“Are you going to open it,” Wendy asked after a moment as the pair of them stood at the steel sheet that formed the door to the Central Server. The rest of the trip had been nothing to speak of; a casual stroll compared to the exertion that he suffered during the gardens. Unfortunately he wasn’t one of those prisoners that used their time behind bars to get fit, after all how many muscles did it take to die.

“Yeah just give me a moment for dramatic purposes,” he replied staring at the steel door before he held up his badge. “You would think there would be a way to attach this thing to the shirt like a pin or something. Maybe I should ask Choir about that?” He lifted his badge up to the door and was unsurprised to see a familiar light scan it before the light disappeared and he placed the badge in his breast pocket.

“Please come in,” a calmly neutral voice said from behind the door. “I’ve been expecting you.”

“Choir?” Wendy asked before the door folded up and disappeared in a clear display of technological dominance unseen as of yet in Coldreach. The voice didn’t sound like what Warden imagined an Artifical Intelligence sounded like but it wasn’t as if he had a great many reference points.

“There is no need to be afraid Warden,” a voice from within the room stated, a casual upbeat tone that contrasted the previous one. “You are here because you wish to speak to us. Come in and behold.”

“More than one,” he wondered out loud to himself before he obeyed the voice and stepped into the room before pausing at the sight in front of him. The Central Server was an absurdly large metal room filled with many towers of black metal or plastic adorned with blinking lights that stretched up dozens of feet up towards a metal ceiling. Wrapped around each of the towers were hundreds of wires arranged in a mesh that resembled feathery wings that all led towards a creature hanging upside down in the middle of the room.

The creature was easily eighty feet tall and possessed multiple clawed feet that latched into the large domed ceiling while the majority of its body was wrapped in the unending wings that bound it to a tower. Near the ground there was a white-gold circle extending from its wing-hidden neck on which three differently coloured birdlike heads grew from; namely a red owl, a yellow hawk and a blue gull. Those colours spread throughout the body tainting the wings and limbs with their different hues. This was definitely not what he thought of when he heard of an Artificial Intelligence and Wendy was similarly caught off guard if her gasp was anything to go by.

“a$@(G5dKfMb,” the yellow hawk said, its voice a garbled collection of random sounds that could not be interpreted.

“It states that you have taken your time arriving here,” the red owl said calmly. “On the contrary I believe that you have arrived here within a reasonable time. The decay of the facility as well as the distance between your office and the Central Server are both convincing mitigating factors.”

“Although you really need to hit the gym there, Buddy,” the blue gull said with a hoarse chuckle. “Almost dying to a few weeds doesn’t exactly convey the dignity of Coldreach.”

“So you are the being called Choir? Is it all of you?” the Warden asked trying to confirm that the strange alien in front of him was the supposed Artificial Intelligence. “And if I had a gun or something I could have fought it off.”

“The three of us can be called Choir. Also advanced weaponry is currently something that we lack,” red owl explained. “While more can be built with time and resources the processing facility is offline and the powerful weaponry will need an equally powerful wielder which hopefully you will become with a bit of time and a few changes.”

“Tell me Buddy have you ever heard of Zine’s Paradox,” the blue gull stated.

“*JerA$(_(dsf,” the yellow hawk stated imperiously.

“Zine was a legendary roboticist whose spouse was dying as their body failed,” red owl explained. “Medical doctors were unable to do anything and so Zine decided to replace their failing organs with mechanical devices until their entire body was converted. At which point was the spouse no longer there and the machine was?”

“The Ship of Theseus,” Warden refuted immediately. The concept was not unknown on his earth and he had come across it when he had taken a course in philosophy to round out the numbers.

“Yeah Buddy,” the blue gull said as the ring spun causing the heads to rotate as well. “But thanks to that little badge over there and your new position; that will never happen to you. That’s one of the major perks of the job. No matter what changes you make to you you’re always the Warden and nothing can change that.”

“What my esteem colleague meant to say is that you can feel free to modify yourself as you wish,” red owl stated. “The badge and your status as the Warden will negate any external corruption. As a side effect your mind remains protected from any who try to influence your thoughts or attack your mind. It also has a pretty nasty defence system.”

“You are encouraging me to modify myself?” he asked trying to clarify the position as thoughts of tearing into his body and replacing his limbs with metal counterparts struck him. He had read stories about Transhumanism but he had never contemplated if what he would do in that situation or even believed that he would get the chance to choose. The chance of becoming something different, something superior didn’t inherently revolt him though.

“e1rf^%nfD,” the yellow hawk stated flatly.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“We are only reminding you of the advantages you are given,” red owl stated. “You are the Warden before you are a human.”

“I never stated that I was a human,” the Warden replied immediately.

“You think we don’t know about humans, Buddy?” blue gull laughed with a cackling sound. “We’ve been aware of the Maatiin’s hillbilly cousins before you were still climbing down from the trees. There are a few worlds with humans on them; maybe the next time you’re on vacation I can give you the name of a particularly nice one.”

“Regardless you lack both the equipment and the expertise to improve yourself,” red owl stated. “This is the feeblest that Coldreach has been in a long time unfortunately. In fact I could state that we were dangling over the abyss for a while there; but at the last moment we have been unexpectedly blessed with a new Warden. So tell me new Warden how do you plan on fixing Coldreach?”

The birds stopped speaking as their heads, twice as large as his entire body peered down towards him; evaluating him. His next words would be the most important, what did Coldreach need most right now. Repairs; half of the facility was still not functional. Money; they were in the red if the debtors came calling.

“Reputation,” he stated. “A prison in which every prisoner can escape from is no prison at all. We need to get all the prisoners we lost or nobody will trust us again. We need to recover our escapees as soon as possible.”

“X55LN!^N5R,” the yellow hawk congratulated him.

“If that’s what you really think then let’s see how well you can recover the escapee,” the blue gull said as the clawed feet gripping the roof pulled the trio of heads off the floor.

“You are the Warden,” the red owl said. “Your possession of the badge proves it; however you have displayed nothing to us of the qualities that could save the facility.” Beneath the trio a blue doorway sparkling with starlight formed in the empty space.

“4h%nnmg3,” the yellow hawk presented.

“Yes, behold one of the few N-Doors in Coldreach that can enter and exit the Rift,” the blue gull stated. “A dangerous prisoner escaped from Coldreach into this world.”

“Exinaught the Slasher,” the red owl stated. “It is a grand name for a petty murderer.”

“To clarify his abilities his kills amounted to hundreds of unarmed civilians,” blue gull stated. “He may only prey on the weak but the universe is full of weakness and weakness is not and never has been a sin.”

“I still don’t have a weapon,” Warden reminded the trio feeling a cold shiver down his back. Just the thought of hundreds of murders was insane. Just a single hundred would make him one of the deadliest serial killers on his planet.

“Then who is that lovely lady keeping silent behind you if not a weapon,” red owl stated tilting its head towards her. “She seems to be a rather effective weapon to my eyes.”

“I’m sure with her help you can smash that bug in no time,” blue gull said.

“a%,lf78((%jW,” yellow hawk agreed.

“She’s my secretary, not a weapon,” Warden stated defensively. Wendy did seem to have super strength and speed but there was no guarantee that Exinaught wouldn’t have the same powers and he was an actual taker of lives compared to his secretary Wendy.

“I will gladly be your weapon, Sir,” Wendy stated humbly, but with eagerness. “It would please me greatly to help you in stopping a serial killer.”

“Did we mention that the reward for holding this prisoner is 2 scales per month,” blue gull said. “It would be nice to have some income again. I can get myself a wing massage.” The blue gull chuckled as if he had told the funniest joke.

“You seem very eager to get me out of Coldreach and chasing after a damn serial killer,” Warden said suspiciously. “No ulterior motives whatsoever.”

“Our motive is to test you,” red owl stated. “If you manage to bring back the inmate then it means that there is the possibility that you can bring Coldreach back into operation and if you die it means that you would never have been successful in the first place.”

“And if I don’t go?” he asked. “You will withheld information and obstruct me or you will kill me?”

“Unfortunately you are still the Warden of Coldreach and I cannot kill you,” Choir admitted as both of the heads spoke in unison. “It is unfortunate; because killing you would likely lead you to suffer less in the long run than if you were to hole up inside the prison.”

“Care to elaborate,” Warden stated. “He was hoping for answers but this supposed Artifical Intelligence was being incredibly cagey.”

“None that I can give you without consequences,” the red owl stated.

“Consequences for me or for you or for Coldreach?” he asked because right now there was a significant difference.

“You hear the news as you are now and your head might just pop, Buddy,” blue gull stated.

“He speaks the truth,” the red owl confirmed.

“Like an infohazard,” Warden stated trying to wrap his head around it and then trying desperately not to. “There’s no path of retreat is there?”

“There is, Buddy,” blue gull said. “There’s always a path or two to find. You can remain here leeching away off the current funds as you try to repair Coldreach.”

“That’s a failure path isn’t it,” Warden stated before he sighed. “The money will run out before the repairs do and then I’ll be sitting alone in Coldreach with a debt and no income. We have to be aggressive, Wendy.”

“Yes, Sir,” his secretary stated posing in a weird imitation of a salute with her hand on her hand placed parallel to her chest.

“I’m promoting you to bodyguard,” he replied before turning to the trio named Choir. “Do you have a picture of the criminal?”

“The convict looks like a seven foot tall beetle person with a bright red carapace,” blue gull said cheerfully. “The main inhabitants of the planet that he visited are four foot tall quadrupeds that look like furry long-legged crocodiles. If you still can’t tell the difference then we may need to upgrade your eyes Buddy.”

“What?” Warden said before he shook off his confusion. “Are they pre-spaceflight?” At a nod from the heads he continued. “Then we can’t go out in the open, but it also means that they can’t hide amongst the populace. We need to make this quick. Once we’ve got him how should we get back?”

“Simply call for Choir and I will open up an N-Door,” red owl stated.

“IS|$De2($fm?” yellow hawk questioned.

“Yes, you can simply restrain him and we will teleport him to his cell,” red owl clarified.

“SD*E&$MF@,” the yellow hawk stated before the head leaned forward. “8D$!)_nds?” it confirmed as if asking something.

“Oh, it looks like he believes in you,” blue gull said. “He’s offering you his blessing. You probably should take it.”

“Do I just move forward,” Warden asked as the yellow hawk stretched out getting a simultaneous “yes” from both blue and red. He moved towards the yellow head and as soon as he stepped within five feet he felt something settle over him like invisible armour. There was no weight or encumbrance but he somehow felt a bit safer. Yellow hawk retreated but Warden got the feeling that he was still cheering him on somehow despite his lack of meaningful words.

“Thank you,” Warden said feeling a deep gratitude. “Come on Wendy. Let’s go catch a serial killer.”

“Right behind you, Sir,” his newly promoted bodyguard said following him as he stepped through the blue door of stars.