System log: The Bunker, Site 3

Solar Calendar: Unknown, 2???

Current status: Active

Log 18

Even the departure of most of the new humans, that still left a great deal more in the facility than previous. The original group of seven runner had grown to twenty humans in total. Besides Hank, who had left with second-in-command runner Jamie’s group, that meant there were 16 new humans to process and make new files one. Technically 15, since Gamma had gotten a good start on the file for Cortez, one of the newest Roadrunners, from Hank’s memories. Setting aside the obvious security concerns, Gamma was far more interested in the new abilities of these humans and what they could provide to the program’s plans. As such, while directing the ongoing repairs and scouting, Gamma devoted more of its processing power to keep watch and record the new human interactions.

The first thing the boss captain Donaldson did once everyone had settled was to order everyone together to begin explaining the facility to the newcomers. More likely, by Gamma’s read of the man’s character and priorities, the boss was likely concerned about the small camp at the back left corner of the mall’s first floor, close to the hidden hallway leading to the hub module’s core, being no longer optimal now that more humans were here, and even more so that they expected even more humans in the future. The program highly expected the man to have already begun considering expansion and zoning of human habitation, though to what degree he was capable of such was yet to be seen.

“Alright runners, gather around,” he called out, summoning the 19 other humans to join him. Once everyone gathered, he continued. “Now, since most of you are new, I’ll give you all a quick rundown of this place as we know it. First, this is the central lobby.” He gestured to the large two-story room they were all within. “The entrance is over there at the center of the front wall. If you take the stairs or elevator up to the second floor, the fabricator room is there on the left side. The hall leading to the medical center is on the right wall near the back right corner, there.” He pointed with each description. “The small hall on the left wall closer to the back wall, near our current camp, leads to what we think is an old security station with a terminal computer. Don’t bother trying to plug in hack it yet; Sloan will explain it to you techies later. Beyond that, there are a lot of maintenance tunnels paralleling the open spaces that I highly advise you all avoid for now.”

“Sounds cozy,” one of the new runners drawled. “But what about all these side rooms boss?”

“Yeah!” another spoke up. “I can see some sweet goodies even from here, the kind that would make a pretty penny from the wallers. Why haven’t you guys started gathering it all up?”

“Why don’t you ask Ryan about that, and how we determined which room was used for security,” the boss answered wryly, eliciting a chortling from the group and some good-natured teasing to the larger man, who only shrugged without much shame. “Anyway, we’ve spent most of our time fixing things up to make sure we could keep this place, like those fancy guns at the entrance. Now that you’re all here, though, you’re right. I think it’s time we start expanding our base of operations around here.”

“Does that include where to go to take a leak and such?” Another new voice asked. “Because, I think I’ll need to go at some point boss.”

Donaldson rolled his eyes at the question, which had caused a round of chuckles despite the seriousness of the question. “We’ve been taking shifts relieving ourselves outside, but that won’t fly anymore. Luckily,” the older man pointed at the facility restrooms in the mall. “In our scouting, we’ve determined that rooms with those blue and pink symbols are actually facilities devoted to that function. There are even written instructions on how to operate the machines inside, though the hot water isn’t working. Hell, we haven’t tried them yet, but I think there are working water showers too. We haven’t tested the water yet though, so stick to carried units for your meals for now.”

Judging by the repressed excited murmuring and curious looks, it appeared that many of the runners were not accustomed to the usage of ‘water showers’ to remove daily dirt and sweat from their bodies. However, given that they appeared to be aware of the need for cleanliness and acted with the intent to ensure disease did not develop, perhaps they cleaned themselves some other way? Another question added to the list for later. In any case, the bathrooms in the fake mall were indeed fully functional, as intended for their use in practicing fluid distribution and control, and later social interactions for the A.I.s. Gamma wondered if the runners would use the soap available.

“As for the side rooms,” the boss continued. “While we had some trouble at first, we were able to raid a tool shop when we were tasked to assist in repairing the facility without consequence. Not knowing how this place is being operated or controlled, I think we can get away with using and moving the things inside if we’re technically working for the restoration of this place. Such as clearing away the damage caused by the stalker attack from a few nights ago.” The boss inclined his head towards the several broken storefronts and smashed insides from the attack.

“Think we should expect more bug attacks sir?” another runner asked.

“As we’re in a forbidden zone, I’d count on it,” the boss nodded. “Though, the guns at the entrance should hopefully keep things out. We’ll have to do something outside at some point though if merchants do end up coming, but for now I doubt we need to stay readied up while in this room.”

“So,” he suddenly clapped his hand together. “First thing is first runners! Let’s clean up those three side rooms on the left wall, and the two side rooms on the bottom left wall. We’ll use the two on the left for our new residence and set up the tents in standard rows, and cover the broken walls with tarp. The other rooms we can use for storage for now. Anything broken, gather it into a pile out here and we’ll shuttle everything up the fabricator room for recycling. Anything useful or valuable looking, let’s put in . . . the third room on the left wall for now. Everyone clear?”

“CLEAR!” the runner announced in unison.

“Then let’s get to work!”

Gamma watched the humans for a little while longer before removing the bulk of processing power from observation and tracking. The day was still early, and the humans would likely take the rest of the day to accomplish their new goal, which Gamma agreed with but had no interest in. The logic of the runner boss was fairly flimsy in regards to ‘removing’ things from the mall stores, but solid enough that D.M.H.E.L.L. protocol didn’t need to force another ‘security’ incident. If someone was dumb enough to do something obvious stupid and/or criminal, Gamma would send the old drone like before.

The program directed its attention to the fabricator room and the scout map it had put together. Two more Knight mechas were currently being built, with delivery scheduled for the next morning, but construction bot requests still limited the pace at which the mechas could be built for the next. . . week, estimated. Rock slide removal was uncovering further damage requiring more materials unfortunately, but progress was ongoing.

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The scout map was far more interesting as a result. Under Gamma’s guidance, the scout drones had been refocused to the area around the detected probably human facility with the garage, and had determined an 81% safe path from Site 3 to it, with a danger variability of 10% based on unknown variables in the environment. Further drone exploration would only bring this up to an 85% with 5% variability most likely, so the risk was just about as minimized as the program could make it for a scouting expedition to be sent.

Still, this left the question of who to send the current difficult deliberation to consider. The distance was far enough that the sensors outside Site 3 would be unable to detect any trouble, and the restriction of wireless communication in the crater prevented new orders from being given and warnings from being received. The maintenance and scout drones had the power capacity to make it there and back in the air, but lacked the CPU complexity to accept complicated and reactive orders per possible scenario. The constructions drones also could make the trip at a slower speed, but suffered the same order restrictions. Above all, having to rebuild lost drones would only hamper repair progress, something Gamma was loathed to do unless absolutely necessary.

The humans remained the best choice for reactive scenarios, except Gamma couldn’t actively and directly control their actions or determine how they would react to whatever the structure’s purpose turned out to be. There also wasn’t a guarantee they would obey further orders either should the structure prove more valuable than Site 3, which was in reality impossible given Gamma’s existence but the humans didn’t know that. Gamma was forced to process the conundrum with more processing power than usual, even causing the chilly server rooms to momentarily work harder alongside the water pipe system to remove the excess heat generation from the machinery. It would appear the humans would have their hot water today, as an aside.

Finally, and reluctantly, the program had to relent in the usage of drones for this excursion. It did not have enough data on the new humans to risk assigning them a mission outside the facility and Gamma’s reach, and it could spare the minimum couple of drones for this. The percent decrease in work efficiency was so low it wasn’t even forth storing in memory, despite Gamma’s overall reluctance, so the plan was set. A group of two construction drones, one maintenance drone, and two scout drones would be sent out to the new region to investigate and attempt to enter the garage facility. One scout would stay with the group, while the other would watch and record the group at a safe distance in case of hostile encounters to ensure a report was turned in to the program.

To avoid alerting the humans, Gamma authorized usage of one of the rooftop maintenance hatches for a discreet exit, this one close to the impromptu terminal setup for scout drone recharge and data upload. With the limited flying capability of the construction drones, the group was easily able to scale down the side of the facility and make their way towards their objective. Gamma calculated at least 24 hours would be required for the group to return, should nothing go wrong. It would have to wait and see what the drones found.

In the meantime, the humans had managed to make a dent in making a mess on the mall floor from all the trash they removed from the broken store fronts. Most of the trash was usable by the fabricator recyclers, though the lower grade plastics would likely be set aside until enough had accumulated to justify the power needed to convert the stuff into something useful. Perhaps the alien invasion had made a dent in removing the vast amount of microplastics leftover from humanity’s latter technological expansions; likely the only good thing to have occurred, the program mused.

In any case, the humans were doing as humans did; changing their environment to better suit their needs and desires. The end result wouldn’t be anything particularly aesthetically pleasing, of that Gamma had no doubt given their limited materials and supplies, but given the focus on survival demonstrated by these human runners, it would certainly be functional.

Idly, the program considered the possibility that more knight mechas would be needed if the expedition group uncovered something hostile. There were certain minor components it could squeeze into production runs to set aside for later that would speed things up, if slow production by 5% for repair materials. Gamma judged the loss to be justifiable as it would reduce future knight productions runs by 25% of time required. It was always best to be prepared for the worst-case scenario, after all.

Speaking of such possibilities, the program took a few moments to process timeframes for the return of the other humans. Annoyingly, such a far distance meant the program would only be able to act in response to human decisions it could not affect or direct. However, it had confidence in the scout included in the return journey. Gamma was excited for their return, and the data they would provide; knowingly, or unknowingly.

***

The large multi-group of humans moved swiftly and silently down the bath leading to Old Jackson. Captain Stonewall led the way with his guardsmen, taking the time to record the path they were taking and discuss with the other leaders at each break on optimal routes and patrol routes. Captain Teddy had seemingly returned to his more laidback and arrogant attitude, laughing at jokes and attempting to hit on any women in any of the groups that struck his fancy. Hank was annoyed that while most seemed to brush him off, there were those who seemed to return the affection.

“Can’t believe men like him are able to get women that way,” he grumbled to Jamie during one of the breaks. “The thought of someone like him talking to my granddaughter, makes want to polish my rifle.”

“Hm,” the younger woman grimaced momentarily before turning her attention over to Hank. “Well, I can’t speak for every woman, but I prefer someone who acts instead of just talks. Although,” now her face took on a teasing expression, “I seem to recall stories from your younger days with the boss. Didn’t you used to talk a big game yourself before you got married?”

Hank cleared his throat and clicked his tongue, but noticeable did not redden. Much. “I’m not saying trying to find a partner is bad,” he grumbled again. “Hell, with our jobs we usually end up marrying other runners with the little liberty we get in cities and settlements. Hard to meet people while on the move. I’m just saying,” he jerked his thumb at the younger captain, “being a void’s ass is a terrible way to do it.”

“No arguing that,” Jamie agreed. “But come on. You’re more annoyed because you have a granddaughter, right?”

Hank snorted and didn’t say anything, causing Jamie to chuckle.

“So,” she continued, a curious light in her eyes now. “You left off with the stalker attack last time. What happened after that?”

Hank waved his arm lazily. “They threw me into a tube and left me; not exactly a riveting story vice boss. Apparently, I floated around for three days while my body got fixed up. Then, after waking up for a moment to talk to the boss, I got spat out onto the floor, naked as the day I was born. Was real glad they left my clothes close enough for me to crawl too; that floor was cold.”

“I bet,” Jamie shivered. “So, you didn’t see or hear anything interesting while floating in the tube? Nothing?”

“I was conked out as a drunk at four in the morning,” Hank shrugged. “What, did you think I saw the secrets of the universe or something? At my age, we call that dementia, or nostalgia.”

“You had nanites healing you, and you didn’t hear or see anything?” Jamie pressed.

Hank rolled his eyes. “Ah, you’re thinking of those old wives tales about hearing ‘the voice of the machine’ or some void crap. I wasn’t hooked up to anything, and I didn’t get tubes in my head. All I did was dream, if anything.” The older man’s face suddenly relaxed at the thought. “Mm, good dreams I guess. I dreamed of meeting my wife, meeting my kid and grandkid, other happier times. That was nice I suppose.”

Jamie shook her head, but as she opened her mouth someone called her name. “Ah, another captain meeting,” she sighed, getting up. “Let’s talk more later old man.”

Hank waved her off and shifted into a more comfortable position on the ground. The older man looked up at the sky with a thoughtful expression on his face.

He hadn’t exactly lied to Jamie, not really, but he hadn’t and didn’t plan on mentioning that one memory in particular had appeared in his dreams more than once, and had been the only non-happy memory he’d dreamed. The events leading to the group entering the ruin were crystal clear in his mind, far clearer than anything he could think. It felt almost unnatural in a way, as if he’d memorized the event from repetitious experience. The oddest part, was that he had some awareness of things he shouldn’t have known in the memory; angles of the worm he was sure he’d never seen, knowledge of other people’s thoughts he shouldn’t know, and other such details. With his over 60 years of life experience, and the things he’d heard from his parents and grandpa who had survived the war, Hank had his suspicions. Enough suspicions, in fact, that he’d taken to being careful with what he said aloud.

The older man whistled an old tune as he watched the sky. Inside his head, the noise was carefully recorded by tiny nanites, silent in the dark.