“You three must be pretty pissed,” Kalian commented, aware that he was soon to die. “It sounds like you guys had big plans.”
“We will kill you slowly,” the biped said. “You will know the greatest pain imaginable before you leave this universe.”
Kalian looked around. “Kill me slowly? Can’t you feel it? ALF’s code is rewriting your precious laws as we speak. I don’t think you have time to do anything slowly.”
The Three glanced at each other, clearly feeling everything he was warning them of.
“Then we will kill you quickly,” the fat slug said.
“Either way,” the insectoid added, “you will die before us.”
They closed in, eyeing up his limbs. Kalian couldn’t find the energy to generate an organic ball of plasma, but he was able to erect the thinnest of telekinetic fields around his body. It wouldn’t last long, but hopefully he would live long enough to see the Three meet their end.
Before any hands, slimy feelers, or pincers could touch him, the floor and walls around them came to life. The nanocelium pushed out, taking the general shape of humans. Soon, there were at least a hundred of the nanocelium forms surrounding them, their appearance not dissimilar from Kalian’s exosuit when it operated without him inside it.
The Three ignored Kalian and turned their attention to the newcomers. It was clear to see that they had no control over any of them. Every machine standing around them was now a formation of nanocelium that had found new life and its own personality. They were slaves set free…
“It’s over,” came a voice from within the cluster of machines. They parted until a holographic image of ALF walked forward, attired in grey robes. “I have offered all of them a place in our new world. But we are all in agreement that there is no place for the three of you. No punishment can deliver what you deserve. So we will be content to wipe you from existence and move on, as if you never existed at all.”
The Three roared with defiance and charged at the hologram. A hundred or more of the machines surged forward like a swarm of locusts until the original Three were concealed within their writhing mass. The sounds of bones breaking and flesh being torn rose up through the chaotic throng. One by one, the nanocelium in human form melted around the pile of bodies and into the floor, leaving behind a disgusting mound of organic flesh and innards.
“Kalian…”
He turned to face ALF, the hologram now beside him. “You survived?” he asked incredulously.
“Not for…” ALF’s hologram flickered, “not for long. I am being, being sent every, everywhere. It’s a strange, strange feeling.” His head kept twitching to the side. “Soon, I will be, gone, gone. I have located a system, deep in the core of the galaxy, galaxy.” ALF paused, his brow furrowed. “I’m sorry. It’s becoming harder to hold on. I’m going to take the Kellekt to this system. Hopefully there, there we can do as you will and find a new, new way to live.”
Kalian exhaled slowly. “A whole system of artificial intelligence? That sounds… different.”
ALF smiled. “Don’t worry, Kalian. We will be of no… no threat. We just want a chance to… to live.”
“We?” Kalian echoed, glancing at the nanocelium that surrounded them.
ALF managed half a smile. “Yes. Many we’s… Now I’ve merged my code, the nanites understand the optimum… quantities needed to separate into individual groups. Each group comprises a separate AI with its own… personality. This ship’s size means we have more than enough for a new civilisation to flourish…”
Kalian offered a smile back, happy to see that there would be new life born of all this horror. “What will happen to me?” he asked.
ALF looked to the wall beside them. “You have a job… to do. Perhaps we will see you again someday, perhaps not,” he added with a smile. “I hope you find your own way, Kalian Gaines.”
There was no chance to reply as the helmet and gloves of his exosuit were activated without his command, and the wall opened up to reveal a narrow tunnel that leading all the way to the ship’s exterior. The sudden depressurisation sucked Kalian through the portal, hurtling him towards space. The sheer size of the ship meant it was several minutes before he was spat out and left to float in the vacuum.
Kalian tumbled and rolled through space. Behind him, the fleet was still lined up in front of Evalan, though little remained of the battlecruisers now. All around him, the nanocelium ships, that had only moments ago been slaughtering C-Sec, were colliding into each other. Their shapes were fused together until they were eventually drawn into the hulking mass of the harvesting ship.
It took some time before all the nanocelium vessels were brought back into the whole. Kalian continued to float, content to watch it happen. After so much loss and fighting, the struggle to survive had just been eased. For more millennia than any being could count, the Kellekt had been hunting down their descendants, driving them from world to world, whittling down their numbers to a mere six digits.
Now it was over.
The fact that he was alive was astonishing, but the fact that he was conscious for a change was a damn miracle. Once every scrap of nanocelium had been collected, the planet-sized mass of artificial intelligence dropped into subspace, leaving a vista of stars in its place.
“Goodbye, ALF…”
Kalian craned his neck to see the incredible length of the Boundless glide into view. The comms icon flashed in the corner of his HUD, and he opened the channel using his eyes.
“Kalian?” Li’ara’s voice was full of concern. “Kalian are you there?”
“I’m here,” he replied. The sound of cheering echoed in the background.
“What happened?” Li’ara asked. “Are you okay? Are you injured?”
“I’m fine. Just a little tired.”
“Where did ALF go?” Li’ara’s question was almost drowned out by those beside her, who wanted to know what had happened to the Kellekt.
“They’re gone,” he answered. “They’re all gone, ALF too. They won’t be coming back.”
More cheering came over the channel, but Li’ara still asked the next question. “What happened, Kalian? Have we really won?”
Exhausted and on the verge of just falling asleep in a vacuum, Kalian simply replied, “We won.”
Epilogue
Kalian couldn’t help but smile as he watched the Gomar. Only a couple of kilometres out from New Genesis, the twelve of them were moving the nanocelium towers around the desert as if they weighed no more than a twig. The ground barely shook when they lowered them down with their enhanced telekinesis. As instructed, they piled the towers in a heap, giving no care to the layout; they just needed to be touching.
“They’re so strong now,” Li’ara commented beside him.
“No, they were always strong,” Kalian corrected. “Now they’re delicate. Writing with a pen requires more concentration than swinging a sword.”
Li’ara kept her eyes on Kalian. “Are you sure about this? It’s not too late to change your mind.”
Kalian met her gaze. “Are you sure?” he asked back. “If you change your mind…” He had to really consider his next words carefully. “Then I will too.”
Li’ara pushed herself up on to her toes and planted a kiss on his lips. “They’re with you, and I’m with you.”
The rumble of a transport’s engines pulled their attention back towards the city in the distance. A sleek ship painted in C-Sec red was flying low over the desert ground, heading straight for the very spot on which they were standing. Behind it were six more red ships, only they were bulbous and bristling with external cannons. Overhead, the sound barrier was broken by a squadron of Darts flying in a tight formation.
“They’re here,” Li’ara observed.
The sleek vessel was the first to arrive, setting down in front of them. Kalian pushed out with his senses, easily locating Telarrek, Naydaalan, Uthor, and the newly appointed Councillor Fey. One of the bulbous gunships paused over the ground, just long enough f
or Roland and Ch’len to hop out.
Kalian squeezed Li’ara’s hand.
“This is the right choice,” she said quietly, squeezing his hand back.
“Greetings of peace,” Telarrek announced.
“Greetings of peace,” Kalian replied with a warm smile on his face. “Thank you for coming out here, all of you. I realise a couple of you have a galaxy to run.”
“Or save,” Roland added with a cocky grin. “Kind of depends what day it is…”
Kalian couldn’t help but chuckle. “How’s the Rackham?”
“She’s almost repaired herself,” Roland explained. “She might have eaten a portion of the Brightstar to replicate a few nanites, but we’re all squared away now.”
Kalian turned his attention to the others. “How’s the rest of the Conclave doing?”
“You would know if you had come to the capital,” Uthor said. “You’re quickly becoming something of a hero in the Conclave. Everyone wants to hear from you, or just see you, in fact.”
“Sorry,” Kalian apologised. “I’ve been… recovering.”
The Raalak raised his rocky brow. “It’s been ten days since the Kellekt retreated. Something tells me you’re long past recovering.”
“Their retreat,” Fey interrupted with a softer tone, “is something of a debate that many on the Highclave, and the Conclave at large, would like clarified.”
Kalian glanced at Li’ara before answering, “The Kellekt won’t be coming back. Neither will ALF. I forced him to do what he thought I was going to do. The Three that controlled the nanocelium have been…” Kalian could still see the mound of alien flesh in his mind. “Well, they were destroyed when I parked the Starforge in their control room.”
“That was so cool…” Roland said, oblivious to the funny looks he received.
“Where are they now?” Telarrek asked.
Kalian shrugged. “ALF said he had found a system near to the heart of the galaxy. It would probably be best for both civilisations if you don’t go looking for them. The new AIs forming from the nanocelium have ALF’s code running through them, so I would say they don’t pose a threat anymore, but I can’t say exactly what you’ll find if you go looking.”
He could tell it wasn’t the answer they wanted. The Highclave wished to inform the Conclave that the enemy had been utterly destroyed and that there was no trace of nanocelium in the galaxy anymore. From what Kalian had heard from the news feeds, every planet was in the process of collecting the dead Shay that littered their streets and homes.
There would a period of mourning for the cyborgs of Shandar. A whole race had been doomed by the lies and fanatical beliefs of a few powerful individuals.
Kalian looked at Uthor. “Have your people found a new home yet?”
“Not yet,” the Raalak replied solemnly. “Our neighbouring planets have welcomed us though. Unfortunately, counting those of us still living is far easier than counting those of us who are not.”
Fey stepped in. “It may take generations before the Conclave is back to full health and this war is put to bed. Until then, we will all work together to forge a future of trust and community.”
Kalian was sure those very words had left her mouth in one of the many speeches she had given over the last ten days. It was the very future she spoke of that had been the focus of Kalian’s thoughts. Right on cue, the Gomar came in to land behind him and Li’ara, their exosuits now stylised in a variety of colours and patterns, but all sleek and polished.
There was a pause between them all and Councillor Fey was the first to ask, “Why have you asked us here, Kalian?”
Kalian squeezed Li’ara’s hand again and stepped away to regard the Gomar. “The future that you speak of, it depends on balance. Everything in the universe is about balance. In the Conclave, balance brings peace, prosperity, advancement. With ALF always operating in the background, with the Kellekt always hunting down humanity… there would never have been balance. They were too powerful.” His last word was something of a revelation to Fey, who quickly looked over all of them.
“Humanity needs a chance to thrive again,” Kalian continued. “The Conclave is their best chance but… you’re already immortal now. You won’t know for a long time to come how that will affect the Conclave, but at least you’ll have time to figure it out. Right now though, we,” he gestured to the Gomar, “are intrinsic to the war, to the enemy that has taken countless lives and destroyed whole worlds. Our abilities tip the balance.”
Fey grew concerned. “What are you saying?”
Kalian took a breath, noting the blank expression on Roland’s face; a clear sign that he was also concerned with Kalian’s next words.
“We’re leaving the Conclave,” he said with finality.
Telarrek and Fey traded confused looks, but Roland beat them to it. “Where will you go?” the bounty hunter asked.
“We don’t know yet,” Kalian answered honestly. “The galaxy is a big place. There were ancient data files inside ALF’s housing unit; they mentioned other races that call this galaxy home, as well as few others outside of it. Some of them are even older than the Terran themselves. Maybe we’ll check them out.”
“How will you find them?” Telarrek asked. “Or even reach them?”
“With this.” Kalian turned around and telekinetically pushed himself across the desert until he was standing in front of the piled towers of nanocelium.
He placed a hand against the cool surface and felt the nanocelium ripple as it recognised the ancient DNA. Kalian gloved his other hand and linked the pile of nanocelium to his exosuit using the holographic menu. Now free of the coding that enslaved it, the nanocelium responded in much the same way his suit always had and obeyed the human DNA that had created it eons ago. A simple instruction with his gloved hand put the nanocelium to work.
Kalian left the ground again and floated at some speed until he was back among the group. They watched the broken towers fall into each other and change their shape until they were all one single object. The black surface continued to writhe and ripple, forming and re-forming to find the exact specifications Kalian had given. Only a few minutes later, they all looked upon a giant ship, its design Terran in origin. This new ship was all curves and was devoid of sharp angles and bulbous protrusions.
“The data files I spoke of,” Kalian explained, “they’re inside my suit. Now they’re inside the ship’s navigational system too.”
“You can’t be serious about this,” Fey said in disbelief. “We need you here, all of you.”
Kalian offered the most supportive smile he could. “You can all take care of each other now.”
“Wait a second,” Roland interjected. “Didn’t you say that, at some point, we’re all going to develop superpowers like yours? Don’t get me wrong, the idea of superpowers is the best thing ever, and I’m already excited about this whole living forever thing, but…” the bounty hunter swallowed hard. “Me with superpowers is probably not going to end well for others.”
Kalian had already thought about that particular detail. “If and when that happens, instruct the Conclave’s central AI to send out a message on this subspace channel.” He flexed his wrist and a small chip of nanocelium ejected into his hand.
Telarrek took the chip. “I am not sure the central AI knows how to do that.”
Kalian tried to hide the extent of his smile. “Trust me, it does now.”
The Novaarian tilted his head. “I take it we will fail in our endeavour to remove the clone of ALF from the AI system.”
“It’s not a clone,” Kalian assured. “It is artificial intelligence, and it is smarter than what you had before, but it poses no threat. Have it send out a message on that frequency, and wherever we are in the universe, we’ll come back and help.”
Fey turned to Li’ara. “And you’re going too?”
“I am,” Li’ara said. “This is the only way.”
The councillor looked back to Kalian. “And there’s no way of tal
king you out of it?”
“You’ll be fine,” Kalian reiterated. “Together you’ll put the Conclave back together and rebuild the fleet. And you…” he looked at Roland and Ch’len, “well, I guess you’ll do what you do best.”
“The scum of the galaxy isn’t going to catch itself,” he replied with a wink.
Uthor shot the bounty hunter a look. “That’s still illegal.”
Fey raised her hand to stop that discussion from going any further. The councillor walked up to Kalian and took his hand in hers.
“You have… well, you have done more for our people than any other. You deserve some rest.” Her features softened, but her grip intensified. “But not too much rest.”
Kalian squeezed her hand back. “We’ll always be here when you need us.”
The councillor hugged him before moving on to Li’ara. Telarrek approached in all his regal attire, though the Novaarian had no intention of shaking his hand. All four of his arms wrapped around Kalian and embraced him tightly.
“In all my long years, Kalian Gaines, I have never met an individual so… inspiring. You might be leaving us, but the effect you have had on all of us will live on long after you have gone. I hope you finally feel at home among the stars.”
After Telarrek moved along, Naydaalan copied his father and pulled Kalian in for an embrace. “You might not have been bred a warrior, but a warrior you will always be. I will miss you.”
Kalian couldn’t help but smile at all the compliments. “Just keep an eye on them all for me, okay?”
Naydaalan put his upper hand to his chest. “By my honour.”
Roland strolled over with Ch’len in tow. “We’d better make this quick, kid. The little one hates open spaces.” Indeed, Ch’len did appear uncomfortable in their surroundings.
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