45 minutes later. 17:44 Apus Minor, Beta Site
The alien office was eerily silent aside from the low whine of John’s power armor. The hulking figure of John looked down at the ancient machine. He couldn’t help but stare at it for some time. What snapped him out of this trance John couldn’t say with any certainty. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for the passing of the alien artificial intelligence. And he knew he had missed an opportunity with it as well. There was a potential to learn much more.
But now, now it was gone. There wouldn’t be another opportunity. Well, not at this location that is. He couldn’t help but feel like he had wasted such a golden opportunity. The machine intelligence welcomed John as one would a long-lost brother. A great swell of pity grew in John’s stomach when he thought how he’d feel after countless eons alone.
There’d be time to mourn and contemplate later. The present mattered more. He needed to finish investigating the area. How much time they had left in this colony was of the utmost importance and forefront of John’s mind. Eve had compiled the algorithms and was now displaying a countdown timer. Time was already limited for them, but now there was a countdown timer to disintegration.
“Dr. Hamelin, this is Lieutenant Lief, how copy?” John began transmitting to an open channel to the scientific team.
There was an uncomfortable delay before Dr. Hamelin responded.
“I read you, Lieutenant.”
“I’m transferring to everyone a countdown timer. The power is about to run out, its end hastened by our appearance and reactivation of the site. It appears I’ve stumbled onto discovering why the other facilities failed,” John said, “We have four hours before we need to leave. Suggest you send orders for the other site to withdraw temporarily.”
“The countdown says seven hours,” Lina answered indignantly, “Perhaps it would make sense for the other time to do so.”
“There’s going to be a massive collapse in this area. I want to be nowhere near this area when the mountain above us crumbles as a result of a new and very large void appearing in its foundation.”
“We should be able to extend that…” Kenneth was cut off.
“Four hours and we’re leaving. It takes at least an hour to traverse that cave. I’m sure we’ll be leaving with artifacts which will slow us down considerably. This isn’t a discussion nor am I open to adjusting my timeframe. I am not drying under a fucking mountain.”
“Lieutenant, we need more time here,” Dr. Hamelin tried to sound firm.
“You are wasting time arguing with me,” John put his helmet on and walked over to the armory closet in the room he was in, “Doctors, I cannot order you to leave this place. But that shuttle out there is under my command. When I say it goes, it’s leaving. I wouldn’t want to be around here when this place goes poof.”
John paused for a moment, “Also, not sure if you’ve seen any organic dust piles, but they are what used to be the Predecessors.”
“How do…” Kenneth was interrupted by Dr. Hamelin.
“We need more time; seven hours isn’t sufficient time to study this place.”
John shrugged as he tore the front cage off the protective gun closet, “I agree. I’ll head to the central core after this to see what, if anything, can be done. I wouldn’t hold your breath on that though. These people and this place are so far beyond our current levels of knowledge.”
He ended the coms as he looked at the contents. If the damage he had dealt to the cage was any indication then the weapons stored within would be likely held together with hopes and prayers. An assumption was confirmed when he bumped into one of the rifle-looking devices.
“Well shit,” John said with a mild annoyance to his tone, “Eve, I’m guessing the others are in a similar state?”
“None of the long guns or pistols appears stable. The power packs on the top rack appear to be in a better state.”
John reached up and grabbed one, and to his pleasant surprise, it didn’t break. He tucked it and several others in a leather pouch on his left hip. He then walked back and looked at the smaller computer on a side table. It wasn’t attached to the table like the other terminals.
“Sweet, going to do some research on this thing,” John said with a smile as he picked it up.
“John, tilt it on its side,” Eve said.
Immediately after John complied with VI’s request dust began to fall out of a couple of ports on the side of the case.
“Fuck.”
John flung the case back onto the table and walked over to the machine’s primary interface. He pushed on the clear crystal exterior. Nothing happened. John then held it gently with both hands and pulled up on it. It easily came out of a socket built into the floor.
“That’s an interesting development,” John raised an eyebrow, “Eve, is the whole AI in this device?”
“Impossible to tell, its command lines were certainly contained within, but that device could be an advanced terminal for machine intelligence. Its construction is beyond my immediate capabilities to analyze it.”
“Finders Keepers then, with any luck we’ll be able to bring this to the surface without damaging it,” John said as he pushed a door to an exterior ramp.
He tested the strength of the exterior floor with one foot. As expected, it failed almost immediately. The thin material broke apart like rusted iron. John picked up the device and then leaped out the open door. He landed with a loud thud on the ground. Before venturing deeper into the facility, he placed the clear crystal device on the ground next to the side door of the building he used to enter.
John jogged off to parts unknown. If he could find some way to give the city more power, he’d do just that. If he could? John started laughing as he ran. The likelihood of such a situation happening was inestimably small. In all likelihood, John and the scientist’s very presence in the colony ensured its demise. The trick now was to ensure that its demise didn’t include his own as well.
18:21 Presumed Power Plant
John looked around at the various screens. Unlike the other buildings, he poked his head in, these terminals were fully powered on. Eve was running a translation subroutine that created an augmented reality visual piped into his HUD. The power plant wasn’t, as far as John could tell, using some sort of super-advanced exotic substances to generate power.
That was the good news. The even better news was that it appeared to be an advanced but straightforward fusion reactor. Granted it was substantially more advanced than anything humans had ever produced, but at its heart was a simple fusion reactor. The major issue was the molecule they used within the reactor.
“What a fascinating design,” John said as he marveled at the design, “Upon starting, a molecular generator is plugged in, and it produces the fusion material. The other steps then break down the fused output into the original molecule with no radioactivity present within the system. Around and around, we go, the only exhaust is heat.”
“This appears to prove the futuristic fusion cores that our engineers are attempting to design,” Eve said as she began deep scans of the room, “The process isn’t perfectly efficient though.”
“Is there any way to tell me how long this facility has been running?”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Scanning…” Eve said before an uncomfortably long pause, “The facility went into lower power mode one hundred sixteen thousand four hundred and eighty-two years ago. I am unable to ascertain when the core was initially brought online. I suspect that it was some time before then.”
“That explains why that plastic-like stuff was breaking at the touch,” John said as he continued to scan each terminal.
The fusion core’s output screens were fascinating. It didn’t take long for John to find that he was staring at them. This was the holy grail of fusion design. Confederate power plants had dedicated fuel tanks, not unlike the ancient inner combustion engines. This reactor is a series of devices, for lack of a better term, that took the fused material and deconstructed it. It looked like there were at least three distinct devices that did that before it was connected back to the central fusion core.
“What a perfect design,” John was admittedly geeking out over the amazing design.
“Not exactly,” Eve said, “An infinitesimally small waste occurs in the fusion and deconstruction stages. Over the near term, there’d be a negligible loss. But after running as long as it’s had, its fuel stores are critically low. We don’t know what its power draw was or when it was last refilled, it is simply running out of materials.”
“That’s some ridiculous fuel economy. Let’s find out what exactly they are fusing and ensure we bring some on the next site just in case,” John said, “But I’m presuming all these storage tanks are empty?”
John continued to stare at the control screens. He wanted to memorize every last thing. Unfortunately, the additional devices that were used to distill or recreate the fuel were beyond his understanding, and very likely the rest of mankind’s for that matter, but this is evidence that such a design is possible.
“Affirmative,” Eve said, “The molecule is within our capabilities to produce in large quantities though.”
“Am I correct in reading these screens correctly? That the core is still operating at eighty-percent capacity?”
Eve answered affirmatively, “The core hasn’t been serviced in eons, it stands to reason its efficiency is substantially degraded. Further compounding matters are the lack of available fuel and the increased demand placed on the core by the colony.”
“That makes sense given how bloody long it’s been since anyone’s worked on it,” John said as he turned and took in the room once more.
“Alright then, the timeline is the timeline,” John said before opening a channel to the scientists, “Dr. Hamelin, how copy?”
Moments dragged on. John scanned everything he could about this reactor. Everything he could download he did. If nothing else, this reactor design on a ship or colony could be a godsend. As he was finishing up one last scan the scientists responded.
“This is Lina, we read you, Lieutenant.”
“Good news, I found the power plant.”
“Good man, can you do anything about it?” Mateo asked in an urgent tone.
“If we had the right materials, yes, we could have delayed or outright prevented the colony from atomizing. To make a long story short, the fusion reactor is almost out of fuel. It’s also in desperate need of a tune-up, but fat chance of us being able to do that.”
“Just pump in some hydrogen. It should be able to fuse hydrogen,” Gavin said loudly over the channel.
“It uses a rare compound that neither you nor I can simply pull from our asses. The colony is lost to us. Three hours and twenty-five minutes remain until we’re regressing. Lief out.”
John turned and left the power plant. He understood the scientist’s disappointment. So too did he understand their excitement. He was walking in history; the things humanity could learn from by properly studying this place. That wasn’t their destiny though, and John was determined to make it out of this place alive and well.
Maybe that was for the better, John thought. A discovery like this could alter Humanity’s course to be a copy of a previous species. A species that evolution ultimately killed off. Shouldn’t humanity step on its own two feet instead? Shouldn’t they step forward into the unknown under their own strength? He smiled when he thought of the philosophical questions. How much John wished Kevin were here, he might have been able to understand all of this engineering gobbledygook.
He paused outside the giant doors. He walked over to the terminal and had Eve engage with it. He sealed the doors from the outside. Then with a closed fist, he shattered the terminal with his right hand, ensuring no other mortal eyes would look upon the great works inside. And unlike the scientists, John’s suit was selectively transmitting what he had found. Not only were they unaware of the discovery of an alien machine intelligence, but the inner workings of this beautifully designed fusion reactor had not been transmitted in full to them.
Critically, the molecule that was being fused within was kept from them. John had no problems keeping secrets from his supposed allies. Trust was in terribly short supply, and in this case, there was only one person on this mission he trusted, well, two if you count Eve.
John turned to leave but was surprised to see that someone had joined him. He had figured something like this would occur but didn’t think they would be dumb enough to come at him alone. But if an enemy is making a mistake, don’t correct him, John thought.
“You killed my friend,” one of the pirate guards said pointing a gun at John.
“I don’t like it when people point weapons in my general direction,” John said plainly, “I usually get a little homicidal when that happens.”
“You killed my friend you fucker.”
“He was already dead, and you know it,” John said dismissively, “He got bit by an owlbear. Fucking hell I said it. You saw the wound; we’re surrounded by doctors but not the medical kind.”
“Look, you gotta die. The captain may have a soft spot for you, but you will butcher them. It’s a small price to pay for your accident.”
“Owlbear, can you believe the lack of imagination people have? They actually named an actual animal after a Dungeons and Dragons monster,” John shook his head, “That is just so seriously fucking stupid and lame.”
The pirate held something in his weak hand. John couldn’t make out what it was. His primary hand kept the gun trained on John.
John spread his arms out and shook his head, “What do you think that’s going to do? Nothing. Seriously that gun of yours cannot penetrate this much armor.”
While the gun wasn’t going to do anything to his suit of armor, it was very irritating to have a gun pointed at him. That would include the unarmored and exposed joints. John sighed inside the suit. Of course, he had to deal with this situation.
He didn’t have a strong desire to kill anyone. Beat some of them up? Oh, absolutely, that would be delightful and well-earned in some cases. Detain with the hope of imprisoning, definitely, but not actually killing anyone. But this pirate was barking up the wrong tree.
“This gun isn’t going to do anything right now, but with this?” the pirate guard with his offhand displayed a small switch, “With this, your suit is shut down.”
“Do what now?”
“I’ll take your helmet off and dome you,” The pirate said as he pressed the button on the switch.
John shook his head and drew his pistol in a flash. He liked to assume that the last thing through their mind was ‘How?’ He reholstered his weapon and began walking in the direction the pirate came from. He stepped over the corpse of the dead pirate casually and continued on his way.
“Fucking idiot,” John said to himself, “I presume the jammer worked as intended?”
“It did,” Eve said, “The scientists have likely kept a more guaranteed method of locking you in place. They likely used this as a test case to modify their final system.”
John nodded, “What’s their play? They know how much time they have left here. Locking me in place isn’t going to help them get into the next location.”
“They will most likely attempt to extract the data you’ve uncovered,” Eve said flatly, “Their attempts will end in failure.”
“Ok, time to regroup with them and keep an eye on them. If anything, we might be able to trigger them into acting against us.”
John’s pace switched to a light run. The time for subtlety was now over. The pirates called his hand, now it was time for the scientists to show their hand. One way or another, John was going to ensure that he won.
18:35 Industrial Hangars
Mateo walked over to the trio of Lina, Kenneth, and Dr. Hamelin. He could hardly believe his eyes. One more of his superiors’ plans had been quashed. It would be fair to say that he was at his limits and was having serious doubts about whether or not he’d survive this mission.
“Look here, that one failed,” Mateo hissed, “You three are playing a deadly game now. He aced that giant ass bear thing and just casually killed one of the pirates.”
“That was to be expected,” Lina said with more snark than was required.
“Mateo, the script we gave him was not one we had expected to be successful,” Kenneth said, “We now understand exactly how to lock that suit of armor down now.”
“I implore you all to stop this game. It will end poorly for us all,” Mateo sounded as if he was at the end of his rope.
“Young man, everything we’ve done has been precisely calculated. One man isn’t going to be able to change our plans,” Dr. Hamelin said as he walked over to Mateo and placed a reassuring arm on his shoulder, “Everything will be fine.”
Mateo gently but firmly removed Dr. Hamelin’s hands, “What are we going to do with Emily and Dex? It’s going to take some time to get out of the cave.”
“They are being treated for their injuries now, but they don’t seem to be in any serious pain,” Gavin said joining the group.
Mateo shook his head, “I’m telling you, if you go through with this plan you’re going to end up dead. Lief is a ‘shoot first then ask questions,’ kind of guy.”
“It’s unfortunate that they were injured,” Dr. Hamelin said, “We’ll discuss your worry and insubordination this evening.”
“Doctor, I’m talking about all of your lives here. You cannot hope to take on him and defeat him.”
“Mateo not only are we going to deal with the speed bump that is the military, but we are going to reap the benefits of discovering this location. Nothing is going to stop us,” Dr. Hamelin turned and rejoined several other doctors.
“It’s alright mate,” Kenneth said, “We know what we’re doing.”
Mateo sighed as he shrugged his shoulders. They weren’t listening to reason. All of them, including the injured, were lost to the lure of these ruins. Nothing, not reason nor a murderous Naval officer, was going to stop them from their discovery.
Worst of all, if what John said was true, the clock was ticking. That they were ignoring that was just one more portent of ill tidings. While it was true that he was genuinely surprised and interested in his surroundings. His self-preservation instincts kicked in, and it wasn’t a stretch to say he was happy to have a legitimate excuse to leave this alien colony. Mateo wanted to be anywhere but, in this god-forsaken place now.