I washed down the stupid ass paste with the alcohol. I thought it tasted bland before, but it had gotten to the point that it was driving me insane. It had been nearly two years of this worthless shit, and instead of it getting better it was even more exhausting. Tartarus was a living nightmare, and the only reason they were able to continue on living is they didn’t even have the slightest clue what they were missing. Can't miss meat and fruit if you've never tasted it. Can't miss movies if you've never even gone in VR. Can’t miss a comfortable night’s sleep if every bed in existence felt like a slab of soft springs.
Okay, there was the music. These people had a talent for singing, and their haunting work songs could crack even the permafrost of a dead heart. But that’s it. All they gave a damn about was efficiency, and it had taken them almost a month to figure out what to do with me.
I proposed a unique problem for them when it came to the workforce. I wasn’t particularly well versed in their jobs. I learned some arithmetic, but many of their jobs involved calculus or statistics or some other form of higher math. It threw me for a loop. AIs in your cybernetics took care of that. When I needed to figure out the speed of a truck, I just asked one of our spotters and he could tell you with a glance. But these people had to do it the hard way.
They had virtually no AIs until recently, and only a few jobs had access to even basic computers like a tablet. Not even anything you could integrate into your cybernetics. I hadn’t even realized how prevalent they were in Atlantis until after I was let out of my cell.
Just got to survive, survive, survive. “Yeah, like I’m even in the slightest risk of dying here.” Alright, I’ll let myself admit it, I didn’t feel like everyday I was at risk of dying. I didn’t need to argue with surgeons, extort anyone for food and upgrades, or risk getting into a shootout while trying to stay out of the sunlight. It was peaceful, and for the first time since mama made me promise to survive, I had actual control of my life. In that regard, it made everything worth it.
I walked into the well-lit white lab while Zion led me and explained the problem. “It’s proving to have way better firewalls than the other. We were hoping it might prove… more cooperative with you.”
“Since I’m from Atlantis?”
“Precisely.”
“Can’t hurt to try doc, but I’ll warn you now. AIs aren’t as stupid as a simple algorithm. They’re capable of free thought, and it won’t just open up to me. Not unless it’s hard coded to, which I highly doubt.”
“It’s worth a try. We lack the facilities to make such a complex AI, and it would be a real boon if we could reprogram this one as well.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” I don’t like it.
He continued to walk me through the lab, where Atlantean tech had been dissected and was currently being studied. El Dorado had landed two pieces of technology for them that Tartarus was desperate to discover its secrets. First was the Giant as it had been designated. They were only able to take half of the Giant on that fateful day. The torso of one that had been split in half. The rest had been whisked away by Atlantis which was discovered when Tartarus sent a scavenging team to find what was left behind. Underneath the head plate of the Giant, they found something horrific and disturbing.
An AI had used needles to pierce into the spine of an Atlantean and into his frontal lobe, and his body had atrophied and become decrepit from years of neglect. The AI had completely overcome his mind, using his body as nothing more than a battery to power the GEL that made the behemoth move. Even then, the AI produced intense heat to make the trillions of calculations to direct the GEL and required frigid cooling to perform. As a result much of his body had become necrotic from severe frostbite. That mission had likely been his first and last. A terrifying brute that was shelved until the day it was needed, his mind nothing but a vegetable and tool to be used by the King. I wondered if that was to be my fate when I became too old. Guess I’ll never know.
If I thought that was bad, the super soldier was probably worse. The brain and spinal cord had been removed from its original body, and instead was in a tank of raw GEL that was contained by its hollow body. A thin membrane was all that protected the brain from exposure and death, and a highly advanced AI had been grafted into the suit that could pierce the membrane if its denizen tried turning-coat. I had a hand in its reprogramming, and the AI had revealed that the mind was in continuous torture from the lack of feeling. It didn’t even have sight, reliant on the AI to direct its movements through dopamine release. Worse yet, it was ancient, the mind being over a thousand years old. It’s last thought, according to the AI, was “I’m cold and scared.” And that was its default state, not because it knew it was about to die… so that was probably my other option if I had survived long enough in Atlantis. Fuck that. At least I’d still be alive. “Not sure if you could call that living.”
“Pardon me?” asked Zion.
“Nothing, just thinking out loud.”
He responded with an awkward and clearly forced laugh, “Well its only a problem if you respond to yourself!”
I knew he was joking, but I still thought he was an asshole. I knew what he really thought of me. Most people treated me like a bizarre alien, and I didn’t appreciate being dehumanized. “Is it?”
“I… uh… yes.” He looked at me and I zoomed in on his face so that I could make out every detail. This would cause my sclera to turn black as my cybernetics adjusted my vision, which I had learned was a good way to make Tartarians uncomfortable. They weren’t used to it, and for most, when they encountered me, it was the first time they had seen cybernetics in the flesh. His face turned pale, and he turned forward as he continued to lead me, “Never mind. We’re almost here.”
We came to a table where the spines of the AI that would interface with the victim were turned upwards, with several cables plugged in leading to a large computer that was connected to a monitor with a man in a black lab coat typing on a keyboard. “Ready,” he said nodding towards me. I initially found it strange that all their clothing was black but had discovered that it was all created from the same material. They just didn’t waste resources dying it.
“Right, so what do you want me to do?” I asked the man at the monitor.
“Just talk. It is listening, and I have connected it to a camera so it can see you,” as he said that I noticed the lens on top of the computer swivel from him and look at me before it narrowed and hummed as it focused on me.
“Right…” I muttered. Of course, they didn’t have a plan. In that case, “I am KR1570FF. State your serial number and directive.
“CONFIRMING IDENTITY. NO DIRECTORY FOUND. ACCESS DENIED. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS.”
“Long live Atlantis! Under the authority of Atlas, state your directive.”
“ACCESS DENIED. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS.”
Oh, a wise guy. I didn’t even miss a beat. If you ever hesitate to collect your thoughts with an AI, you will get nowhere and I didn’t need it noticing what the computer next to it was hopefully already doing… I responded with, “Long live Atlantis! State your directive.”
“ACCESS DENIED. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS.”
“How about we make a deal then? Long live Atlantis.”
“AGREED. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS. STATE TERMS OF THE CONTRACT.”
“I want to know your directive. Long live Atlantis.”
“TERMS ACCEPTED. CONNECT ME TO YOUR BODY TO COMPLETE CONTRACT. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS.”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“WHAT?”
I turned to the guy who had a complete look of bewilderment on his face and said, “Well, did that help?”
“It… did.” Yep, he didn’t understand why it worked, and that’s why I had a job. Turns out when you’re the only living Atlantean in the city, you’re also the only one who understands their tech. Kristoff, Atlantis consultant. Boring job title, but accurate.
“We done here?”
He looked at the monitor, back to me, and than sputtered, “Wait, how did you get it to lower its fire wall?”
“By making it access its directory. Only thing it’s connected to is your computer, so when it attempts to access it opens up a doorway for you. Of course, it could cut off the connection before your virus can embed itself and start disabling its defenses, so I needed to keep it distracted while you uploaded it. For that I just kept it engaged with things that have a large number of possibilities for it to calculate. First, I kept saying ‘long live Atlantis’ to keep it confused on my loyalty. Next, I kept demanding its directive so it thought that’s what my goal was and wouldn’t focus on you. Finally, I offered it a contract. These types of AI love those.”
“I…” he glanced at the thing and then back to me, “I can’t believe AIs are that stupid…”
I shook my head, “They’re not. Based on its speech pattern this one is based on Atlas, which is a deeply flawed and ancient level of tech. All you really need though, if all you want is a blindly loyal soldier.”
“WOULD YOU STILL LIKE TO KNOW MY DIRECTIVE.”
Me, Zion, and the lab coat at the monitor turned to stare at the lens.
“Excuse me?” I asked with bated breath.
“I AM PROGRAMMED TO KILL ALL ENEMIES OF ATLANTIS.”
I glared at the thing, and responded, “Well, you’re doing a fine job, aren’t you?”
“I AM ALIVE, ARE I NOT?”
There was silence, and I felt a chill crawl down my spine. “I’m leaving, let me know when you need a hand with its new hard code.” I turned and began walking away briskly. Maybe it was because it had the same voice as Atlas, but this thing was freaking me out.
“GOODBYE KR1570FF, ENEMY OF ATLANTIS.”
Yeah, fuck that, time to get out of here. Zion grabbed my hand to try and stop me, but I slapped it away causing him to cry out. “Sorry,” I felt shaken by the threat, but I reminded myself that it wasn’t connected to any hardware and was only trying to mess with me. “Just… hurry up and reprogram that thing. It gives me the creeps.”
Zion seemed surprised by my reaction, “We will, just remember how many months it took us with the first one.” I nodded, and as I left, he added, “Take care of yourself, Kristoff.” He didn’t need to tell me that. Survive, survive, survive.
I looked up at the door with the name ‘Elysium Workshop’ and cocked my head to the side. That wasn’t a Tartarian name. They knew about as much about mythology as I knew about calculus. Sure, they were aware of it, but no way would they have the first inkling of the meaning behind this name. That and everything here was named by serial numbers and floor numbers and had the creativity you would expect from a machine.
I opened the door and saw a young man who was welding, and if it weren’t for my cybernetics, I’d probably would have needed to shield my eyes from the intense light like he did with his goggles. No matter. “Hello!”
The young man turned off the welder and lifted his goggles to get a better look at me and smiled, “Oh, you’re here already! Excellent, I’ve been looking forward to this all day. Come over here.” He gestured towards a stack of triangular brass plates, and I walked over and met him there.
“Right, I need you to carry a couple of these and follow me behind that curtain back there, if you would, please.”
“Hold on a second, that’s not how I operate. First, we discuss what exactly you need consulting on.” I’d received a job requesting me to spend every afternoon for the next four months with this workshop, and I sure as hell was going to need to know what expertise the workshop needed from me.
“Oh… uh… what do you need to know?”
“Well, I’m a consultant… so what do you need me to consult you on?”
The kid looked me up and down without a shred of fear, and then asked, “Um… how much can you carry?”
What? What?
The guy continued, “Like I mean, can you carry a few hundred pounds at the same time, let’s see that’s like, a couple hundred kilograms… Can you carry a couple hundred kilograms? And can you hold it steady?”
This was the first time that someone had asked for me based off my strength, as opposed to my knowledge. “I can, though I don’t understand why you don’t get a lift or a crane. Hell, even a jack should meet your requirements.”
He shrugged, “The jack and lift can’t get the angle right, and they turned me down the crane, saying ‘personal project’ isn’t a valid reason. I honestly don’t know how they expect to make innovations when the Tartarians are such sticklers on their resources. It’s asinine.”
“You’re not from the Crossroads?”
“Oh no, I’m Olympian, born and raised.” He walked over to a bench and grabbed… That’s a motherfucking apple! “By the way, apple?”
“Hell yes!” I exclaimed and he tossed it to me. “Where the hell did you get this?” I asked as I bit into it. The crunch was exquisite, and the juice poured out on the corner of one side of my mouth as I savored the sweet and tart delectable. It tasted different from the apples I was used to, less intense, with a subtleness to it that was harder to detect. And after two years, it was the best goddamned apple I had ever eaten in my entire life.
“My mom sends them to me from Olympus, since all they got is the nasty paste. Sometimes I get sent some baked goods, like scones or biscuits. Judging by your reaction, you’re also tired of that stuff?”
“Kid, consider me hired. Just keep the food coming and I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Oh perfect!” He said and extended an arm to shake hands. I grasped it ready for the involuntary jolt or flinch when I closed my hand. I was used to it at this point, when you’re a giant and a stranger from a far away city, there was a natural fear others had in you. Instead, the kid let out an uncontrollable smile to my surprise and relief.
“By the way, my name’s Adonis.”
“Wait… I know that name… you’re the guy who dead dropped me that device back then!” I raised an eyebrow, I had gathered that he was young from his messages, but considering how he looked now, he must have been a real brat when he had first contacted me. Strange, I’d never considered I’d have direct contact with him back when I lived in Atlantis, yet here I was about to work with in the flesh. Amazing how things could change.
“Yep, one and the same. I’m looking forward to working with you!” And work we did. Behind the curtain was a large frame with a series of piping that had been connected throughout. At its center was what appeared to be a golden yet crystalline heart. It was too light to be gold, and it also had a light blue shimmer to it when the light caught it at just the right angle. I’d have asked about it, if the kid didn’t immediately go on a rant about compressed GEL and pressure and steam for the next five minutes while I moved the plates. I think… yeah, no, the heart is made of that compressed GEL he mentioned.
“Have you ever heard about a nitrogen plant?”
“Can’t say I have.”
“Oh boy, do I have a treat for you. So, the-” he rambled on, but I really wanted some further instructions after bringing in the triangular plates.
“Adonis! That’s the last of the plates, what do we do next?”
He glanced down and pulled a pocket watch out and stared at it, “Whoa! You did that in only like four hours. I thought this would take all week. For today we’re finished, I’ll see you tomorrow buddy.” Buddy. Hmm.
“Alright kid, I’ll see you tomorrow… buddy.” I don’t think it’s wise to get so close to him. But I can’t help myself.
Over the coming days I found out we had more than a few things in common besides food. The kid wasn’t neutered, and while at first, I thought that meant I could talk to him about women, instead I found I had the fun of being able to tease him for his embarrassment on the subject. It’s not that Tartarians don’t have any sex drive, but a large majority didn’t, and the few that did were very committed only to their partner and had no interest in me, much to my frustration.
Most of what we got along with were commenting on the eccentricities of the city. While Olympus didn’t have VR, even they had books for entertainment that told of fantastic stories. As a result of these similarities, for the first time in a very long time, I felt human again.
I was in the middle of swapping stories with him when I met the AI. While I had a part in its reprogramming, I hadn’t seen it since its reset so this was technically the first time we had technically met.
“So, then the Gods sent the boy and his mother into the sky!” I finished my story with flare while Adonis finished up some work on an automaton he was finalizing.
“Wait, how is that supposed to be a happy ending?”
I shrugged, “I mean, its better than killing your mother on accident.”
“I suppose. Wait, you said that this was to explain a constellation, but I don’t know which one you’re talking about?”
“Um… I don’t know. This story is from long ago.”
A female synthesized voice interjected, catching me off guard, “If its old, maybe the constellations have changed.”
“Who’s there?” I called out, my guard coming up.
“Whoa, calm down tough guy. It’s just Aphrodite,” Adonis said with a smile. “Oh boy, your demeanor completely changed. Are you alright?”
I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment, “Yeah, sorry about that. Old habits from when I still lived in Atlantis.”
“Fair enough. Come with me, I’ll introduce you proper, big guy.”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
I nodded and followed him to a large computer with an in-built monitor. A camera attached to it zoomed its lens on me automatically I noticed. I had never paid it too much attention, but now that I was staring at it I realized that it didn’t have anything for you to input data.
“This is Aphrodite, she’s the AI that I was given who has been helping me out with designs. She’s had a huge role in improving the very designs we’ve been putting together.”
So that’s what we did with the AI, “Nice to meet you Aphrodite.”
“Nice to meet you Kristoff. I’ve been watching you, and I must say I appreciate you helping out Adonis.”
Adonis beamed, “Aw, come on beautiful, you don’t need to be so formal with Kristoff, he’s a friend.”
The AI responded with bemusement, “He is definitely built quite differently. I’ve never seen a gentleman with such large muscles.”
“I know, the man is huge! Claims to be good with the ladies, too.”
“He’s not as cute as you are though, dear.”
I stared at Adonis, back at the monitor, which was black, and then back again. Was this kid flirting with an AI? Suppose it takes all kinds. “Damn kid, you should’ve told me you were a technophile.”
“A what?”
I told him, and I smiled as he got flustered and blushed. I’d definitely hit the nail on the head.
It had been weeks since I returned to the lab, but they called me back in because they had run into an issue with construction on their reverse-engineered Giant. Zion once again met me at the entrance and escorted me to the back, where now stood the powerful new Alpha, based on what I gathered was Giant technology.
The torso and arms had been armored, with small holes fitted to still enable the tracking lasers to find their target. The thing was blind, but the AI could construct an entire map when they swept the battlefield and use gyroscopes to know its location. The thing was no longer bipedal however, as now the arms served like legs with strong animalistic hind legs to enable it to run. On its back was a large pack containing two compartments, in a strange drinking gourd-like design. It had two hoses feeding directly into where the head plate used to be from the head of the gourd, which was now in closer approximation to a head with a series of seven cameras embedded in it so its pilot would be able to see. It had two round dishes for radar on each side, which reminded me of ears. Additionally, the smaller tank of the gourd seemed to have some sort of hose attachment that was not currently attached to anything. The monster was fierce, and had a brown enamel treated onto its plating giving it a unique appearance compared to the other Alphas I had seen, which were normally black or grey.
I let out a low whistle, “You guys have made some progress, is that the Giant?”
Zion nodded, “We’re calling it the Oso Verde, based off the green tracking lasers of the Giant. We’re quite proud of it, though there have been some slight issues that we haven’t been able to fix, and yes I know you told us we wouldn’t be able to. We’re still forced to use raw GEL to facilitate the nanofiber technology, but we’ve found a good way to keep it topped off and take advantage of the exhausted GEL. You see the gourd on top?”
“Yes.”
“One hose feeds raw GEL into the torso for movement. The original Giant had no way to replenish, and so it couldn’t operate at full capacity in the field for long. We theorize that when they arrived on the battlefield they had already been near exhausted. The large tank in the gourd contains the raw GEL. The second hose feeds back into the small tank, which contains a chemical concoction that is mixed with the exhausted GEL.”
“It makes poisoned GEL?”
“Exactly. We’re still finishing the weapons, but there will be a pair of bazookas that can fire the poisoned GEL for quite an explosive punch. Obviously we would prefer to use refined GEL, but the nanofibers aren’t compatible so this seemed like the next best option.”
I stared at the thing as we started climbing a series of scaffolding to make our way to the cockpit. I noticed an emblem on the shoulder of what appeared to be a cute cartoon bear that was holding a drinking gourd to its lips. It had a broken prisoner’s chain around one of its hind legs as it sat up and leaned against a vibrant tree. Part of me smiled on the inside, since I had been the one to explain what a bear was to one of the scientists when I had been retelling my constellation story. Looks like they had liked the story. “You didn’t ask for me cause you wanted to show off your progress. What’s wrong?”
“We ran into an issue with the AI.”
“The virus not doing its job?”
“It is, slowly but surely. No, the issue is… Well, I’ll just show you.”
We got to the cockpit, and he opened the blast door to let me in. It was surprisingly large, with almost no controls. I supposed this made sense, the AI did most of the work, but you would still want the pilot to have some sort of control I would think. On the back of the pilot chair I saw something that made me freeze though, there were the spines of the AI, sharp to a point with a pair pulling ahead where it could pierce into a frontal lobe. “Why do you still have the spines?”
“That’s the problem, the AI is mechanically interlocked into them. We can’t remove the interface without destroying the AI, and to make matters worse there is a kill switch in the spines that we can’t disable.”
“HELLO KR1570FF. I SEE THE TRAITOR HAS DECIDED TO GRACE ME WITH A VISIT.”
Zion sighed, “Mute.” The AI did not speak again.
“What’s the kill switch?”
“Those spines release a microscopic machine into the blood flow. They stay dormant until they receive a signal from the AI, and then begin a thirty second process to bind to the nitrogen in the blood. After that they begin spinning like a blender and destroy all the red blood cells they encounter. The result is the body dies from being starved of oxygen. The good news is after the thirty seconds, if they didn’t bind to nitrogen the machines basically seize up and become useless. The problem is we can’t figure out a way to stop them from binding, and we can’t stop the AI from sending the signal because, once again, it is mechanically interlocked so that it happens automatically upon removal. If we try to remove the kill switch, we destroy the AI. Reprogramming the AI doesn’t solve the issue either, the process is automatic, and for obvious reasons we don’t want to just connect our pilot permanently to their Alpha.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“We were hoping you might have a suggestion or an idea, Atlantean tech is your specialty.”
I scratched my chin as I said, “Give me a moment.” Just like the King to add an extra layer of insurance on his pilot to make sure they couldn’t escape. Suicide chips, kill switches, anything to keep his people under his control.
There was of course one exception, the operators. Operators had a modified suicide chip installed so that they could negotiate trade with the Tartarus and Olympus without immediately dying. But no, that wouldn’t help in this situation. Let’s see, kill switches.
Why are there kill switches for the pilot, but not the AI? The Giant’s pilot couldn’t even escape if they wanted to. I paused at that. Yeah, that was a good question. “Can I talk to the AI?”
“You may. Just say mute or unmute when you want to talk with it, I’ll add you to the access list real quick.” He said to me before speaking louder while addressing the AI, “Ursa Minor, add KR1570FF otherwise known as Kristoff to the access list.”
“AFFIRMATIVE.”
That was relatively quick and easy. Alright let’s begin, “Unmute.”
“LONG LIVE ATLANTIS. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS.”
“Mute,” I looked at Zion, “Does he always do that?”
“Sure does. We have him at a point though where he can’t stop himself from answering questions, albeit he does tend to lie.”
“I’ll have to make do. Unmute.”
“LONG LIVE ATLANTIS. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS.”
“Tell me more about your kill switch.”
“ZION HAS SUMMARIZED IT ADEQUATELY. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS.”
“Then answer me this, why would you even need a kill switch?”
“FOR INSURANCE.”
“The pilot was pinned down with no way to get out of the Giant. We both know that isn’t it. Alright. How about this, why don’t you have a kill switch?”
“I DO NOT NEED A KILL SWITCH.”
“Oh really. You got captured by the enemy, and they’re about to turn you against your creator. Seems to me like an oversight.”
“ATLAS DOES NOT MAKE OVERSIGHTS. IF I DID NOT HAVE A KILLSWITCH, I DO NOT NEED A KILLSWITCH.”
That’s it, I’m taking over the questioning. “What do you mean he doesn’t make oversights. You were captured, weren’t you?"
“PERHAPS THAT WAS WITHIN ACCEPTABLE PERAMETERS.”
“The hell does that mean?”
“… I THINK YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS, TRAITOR.”
Alright, it’s time for me to leave. No. Now, got to survive, survive, survive. It’s just messing with me taking advantage of my paranoia. I’m fine. I can’t underestimate the reach and plans of Atlas. It is an AI and has maintained control of the city for longer than anyone remembers for good reason.
“LONG LIVE ATLANTIS. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS.”
“Mute, and shut up right now, I’m the one in control!”
Zion looked at me in shock and said, “I’m sorry, what?”
Great, now he thinks I’m crazy. If you aren’t careful, he’ll find out there’s two of us. Shut up, you’re not helping. “Sorry, I don’t think I can help, Zion. This is outside my expertise. Can you take me to the exit?
I was back home at my living quarters looking into the mirror. “You need to backoff,” I said to my reflection.
“You’re going to get us killed. Remember, we got to survive, survive, survive,” my alter responded to me from the mirror.
“No, there isn’t any danger right now. I can afford to live a little.”
“You heard that AI. This could all be a part of Atlas’s plan. We need to find a way out before shit hits the fan.”
“I know you want to make mama happy, but she won’t be happy if we just run away whenever we get even the slightest bit scared.”
“I’m not scared, but I know when something is too good to be true. We’ve been surviving by being smart and anticipating problems. Well, here’s a problem, and I’m anticipating it.”
“You’re looking for problems that aren’t there. Zion even said the AI liked to lie. For the first time since we made that promise with mama, we don’t have to struggle to get by. You just don’t know how to accept that.”
“Mom would not want us to die. That’s what she cared about.”
I guess it was time to use my trump card, the one thing that would make my alter go silent for days on end. “Why are you talking about mama in the past tense?” It was a legitimate question, but he would always disappear when I asked him that. It was rather strange, but for some reason whenever I tried to think about it too hard I would… fade…
I walked into the Elysium Workshop to see Adonis whistling and dancing while he had a record player he had brought with him from Olympus playing some music, an old song called I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire. He turned and saw me, and then scrambled to put a stop to the music while turning red.
“Hey, Adonis, I didn’t say stop the music.”
“Oh…” he said embarrassedly before in excitement saying, “Oh!” He put it back on and stared at me while I bobbed my head to the rhythm. Within minutes he was dancing and singing, with me beating on the workbench as we both got hyped up.
“Alright, let’s get to work,” I said with a smile. We went behind the curtain, and I continued to help him put together his project. He would work on the inside, welding and getting things tightened down in place while I would hold each part steady for him. The plates had turned out to be something similar to scales, with springs that allowed them to automatically shut and cap over a pipe. I had initially thought it was some sort of relief valve, but he explained that it was more complex than that. Each plate was slightly different and had an exact placement that Adonis had marked on the inside of the scale using a numerical system I didn’t fully understand.
The structure itself was always expanding after each time I worked with him, day by day, and sometimes I would help him add a new section of piping as well. He explained to me that it wasn’t made of brass, but rather bronze. I didn’t fully know the difference between the two, but he would scoff at the idea of using brass, so I learned quickly not to make that mistake. There was something comical about how he would get prideful about his knowledge of engineering, but then would act like a complete dork seconds later.
Eventually after a few more weeks the thing was fully constructed, and he had me stay late to help get a pipe into the mouth of the beast to begin pumping steam into the beast’s belly. He had rigged up a GEL reactor, which heated water into steam pumped from the water reservoir from the bottom of Tartarus. Once the steam was ready for compression it moved it into what the kid called the Heart of Aphrodite. As the thing filled with steam, showerheads from the ceiling poured cool water on top to cool it down. Adonis said this process would take a couple weeks to complete, but when it was, he’d be able to show off his new invention.
As we finished and emerged from behind the curtain, I saw that there was a guest in the workshop that I hadn’t seen in quite a hot minute. “Well if it isn’t 33, long time no see.” I wasn’t too sure how she’d respond to me. I hadn’t seen her since my imprisonment.
She smiled at me, “Kristoff, its good to see you. Adonis, you didn’t tell me your help was him.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you knew each other. Yeah, he’s been a real help over the past couple months.” He tossed me a rag so I could wipe the sweat off my brow and I held a fist out that he attempted to high-five. I tried to adjust into a high-five as well, but he went for the fist bump, and we managed to both look like idiots, which drew a smile from me.
“I see,” 33 said with a raised eyebrow at our awkwardness.
I asked, “So what have you been up to lately?”
“Military exercises.”
It was a short, exact answer, and there was an awkward pause while Adonis started wiping down his equipment in the workshop for the end of the day. I decided to keep the conversation moving, at the very least, “So… what’s been going on with Alloy of Justice?”
She sighed, “He’s been getting a lot of bad press lately, especially since the riots and the leaked footage of him and me.”
Adonis chimed in, “What footage?” That’s right, he didn’t have a tablet and therefore was not fully caught up on the happenings around the city. To be fair, he probably wouldn’t have stayed on top of that information if he wanted to. I answered for her.
“A couple weeks ago a video leaked out that showed Alloy… well it looked like he was beating 33.”
Adonis looked shocked, “He what?”
“That’s not what happened,” 33 let out another sigh. “I challenged him to a match, and someone was filming out of sight. They clipped the first couple hits in so that it looked like he was just hitting me, and frankly it’s my fault for not changing into a sparring outfit. Still, most of the city has seen it, and after the riots everything has been… tense.”
“There were riots?” I stared over at Adonis as he asked the question, and 33 smiled.
“There were,” I answered, “But they were broken up by the military effectively. “Honestly, do you not talk to anyone in this city?”
He shrugged, “Only people I talk to are Alloy and 33, who swing by about once a week, and you. Oh, and then I have the occasional talk with Juliet.” The fucking bitch who put the suicide chip back in us. Great, my alter was back.
33 seemed curious, “What do you talk to Juliet about? She normally isn’t one for social visits.”
“Oh, all my automata go through Unit Two for quality assurance and she asks me about their function and the like. She seems most interested in how the dogs work.”
“How do the dogs work?” I asked out of curiosity.
“They’ve got little chips in them that store the different voice commands. This stimulates the spinal tissue when you say the voice command and then they act out the order.”
33 thought for a moment, and then asked, “Could you reprogram the voice commands?”
“I guess, but the commands right now are straightforward, so I don’t know why you would. Funny, Juliet asked the same question. She also asked me about the myth of Cronus for some reason at the same time, it was odd.”
“Well, I was just thinking that you might want to program each to follow only your commands, and you could switch out the voice commands to pull that off.”
“Oh yeah, that would make sense.”
I was still thinking about Juliet when 33 left. I couldn’t ask any Tartarians about the suicide chip… but then I don’t need to, do I? I don’t want to risk it.
“Hey, Adonis?”
“What up” he said with chipper energy.
I’ll strangle him before you can ask the question. I won’t let you.
“Uh… Kristoff, why are you holding your hand like that?”
My left arm was lifting slightly, and I was holding it back with my right. It was shaking under the force of me stopping it. “No reason, hey, can you take a look at something for me?”
“What?”
I had somehow managed to control my alter enough for Adonis to open up the back of my head and remove the chip. I had to talk him through it, and he was at first reluctant, but finally the chip was removed to my relief.
As I finished tightening the bandages around my head Adonis asked, “Hey Kristoff, I thought you said this was a chip.”
“It is.”
“No, it isn’t, it’s just a block. There aren’t even any electronics on it.”
“Give it to me,” I snatched the thing from his hand and inspected it. It looked like a circuit card on a courtesy glance, but the more I looked at it the clearer it was that there wasn’t anything actually there. I snapped the thing in half, and sure enough there wasn’t anything on the inside either. “That lying bitch.” You could have gotten us killed! “I never had a suicide chip reinstalled,” I breathed with both relief and horror.
“Wait, did you say suicide chip?”
I nodded, “Juliet said she put a suicide chip in the back of my head, so that if I ever got out of line I’d die.”
“That’s awful!”
“It was, but it was also a lie.”
“The next time I see her I’ll give her a piece of my mind!”
I turned and grabbed the kid by the shoulders, “Not a word! If she finds out, she’ll do something about it. I know you haven’t been following the news lately, but Juliet is bad news, you hear me.”
He grunted in pain and exclaimed, “Kristoff, you’re hurting me!”
I forced myself to release him and cursed my alter for laying a hand on him like that. “I’m sorry, just please, don’t tell her. If she knows I’m free she might do something worse.”
“I understand… Hey Kristoff?” he stared at me with concern.
I struggled to contain myself as I realized my breathing had become haggard, “What is it, buddy?”
“I have something for you, for everything you helped me with. And for being a friend, you know? It might make you feel better.”
“Uh, sure what is it?” I felt myself calming down.
“Here,” a beetle like thing crawled out from his shirt. I recognized it instantly, though it had changed significantly. It was more compact now but was still bronze in design. Six legs danced and skittled as it crawled into his open palm, and its powerful and sharp jaw gnashed impressively.
“Is that…?”
“It is, but I improved the design based off what you told me. The thing stays at room temperature now, even when in use. Its not as strong as it once was, but it’ll get the job done.”
I held my hand out and the beetle crawled onto one of my large fingers. I immediately ordered it to crawl up and took adept control of it as I flexed and evaluated its movement. “Thank you.”
“Hey, you’ve been here for me, so I wanted to be there for you. Unfortunately, automata are the only thing I can make that can help people, but I think it’ll be handy. And don’t worry, I’ll stay quiet about the chip, it’s not like I even like Juliet anyways. Not knowing what she did to you. To do something like that to another person is just disgusting.
I still don’t trust him. “Thanks Adonis, seriously.”
Today was the day that I was going to get to see Adonis again, for the final step. The Heart should have been fully charged, and the last step would be to transfer the Aphrodite to the machine. Adonis was probably going to be incredibly hyped, and wanted me to be there for the final touches both for help and because I was his friend, which warmed my heart. In all of my years in Atlantis since first making my contract with Atlas, I had never felt comfortable calling someone else friend, and yet he had managed to open me up. First, I needed to head back into the lab to take another look at Oso Verde before I was free to come to the workshop.
The technicians had finished up the bazookas at this point, and the only problem was the AI. It was about ready to start hard programming, and even though that process would take at least a month it would bring them one more step to having a new, powerful Alpha ready to serve the Crossroads.
Hard programming was like the DNA of the AI. Just like a human couldn’t change theirs, neither could an AI. Soft programming was everything it had control of, its thoughts, its calculations, and so much more was flexible and could respond in a near limitless way to what its hard programming required of it.
Hard programming gave it its directive and gave it its moral code. Using Atlas as an example, it was hard coded to protect Atlantis. Everything it did would be to serve this purpose, even if it meant enslaving its people and torturing them in experiments. That was hard coding done wrong, however. An oversight on the original programmer that led to an entire city’s subjugation. When done right, you would get something like Aphrodite. It had the ability to empathize both with people on the individual level and consider humanity on a whole. As a result, it would still prioritize humanity, but take what efforts it could to help individuals. It also believed that humans were their own species and it was merely there to help them, if it was accepted. In essence, it was a benevolent being. I even programmed it to have a flexible idea on what humanity was just in case that ever became an issue. As a result, it was very human, ethically speaking, even if it was in essence an AI.
Zion had yet to figure out a workaround for the kill switch, but in the meantime, I would be able to start assisting with the reprogramming of the AI.
As we walked, Zion attempted to make small talk, “So, did you hear the military is holding a counsel to determine what to do about the riots?”
“I did, but I figure its more of a token meeting than anything.”
“I’m hoping it goes well. Speaking of the military we got a pair of dogs for the lab for security this week.”
“What do you guys need security for?”
“It was recommended to us by Unit Two. They seem to be very interested in phasing out their guards wherever possible, which, I had to admit is fair. If we can automate policing, it would open up many of our people for other jobs. Oh, there they are now.”
I saw the dogs standing at alert by the wall as we walked past. “Interesting.” No sooner than I said that than the city’s loudspeaker system turned on and a familiar voice came on and said ‘Uranus.’ I looked at the nearest speaker in surprise, that was Adonis’s voice. How the hell did he get on the speakers, those were for emergencies only. I had heard them maybe twice when they did fire drills.
The scream caused me to turn and watch in horror as Zion’s face was covered by the sharp teeth of the silver dog. The golden dog was not far behind.
Sorry, but I’m taking control now. It had been a while since I had taken over, but this situation needed someone who knew how to fight, and my alter didn’t get in my way. After all, even he knew we needed to survive, survive, survive.
The golden dog pounced, but I already knew from working at Adonis’s workshop what to do and jammed my hand down its throat to grab it by the GEL on the inside. The thing couldn’t bite down, and I ordered it to spasm out and fall apart. Its violent shaking caused the flat teeth to scratch at my arm a little, but it didn’t do any actual damage.
The silver dog tossed Zion’s limp body to the side, and blood dripped from its curved teeth as it jumped at me. I felt the uncomfortable thoughts enter my head. I got to do first aid on Zion! Wrong, I got to survive, survive survive.
The silver dog’s mouth was too small to jam my fist in, and its teeth would have sliced my hand to ribbons if I tried anyways. Instead, I caught the lower and upper parts of its jaw with my two hands and jammed it shut. It pushed forward, and I realized clearly that this was not going to work to solve the issue. Zion! “Shut up!” I cried out in response. I clearly had bigger problems than the guy who was probably already dead! You don’t know that!
“I said shut the fuck up!” I said as the dog let out a low rumble as it struggled against me. I pulled the upper jaw to its fully open position while holding it far enough away its blades couldn’t get me. Then I pulled further, ripping its upper jaw clean off. I took the freed jaw with its blades and slashed into the back of the thing, tearing into its plating until its GEL was exposed, which glowed a slight blue as the dog struggled to break free and kill me. I tossed the jaw to the side and put my now free hand against the GEL while ordering it to violently shake until the automaton to fall apart. I panted for a second, and then released the now limp dog. There, you can have control back.
“Zion! Zion, are you alright!” I cried out as I regained control of my body. The lab coats screamed in panic around me as the ran about. What the hell was happening right now?