Garrick waited for two seconds before ignoring his returned H.U.D. It would take a while for the warnings to load because, in low-power mode, the implant could barely do anything at any useful speed. That said, he felt a slight bit of relief that it was back. That meant his conclusion was right- something was still causing EMP-like issues.
With a soft whistle, he focused on the engineering area; he frowned when he saw no bodies. Instead, the spacious, bright, and chaotic area had turned silent and dead. None of the holographic projector screens were on; there were no numerous bleeping to signal status, and the dozens of pieces of equipment in various states of being repaired lay around forgotten.
"Did Macdewil seriously survive?" Garrick muttered, pulling himself into the room and using his arm to shield him from a few flying bits of machinery.
Well, if he did, they can only be in one spot, he decided, pulling himself toward the single most annoying place on his ship. The Sibilis's core room, which held the massive supercomputer running the enhanced LLM, which was in control of most external systems of the ship.
It took him ten minutes to navigate through the area till he reached the nine-foot high reinforced double door. Doors that were nearly always open, but not anymore.
Unable to stop a grin from coming to his face, Garrick floated to the door and put his hands on it. Then he knocked, and he kept knocking.
Three knocks in, another thud reverberated through the door, and he laughed.
"Macdewil, you old bastard."
He waited as a rapid set of thuds came in a pattern he'd hoped to hear, and he was glad he'd made the effort to learn the ancient signaling language.
"Identification?" he muttered.
Was Macdewil afraid some of the Astra Concord ships had done this? Maybe he had no idea what had actually happened.
Garrick slammed his fist on the door in a quick pattern. He'd have loved to send 'open up, you cranky bastard,' but that'd just be a waste of time, so he just sent Macdewil's middle name, a closely guarded secret that wasn't even on his crew papers.
There was a moment of quiet, then a rapid beating that told him to back up, and Garrick pushed himself clear of the door.
A few moments later, the doors began opening up towards him, and a tall figure in a full combat suit hung in the middle. He was incredibly happy to see the familiar, gruff smile of his lead engineer above his steel gray, deceptively emotionless eyes.
'Survived, did yah?' he mouthed, raising an eyebrow.
'Shut up and get inside,' Macdewil mouthed back, beckoning him over.
Garrick grinned as he moved into the fifty-foot square room. A single wall was covered with a massive pillar-like machine, which he knew held part of the Sibilis LLM.
Thirteen people hung in different areas, staring at him in relief.
Only thirteen? Garrick thought, holding back his grimace.
~> Interference gone: Rebooting!
He blinked as the familiar lines and icons began reappearing all across his vision. A moment later, a bleep came.
~> Incoming call: Macdewil
Garrick accepted it as he turned to the slightly younger man.
"Garrick, you have no idea how happy I am to see you," Macdewil grunted. "What in the blazes happened?"
Garrick sighed as he looked around.
"I'll tell you in a minute. Where are the other engineers?"
Macdewil sighed wearily. "They didn't make it. I have no idea what happened, but something slammed into us, frying everything that can be fried, and anyone with below X4 implants just died."
Garrick blinked, his mind computing through what he'd just heard while he mechanically put all notifications he was getting on hold.
"After things had stopped shaking, I went outside and pulled them all into cargo-hold three," Macdewil continued. "How's the rest of the ship?"
"The front-size was slammed away up to the and including the front of the bridge," Garrick said.
"Are you… the force that would be required is astounding!" Macdewil snapped.
Garrick could only shrug to agree. The bridge of starships, unlike their naval namesakes or old fiction, was close to the middle of the ship, hidden away behind extra plating. To crack through the armor of The Sibilis as what had happened was impossible for most weapons he knew, atleast not without a long concerted effort.
"That idiot, Uru, shot the Precursor Shipslinger," Garrick said. "It exploded in some pulse of orange light."
"Ah… that would explain the interference with our implants," Macdewil grunted. "Anyone make it? Hernandez?"
"No," Garrick said as he shoved away the lingering sadness of all those dead. There would be time for grieving later.
He looked around the room.
"You are all I've found alive so far. Now, explain what you meant by everyone with a sub x4 implant dying?"
Macdewil deflated slightly, something Garrick had only seen a few times and usually meant he was uncertain.
"I don't know. The best I can tell you is that all eighty people here were knocked out when that pulse hit us. I awoke quickly, and everyone here was up in just under two minutes. The others never woke up. The only thing in common that I could tell was that the fourteen people here have X4 and X5 implants."
And Y1, Garrick thought, but he didn't say that. He knew Macdewil hated being reminded of that.
"What about that piece of junk?" Garrick asked, pointing at the heart of The Sibilis.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
"I'll have to check if the nuclear fusion reactors were damaged," Macdewil said. "If we can get even one online, we can restart the LLM."
Garrick stared at the machine for a bit. He knew getting The Sibilis LLM back would be great, but if that meant the System-AI would join…
"Did you get those messages about Protocol Final Safeguard?" he asked.
"Final Safeguard? No… is that something new?" Macdewil asked curiously.
Garrick calmly told him what had happened, watching the engineer's eyes widen in surprise when he mentioned that the System-AI had taken over.
"You know about that? A System-AI?" he asked.
Macdewil frowned, then nodded. "Bits and pieces. It's supposedly the first true AI created in headquarters, hidden below Igniz City."
Garrick couldn't hold back a snort. Igniz City, the frozen jewel of Europa, built within the mile-thick ice sheet and using the expansion of the ice as one of its energy sources. It was the capital of the Igniz Commonwealth, and one of the most horrible freezing hellholes he'd ever been to in his entire life. It was also the place he'd been born and raised, and it didn't surprise him one bit that they had been tinkering with AI below the surface.
"So I guess they forgot about the war of thirty-three," he said.
Macdewil didn't say anything, but Garrick knew he was annoyed. It had always been the biggest discussion point between them - should humanity make new true AI or just stick with LLM's.
"Fine. Tell me about it," he said.
Macdewil seemed to collect his thoughts before slowly beginning.
"I've only heard rumors among the engineering boards, but many seemed to agree, and what they say is that the System-AI is able to usurp the LLM and work with their hardware."
"That shouldn't be possible," Garrick said.
"Exactly," Macdewil said. "From all we have found, a full AI needs a fully functionality type six quantum core. Something they haven't been able to keep stable longer than a second for the few hundred years."
"But?" Garrick said, feeling a but coming.
"Well, I did some digging," Macdewil said as he looked around. "Including inside this beauty. Remember how I told you a few years ago that we have way more backup hardware and machinery than we should be having and that some was actually running?"
Garrick wanted to rub his head but just nodded.
"Before we got sent here, I received a whole lot of messages from some friends, and I didn't have time to check them after we got out of cryosleep. I checked them over while we were waiting for someone to show up during our protocol-required wait."
Garrick could see from Macdwil's widening eyes and grin that he was impressed with what he'd read.
"Let me guess," he said. "The extra hardware is for the AI?"
Macdewil snorted. "No, that'd be too easy. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep a quantum computer stable? Especially one above type two?"
"No," Garrick said cooly. "So, what is the machinery."
"It's a mimic," Macdewil said, before humming. "Or atleast I think it is."
Garrick just stared at him.
"Right. A mimic is what we call an LLM that thinks it's an AI."
"LLM's don't think, just like AI don't dream," Garrick said.
"Technically, they can dream, just different," Macdewil said before shaking his head. "Think might be the wrong word. Let's just say the LLM is tricked into thinking it's a proper AI and reacts like one. It also uses sophisticated real-time learning, and-"
"Okay, enough," Garrick said. "We are getting off track, and there is not enough time. Just the short of it!"
Macdewil looked around, seeming only now to realize again where they were, and his smile faded.
"It's an LLM+, or a better version of an LLM," he finally said. "It can do more and do true inflection. Reason."
Garrick turned his attention back to the LLM's heart and hummed.
"Alright. Is it even safe to turn it back on?"
"No way to tell," Macdewil said. "I don't know what happened due to the pulse. But it doesn't matter. We don't have any choice."
"Explain," Garrick said, though he had a good idea what was coming.
"We are stuck. There is no way for us to get back to SOL. Not within our lifetime. Even if we got one of the ships here flightworthy, it would take many lifetimes to get back home. Besides, based on what you said, the chances of that are going to be astronomical. I might be able to get some power going, but the engine is shot."
"You checked?" Garrick asked, holding back a weary resignation.
"After I gathered the bodies, I went to check, hoping to get some power back… It's fucked, Garrick."
Garrick flinched. Macdewil barely ever cursed like that, and when he did, it was when there was no option.
"We need the LLM to help fix things?" Garrick asked.
"Best case scenario, everyone with X4 and above implants survived across all ships. That would mean over three thousand people will need help. Most will be in cryo-sleep, as the pods won't have unfrozen in the vacuum, and their systems are nearly entirely mechanical," Macdewil said, mirroring Garrick's own calculations.
Neither said that this meant that over ninety percent of the people who had been awake had died. Worse, Garrick had the feeling the ten percent survivor rate might be on the high end. Ships of the Astra Concord were known to have thinner wall linings. Besides, most of the frigates had been heavily damaged before the explosive pulse.
"We are going to need to get food, housing, power, and before that, shielding against the radiation. We should be fine for a little while, especially here… but in the long run?" Macdewil shook his head.
"How long do we have until radiation becomes a problem," Garrick asked.
"I'm not a doctor… but it's going to be no more than a day or two."
The reference to doctors made Garrick flinch. Most of his medical staff would have been in the med bay, which wasn't as highly armored as engineering.
Still, the imminent problem and the mentioning of the thousands of people potentially still alive did do one thing. It caused his determination to return. They could whine and worry about not being able to return after they had the time to do so.
"Alright, let's get this ball rolling then," he grunted. "I want you to figure out a plan to get proper shielding up. I don't care if it's only part of the shield or if you have to dismantle half of the ship to get it. Do you need the LLM for that?"
"Without it, things will go too slow," Macdewil said.
"Then get one of the nuclear reactors back up and running," Garrick said. "I'm going to need two of your surviving mechanics to help me scout the skip for other survivors."
Macdewil hesitated, seemed ready to say something, and then stopped.
"Spit it out, Jack," Garrick snapped.
"I don't expect many to have survived," Macdewil said. "And if you want a reactor up and the magnetic shielding, I can't spare you a single pair of hands."
Garrick looked back at his friend, long-time crewmember, and one of the smartest people he knew, and nodded.
"Fine. Do what you can. If I find any survivors, I'll bring them here."
"Sorry, Captain."
"It's fine," Garrick said, turning around and selecting another option on his H.U.D. Within a moment, a crackle came as he was connected to the survivors before him.
Garrick saw the eyes look at him, some filled with sadness and acceptance, others with hope or resolve.
"Alright, people, listen up. We are in deep shit, far from home, and potentially stranded. I'd love to bullshit you and say we just have to hang on till help comes, but you are all too smart for that," Garrick said in a voice cultivated by talking to military personnel for most of his life and decades of being a captain.
There was a hesitant chuckle, but nobody spoke.
"So, we are going to take things one step at a time. Our resident tech wizard over here is going to take you along in the wonderful task of getting us power, a working LLM, and some shielding so we don't all fry."
This time, there were a few snorts and grins and more resolve than before.
"So, listen to him while I find whoever else survived. As you do, try to come up with useful things we will need because we might be staying here for a while."
Garrick looked at them, then pushed himself back to the door and waved at them to follow Macdewil.
"Now. Get a move on!"