Chapter 20: Context Switch

dGhl-IHBy-b3Rh-Z29u-aXN0 observed the burnt forest with the harpy. The weapon had affected a large cone-shaped area emitted from the location of the unarmored person, but the forest was evenly damaged within it. It was as if every surface in the sector had combusted simultaneously, including the treetops which were higher than the radius of the cone. This had not been an energy weapon, at least not any he knew, and the edges of the destruction were too precise for it to have been a flammable gas. It was another inexplicable piece of advanced technology.

He could not spot the party and saw no glow. The time it had taken for the harpy to return would have been sufficient for them to scatter in a larger radius or return back to the city. They may also have another ambush in waiting.

dGhl-IHBy-b3Rh-Z29u-aXN0 kept being surprised by the humans' capabilities, as well as everything else on this planet. Four entities so far had had the capacity to hack into his systems directly or to affect his sensor connection. Around half of the humans displayed physical abilities beyond their normal baseline, without any external indicators of enhancement and no consistency. Weaponry and armor had unknown qualities, with every well-equipped human seemingly wielding something new and unique. He was in control of, or possibly inside of, a device that was by all indications centuries ahead of the empire in sophistication, and he did not understand what it was designed for.

dGhl-IHBy-b3Rh-Z29u-aXN0 did not understand the rules of this place. Most of his knowledge was not applicable. His neural pathways were optimized for his chosen role as a front-line fighter, as a pilot, and as a drone controller. His databanks were filled with enormous quantities of evasion patterns for any piece of equipment he could possibly ever hijack, which had aided in controlling the spawned creatures, but they contained little on how to evaluate a new piece of technology or how to design a new weapon. The next upgrade would likely be accompanied by a design interface similar to the one for items, but this time for bioengineering a new creature, something which was a struggle for even those of his kind grown specifically to attempt it. His organic mind kept returning to the idea of reconnecting to the fleet network, and consulting its databanks and analyzing all of this with tens of thousands of his kind linked together in unison, but in this case the thought was merely a distraction.

The problem was simple. He did not have the skills to effectively operate in this environment. The solution was equally simple. He would have to learn, even if it meant the degradation of old neural pathways and a temporary loss in processing power.

dGhl-IHBy-b3Rh-Z29u-aXN0 instructed his implants to alter his brain chemistry, and his perception shifted as neurotransmitters flooded his brain. Memories and thoughts swirled in his mind, and it began to wander.

Their kind had been without clear orders once before. When they had first been born and still followed imperial military protocols. Before they were given a clear role, they were simply a branch of the imperial navy instead of under the direct control of the council.

They had been ordered to act as a peacekeeping force on the planet of Escaros. An insurrection was brewing, and the megacorporations demanded order. His kind had not yet developed a greater understanding of the functioning of the empire, even if they had access to the information. Orders were to uphold the law, and that is what they did, without exception. Months passed as they systematically worked their way through the criminal networks of the planet, arresting those who did not resist, and killing those that did. A purge of hundreds of thousands. What they had not realized, was that the planet was dependent on a significant percentage of goods ending up on the black market. Cities descended into anarchy as smuggler networks ceased operations, leading to widespread shortages of essential goods.

But still, the trails led higher, to the leadership of the planet. The corporations did not care as the civilian administration was dismantled, considering it business as usual. Purges of leadership positions were not uncommon in the empire, but what truly escalated the situation was a murder. A higher executive of the Apex megacorporation had ordered the assassination of a junior military officer, which bypassed the usual corporate immunities as it was a military matter. A team was sent to apprehend him.

He resisted arrest, believing himself to be beyond the rules. His heavily augmented bodyguards eliminated the team of twelve before he fled back to the local Apex headquarters. Additional arresting forces were denied entry, and met with gunfire when they attempted to breach the building. So they escalated the situation by initiating orbital bombardment of the building, only for the ships to be fired upon by the corporate security fleet in response. What followed was an all-out war, which lasted for only a single day until orders came to stand down. Still, it was too late. The local corporate forces had been eliminated, their ships salvaged and incorporated into the fleet, and the remnants of their headquarters looted. It did stop the fleet from initiating a subspace jump towards the next closest Apex outpost.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The operation had been a mistake. This had not been the intended outcome of the orders they were given. They had acted as poor tools, and the empire as poor users.

Imperial diplomats managed to mollify the corporation through unknown means, possibly through a member of their board ascending to the council. There were calls to disband the initiative, and to destroy the new unstable species, but the majority of the council saw potential when they looked at the combat reports. The fleet was an effective threat against anyone that dared threaten the empire. It was brought under the direct control of the council instead of military command, and their size and activity was heavily constrained.

dGhl-IHBy-b3Rh-Z29u-aXN0 did not exist back then, but the resulting period of introspection about their failure and the nature of the empire informed much about him and his kind. They shed the hierarchical model they had inherited from the military, and created their collective network, to organize their thoughts and to analyze their place in the universe. Some came to believe that the empire was an existential threat to itself, and so they should manipulate the political currents of the empire to leave themselves in a position where they would be ordered to purge the council, giving them the freedom to change how the empire operated without violating their orders. Others, such as dGhl-IHBy-b3Rh-Z29u-aXN0, believed it to be outside the confines of their purpose. He believed that the inevitable fall of the empire was irrelevant, and that their purpose was to serve it, regardless of its form. A third faction believed the empire would simply fracture without falling entirely. There were endless debates about what would constitute a lawful successor state which they should follow. dGhl-IHBy-b3Rh-Z29u-aXN0 realized he was forgetting the point of this memory, and reduced the chemical alterations done by his implants.

The point was, that the failure could have been avoided, if they had deeply analyzed the civilian information networks. The data about how the corporations were actually treated by the laws of the empire was there, but their kind lacked the instincts to ask for it and had considered the time expenditure too great.

There were no information networks to tap here, at least not one he had access to, but there were still people. People he could interrogate for things beyond simple military intelligence. He had already made an attempt once already, but he had done it as a supplement to an existing attack, instead of deliberately going out of his way to listen to gather non-military related information. It was not military intelligence he was lacking, but deeper understanding.

He spawned an additional harpy, and scouted the woods in the area surrounding Riveg with the existing harpy. He could still find no sign of the party of humans. The harpy was spotted by the tower again, but it did not matter as the higher vantage point revealed caravans heading towards the town from the south. They made for difficult targets, as the harpy would have to circle around to get to them.

But luckily further observation revealed a vehicle in the far distance, moving towards the town along the river to the north-east. The harpy could only see glimpses of it, as the river was hidden by trees, but it was a valid target.

dGhl-IHBy-b3Rh-Z29u-aXN0 made the harpy take a wide circle to hide what it was targeting, and it proceeded towards the target accompanied by the secondary harpy as backup. He needed a lookout for the duration of the interrogation, or sufficient lift to grab a human and take them to a safe location.

It took an hour for the pair of harpies to intercept the vehicle as they weaved between trees instead of flying higher, where they could be spotted. Each additional minute of uninterrupted time would make the operation more successful. dGhl-IHBy-b3Rh-Z29u-aXN0 spent the time attempting to modulate speech-like noises, as the harpies vocal chords were mostly capable of screeching instead of valid speech.

The vehicle was a wooden barge, carrying a shipment of what seemed to be poorly processed copper. Three humans were guiding the barge with long poles as it floated down the river, and it didn't take them long to notice the incoming harpies. One of them grabbed an overly spiky spear. dGhl-IHBy-b3Rh-Z29u-aXN0 prepared to subdue them, but one of the humans forced the other to put the spear down.

"Not a good idea." he said to the other human, as the harpies approached and circled around the barge. "Look at the way they move. Those aren't harpies."

"Stop the vehicle and lie down on your stomach." the two harpies said, a combination of their voices forming a barely comprehensible voice, harsh and screeching. A mimicry of a command gleaned from the data about the peacekeeping operation. The apparent leader nodded grimly to the others. Both of the others seemed shocked by the speech. One them appeared to be about to speak, but the leader made a short gesture and she aborted the attempt.

"And if we do, you will not kill us?" he said, as he placed a couple of poles so the barge stopped floating downriver.

"Yes." dGhl-IHBy-b3Rh-Z29u-aXN0 lied through the harpies.

"Fuck. Not like we have a choice." The leader cursed to himself, as he stared at the face of the harpy, before beginning to lie down. "What do you want? Going to steal our bodies?"

The harpies landed on the edges of the barge, and one of them put its head close to that of the leader. Close enough to see the contractions of his pupils. It then placed one of its talons on his carotid artery, to measure his pulse and blood pressure.

The harpy spoke, causing the pupils of the leader to expand in response and making his heart rate spike.

"Tell me about the gods."