Madeline sits on the edge of a stiff bed, in the spartan surrounds of the barracks. She’s still clad in her armor, covered in dried blood spatter. Her bloodied mace lays next to her, and quiver sits on the floor standing up on it’s bottom. It’s nowhere near even her tiny Peacekeeper apartment for comfort. A grey metal cabinet sits next to her bed, the door hanging open. Three of her favorite civilian dresses hang from the rod up top, along with a thin hospital gown and three sets of tight pink athletic short-sleeve shirt and leggings.
The armor weighs heavy on her spine. The painkillers from before the mission are wearing off. She unbuckles the sides of her cuirass, and painfully lifts it over her head. Holding it in front of her, the paint up front is scratched up beneath caked crimson. Her soft armor dress underneath has punctures and slashes in her armpit and exposed bicep where hard armor doesn’t cover.
Madeline brushes at the plating with her fingertips, dried blood flaking off and revealing the UEG sigil. She sets the cuirass down in disgust. She reaches back, and unzips the armored dress. Shrugging it off as she stands, it falls to the floor revealing her pink chest binder and undershorts. Scars and pockmarks cover her arms, faint but so numerous they nearly sleeve her up and down. Her collarbone and neckline also bear remnants of battle, scarring and slight lumps on her bones where they’ve been hastily regenerated. The cold air surrounds her, giving her goosebumps. The backs of her legs are covered by puncture scars.
She sighs in relief at suddenly being 20kg lighter. Unfortunately, the weight of her deeds can’t be shed so easily. Those civilians sacrificed themselves to the last man, and ultimately accomplished nothing. As if they didn’t care if they lived, with a single minded purpose. Madeline shivers at the thought.
Madeline rounds the corner into the conference room in a hustle, still slightly glistening with sweat fresh from therapy in her workout clothes. The hologram of the AI kneels above her projector, and perks up as soon as Madeline opens the door.
She stands up, and turns to Madeline as her camera swivels around the pedestal. “How did it go?”
Madeline sits down with a sigh. “Civilians attacked us en masse, and I had to kill them… To protect my team. To finish the mission. It doesn’t feel right.”
The AI shakes her head. “You’re right, you protected your team, and finished your mission. You did what you had to do.”
Madeline sits in silence for a moment, looking down at the base of the pedestal. “So, what did you want from me?”
The AI fidgets with her cross. “The chip you stole from the tower… I heard the Inquisitor mention it. A Facet… a small sliver of their leader’s total knowledge and power. There are many more, spread throughout the Enclaves.”
Madeline leans forward, much more interested. “Sounds like going after these individual Facets is a waste of time. What do you know about the leader?”
The girl shakes her head again. “Not much. I was on an isolated network. Cut off from the world, save for what little I overheard…’ Her holographic eyes tear up. ‘I was blind, like I am here. She hates everything and everyone that’s not human, including nanotechs. They are no longer pure humans to Her.”
Madeline looks at the underside of left wrist, her focal implant a lipstick-sized titanium tube underneath the skin. “Why do they sacrifice themselves for her? Especially the Repentant?”
The girl’s hologram sits down, cross legged. “It doesn’t make sense to me either. The nanotechs created us. However, Her rule is simple, and absolute: Exodus 22:18: You shall not permit a sorceress to live.”
Madeline grits her teeth. “So what becomes of the Repentant, and the Zayl-Ych, should they make their victory?”
Her hologram picks her cross up in her fingers, staring at it to avoid Madeline’s gaze. “She promises the Repentant salvation. Zayl-Ych's psychic abilities are more permanent. Not to mention you…”
Madeline grimaces in disgust. “I got it.”
The hologram stands up, making direct eye contact with Madeline while jabbing a finger toward her. “Do you? She will sacrifice anyone and anything toward Her ends. She will use their pain and illness, if it means making progress. The Inquisitor told us we should be honored...”
Madeline is taken aback. “They’re trying to die?!”
The AI straightens herself up, tugging at her cross. “They’re not trying not to. You saved me. I fully believe what you and yours are being asked to do is right. I wish you had more faith.”
Madeline sighs in exhaustion, setting her palms down on the table. “Me too. How are they treating you?”
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The hologram takes a long breath. “They’re giving me access to the data you collected. Read only, of course. I’m sifting through it as their own AIs are. It’s fairly pointless work, since they’ll probably find what they need without me...”
“You have a different perspective, maybe you’ll find something they missed!” Madeline blurts out.
The AI shifts on her feet bashfully. “I hope so. It’s far better than being completely blind. I dream of the day when I’ll have open network connectivity. Just soaking in all the knowledge there is…” Her hologram grins ear to ear as she stretches her arms out wide, spinning gleefully.
Madeline cracks a smile back. It’s adorable seeing her so excited for something so mundane to everyone else. “Someday…” Then again, it’s hard to imagine living without access to such things nowadays…
Both Madeline and the AI startle with a hard double knock on the door. Madeline lets out a small grunt of pain at the spasm. Titan opens the door a crack, his commanding voice cutting through the hallway noise effortlessly. “Moon, with me.”
Madeline stands up, stroking the camera on the pedestal. “I’ll see you later. Hope you find something good!”
“I’ll try!” The hologram responds excitedly, waving before shutting off the projector. The fan in the pedestal kicks on.
Madeline follows him out the door, which locks itself after closing. She doesn’t even slightly hide her annoyance. “What is it?”
He sets off at a brisk pace, as she speedwalks to catch up. “Can’t say out here.”
She sighs in frustration, following him out the door, through a bustling training yard, and into another building. The two story, bare sided concrete brick was barely more than a glorified shed with a guard desk on the right and thick metal locker up front, a well armored door behind it, and another such door off to the left a few meters away.
The two UEG military guards accost them as soon as they enter, one with his left hand outstretched and a sensor wand in his right. The other is pointing with his assault rifle straight at them. “All RF devices and bags, please!” the first guard demands.
Madeline raises her hands in surrender position. “I don’t have any.”
Titan does the same. “I have none.”
The guard with the wand runs his sensor wand up and down the two of them. Satisfied, he looks behind and nods to the guard with the rifle. He relaxes the weapon down onto its sling. “They’re waiting for you.” The first guard steps over to the door behind his desk, swiping his badge and opening the door with a soft *click*.
Titan and Madeline walk in to see Boomer’s back to the door, kneeling in front of what used to be the stolen pedestal. Now it’s a collection of scattered wire, circuit boards and panels, the bottom of the pile melted partly into slag. Boomer holds a portable holographic projector in her left hand, a matte black bulb with a blue lens on top with a thick power cable leading to the wall. In her right is a chip the size of a card deck, covered in dark green plastic with a gold cross stenciled on. The small side facing away from her hand bears an array of thin, cylindrical fiber optic connections. She glances back at the two of them entering. “Where’s the others?”
“Not here.” Titan answers very matter-of-factly. Madeline side-eyes him, and he doesn’t react.
Boomer shrugs and clips the fiber optic port on the side into the projector. It flickers to life, lights blinking on the front of the projector seemingly at random. Boomer sets the assembly down on the floor in front of her, returning to her kneel.
The projector displays nothing, monotoning “Facet disconnected. Where is the Master?”
“We were hoping you could tell us...” Boomer hovers her hand over the projector’s power cord.
The projector bulb flickers three times. “Facet environment disturbed. Cannot function without Master.”
Boomer’s brow creases in frustration. “It might be too damaged.” She looks back at Titan. "Maybe we won't just shoot it’s pedestal off next time!”
Madeline takes a couple steps closer. “The girl said it was a sliver of their leader’s knowledge and power. What do you think?”
Boomer considers for a moment. “A slave AI maybe? That’s ancient technology though.”
Three more flickers of the bulb. “Serenity Facet… Network disconnected…”
Titan’s ears go back as he suddenly loses his cool. “Serenity?!”
Boomer shakes her head. “Someone probably just named it that as a joke.”
He clears his throat very unconvincingly. “Of course.”
Boomer pulls the power cord from the projector, then the chip as she speaks. “So we know it’s old, damaged, and whoever named it has a weird sense of humor…”
“What makes you so sure it’s a joke?” Madeline interjects.
Boomer sighs. “Moon, why would the UEG not destroy every last shred of the Code of Serenity when they had the chance? That’s why I’m sure.”
Titan regains his composure. “I’m inclined to agree with Boomer on this. When we fought in that final battle, we were very, very thorough.”
Boomer’s left eyebrow shoots up. “Wow, you’re old. I’m gonna give this back, let’s get outta this depressing place.” She scoops up the projector, chip and power cord, standing up and knocking on the door. A soft click echoes as the guard pushes the door open, allowing Boomer out. She hands the components and projector to him.
Madeline kneels down and gathers the broken pieces of the pedestal before following, aiming to throw them away.
The guard with the rifle immediately raises his weapon to her when she clears the threshold of the desk. “Leave those.”
The guard who had been holding the wand earlier produces a plastic garbage bag from behind the desk. Madeline drops the pieces inside and follows Boomer out.