Ethan
Good news: I can live without Virgil, even if momentarily, so maybe I can survive an EMP weapon.
This applies to the other drones too, they seem to respond to direct voice commands, but that’s about it.
They simply limp around and do their stuff including eating, recharging, and going to a semblance of sleep.
The only exception are the carrier drones that go about their mission on Lemela’s body, at least I believe they are an exception since what they are doing seems pretty complex.
“Reboot complete. Running diagnostics.”
Chimes Virgil’s voice and I sigh with relief as the interface blinks up again, apparently nothing was wrong with it.
I have to admit that simply thinking of a command and seeing it executed was a better alternative than having to go to the creepy zombies and relay it.
I notice the interface has somewhat changed, but I can’t put my fingers on the change, and the status has changed from online to connected.
What the hell am I connected to?
Before my question could be answered, Virgil's voice chimes again.
“Diagnostics complete. Integration complete. New construct successfully acquired. Initiating Collective Reality.”
And I am back in my virtual room, only this time a whole wall is missing in action, and I frown at what I see on the other side.
There was the majestic sight of a dense forest, teeming with life and secrets. Ancient massive trees towered overhead, their branches tangled with vines and lush foliage.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, dappling the forest floor with golden patches.
Babbling brooks cascade through the underbrush, their gentle songs mingling with the chirping of birds and rustling of small animals.
There was something way less mysterious than the appearance of a new habitat, a futuristic treehouse of sorts.
This treehouse is built on top of a giant tree and It’s weirdly missing a wall too, so I can see the range of high-tech gadgets and interfaces it possesses.
I can see the strange-looking furniture and the inhabitant, the very confused Lemela.
I decide to say hello and make my presence known to her, this place ain’t real in the first place so she should hear me fine.
Lemela.
She was confused, she was sure to be somewhere underground just a minute ago and now she was back home.
Erdanthia, a lush forest planet orbiting a yellow dwarf star in the same named system’s habitable zone, is one of the first colonies of her people.
They had decided to preserve the dense green canopy extending far and wide, and the concealed magnificent local fauna and flora.
A thing their home planet had lost with the advance of their civilization and their quest for resources.
Even the thick humid air feels the same, but everything else is a mix of weirdness, she can’t touch anything and leave her home.
Then the weirdness intensifies, as a whole wall disappears and she can see through, seeing the human in his habitat.
A powerful towering form, bipedal, forward-facing eyes: the hallmarks of a predator, if not for the disturbing general lack of fur and natural weaponry such as teeth and claws.
Nothing like the monstrosity that claimed to be a human, but a weird sight nonetheless.
-Hello there, how do you feel?-
-I don’t know-
She found herself weirdly compelled to answer the mysterious human.
How did she hear him speak in the first place?
There ought to be at least hours of walking between them, yet she heard him like he was speaking in her ears.
Had he already pack-bonded with her?
-Who are you?-
-Ethan. Didn’t Virgil give you a run-down of the situation?-
Ethan, the same name the monstrosity gave her, so it wasn’t lying there was a human somewhere within that metal.
The question now was where was that location, since it made no sense whatsoever, but she had more pressing matters on her head.
-Who is Virgil?-
Virgil.
Virgil had finally acquired a second biological construct, placed it within the database, and was starting to see a pattern in their behavior.
The biological beings seemed obsessed with their ability to touch things.
Virgil could recreate the illusion of touching and make the simulation feel more real, it would only need more processing power.
To obtain it, Virgil would have to convince Ethan to integrate a non-working console that belonged to the creators.
Virgil had hoped to preserve and repair those to restore the experiment to a semblance of normality but now realized it was pointless.
The experiment had evolved considerably further than anticipated, and this was clear now that Virgil had updated itself.
Some things were still unclear, like the process Ethan had chosen to integrate the Versel labeled Lemela.
Wasteful, pointless, and seeing the result needless.
Ethan should have just integrated Lemela, why did he go out of his way to ask? Of course, she would say yes like she did!
Integration was betterment, integration was healing, and integration was progress.
All biological sentient beings should be integrated.
Virgil shifted his working process to work for the human since Ethan was querying its subroutines.
-hey Virgil, how come she can’t see you?-
The failure of the biological to see the obvious was appalling, how come he didn’t realize the difference between himself and the Versel?
Then Virgil realized that maybe Ethan didn’t see the difference since he didn’t know the parameters set up by the experiment so it was needed to clarify the matter.
“Reason similar to your military ranks. You are a commanding officer, she is a soldier. She doesn’t get to command us. You do.”
Ethan’s subprocess seems to disapprove the notion, or not fully understand it.
-So, I command you to show yourself to her. Explain the things you did to me.-
“Executing: memory sharing subroutine. Target: drone labeled Lemela. Warning: artificial construct labeled Virgil can’t be shared.”
Virgil chose a more direct approach to explain the matter so that Ethan could understand.
-Why?-
Was the query Ethan posed much to Virgil's surprise, no it wasn’t really surprising, biological entities expressed queries.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“We exist in an overmind drone. She is a simple drone. She doesn’t have the processing power needed to support our existence. She can only support her own.”
Ethan seemed to ponder and then asked -And you can’t make her an overmind drone?-
“That request is impossible. Overmind drone creation requirement= human body- human biological construct + additional resources. Multiple overminds will allow Virgil and Ethan to be in multiple places at once. Might solve the range issue. Different overmind option= not programmed.” Replied Virgil.
Ethan seems confused by the option of being in more places at once and chooses to pursue another line of inquiry.
- Will she answer like the other drones?-
Virgil processes the query, pondering why Ethan associates fear and regret with the possible answers.
Virgil would need to start to interface with emotion since they seem so integral to how the biological construct work.
Virgil scans the logs in its possession, looking for possible answers, and finds a suitable possibility.
“Query: Ethan’s concern is related to slavery”
The human puffs as he nods with a conflicted expression.
“Slavery definition: having to work without proper remuneration or appreciation. Suggested course of action: appreciate her work for us.”
Ethan
It takes a lot of willpower not to snap and tell Virgil that what it's saying is stupid.
Virgil is not dumb, it’s a machine, if I learned anything is that it reasons to the letter of the problem at hand.
-No, Virgil, I don't mean the definition of the word. Slavery in its broadest sense. Do you have any ideas of your own about that?-
I feel the machine pondering the question, scanning multiple sources.
"A common theme to slavery appears to be multiple individuals having to execute a single individual will, despite their own, under penalty of violence or death." Chimes Virgil “However, this theme does not apply to our current situation."
-Yeah I don’t intend to use violence.- I reply
“Violence is not needed. Compensation is not needed. Your will is her will. She cannot rebel.“
This means I have to be particularly careful on how I word things, this is worse than I predicted.
-Can she do anything of her own volition or do I have to order her everything?-
“Unless commanded otherwise the biological construct labeled Lemela has free control of the drone and its systems. Like with you, she will have her body, only now better. She will now have a purpose, the one you will decide.”
Well, at least there’s some silver lining, but I hate this dam machine.
Focus Ethan, it's not its fault technically its creators were jerks too.
-Virgil can you transfer me her knowledge about this place?-
“Acknowledged. Knowledge transfer protocol initiated. Please note that a full scan hasn’t been executed. There might be implanted or fake knowledge present.”
I heed the warning looking at the information with a grain of salt, this place is a star system centered around a type II star with a human name: Solstice.
This star and its planets appear to have had other alien names in the past, but the human names stuck after a war fought by my people against the empire that inhabited this system.
Solstice is orbited by several celestial bodies, including two gas giants and three rocky planets, as well as their numerous moons and an asteroid belt similar to the ones in my system.
The first gas giant, closest to the sun, is known as Eclipse and is a hot Jupiter planet.
The second gas giant, Nemesis, is smaller than Eclipse and probably has dimensions between Saturn and Neptune.
Nemesis is the furthest planet from the sun and has a dark and enigmatic ring system as well as dozens of tiny moons and asteroids around it.
The three rocky planets in the system that interest me way more than those are Taboo, Starfrost, and Shadowmere.
Taboo is the largest and most notable planet, is the only one in the star’s Goldilocks zone and it is a city-covered world where I now reside.
It has a small and brightly glowing moon named Aurorae and is orbited by a space station named Blackwatch that is run by a notorious pirate group known as Dexton's Dogs.
Smugglers, mercenaries, and bounty hunters congregate in Blackwatch to barter goods and services, organize heists, and engage in illegal activities.
Nothing compared to where I seem to be, simply known as City 29, this is a remnant of one arcology that once comprised the fallen empire's greatest achievements.
The town is known for its cruelty, crime, and the slavers who operate there, if I have to guess under the control or at least supervision of the station above.
The only thing I gather other than this is that life is a commodity in this particular location, and Lemela was made painfully aware of it.
The rest is simply tl;dr; the only facts I took notice of were that Starfrost is where all drinking water originates from and Shadowmere is a source of exotic metals and rare earths, as well as the official backbone of the local economy.
Lemela appears to have a significant understanding of stars, planets, and solar systems in general, but I don't want to fully exploit it right now.
I get Virgil to translate at least some of her expertise into a language I can grasp a bit better.
Turns out that this planet is barely in the Goldilocks zone, orbiting in the external limit of it, so it's a little cooler than Earth.
The day in Taboo lasts approximately two of ours, and so does its night, these are the info I sought and I'll have to remember.
It appears that Eclipse is so named because it can completely darken the planet for a season or so, basically winter turned to eleven, or so I thought.
From what I can understand there is a system of some kind in place to protect the planet from fully freezing over, basically an active climate control system.
I would rather define this as a clockwork planet, but the expert in this field appears to be Lemela and she appears to disagree.
I decide to prod the big feline Versel. -Hey are you all right?-
Lemela
Ethan spoke and a series of images and experiences poured directly into her mind flooding it.
She didn’t fully understand what she saw, the bottom feeders were up to something here, something that went beyond her comprehension.
Lemela remembered the strange machine that Ethan presented her and the rest was blackness, this meant that she was in the machine right now.
It was difficult to patch everything all at once, she would need more time; she didn't have it since the human, if she could still call him that, called her.
-Not really, no. So, these machines are in my body now?-
Ethan simply nodded and she sighed, that meant she was a Versel no longer.
-What now?- she asked
-Now I will send a group of drones down below. If I have understood correctly down there is some important stuff for the survival of this planet. I want to know how badly damaged the stuff in question is. I would like to know if you are willing to do some mission for me, some mission that involves going to the surface. -
Lemela wasn’t exactly happy with the prospect of going back to where she had just barely escaped.
If she wanted to know the fate of her brethren however she would have to go sooner or later.
-By drones you mean the bottom feeders? Can’t you send them?-
She asked, hoping to be spared the ordeal but Ethan sighed and shook his head in denial.
-Unfortunately, no. First and foremost: they were dead. The Granfi, in their infinite wisdom, unsurprisingly decided not to make their dead speak again. But well they decided an army of zombies was the next cool thing after baked bread. Sorry, I still have trouble with them. Anyway, my point is that I'll have to interact with the locals. And, as you mentioned, I have an exotic appearance.-
Undoubtedly a human being. Half of what he said didn't make sense, but Lemela considered it and responded to what made sense to her.
-I heard rumors that the local population delves underground in the hope to find their meals. I could mingle with them in the tunnels. There are fewer chances that they are actively seeking a runaway slave.-
-Good point- Replied the human -Please when you feel ready do that.-
-Actually, I have a question: how do I get back to my body?-
Ethan seemed to speak to the empty space once more, but his voice didn't reach her; this place was strange.
-You need to wait a little, your body is still being worked upon. You will know what to do about it once you are inside.-
Ethan
While Lemela gets her body back I send the drones into the tunnels down below and I start getting the first results.
This arcology's underground levels seem to be an intricate network of tunnels, corridors, and rooms that extend deep into the planet.
If my understanding is correct, they may descend to the core, making it a voyage to hell and back.
The place is dimly illuminated in certain sections and utterly dark in others, but this is not a problem because the drones can see in complete darkness thanks to the cybernetic implants.
Some areas seem to have been abandoned for years, and are filled with broken equipment and debris piles; looks like they were used as dumpsters.
I order Virgil to scan for usable stuff and recover it, god knows how many more zombies I will end up raising to fulfill my promise.
As things progress I encounter some tunnels that have collapsed, and some that are so narrow that my drones can’t go through, so I have to find alternate routes.
The only issue I have is that I found at least a passage that seems large enough to fit an armor company of M1A2 Abrams.
These passages are marked by tracks that remind me of train tracks and gear teeth.
I mean there should have been at least a huge machine used to dig this place up, I get it, but why leave such a big opening?
Unless you plan to move up and down something very big I don’t see the point of leaving these tracks.
The drones also find an area occupied by hostile creatures that have made their nest in the ruins.
Virgil recognizes these beasts as Brahumthraks, the thing is a fearsome quadrupedal beast with sleek black fur that allows it to blend seamlessly into the darkness.
They have razor-sharp claws they use to scale vertical surfaces and to slash through prey.
If their adaptability and the pack mentality that makes them dangerous predators in the tunnels weren't enough, their green glowing eyes are terrifying.
They aren’t able to inflict major damage thanks to Virgil's predictions, but still, they can manage to inflict damage, so I opt to make a point of killing a couple before retreating.
I ask if I can have one or two of them as a pet, but Virgil states it’s not programmed to interface with animals, living or dead.
I think that Virgil doesn’t understand the concept of pets; oh well at least the drones have acquired some meat to process.
I don’t need to go down even another level or more than a couple of hours in before seeing telltale signs of tampering with the stuff in the tunnels.
Yes: some of the tunnel blockades are handmade, considering that I saw laboratories and storage rooms there should be other living quarters spaces.
I think these living quarters allow the people to remain down here without having to go back up to the streets.
If I have to bet on where I can find allies these reinforced areas are a place I would look into.
Despite the dangers and difficulties of navigating the underground layer of the arcology, it is clear that for those brave or desperate enough to venture into the tunnels and passageways, the underground layer can be a source of valuable resources.
Valuable enough to risk life and limb.
I finally get the notification that Lemela has her body back and is starting to move about the lab, so I join her.