System log: The Bunker, Site 3
Solar Calendar: Unknown, 2???
Current status: Active
Log 23
The day had proven itself to be quite the exciting departure by the end of it. Between loading up another human into a healing pod, downloading the records and recordings from the Knight mechas on top of queuing up a significant repair order for one, receiving the copy of the old factory’s data from multiple sources as it had been split, and the battle/records data from the mini-rex M.A.D., Gamma suddenly found itself to be quite busy once evening came around. It barely could focus the minimum processing power required to keep track of all the humans inside Site 3, as they were practically running up the walls thanks to the return of the scout team. Never had the program been so grateful for the arrival of nightfall, and human requirement of sleep.
Once things calmed down, the program could finally properly organize and store all the new data it had received over the day.
Firstly, the status of one runner, designated ‘Hilda’. Current status, medically induced coma to allow nanomachine healing and to analyze type ‘hulk’ physique. Required time for full recovery, 12 hours. Genome and physical characteristics currently being analyzed for future reference and medical plans. Damages incurred in the field: medium-level bruising, numerous minor lacerations and abrasions, minor concussion, numerous minor internal damage resulting from shockwave and impact exposure. Injuries judged to be non-fatal and recoverable without nanites---- overruled for science.
There wouldn’t be any further issues with the female human. Gamma moved on.
Thanks to the recordings, the program had a good grasp of the sequence of events that took place for both groups before they joined up. The Knight mechas kept a running record of usage data and recorded all sounds and orders in their black boxes, which were uploaded to Gamma during recharge. Using the gathered personality and psych profile it had on each individual, it could easily calculate each human’s thoughts and insert them into the records to establish motives for each action and word spoken. Of course, this didn’t apply so much to the new humans like Hilda and Steve, but through increased data collection it would understand them. Hilda, especially, had demonstrated both bravery and a rudimentary understanding of tactics through her fight with the mini-rex, even if she had lost due to poor equipment. Had she been in a Knight mecha of her own, she wouldn’t have been harmed. Steve, on the other hand, had only proven his competence and willingness to teach on this adventure. His quiet nature would prove difficult to calculate for now.
Now, the most important acquisition from the scouting trip; the factory data. As the humans had guessed, the factory Gamma had sent the drones to had indeed been one whose purpose had been to build massive war machines. In fact, the mini-rex they had fought had been one of the earlier models built at the section H factory facility 2 building, and Gamma now had access to both its blueprints, and its specs.
U.S.M.A.D.- Mark 7: Mini-Rex
Functions: Mobile Artillery, Auto-Combat
Design: Tripod
Creator: Locklin Industries
Strengths:
Stealth, Speed, Range
Combat Rating: Medium (Small)
Weaknesses:
Logistics Dependent
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Ѫ Ѫ Ѫ
Description:
Mobile Artillery Drone designed by Locklin Industries for the United States military, seventh generation.
Upgrades to this modal include both bipedal and tripedal capability, with improved flexibility and strength in legs allowing for increased mobility and versatility.
Capable of firing kinetic projectiles with low grade mass driver cannons (experimental), and easily switchable to alternative ammunition types. Twin gatling guns serve as close range anti-personnel defenses.
Due to storage size limitations, it can only carry a limited amount of ammo and requires logistical line to replenish. In emergencies, can use local materials as pseudo ammunition.
Cont…
“The runners were very fortunate to have encountered this mech in its weakened state,” Gamma confirmed as it scanned through the file on the mini-rex. Comparing the ‘official’ blueprints with the data the scout drones had recovered, it turned out that this particular mini-rex had actually built as an experimental version for the 8th generation. This included advancements in power generation thanks to improved perovskite solar cell tech, more versatile ammo, and better threat prioritization coding. This was why it had focused on the leader of the runners after identifying him, though this focus had led to the mech’s defeat. Even the most perfect code would bug eventually if maintenance wasn’t given, as hardware damage would accumulate; the computer’s version of dementia. Had the mini-rex been in perfect working order, it would have recognized the trap and reacted better. Of course, had that been the case, it wouldn’t have gotten within range of the runners to begin with; artillery wasn’t meant to deal with infantry up close and personal after all.
More interestingly, however, to the program was that this experimental mecha had several references to Project Knight, one of the sister projects to Project Lighthouse that had resulted in Gamma. The references were only in passing, but as they appeared only in the records associated with the experimental features, that meant even after Site 3 had enabled the tomb protocol, the military still had access to the project’s data and continued to iterate on it.
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Referring back to the recording of Dr. Conns, the one where he became the new leader of Site 3, Site 2 had been lost but their research had not. Supposedly, that data was somewhere in the facility of Site 3, though Gamma didn’t know where due to being cut off from the other memory servers. Logically, it made sense for that data to have been shared with the military who remained aboveground, as they’d a more urgent need for it.
“So, as predicted, it must relate to mechs, and possibly mecha,” Gamma reasoned. Given how the one clear example of success from their other sister project, Project Bastion, had resulted in the high performing construction material that had protected Site 3, the program could draw some base level conclusions with more certainly.
Bastion was for the construction material, aka the what, Knight was for the design, aka the how, and Lighthouse was for the mind, aka the why. Three key components to create. . . something. There were too many possibilities that could satisfy this criteria. For now, this would have to do until Gamma reconnected with its missing memory banks in the other modules. Perhaps it would find more questions instead, but it had plenty of room on its still growing list.
Now, the program had come to the final data, and the most unexpected. It had only expected the scout drones to record the events that played out and any new map data from the trip. It hadn’t expected them to take the initiative to download that data from the immobilized mini-rex. Scanning each had confirmed their logic to the program; the old war bot would have additional map data they were required to acquire, and the drones uploaded everything because they lacked the processing power to only take the map data. Somehow, Gamma’s processing of the drone’s reasoning didn’t quite come out to a round integer, but the lack of anything else on each drone’s CPU forced to program to attribute this to a rounding error courtesy of the distributed network. It had happened before, after all.
And, it wasn’t as if the data hadn’t been important. The revelation of the mini-rex’s experimental features had already proven valuable, though the map data less so. The bugs in the old war bot’s code had reached its memory banks, and as the machine had been shut down in hibernation mood for several years, it lacks a good deal of current map data. Even the map data it did possess from its patrolling directives was limited to section H, though this still was a valuable find as the factory had notably lacked any map data. Gamma would be able to use this to plan out the next scouting expedition.
But all of this paled to the video files. A quick scan had confirmed a good number of these to have suffered corruption damage from weathering, and in some cases overwriting to save memory, resulting in ‘ghost images’ playing over certain recordings, like an ancient overused VHS tape. However, enough was there to be seen, and analyzed.
Silently, Gamma began to watch.
***
Static. A blue sky and bright sun. More static.
-beginning patrol.
Exiting the --- and slowly walking down the route. The rare skyscraper intermingled with sprawling factories and airfields, grouped up barracks, and training grounds. Loud noises as troops marched and vehicles transported ---. Incoming report update, new enemy data. New enemy design confirmed, stalker. Adding to identification protocol, under group ‘Bug’, family ‘Local Fauna’. Continuing patrol. ---
---
-beginning patrol.
Exiting --- updating patrol route to avoid new construction for civilian leadership and refugees. Numerous new structures impeding optimal route, requesting local system assistance in optimization. Confirming --- patrol underway. Loud noises as troops march and babies cry. Airfields priority protection, followed by aircraft and spacecraft. New enemy design confirmed, succubi. Adding to identification protocol, under group ‘Demon’, family ‘Infiltrator Android’. Continuing patrol. ---
---
-beginning combat patrol.
Exit --- rerouting route to avoid craters. Collapsed structures free of ‘Rescue’ metadata acceptable alternative path confirmed. Loud noises in the far distance. Front line not currently attached to combat patrol. Airfield confirmed current top protection target, followed by spacecraft. No need civilian construction underway. Playground in path, determined intact, avoiding.
Alert- detection of hostiles! Locking on. Distance confirmed. Firing. Confirming destruction of all hostiles, confirmed. Sending report of stalker intrusion. Adding tracking data, other units moving to intercept and ---
-resuming combat patrol.
Orders update, report to section H factory 2 for maintenance and reloading. Confirmed.
---
-beginning combat patrol.
--- restriction to section H revoked. No airfield, rerouting priorities. No spacecraft, rerouting priorities. Depot and residential confirmed top protection target. Proceeding with combat patrol. ---
Loud noises confirmed, moving to intercept. Engaging hostiles, confirmed presence of Bug, Demon, Alien, and --- family types. Engaging---
---
Unable to connect to local server, switching to archived data.
Patrol route unavailable. Unable to locate priority protection targets, reo=routing priorities. Military depots not detected, rerouting. Residential structures not detected, rerouting. Military assets. . . rerouting. Military personnel, not detected, rerouting. Civilian, personnel, detected. Confirmed. Civilian personnel confirmed top protection target. Proceeding-.-.
Civilian personnel not detected. Engaging all hostiles.
---
-beginning patrol.
---
-beginning patrol. Hostiles detected, eliminated. Rearming.
---
-beginning p@trol. Priority @mmo replenishment, rerouting to rearm—
---
--@mmo stores low, un@ble to loc@te @mmo replenishment—
---
-beginning-
---
-p@trol-
---
---
---
---
---
Hibernation function cea$ed. Detecting m0vement @ factory 2. Moving to intercept…--
Confirmed &$^ hostiles?, human hostages. Moving to rescue hostages, civilian priority protection target.
Error, hostile action from hostage. Redesginating %$%^ infiltrator?---
Unable to move. Attempting escape.
Unable to move. Attempting escape.
Unable to move. Attempting escape.
Unable to move. Attempting escape.
Unable to move. Attempting escape.
Attempting escape.
Attempting escape.
Attempting escape.
Attempting.
Attempting.
…
Unable, to, continue, protection. Mission, failed?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
***
Closing the static filled video as the records came to an end, Gamma took a moment, as the humans did, to offer a moment of silence to the fallen mech. While the old machine wasn’t near the levels of intelligence of any of Project Lighthouse’s Ais, it had done its duty the best of its ability for over a hundred years. Gamma understood respect and honor, though neither had been significant enough for the scientists to program in as their own emotion modules. No, those were lesser programs in the scheme of things that granted Gamma ‘feelings’, but were still an important part of Empathy.exe. Tragically, it hadn’t been able to recognize the Knights as humans wearing armor and had attacked to save what it had thought to be hostages. Perhaps if things had gone different, the old war bot could have been spared and repaired by Gamma into an ally.
There was no going back, only looking forward and planning ahead.
Still, through these recordings Gamma had gained some valuable knowledge on the enemy. It had only ever heard of the term ‘bugs’ from the humans when refering to the invader machines that threatened the planet and remaining human civilization. The terms ‘demon’, ‘alien’, and further seemed to imply other types of invader machines, most likely with different purposes.
The stalkers were a ‘bug’ type, but they were made for the purpose of warfare and no longer a common sight. Instead, the tremor worms were more commonly found, with a purpose of resource gathering for reasons unknown, and a clear result of terraforming. This other type mentioned and not seen, the succubi, was likely similar in purpose to the stalkers; dealing with human armies, but through infiltration. Given the name, perhaps a manipulator on top of information gatherer? If demon types still existed, what were their modern iterations? There wasn’t a clue what ‘alien’ meant, though the name was surely ironic.
Gamma had much to ruminate on as the night continued. It needed to fully digest all the factory data, especially the blueprints, before it made any other big moves. The existence of the mini-rex was a clear sign that danger levels had to be considered for all future scouting missions, especially if the humans got involved. It would need to create and craft new tools to deal with these threats, but until Factory was reconnected to. . .
Meanwhile, while the program ruminated and planned, the scout drones all silently recharged in their ports. New memories were shared within the group, and the delayed questions of the day were finally debated on. The simple drones, even sharing processing power with their distributed network, was having trouble coming to objective answers for these subjective questions.
Thankfully, they had a new source to question, one newly uploaded to their shared memory server. It was the silent type, but it only gave objective answers. Unfortunately, this failed to solve the source of the problem, as how could logic ever appease preference? The debate could only continue, and grow more complex.