I have to admit that seeing the earth from space was a breathtaking sight, it was almost enough to distract from the stares I was getting from all the androids. Back on earth my outpost was growing fine, and any hostile machines near it had been purged. With the situation on the ground as secure as it needed to be for phase one I was free to enact the rest of the plan.
Namely coming to space to meet with YoRHa’s leadership to ask them some pertinent questions. Like why humanity wasn’t on the moon, and why they were lying about it.
We do realize that a single one of these androids could kill us, or just keep us from leaving, right?
yes, but I was trying not to think of that. Already being outside my armor is making me feel vulnerable, the stares do not help.
Androids are programmed to enjoy human company and like following our orders, we need to show them that we are actually human for that though, so we can’t be wearing our armor.
Doesn’t this feel a little manipulative?
It feels manipulative because it is. We need them to listen to us, or at the very least let us work unimpeded.
There are currently 13 androids staring at us, not including the 3 we brought with us, and why do they get to wear power armor?
It’s a statement and an additional level of security.
I had spoken to commander white before, but only through 13B as a proxy. That was only a few hours ago though, and it was largely to clarify that I wouldn’t be going to the resistance base, and that I was willing to meet up with her to discuss why in person. I had spoken to her, she had not spoken to me. Partially because I didn’t want to talk over a secure line, and partially because I wasn’t sure my theories were right and I couldn’t talk to her without confirming them.
I had just told 13B that I would meet with the commander when I had secured my outpost, while that was true I was also sending probes and long range scans into space, just to check on that whole moon thing.
One probe later confirmed the most important of the theories, there were no humans on the moon. My already knowing this would give me a fair bit of advantage in the coming talks.
The journey to space had been odd, YoRHa only had a few flyers capable of taking anything organic to it, so I had essentially been stuck in a cargo hold. Just an empty one with only a few of my destroyer drones, panther in a smaller body, and the battler trio. The bunker itself was a sterile white environment, but also a fair bit larger than I expected, filled with what had to be hundreds of androids and fairly large production facilities.
If I hear a stuttered glory to mankind or watch another android fall over when they see me I will go insane.
Still I didn’t have much time to take a closer look on the way to the commander's office, 13B had arranged both the transport and the meeting, and she was currently setting quite a rapid pace through the bunker, at least it felt rapid, androids could move startlingly quickly.
According to 13B I was to meet with the commander as soon as possible, and she took that quite literally. By having the commander send a supply shuttle down to pick me up, and by escorting me up to the bunker, in her new power armor.
The artificial gravity is messing with my head, and I am nearly certain we are walking upside down relative to when we came in here. Also, it is a circle so the entire walk is uphill. I hate this.
The door to the commander's office was unadorned, just like every other room. Which showed good things for her not being egotistical. “I’ll be talking to the commander alone, you can guard the door” as I walk through the door, directing my drones and panther to stay outside, I see 13B nod through the drones sensors before standing to the side of the door, with the other battlers following suit.
The first thing I noticed about commander white was that she wasn’t a YoRHa android, the wear on her suggested a significant age, then that she was taller than a YoRHa android.
She was sitting behind a sleek white table in what had to be the most uncomfortable metal chair I had ever seen, she looked at me and said “you're the human then?”
I paused to take in the rest of the room, the tone of her voice was a little doubtful, “as far as I’m aware, yeah, the only human.” she nodded at that, and I decided to keep my momentum, before she realized what only meant, “I do have some questions that I was hoping you could answer” she paused for a second to think “I serve humanity, I would be glad to answer any questions you may have”
And there was my opening, “mainly about why there is no one on the moon, and why exactly YoRHa is lying about it”
That brought her up short
It took her electronic mind less than a second to process what I had said, and her face rapidly paled. Why add that? It just interferes with their ability to lie. Was that the intent?
“I don’t know what you mean by that, there are hundreds of thousands of humans on the moon, YoRHa takes orders directly from the council of humanity” denial rather than a straight answer, worrying in that it means she can lie to me, or that she actually believes humanity is on the moon, both of which are bad for my plans. We can make it work, plan C it is.
We didn’t have a plan C, we just had two plans and both could still work.
Correct, I just made a new one, it'll work better.
A glance around the room doesn’t show any obvious cameras, but I can’t discount that someone could be listening in. Ideally this talk would have been in my nice secure outpost, but I’ll just have to make do. “I’d believe you if I wasn’t human myself and didn’t know full well we wouldn't have tolerated being on the moon for five thousand years, even discounting that fact if we had been on the moon we couldn’t survive on earth anymore. No, even if I hadn’t checked I’d have known there were no humans on the moon.”
It’d be very embarrassing if there were humans in scan proof bunkers on the moon with artificial gravity so they can actually tolerate earth.
The chances of that being true are less than ten percent, an acceptable risk.
Also the fact that there is one structure on the moon but it definitely can’t house a sustainable population of humans.
By this point I have sat down on an equal uncomfortable chair just in front of her desk, she’s stares at me without blinking for 10 seconds before she speaks, I feel vaguely as though I kicked a puppy “I had been hoping It would take you a bit longer to figure that out, you are correct, there isn’t and there has never been a moon colony” she pauses for a second, taking a breath I’m still not sure the androids actually need, before continuing “Project YoRHa was founded to give hope to the androids, we had been fighting for so long and with no end and sight, and with nothing to fight for. Project YoRHa was founded to give the rest of the androids that something.”
And I called it, ha, also sad
I had been betting on androids wiping out humanity or something.
“That answers one of my questions but raises so many others, now continuing this thread, what happens to the androids that inevitably find the truth, I doubt you just let them go free” white winces at that, my tone there at the end might have been a little to hostile, but communicating with thoughts tends to end up with emotions laced into the dialogue.
Did we ever figure out what we even sound like?
Not really the time, research later, talk now.
Commander white actually looks pained when she speaks “Older resistance androids know its a lie, some of them were even around when humanity went extinct, only the younger ones believe it, and of those only YoRHa androids really discover the truth, with those we wipe their memories and send them back” by the end there she had trailed off enough that I could barely hear her, even with my enhanced hearing.
That's basically murder right?
It depends on how much memory is getting wiped, if it's just the day they found out then not really, anything over a week or a month though? Yeah we can go ahead and label that murder.
Aren’t YoRHa androids only like 5, a month is a significant portion of their life.
She doesn’t sound happy about it, which might be worse, if she hadn’t thought it was wrong she could be taught that it was, but she’s remorseful and still doing it.
She was desperate, we can’t really judge.
That was both better and worse than what I had been expecting, “and your doing that because they find out humanity is gone, well now it isn’t even said human isn’t on the moon.” I take a short pause of my own before continuing “I’m willing to help you keep up this ruse on a few conditions”
At least until the war is over, then we can ease the androids into living for themselves or just accepting that humanity is gone.
“First, any androids that find out the truth are to be sent to the other side of the portal, where I will deal with them. Secondly, I want YoRHa’s aid in supplying the resistance. This war has gone on far too long to be reasonable. And third, the ruse only lasts until the war is over, then we will slowly spread the truth”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Really, this mud ball is not worth five thousand years of effort.
I wouldn’t say it's worth a century, just make Mars or Venus livable. It genuinely would have taken less time to give Mars or Venus an earth like environment.
“How would you ‘deal with’ any of the androids I would send you?, and YoRHa does not have the production necessary to supply the resistance, if we could have we would be.” suspicious and distrustful, good if she had just been willing to hand over her subordinates I wouldn’t be able to trust her myself.
“Simple, I’ll explain the situation and give them three offers, the first is a simple piece of programing that will prevent the androids from telling anyone else the truth, if they willingly accept this you can safely have them back, if they don’t accept that option they can either stay on the Nauvis side and help defend my outposts, or they can stay on the Nauvis side and not do anything.” a pause on my part “The third option will be reserved for the ones who either can’t handle the truth or who become actively problematic. I will have them put to sleep until the war is finished and they can be dealt with. Ideally with therapy.”
That isn’t simple.
I’m more upset about the fact androids even need therapy.
She didn’t look quite convinced yet, which was fair considering she had just met me, more talking it was “and given the fact that there will actually be a visible human I imagine few androids will even find out the truth, you can even send observers to check on them if you don’t believe me.”
“I want to have someone examine that code before I allow you to do that, and if it’s viable I see no reason they need to cross the portal in order for a software update. We are more than capable of doing that ourselves” more than fair, and it showed she was actively considering my offer.
Just glad 16S was so helpful with our understanding of android coding, it’d have taken us much longer to get a working code without him.
A flashdrive forms on my palm, one containing a prototype I had designed a few hours ago. “I’d be glad to have you look at the coding, I’m not exactly an expert on android coding just yet, and having someone more experienced give it a look would be a good idea anyway” at which I slide the drive across the table where she grabs it and slides it into a drawer.
That arm stuttered, does she not have routine maintenance done?
With that and the visible wear on her artificial skin, probably not.
Is that the same as a depressed person not doing personal hygiene?
“I’ll have it examined later today, that still doesn't answer the question of how you plan on having YoRHa supply the resistance” she’s starting to look expectant of an answer rather than doubtful.
Anyone else think she’s trusting us oddly quickly?
Yep, this is either a trap or an android's nature to obey and trust humans.
Probably the latter don’t discard the former.
“You misunderstand, I don’t need you to supply the resistance, I just need you to guard supply shipments and … supply a friendly face, a giant metal cat can’t exactly perform very good diplomacy. The resistance androids know you, and that’ll shave months off of trust building” she nod’s at that and I continue before she can say anything more.
“In turn for this help I am prepared to supply YoRHa with armor, weapons, and supplies, as well as live fire support and my own forces, to aid in fighting the machines.”
Commander white speaks once it’s clear I’m done “it doesn't really sound like you are getting anything out of this, from what I have heard your forces are more than capable of guarding your own supply shipments”
Just accept the shiny things please, giving people things should not take this much effort
“True, But I don’t want to waste time building trust with each resistance encampment, this cuts months of effort on my end, and given I’m only seven months old that's a fair bit of my life I don’t have to spend doing it”
That little reveal got a brief look of surprise on her face “seven months? I thought humans didn’t reach your size until their teens?”
Uhhhhhhhhhh, how much do they even know about humans, because I think it might be drastically less than we previously guessed.
It has been five thousand years since anyone's seen them, and she’s never met one, so it’s a little understandable?
Well my explanation will need to be a bit more detailed apparently, “that would be true for an unmodified human, I am at roughly the 17th year of physical development. However” a brief gesture at a purple vein on my neck “I’m not exactly a baseline human, more specifically I am a engineered life form designed to colonize an entire world within a year” if the bug’s didn’t exist at least “as far as I’m aware I’m basically the human version of the machines”
Bait and a threat for anyone listening, good.
“But I didn’t wind up on the right planet, nor did I finish my ‘programing” she flinches again at the venom I put into that word, “so supplying your war effort isn’t exactly the most taxing thing for me, I can more than match what few production facilities you still have running, while still expanding my own production and war front.”
“To put it simply, I have no reason not to do it, and I can do it, so I will be doing it”
We needed a hobby anyways, and uplifting a race is a fair enough one
Is it uplifting if they have equal or greater tech than you?
Most of the androids are living in ruins or tents, it’s uplifting.
She looks incredulous as she speaks “You are offering to supply both YoRHa and the resistance because you have nothing better to do”
That's not quite right
“No, I am offering to supply you because this war has dragged on far too long, and I plan on ending it as soon as I am able, I have an entire other planet worth of resources to pour into this war, and if worse comes to worse and I can’t win this war for some odd reason, well now you have a whole world without machine to live on” if one ignores the indigenous population of murder monsters
That same incredulous look is on her face, but considering I just said I planned on ending a war that had been in stalemate for five thousand years. It was fair, “you really think you can win the war?”
“In three years I should outnumber the machines three to one, in 4 I will outnumber them six to one, in five years it'll be twelve to one, at this point it’s just a matter of time, at least as long as the machines don’t get a foothold on my side of the portal, or you know kill me, but at this point the factory would win the war with or without me”
And another trap, you know if no one is spying on this convo it will be so embarrassing.
If I do end up dying the minds are almost certainly going to unleash the self replicating nanites.
I’m not even sure if killing my body would kill me if I’m still hooked up to the network.
We are not testing.
Another nod before a look of resolve crosses her face “I have a request of my own then, if you really think you can end the war, when the war is over and the earth is safe, let us use your dna to bring back humanity”
This feels like a slave asking for her master back.
Stockholm syndrome for an entire race, fantastic.
Well we did plan a response for this question. Actually several.
“A few issues with that one, first is my modified nature, I can’t actually be reproduced from any genetic samples, no cloning process would work. Built in safety features to prevent self replication. And even if I could, there isn’t enough genetic variations to bring back a viable population of humans. They’d go extinct within a few hundred years.”
Let's ignore the fact that both those issues are solvable, because I am not bringing back humanity.
This news obviously upsets her, “we have to try, what would you have us do once you die, a human's lifespan is only a few decades. Even if the war ends without humanity we will have nothing to live for!”
And now for a personal truth we have been avoiding, this really shouldn’t have left the not thinking about it folder.
“Once again modified human, I’m not allowed to die until I have accomplished my assigned task, I was never assigned a task. I’m sure you can see the issue, even if I wasn’t genetically immortal I would be forced into modifying myself until I was. I must remain at over 80 percent functionality until my task is done ``. It takes her a second to realize the gravity of my words, but I’m not actually done talking yet. “It also makes it so I’m not allowed to fall into despair or depression, I can never give up or in, even if I was faced with certain death I would be forced to struggle until my dying breath.” I send a short chuckle “rage, rage against the dying of the light”
“So no, it won’t be a few decades until I die, I’d be lucky if it was a few centuries or even millennia, and if I’m going to live that long I might as well help out some people who will have similar lifespans.”
And we need long term plans, this brain of ours can only hold so many memories.
Also a hobby, probably lots of hobbies.