Chapter 2. Recruitment.

“Unidentified vessel, heave to and prepare to be boarded,” Captain Watkins ordered over the loudspeakers.

The vessel next to the Protector Class Coast Guard Cutter Barracuda, was a fast luxury boat that had started its life as some rich persons toy. Now, it had been transformed into a high-speed smuggling ship that was loaded to the gunwales with tightly wrapped bundles of narcotics. It had been making its way up the coast of California when Barracuda was ordered to intercept. The Coast Guard ship’s spotlight cut through the darkness to illuminate the smuggling vessel and its cargo.

Three men were spotted on the smuggler’s ship, one ducking down at the helm, and two others in the aft passenger area. Watkins could see the two in the passenger area poking their heads up for a look, only to be blinded by the spotlight. A chopper was on the way to support them, but there was no way Captain Watkins was going to wait another twenty minutes for it to arrive before he acted.

Odds were that the crew would scuttle the ship before they allowed it to be captured. Intel from the DEA had indicated that the ship was smuggling another massive load of Fentanyl for the cartel. If those drugs reached shore and were distributed, a fresh wave of overdose deaths and misery would flood the streets up and down the California coast. Watkins’ ship, the USCGC Barracuda would normally have trouble keeping up with their target, but one of the engines on the smugglers’ ship seemed to have some kind of mechanical trouble, slowing them considerably.

“No response to our hails on the radio, sir,” Seaman Mays, who was manning their comms, announced just before Watkins could ask.

His crew was a solid one. Their previous commander had done a great job with training, such a good job that he had been promoted to command one of the Coast Guard’s larger ships. His promotion allowed Watkins a chance to take over a month ago. For an aging Coast Guard officer, this was probably his last chance at command before retirement.

“We’re taking fire!” Petty Officer Lane announced.

Watkins could see flashes of automatic weapons fire coming from the smuggler’s vessel as they sprayed his ship. One of the two gunners manning their pair of M2 .50 caliber machineguns on pintle mounts at the bow went down. Calls for a corpsman were shouted out. Before Watkins could even order it, the other gunner, a sailor named Hopkins, opened fire on the smugglers.

The heavy machine gun rounds hammered out by the venerable M2 machine gun easily shattered the fiberglass body of the smuggler’s ship as the gunner walked his fire toward their attackers. One of the smugglers stood and aimed what looked like an RPG launcher at their ship, but a burst of .50 caliber rounds nearly tore the man in half. More rounds peppered the area that the shooter had appeared from, just in case another crewman was down there trying to recover the launcher.

An impossibly bright light filled Captain Watkins’ vision, and a wave of force crashed into him. Darkness encroached and just before his mind went blank, Watkins realized that the rounds fired by Hopkins had hit something other than bundles of drugs on the smugglers ship. It must have also been carrying more firepower than just a few rifles and an RPG. Whatever ordinance the smugglers were trying to bring ashore, it was enough to blow both their ship, and the Barracuda, to bits.

Watkins drifted in the darkness, wondering what would happen next. He figured he was dead, or maybe horribly injured and unconscious. But if he was just knocked out from the blast, he wouldn’t be able to think so clearly, would he? He couldn’t feel anything and at least there was no pain. All he could do was wait, though his impatience was growing by the second.

Potential viable candidate for experimental core integration has been located and secured. Stand by as this lifeform is tested.

The words appeared in front of him as Watkins also heard them in his mind. He finally felt something other than just numbness. Memories flashed through Watkins’ vision as something sifted through his mind. His flow of memories stopped at certain times, as if someone was slowing their search and taking a greater interest in them. The stopping points were mostly during important events in his military career and also during his college days where he acquired a master’s degree in military history.

The subject known as Jesse Watkins possesses a compatible knowledge base for core integration. Approximately 47.4% of his mind could be considered extraneous. Deletion of unwanted data and reformatting for core integration will now begin.

His memories? Whoever this was wanted to take almost half his memories. Terror squeezed at Watkins’ mind. To lose his memories was to lose who he was.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“No, you can’t take my memories!” Watkins screamed in his mind at whoever was doing this to him. It shocked him that he had no voice, but just thinking the words seemed to have the same effect.

The subject has lodged an objection to the complete deletion of extraneous memory data. Prior experiments indicate a 58.5% chance of integration failure if the subject is actively resisting integration. This failure chance is unacceptable. Please wait as adjudication is requested.

Processing…

A compromise will be offered to the subject. Extraneous deleted information will be stored offsite. When your core grows in power and can reabsorb the data without affecting your performance, the stored data will be unlocked and made available for you to download.

“That sounds better than deleting my memories, but where am I and why am I here?” Watkins thought toward the strange computer-like being that seemed to be in control of his afterlife.

A provisional acceptance of the terms offered has been noted. Subject requests additional information regarding his current situation. Request for additional instruction and background information has been sent for adjudication.

Request denied. The window for successful core integration is closing.

As a partial compromise, a limited amount of additional information on his prior existence will be integrated into the Limited Adjunct Network Interface.

Prepare for core integration.

With that final statement, Watkins’ existence exploded in pain. His mind was ripped apart, and as promised, memories were torn out and sent elsewhere as new data was integrated into his very being. Pain and emotion were replaced by an innate knowledge of the core that he was becoming.

Watkins’ mind still felt fear over what was happening to him, but he also found that fear was greatly diminished from what it should have been. His mind felt more stable than it had ever felt before, but Watkins also felt somewhat less than human. Before he could contemplate what he had become, more information appeared.

Core data compression successful. Installation into existing core housing will now commence.

Existing links have been located in the core power matrix. You have unlocked and received the control codes for an experimental Universal Fabricator.

“Fabricators, core housing? What was going on?” Watkins asked himself and whatever entity was projecting these words into his head.

Inquiries from the newly designated core are no longer being accepted. Please reserve all questions for when you unlock and activate your Limited Adjunct Network Interface.

With that message, Watkins felt himself hurled into the void. This odd feeling of movement continued for some time, and Watkins wished he had some way to track or mark time. After what could have been seconds or years, he felt the sense of movement slow, then stop.

His mind was compressed as it began to install itself into a physical object. Cold metallic alloys and clear, armored plastic came into view around him. He was being sealed into some device. Whether this device would become a home, or a prison, remained to be seen.

He felt uncomfortable, like he didn’t quite fit into the space he was being forced into. Also, Watkins sensed that his new home wasn’t exactly as secure as it seemed. After a few minutes of discomfort, everything seemed to click into place and a flurry of messages appeared.

Core integration complete.

External viewing is activating.

Starting Initialization process.

Error, network connection failed. Unable to interface with vessel. Adjunct is offline.

No connection to station Alpha 712 is detected.

No connection to the station at Jump Point 1 is detected.

No connection to the station at Jump Point 2 is detected.

Examining hardline connections…

Master controls are disconnected.

All ship subsystem controls are disconnected.

Checking for any viable hardline connections…

Connection to Universal Fabricator, Level 0 detected.

Connection to Reprocessor, Level 0 detected.

No further connections detected.

Priority task: Utilize active connections in order to effect repairs and complete integration with your vessel.

A vision of the world outside Watkins’ cage appeared, and the view wasn’t exactly a pretty one. He was placed in the corner of a square metal room. A single, sealed hatchway on the far wall led from the room to who knew where. Watkins had no way to measure how large the room was, and he couldn’t turn his head to see anything to the sides or behind him.

For a few seconds, panic began to grip Watkins. He had been aboard his ship, the Barracuda, one moment, and then blasted into oblivion the next. Somehow, whoever controlled the strange computer-like text had recruited him for some mission that he had no idea about. Now, he found himself bound to some unknown device and his human body was completely gone.

Almost as suddenly as the panic hit, it dissipated away. Watkins’ mind shifted, refusing to allow emotion to cloud it. The feeling was unnatural, and he knew in his very being that to eliminate all emotion was to eliminate who he truly was. A war inside Watkins began to take place, the strange data that had usurped so many of his memories struggled against what remained of the man he once was.

Neither of the two sides, his humanity, and the new parts of his mind could gain an advantage. He struggled against himself, one moment fighting to remember and keep who he had been, and the next, he felt an overwhelming need to suppress emotion and accept his integration into this new existence.

A sharp, low pain lanced across Watkins and both sides of his mind decided to make a truce as a new threat emerged.

Your core is under attack.

Core housing durability is at 99%.