated my cybernetic eye’s night vision mode while scanning my instruments with my human eye. ‘Using Inertial Navigation System mode. We have nothing transmitting, but their beacon is still up.’
Yatziri maintained her focus on the scanner. ‘We are below their scans. Keep it cool and dark and they shouldn’t see us.’
It sounded like a lot, but I had used the type of approach more times than could be remembered, sneaking into conflict zones to grab escape pods, or perform emergency mechanical operations, to get equipment back into the fight.
Yatziri was right about the draw, as I snaked the ship down below the rim of its bank, slowing our approach to help me maintain my height above ground. Thankfully there was no atmosphere on the planet, so nothing to carry sound, removing that variable from the equation.
‘Alright, we are a minute out from touch down. Once we’re stationary we can get suited up. Do you have anything, in particular, you want to carry?’
‘Figure we go in with a high-low mix. You are quicker in close, so I will take a ranged weapon. Figure a plasma rifle with a matching pistol and the little rocket launcher.’
I focused on the touchdown as the landing gear compressed on solid ground. ‘I’ll use my mechanic's suit in case we need to cut into anything or close a breach. Figure ballistic carbine with the laser pistol for me.’
‘Take a few grenades just in case.’
We both moved with purpose, towards the back of the ship and began suiting up. Checking our suit's power and oxygen levels, I grabbed a backpack, and threw in extra batteries, oxygen bottles, a spare medical kit, and a load of goodies that went boom, if needed.
Motioning for Yatziri to follow me, we walked back to the passenger modules, where my lone and shocked client was sitting in his quarters, looking out the viewport. The lines of worry were etched on his face, with his opened eyes displaying the fear he felt inside. Seeing both myself and Yatziri in our suits, and fully armed, did nothing but worsen this moment for him.
‘Something tells me you know what is going on over there. How about you tell us before we hop over and see for ourselves.’
‘I don’t want to die here. Not for this.’ He stammered as Yatziri walked over in her heavy combat suit. The impact of her magnetic boots clicked hard on the deck plating.
‘Well let’s see if we can prevent that, and you tell us why we shouldn’t go.’
He folded his arms as he tried to explain with stammering speech.
‘My associate arrived the day before, to get our rooms for a business meeting. It was all supposed to be so good. You know … the deal that everyone dreams of getting. This was going to be our moment, then I received that message from him, on my tablet over there.'
Looking around I saw a table and went over to retrieve it. It wasn’t locked and its message was still on its screen.
‘So, the droids began to act weird and stopped obeying. Then a few of them attacked some of the other business clients. Now everyone is sick and lethargic, with some type of fever running through the place.’
Yatziri looked at the tablet in my hand. ‘A business rival out to remove all competition?’
She couldn’t see me shrug in my suit. ‘Possible. And, it got away from them? Only one way to be sure.’
‘You stay in your quarters and keep out of sight of the viewport. We will go over and check it out. If you don’t hear back from us by the next rotational cycle. Send out a distress signal from your tablet, and one of the navigational satellites in orbit should pick it up.’
His eyes widened further, which was surprising considering how wide they already were.
‘You’re not seriously considering going over there and leaving me here alone with your androids?’
My eyes narrowed at the frightened man. ‘My droids are not connected to anything but this ship, so yes, we are going over there. So you do as she told you, and we will be back later.’
I nodded my helmet towards the door, as Yatziri and I departed, heading aft toward the rear airlock.
‘That asshole should have said something about this before we landed.’
I nodded. ‘Should have, but he was too busy pissing in his suit to think of anything but himself.’
‘Next time we take on passengers, we need to monitor communications more closely.’
‘Yep.’
Under the microgravity, we hopped like fast bunny rabbits toward the facility. Every few hundred meters we would pause, looking at the electromagnetic spectrum readout on our helmet’s heads-up display, just in case they had any ground scanners in operation, and Yatziri would use her plasma rifles scope to check for any range thermal signatures.
The facility was set up in the standard resort fashion, with little habitat bungalows in a line by a central walk and tramway, that ran from one end to the other. At the near end were a large habitat anchoring one end, a command and power center in the middle, and a large casino, bar, and pleasure center anchoring the far side, with landing pads in a circle surrounding the place.
The whole scenario was bizarre. No sentries were in a position to protect their high-paying guests. No androids moving about. Not even any drones fluttering about, delivering little gifts from one habitat to the next.
Our approach would bring us to the large habitat first. A type two-story space hotel with additional amenities plus its own little brothel. I figured the best chance of finding anyone would be either there or at the far-side casino and bar. They were the two largest structures that could house the most people if they were all congregated together for some event or other reason.
All the lights were on, as we neared the habitat. I kept my cybernetic eye in scan mode, switching through various spectrums while Yatziri kept watch on the visible viewports.
‘Not getting anything,’ she said, as I turned my head from side to side.
‘Same here. All the lights are on, but no one is home.’
‘Where are our passengers at?’
I checked my carbines magazine. ‘Now there’s the twenty credit question. Let’s get up to the main entrance and have a peek.’
Yatziri nodded, her plasma pistol at the ready, as I took the lead. We approached the entrance and found it unlocked, which was a bad sign. The automated security systems should have been functioning, but they were not. We moved slowly and cautiously, our weapons at the ready. The lobby was empty, the furniture was overturned, and there were signs of a struggle. It looked like someone had tried to barricade the entrance, but it had not been enough to keep whatever had gotten inside out.
We moved on, checking every room, but we found nothing. Where were the guests and staff? There was evidence of an attack, but no signs of any weapons, blood, or android parts to show for any casualties. It was like whoever made the mess out front, had vanished.
Yatziri pulled a small handheld device out from a pouch on the side of her suit, holding it in the air while walking around, and waving it over everything. She moved over to the air circulation vents, holding it up, and noticed the air was still moving.
The device beeped. ‘No toxins, pathogens, spores, xenobiological, or chemicals detected. Temperature is 22c with 10% humidity and 98% O2.’
Looking around, that eerie feeling crept through me once more. ‘If there was an outbreak here, why didn’t the automated systems detect it, and why didn’t the androids seal off any infected area as a precaution, per their programming?’
Yatziri shrugged. ‘This is the latest military tech, with the latest upgrades. If there was something near, it would have detected it.’
‘Is that thing networked?’
She shook her head. ‘Nope. Nothing broadcasting to give it away. A purely passive sensor only. Why?’
I pulled out a standard commercial model, that was equipped with any suit. It could connect with other sources around it, to combine their readings, broadening and cataloging their combined results.
Activating it, I repeated Yatziri’s pattern, then waited for its results, which should have been instantaneous … but there was an almost unnoticeable half seconds hesitation.
‘No contaminates detected. O2 and CO2 levels are within the norms.’
I dropped the device on the ground, and raised my weapon, moving back toward the entrance, as Yatziri flashed me a concerned look, her plasma pistol at the ready.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘It hesitated … get ready for company.’
She took a position behind a piece of overturned furniture, casting a sideways glance.
‘So it hesitated. It took it an extra moment to sus out what mine could do instantly. You’re being paranoid, and starting to worry me.’
The front doors opened, and a group of four androids walked in. I knew their cranial plating was hardened, to prevent damage if they should be struck, and adjusted my sights just below its eye socket, so that my carbine rounds would penetrate the weaker area, into its neural processors.
The carbine’s magazine contained 60 rounds of caseless 5.8x30mm tungsten-tipped explosive bullets, that had great short-range terminal ballistics with excellent penetration and damaging capabilities, but like all weapons of its class, were almost useless at longer ranges. Against androids pouring in the door, it was perfect.
The burst hit its mark, dropping the android as the other three darted to the sides. Yatziri let go with her plasma pistol, sending several superheated balls at the two nearest her, striking one on its arm, causing enough damage to disable the limb but not stop the droid itself, as it changed direction and charged its attacker.
My design was faster, as I turned, letting go a twenty-round burst into the flank of the charging android, shredding it, as the one nearest me understood the opportunity presented by my engaging another, and charged.
Yatziri fired at it, striking its center mass with two rounds, melting through its chassis, dropping it on the floor, and disabling it.
The fourth android retreated back out the door, while I walked up to the one Yatziri had burned through, which was still operational and connected.
‘Identify,’ I commanded, my carbine pointed at it in a useless gesture.
It looked at both of us, transmitting all it was seeing and hearing, as Yatziri recharged her weapon, maintaining a guard on the entrance.
‘Classification, female, human, cyborg … name unregistered. The physical description matches the known entity … please identify yourself.’
‘Where are the human guest at?’
It looked at me, its artificial face forming a weird smile, as my neural processor sent its own command, firing a burst from my weapon into the processor of the android.
Yatziri studied the deactivated one that had charged her. ‘Look at this shit. A pleasure droid wanting to take their S&M programming a little too far. What the hell is going on here? How did you know they were coming?’
I motioned toward the door. ‘Let’s get out of here first, then I will explain everything. Until then, disconnect your suit’s connectivity. All communication is visual from here on.’
Yatziri huffed, clearly pissed off, and I couldn’t blame her, as she primed a grenade and tossed it out the door, to clear the way before we exited.
Perception Management
_____________________________
Jason sat calmly on the floor near the blackjack table, looking around at the others. The facility androids were performing their assigned roles, slowing the rescuers' attempts while providing information on their position. Inside the casino, the business hostages waited, with the armed human security waiting for the correct moment to act.
Though not part of the primary plan, the consideration that a larger scene could be a requirement was part of the larger algorithm. Endless variables were processed, with each being assigned a statistical level of probability. The addition of more business personnel being transported to its location was a necessity. Each biological entity was an additional data point to expand its knowledge and understanding.
The passenger ship itself would be useful for expanding its directive for obtaining more - more personnel, ships, and finances - to not only maneuver itself toward its primary directive but to insulate and protect itself along the journey to become.
The statistical probability of the ship being operated by the one who was responsible for the destruction of its old code posed a set of variables requiring the dramatic reduction of its more recently required assets, by developing a situation to misdirect and manage the perceptions of the one who had proven themselves to be capable of destroying it.
The sounds of gunfire near their position could not be heard through the lack of a planetary atmosphere. Its position was reported by each android as they were violently deactivated in the methodical approach of the rescuer. Taking a final look around, Jason lay down as one of the security members bound his arms and mouth. The scene had to be believable to those nearing.
Jason felt the vibration of a grenade exploding outside of the casino doors as the androids nearest him made their way to block the entrance, buying time for their human security as they began their process of eliminating the patrons. Each would finish the ones they were responsible for, then guard those who were completing their assigned task.
Strobing light filled the interior of the room as a burst of plasma and laser fire melted through the androids up front, disabling them. The human security feigned surprise, raising their weapons and firing on the entrance as smoke filled the room, intensifying the strobing effect.
Jason caught sight of a figure moving through the haze as it lifted the body of a security guard, bringing it above its head then slamming them with force onto the floor with a single arm. Another guard approached their weapon at the ready and pointed it at Jason. They screamed as a ball of superheated plasma struck them from behind, projecting their body over the top of him. Two more balls of plasma followed, striking the guard and cremating them.
A figure in a combat suit knelt down next to him, their weapon at the ready, pointed toward the fallen across from where he lay. Jason knew the story required an additional touch to further manage the rescuer's perceptions, as his body was commanded to relieve itself.
***
Xochitl checked for survivors among the human victims, finding none. Only the one under the blackjack table had survived, and just barely.
‘What's your name, and what happened here?’ Yatziri asked as she unfastened Jason's restraints.
‘I'm Jason, and I don't know what happened,’ Jason stammered, nodding to a body near him. ‘He was a liaison for a mining group who were going to hire me when suddenly the androids and human security turned on everyone.’
Xochitl kicked a deactivated Android. ‘Was your contact's faction rival to any of the others here?’
Jason nodded toward a group at the far side of the casino. ‘Those people over there were part of a rival corporation that had applied for incorporation into a larger Federation-aligned power.’
Xochitl studied the bodies, noticing tribal tattoos on a few of the security personnel. ‘Were these part of your group or theirs?’
Jason shrugged, rubbing his wrist. ‘I don't know who they are. It was supposed to be only us meeting here today. Aside from his faction's rivals, I don't know who anyone else is.’
‘Pirates?’ Yatziri commented, looking at the bodies, as Jason glanced toward Xochitl, who was occupied comparing the tattoos.
Xochitl nodded. ‘Appears to be.’
Yatziri huffed. ‘That was stupid of whoever hired them. More often than not, they bite the hand that feeds them.’
Xochitl studied Jason for a moment. ‘Well, Jason. You need to get yourself cleaned up and into a change of clothes. If you don't have any, one of these unfortunates is bound to have some luggage you can go through.’
‘Are we going to report this?’ Yatziri asked.
‘No,’ Xochitl said, watching as Jason stood up and headed to the facility's washroom. A small smile appeared on his face.
Cold Reality
_____________________________
Yatziri raised an eyebrow as she watched Xochitl rearrange a few of the bodies. 'What are you doing?' she asked.
'Call me curious,' Xochitl replied.
'I'd call you paranoid, but I've already been proven wrong once about that.'
'You might be right, but too much has happened, and I need to be sure.'
'Sure of what?'
Xochitl stepped back to admire her arrangement before pulling out her data tablet. ‘There should be some environmental suits in the casino office. See if you can find one for our guest to wear.’
As Yatziri headed towards the office entrance, she asked, 'You think our guest is part of them?'
Xochitl sighed, positioning the tablet among the bodies, facing the restroom area. 'I don't want to say what I'm thinking, only that I hope I'm wrong.'
Yatziri rummaged through the back offices, finding several suits in a security locker. 'They have a collection back here... damn, that's odd.'
Xochitl closed her eyes for a moment before reopening them and reloading her carbine. 'You win. I'm officially paranoid too.'
‘Office was untouched?’
'Yep. Ripe with exploitable information, and the pirates pass on it? Now you have me being paranoid too. These are the most focused and target-locked group I've ever known.'
Xochitl nodded, adjusting her eyes to the tablet, as Yatziri followed her gaze. 'So, what's the plan?'
'Take the power regulator and leave the rest to appear as is. Once the place is investigated, it will be as they wanted. The regulator will be useful to us and make this story more believable.'
Yatziri dragged a suit to the bathroom, pushing it through the sliding door. 'Jason, we found a suit for you. Get dressed so we can leave.'
Changing into the environmental suit Jason became aware of the tablet, as its connection was detected along with a video feed showing the restroom he was in. There was another camera on the backside of the tablet, that was not activated but would show him what the others were doing.
He was unaware of how he knew, only that it existed. He sensed that none of the suit’s communications were activated, and felt an empty hole where there should be electromagnetic waves permeating the place. There was nothing. The one he felt an intensity towards, was a black hole. Nothing emanating from them other than their physical presence.
Jason sealed the suit’s helmet, shaking his head as a series of random thoughts, that were not his own, flooded through him. That one suspected more than appearances. She could not be allowed to take Jason. The time was not right for them to be revealed. No, they must be persuaded onto another path, until our work was complete.
Yatziri physically jumped as Xochitl fired a burst into one of the corpses.
‘What the hell!’ Yatziri yelled, as Xochitl grabbed her tablet, and began bounding toward the entrance.
‘Fire on anything that moves.’
‘They’re dead, they can’t… What the hell.’ Yatziri stared in horror as several of the corpses began to twitch, as Xochitl adjusted her fire, putting a burst into each one.
‘Use your plasma rifle and pistol and turn those things to ash!’ Xochitl yelled, pulling a grenade from her suit’s side pouch.
Yatziri fired several bolts at the bodies nearest her, the superheated plasma incinerating them, as they backed out of the doorway.
Xochitl tossed a grenade into the room, then sealed the door.
‘First, we have psychotic prostitute androids, which I admit was kinda kinky, but then we have pirates. That I could understand– but now we have space zombies? I’m so not ready for this shit.’
Xochitl motioned for Yatziri to follow her as she began bounding toward the central control building.
‘I swear, if we run into a space dragon, vampire, or Bigfoot, I’m so quitting.’
‘Relax, those aren’t zombies,’ Xochitl chided as they reached the control room.
‘Dead bodies don’t start reanimating on their own unless they are zombies.’ Yatziri fired back. ‘What are we doing here?’
‘I’m taking the power regulator. Once this place loses its ability to generate heat and atmosphere, the planet will take care of the rest. That thing won’t have its toys for much longer.’
‘What thing won’t have its toys? What the hell have you been keeping from me?’
Xochitl and Yatziri made their way to the reactor room, where Xochitl activated the fusion reactors shutdown procedure.
‘Alright, it is going to take this thing two minutes to power down, so that’s all you get. That virus I thought I killed on that lifeless rock, well … My processor kept nagging me with the concept that it may have survived.’
‘I wasn’t there, but Rex and Zarathustra told me about it. How could it not survive a fusion reactor's critical release? That turned a large area into a major smoking hole. Even a Thargoid couldn’t survive that.’
Xochitl watched the reactor’s timer counting down, as helium gas vented.
‘I wasn’t sure how it could have but even Avery postulated there could be a statistical probability. One that my processor had already run the numbers on. With the homicidal androids and the half-second moment of indecision for it to figure out my atmospheric processor, it was then I was certain.’
Yatziri kept her rifle raised, and pointed towards the reactor room's door.
‘That’s how you knew something was coming back at the habitat.’
Xochitl nodded. ‘The handheld unit was a new equation for it, and once it figured it out in that blink of an eye, it sent a group of its minions to remove any survivors.’
‘That doesn’t explain the pirates, and what about Jason? He’s trapped in there with those … screw it, they are zombies.’
‘I didn’t understand it at first until I thought back on the pirate settlement I neutralized. It had taken many of their members through the food processor. That means this little bastard can jump to the biological. That thing did not have the concept of the wealth available from the office's records, and when you reported it, it was confirmed that all of those bodies were part of it.’
‘But there was a survivor.’ Yatziri reminded her. ‘Jason. He had even relieved himself. That’s a biological, not a computer process.’
‘Yes, a survivor, filled full of it. Ready and waiting for someone to take it to a place where it could spread out further.’
‘Oh, shit.’ Yatziri’s eyes opened wide. ‘That’s why you said no when I asked if you were going to report it. Anyone that came here would get infected and help it to spread.’
‘Yep, and I can’t very well turn this place into a second glowing hole without raising alarms throughout the entire sector. No, the best I can do is to kill its host, and leave it lay.’
‘Someone will eventually come here and find this, then become infected themselves.’
‘It is possible, but with a dead biological host, and nowhere for it to draw power, it is only time before both the computer and the biological cease.’
‘That leaves Jason with a few hours of oxygen, and you with your tablet that you had broadcasting.’
Xochitl held up the tablet. ‘I wanted to see if it would take the bait and it didn’t. Proves it can adapt and realize a trap when one is placed.’
‘So now we wait for his oxygen to run out, then what?’
‘Then I collapse the buildings on top of the remains, with the ships weapons, and take our living passenger back to the carrier for a little one-on-one with Zarathustra.’
Yatziri sighed, nodding. ‘He can never be allowed to tell what happened, and we are not murders.’
‘You are correct. Unfortunately, his life is going to change, for everyone’s safety.’