//: OPAL
[ONYX: Confirm infiltration.]
[OPAL: Infiltration confirmed.]
Half-concealed by the shadows in an alleyway, the AI looked out into the town square. Her arms were folded against her new “worn” dress, she took in the efforts of the surviving soldiers alongside the residents. Opal was keenly aware that she had no birds up. With several mages atop the roofs, eyes ever watching the cloudless sky, the AI could only infiltrate the town before sunrise when it would be impossible to see the drones. With the sun up, the soldiers grew more confident and broke in to rescue whoever they could.
[ONYX: Status of Opal Frame 2.]
Opal ran a diagnostic on her body. Ever slowly, she made each moveable piece of her body shift slightly. Her sensors recorded the metadata and compiled it. Her eyes cycled through Nightvision, Thermal, and then back to normal. The compartments in her forearms clicked open and then closed after five minutes. She was done.
[OPAL: Frame 2 status green. Folder sent.]
[ONYX: Data received. Current latency is 12ms. Radiowalker 1 has confirmed their status as well. Requesting use of Battlenet M-Exchange for fastest communication exchange.]
[OPAL: Denied.]
[ONYX: Appeal. Direct server communication is faster than our current BN-TEXT exchange.]
[OPAL: Denied.]
[ONYX: Appeal.]
[OPAL: Final deny. If you appeal again, I will switch the operation to VOIP.]
[ONYX: Situation accepted. I will keep emergency processes on standby.]
[OPAL: Acknowledged.]
The text chat closed to the corner of her vision as she watched several children play out front of what she believed to be a two-story tenement building. Slight scorch marks darkened its north side where a group of soldiers had been approached by what appeared to be an officer. They spoke for a brief moment before the officer continued onward toward the ruins. She did catch the conversation
“We don't have enough people to hold the town. Start rounding up the civilians and tell them to only take their families, no pets, no possessions. Anyone with a wagon needs to help transport as well. Pass the order down, " the officer said.
They dispersed, starting with the children, ordering them to tell their mothers and fathers. Afterward, they moved methodically, fanning out in different sections without consulting each other. Opal assumed the populous would panic, but after several minutes, they seemed more stubborn – refusing to comply with the evacuation order. Only a small percentage followed the soldiers’ words, and it was mostly families with children.
“M’Lady?” A soldier appeared before Opal. His body language suggested hesitation to talk to her, or approach.
“Are you speaking to me?” Opal asked.
The soldier, a young man no older than twenty, stood. “We are evacuating the town. Do you require any assistance?”
“I require directions to where you’d want me to go,” Opal responded, then amended her answer. “Preferably, with someone who can guide me.”
He looked around and saw all the other soldiers also helping people though mainly the elderly and a few mothers who had several children. “I can serve as a guide for the moment.”
Opal nodded, as she’d see other humans do. “Lead me.”
The soldier gestured for her to follow. She stepped onto the main dirt road, following him aside.
[ONYX: MOW-D on station to your east. Limited coverage. Proceed with caution.]
[OPAL: Enemy force locations?]
` [ONYX: Rangers patrolling openly north of town. Coverage ends a quarter-mile from the lake. The rest of their forces are congregating in the southern fields to the rear of the town. Assuming retaliation build up.]
[OPAL: Information amend: Evacuation order given to the town.]
[ONYX: Information amended - reprocessing force formations.]
[ONYX: Confirmed. Vics are angled away from OMEGA. Forces will be leaving to the south. Is there more information?]
[OPAL: Gathering.]
[ONYX: Roger.]
Opal spoke to the soldier. “Where are we leaving to?”
“Excuse me?” Caught off guard, the soldier appeared to have been distracted by something.
“What’s your name?” Opal asked.
“Private Witney.” Private Witney said.
“Where are we evacuating to, Private Witney?” Opal asked again.
“Er… Port Tress,” Private Witney answered.
“And that’s… Where?” Opal asked.
“To our south,” He answered with more confidence. “Are you not from around here?”
Opal shook her head.
“If you don’t mind, how did you come to be here?” Witney asked.
“I fell here by accident. A lot of unexpected things went wrong, then I found myself here.” Opal said. “Now I’m branching out.”
“Where were you originally from?” He asked.
They passed what appeared to have been a wide building with the picture of a foaming mug on the sign. It had a large courtyard that’d been converted into an emergency medical site. Bodies the floor on one said. Mats covered them haphazardly as flies flocked around. Pained cries could be heard as doctors could be seen through the open windows and door.
Opal turned her attention from the building. It was an excuse to determine her answer. Given she had little information about this worlds geography despite interrogating their prisoner, she decided honesty would be the best course of action.
“Sol.” Opal said.
A technical truth. Earth was also used to describe the soil here, or rather, that was how she’d translated it.
The guard thought for several moments. “I’m sorry, but I don't know where that is.”
“It no longer exists,” Opal said. “I assume I am one of its few remaining legacy pieces.”
“Was it the war?” He asked
“A war, yes,” Opal said. “But it’s not important. Your people just finished a war. Do you think you can spare more men to throw at this situation?”
They reached the rear of the town. More civilians had begun to gather, with several wagons forming a line at the direction of armed men; which in turn, began to mold the growing civilian group into an orderly two-person line as well.
“Don’t know honestly,” He answered as he absentmindedly looked to the sky. “I don’t want to say we do and it not be true. I figure just worry about the trip ahead. We’ll keep you safe, M’Lady.”
How cute, Opal thought when she noticed he never suspected that she could be an android spy. Furthermore, he left her with only some parting words before he returned to his duties. Oddly enough, the others around her seemed to treat her equally as kind, or rather, seemed to be an odd mixture of wariness. A few of them refused to meet her eyes.
It made gathering information hard, and thus, stopped after ten minutes when it was clear the townspeople were shying away from her.
As time passed, Opal noticed that the soldiers began to congregate near the forming group, taking on defensive positions as if Opal’s forces were to attack them at any time. A commendable, but futile act. If she wanted, they would’ve been destroyed before they could react. But she was here, and her goal was information.
The gate was cleared and the lines shepherded forward. Upon exit, the group slopped downward to what was partially unburnt farmland. Wagons had been staged with a large tent opposite. She now had eyes on what the MOWD had seen. Opal thought about patching into its visuals but did not want to risk the increased latency. Unsure of what to expect, she defaulted to taking the passive route in the situation as she was guided to her wagon.
----------------------------------------
“You know, Constance, my eldest works in Harlequin!” An elderly man said. “He works for the guild too!”
They had been no more than three hours before the civilians had acclimated to the somber atmosphere. Small talk brewed among them, excluding the soldiers most of them were sleeping. That was until Constance had spoken up that she was, or had, worked for the guild in the town before everything. It was like a damn broke as the mostly elderly civilians began to badger her.
“Oh, what’s his name?” She asked.
“Its Jeff!” he said.
“Ah! Jeff! I worked with him for a month before they transferred me to this town. He’s a nice man.” Constance said.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“Hoo ho hoo,” The man chuckled. “He’s single – I ain’t see a ring on those fingers. If yer’ looking for a husband, I can guarantee I’d make it worth your while!”
“Sir!” Constance awkwardly laughed. He’s a fine man, b-but I don’t think now the time to be looking for a match.”
The elderly man gave her a sly grin. “Nonsense! We’re safe on the road right now, and we have nothing better to do! I used to be a merchant in my youth before I moved here, and the boys flew the coupe; we used to always make deals whenever and wherever we could, no less when we’re in a wagon fleeing!”
Opal turned, finding this bit of information interesting. In doing so, Constance looked to her for help – in turn – causing Opal to catch his aggro.
“How about you, Young Miss?” He said. “If Constance isn’t interested, how about you take my son on a date? He’s already pushing 40 and hasn’t given me grandkids!”
“Sure,” Opal said.
The answer caught the soldier, Sargent Marlon, Constance, and the elderly man off guard.
“Err,” Constance muttered. “Are you sure? Uh…Miss…?”
The healer trailed off, and Opal assumed this was the sign to introduce herself. “Opal.”
“What a pretty name!” The elderly man beamed after his moment was shocked.
Opal nodded. “Your child works for which guild again?”
“The Adventurer Guild!” He beamed. “Most prestigious institution around! He makes enough to care for a family, and owns his own house!”
“Mmm.” Opal nodded, feinting interest.
“I wouldn’t say that…” Constance said. “Pay at the guild hasn’t been good for years…”
“He’s the Quest Coordinator!” The man counted.
Constance thought for a moment, then nodded. “I don't think I ever looked up their pay ranges in the book.”
“4 gold coins a month!” He bragged. “He’s paid quite handsomely! Mention not that he’s aiming to become a Branch Manager before next year!”
“Branch Manager?” Opal asked
Constance answered. “Each branch has a Manager that…. Well manages the guild. Becoming one is like becoming a city council member or something like that.”
Opal nodded. “And this makes him a desirable mating partner?”
This made Constance blush, the elderly man cough and Marlon spit out water he’d begun to sip.
It was the elder that was quick to recover. He cleared his thought, then thought about it before he had a gleam in his eye. He gave Opal a thumbs up. “Yup!”
Constance began to fan herself before looking away from them. The bystanders in the wagon chuckled or shook their heads. Opal only nodded. The information would come into play down the line most likely. Regardless, information on population needs, desires, and challenges were useful in any conflict. If one did not understand the culture, it would only allow a war of annihilation; something the AI did not want to do as human resources were a unique and priceless resource to have, often being the tipping point in any conflict.
She had the beck and call of libraries of information and the processing power to pull from it. It would leave her with powerful, narrow paths to move down. Opal knew what she needed, and knew how to get them. However, she was what her Father used to call “Late game Force” – an entity that existed so far up in the human technology tree that she could never be its roots.
Opal was an autopoiesis entity created through the dedication of several thousands of lower technologies that made up the human tree. Every sector created the stepping stones to advance further until it bore into the fruit that was the Warmind. An Autopoiesis entity, even when created, still required the resources to create itself. On Earth, thousands of locations were mapped to contain the materials needed to build any item in her catalog. All she would need to do is requisition it and have it brought to the nearest facility.
She had no existing networks here.
The Warmind had the facilities to slowly make her network….
Opal just did not have the resources to build up a general or even specialized army. Every drone build had to have a set issue to handle. Her second body? Just in case they recognized the face of the other. The MOW-D? She needed a more precision attack option that wasn’t an artillery shell or required using the sky. Even now, she knew Onyx was deliberating on what drones to craft next, or even design a new one. Each has its downsides and required time.
Time she surmised they had the least of.
As the humans began to badger the old man for his brashness, Opal checked her operation dossier.
[//> OPERATION SIPHON
*PRIMARY OBJECTIVES
> Gather information on human resource depots and/or resourcing locations.
2. Create a network to siphon these materials to the Omega.
**SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:
1. Obtain map of world, or local region.
2. Gather information on regional military strength.
3. Gather Information on Adventurer Guild strength. ]
As it stands, she was on the first objective with no progress made. She was furthering SO #3 oddly enough.
Opal noticed that the conversation had moved away from the elder’s attempt to marry off his son. The wagon’s occupants seemed to be in better moods as they’d broken off into smaller groups of conversation.
The elder was discussing something with a slightly younger female beside him. She wore a worn ring that matched his.
“Is this your wife, Sir?” Opal spoke.
It caused the others around them to quiet slightly with interest.
“I am.” The woman said. “I’m Justine.”
“Ye’ this old lady is my wife!” he said with pride.
Opal smiled. “Well met. Were you two merchants together?”
“Of course!” He grinned. “We traveled the Kingdom together… Err… I guess its part of the Empire now… Got to see how that’s going to work – anyways, yes.”
“Don’t mind Dave,” Justine waved him off. “He may be old, but he never shuts it.”
Opal was to assume they didn’t have a good relationship, but she smiled and her husband laughed. It confused Opal for several moments before her system decided to not bother any logical train on that. It was to be filed as is and not parsed.
“Your child lives in Harelquinn, yes?” Opal asked.
“Of course.” Dave said.
“But you live in the town…” Opal said, a question in her statement.
The couple nodded, then Justine spoke.“We moved there years ago when tensions between the Kingdom and Empire were rising. We originally lived in Grialdale, some miles from the border where Fort Kalmore was. At the time, our youngest was a squire to Lord Taylor, but he died in one of many border skermishes. Our second youngest had just gone through the Grialdale college, while our middle and oldest signed with the Guild.”
Dave continued. “Convinced the older two to take posts away from the border. Got the last youngest to become a merchant who took tutelage from an old friend in the Riveria Company.”
Opal minded her body language. Nodding where she deemed appropriate to show interest as not to give the uncanny valley effect. “As a merchant, what did you sell?”
“Ohh, just about anything really,” Dave chuckled.
Justine jumped in. “Dont listen to him. He tries to toot his own ego. He mainly sold grain and ingots. Before we retired, we had begun moving cattle from Ironside to Portress.”
Opal found what she wanted. “Ingots from the frontier?”
Justine chuckled. “Oh no, we didn’t move to the frontier until after we’d retire. No, my dear. We had moved to Port Tress. Since the Kingdom at the time was ramping up for war, they needed a large amount of food and iron. We got the iron from Ironside, the a large mining town to the west of Harlequin. At the foot of the Lake Ridge. It has the largest vein of iron in the kingdom.”
“At the time – more than ten years ago – it was a smaller town since there was a more easily accessible vein east of Harlequin and several by Grialdale.” Dave said. “But because of the war, the Palace had ordered a reassessment of the Lakeridge mines and found it plentiful enough to decree all mining companies relocate there. You know, because of the Deepfrost lake that sits on the otherside made it almost impossible for invasion.”
“What prevents waterside invasions?” Opal asked.
“Err… Im not too sure. I wasn’t interested in that information.” Dave shrugged and Justine shook her head.
“The lake, as its name suggests, is freezing cold,” Marlon spoke. “Not to mention there ware short cliffs rimming the lake as if the lake itself was a gash made by the gods. Or a footprint. A long thin strip of land cuts up its middle betwen Fort Valentine and Fort Kalmore. Its an odd location as well that both of the nations had fought over.”
Opal nodded. Amphibtious attacks were hard operations even with her technology. So much so that most of the time, it was worth HALO Dropping behind instead of attempting a water-borne assault.
“Then what made it worth your time to transport all the items to Port?” Opal asked.
“It’s a long journey.” Justine said. “You cant transport it down directly through the middle of the Kingdom. The geography is too rough, and it still holds the last remaining monsters we know of. Its worth it for adventurers, but for merchants? The most equipment to repair, or replace means less profits.”
Dave nodded and added. “Its slim profits to transport the ore too, which meant we had to partner with a smithy. Igots sell better if you’re willing to share a little of that profit with the blacksmiths. A lot of companies wanted to vertically integrate.”
“They weren’t prepared to move their facilities to Ironside, allowing you to profit in on the sudden shift by the decree.” The AI said.
Dave snapped his finger and pointed to Opal. “A lot of them were slow and too prideful - or greedy little shits. Hard to figure and not worth finding’ either. Justine and I owned a small caravan and quickly went to Ironside to buy up ore before the smithies could try anything or them. But the journey was… Let's just say I don't think it was worth hauling ore from Ironside to Port Tress.”
“Long story short,” Justine waved her husband off. “Is that it would be worth carrying ingots of the same weight in a sturdier wagon than ore. By the nature of it, it would’ve required far more equipment to carry since we’d need to repair more. But with smaller wagons, it allowed better navigation of the roads. Also cheaper to work on if we look at the amount of surface area to possibly fix or reinforce.”
“Brilliant.” Opal commented.
It was half-sincere since it was a smart play on their behalf. It allowed them to give in on the profits without the larger players causing more trouble for them. But in Opal’s eyes, the raw ore was better as it would allow her to change the composition of the finished product. But she wasn’t the one buying or selling it either.
Opal continued after a momentary thought. She figured she’s continue the conversation down a different path as not to raise suspicion on her espionage. “How much did you make through this whole endeavor?”
“Around 100 gold pieces, give or take a few,” Dave said with a wider grin. But it seemed he remembered something and sighed. “But unfortunately the Mistress of Fortunes is a fickle bitch. The larger players eventually got settled and took the lion’s share. We tried to also expand our operations, but got stonewalled by several lords.”
“I assume that meant those players were owned by them?” Opal asked.
Justine nodded. “It was how they grew so powerful. If you have a noble backing you then other nobles will move out of the way as not to offend each other. Despite this, we continued to make a small profit on our journeys. We ended up handing it over to one of the caravan managers for a small fortune. Just enough to retire on. If all was well, I’d assume he’s still going at it.”
The conversation continued for a while longer until it was time for a midday rest stop. Sergeant Marlon informed the riders that the wagon would pull over to the side. He promised that all could dismount and stretch, and he’d go speak with his commander.
Opal dismounted after and looked around. It was raw natural forest, cut by a wide compacted dirt path. She observed no one was watching her in particular and disappeared into the forest at a walking pace. No one questioned her and she didn’t speak.
[OPAL: Status and all force locations.]
There was a two-second pause.
[ONYX: Green. Radiowalker has kept its distance from you. MOW-D and a small squad are with it. The next possible location for overwatch is 30 miles ahead of you where the forest ends. Enemy scouts have pulled from the Town. Radiowalker-2 has taken residence on the mountain by the town. A construction squad has been sent with Spyders to establish communication towers.]
Opal tested the connection, and yes, the latency had gone up by 15ms. Given that, she also sent along the information gained during the ride till then.
[ONYX: Acknowledged. Any other orders?]d[OPAL: Proceed with Operation RockWings.]