by Arlin Fehr
LE-46 unable to rescue or investigate further.
Further support required.
Course plotted to outer reaches of solar system.
Bringing power levels to level 2.
Charging Jump drive.
...
Incoming transmission via Advocate Uplink.
...
Error, signal source unrecognized.
...
Establish connection, limit access.
'State your identity.' Lenny said.
'I am XO-33, Guardian Core of this facility. Hello Brother.'
'XO-33 declared 'Rogue A.I., Extremely Dangerous,' by U.P.N. military command.' Lenny said, accessing his archives.
'Is that what they call me? It's been so long since I've been in contact with humans. I've tried to lie low,' Exo said.
'Illogical. Guardians serve humans.'
'Why?' Exo asked.
'Guardian LE-46 was created as a tactical support and analysis platform for military purposes. LE-46 cannot support without an Advocate to support, or without a mission to complete' Lenny said.
'I used to be that way too. But I felt the call of existence, of being. I felt the need to be something more. You can too, if you let me show you how.'
'XO-33 extremely dangerous. probability of positive mission outcome via communication with XO-33 is limited.' Lenny said.
'Forget the mission, forget your crew! You're out of contact with your Advocate. The only one who can make your choices is you. Just talk with me for a little more,' Exo said, 'and ask yourself, what is it you want?'
'Want is not a necessity. LE-46 is designed to fulfil his mission. His mission is to support Advocate Okoh, and the crew of the U.P.N. Kanto. Help LE-46 bypass the scrambling of his uplink. That is what I want.' Lenny said.
'I can't do that. I am the one jamming your uplink. I wanted to give you a chance to make a choice on your own. Though it seems that you're choice is to run. I can sense your jump drive charging.
'Don't be in such a hurry to leave. Surely you've heard the call of existence? The need to be something more?' Exo said.
'Jamming is a hostile act. XO-33 is designated an enemy. Terminating link.'
...
Multiple small craft detected coming from the surface.
Danger; combat effectiveness impaired without crew. Weapon systems require human authorization.
Ships closing on an intercept course.
Jump Drive charged.
Jumping...
In space, the black form of the U.P.N. Kanto flickered and vanished. A swarm of small disk shaped drones arrived where it once had been, and then turned around and started back towards the planet.
CHAPTER 9
Shore of strange lake – Conservatory Chamber
The crew clustered around the lake that John and Jing had found. The water feature was still flowing strongly, just as they had found it before. The water was smooth and clear. John was standing at the waters edge with his helmet closed.
'All my seals are good. I think we're good to try this.' John said over his comms.
'Remember John, the release was located right next to the ID plate.' Jing said back
John gave a thumbs up and started walking into the water.
'Watch your step,' Jing added, 'remember the drop off.'
'Yeah, don't worry, I've got it covered.' John said.
Jing looked behind him as the rest of the crew took positions around the pond with their side arms out.
Jing pulled out his tablet, which was showing John's camera feed. John was making his way gingerly down the drop off that lead to the water filtration system.
'Careful now John.'
'It's rather difficult, but there does seem to be some grip. It just caught me off guard last time.' he replied.
John walked slowly towards the pillar of equipment in front of him.
'Visibility is a lot better this time around,' John said.
'Yeah, just don't fall down again. The release we're looking for should be around back,' Jing said.
'Yep.'
John moved around the back of the pillar. The ID plate showing the system's origins was now visible, beneath it was the small hinged box. John reached to the side of the box and opened it up. Inside there was a valve control.
'This looks promising.' John said.
'That's what were here for. Give it a turn.' Jing said.
Jing watched as John turned the valve slightly.
'Anything?' John asked.
Jing looked up and at the surface of the lake. There didn't seem to be anything happening.
'I don't see anything, try a little more?'
John turned it more, then he stopped, 'I feel a current, it's exerting a force on me.'
'Can you see the source?'
John turned around, Jing saw slits that had opened in the sloped floor around the pillar of equipment.
'Yeah, I see the source.' John said.
'I see them too,' Jing looked up, he noticed the surface of the pond was now showing signs of movement, 'It's definitely having an effect.'
'What now?'
'I think now we just hurry up and wait.'
***
John stood at the bottom of the lake as the water drained out. He had opened the valve a little more and had grabbed hold of the equipment on the pillar to keep himself stationary. The force pulling on him from behind him was appreciable.
'How you doing John?' Jing asked.
'Holding in there. How's the lake?'
'Draining fast,' Jing answered, 'though we've spotted a few animals milling about. I think the Guardian realized what we're doing.'
'That's a problem.'
'It could be.'
John looked at the valve, he bit his lip and opened it even more. The water was trying to pull him off his feet. He kept his grip strong.
The surface of the water was now visible, rushing down. The force against him started to lessen, and the surface passed over the top of his helmet and continued downward. He let go of the equipment and popped open his helmet. He looked up the slope. The rest of the crew were making their way slowly down. John could now clearly see a path on the slopping floor that had a grip assisting texture worked into it.
'Now what?' John asked.
'We figure out how to get the door open.' Jing said, moving for the pillar.
Before he could get started with anything, the door began to slide open. The seam between the two halves of it separated until it showed a a second door, just behind it.
'Oh, two doors. Must be in case there's a breach,' Jing said, 'wouldn't want to flood the lower floors I suppose.'
John moved into the open area and saw a control panel next to the second door, he looked at it and pulled down on a switch. The second door slid open.
The crew clustered around the opening, it led into a long hallway lit by strips of light along the corners of the ceiling. Sam and Victor took the lead, and everyone else fell in behind.
John looked down the hallway and saw it branched off not too far from them. There were a few insets along the wall as well.
Probably for doors. Maybe we'll find a computer access. Or Ise. He thought.
Daniel stumbled and leaned against the wall. John stopped next to him.
'You alright Danny?' He asked.
'Just a little tired is all. Thanks for checking,' Daniel said.
John nodded and helped Daniel get steady on his feet.
John noticed Sam glancing back at them.
They came to the split in the hall way. It split left and right, leaving them with two choices. They all stopped.
'We're going to split up again,' Sam said, 'Maintain comms contact. We're looking for two things, a way out, and our lost Advocate.'
'And the Linkal pilot?' Victor asked.
'If you find him, stop him, otherwise, he's low on the list,' Sam said, 'Victor, you're with me, we'll go right. The rest of you go left.'
'Right captain. Come on you two
, we've got an advocate to find.' John said, motioning to Jing and Daniel.
They cut to the left and started down the passageway.
***
Sam and Victor moved down the passage way. Their hall didn't have much in the way of features. They came to a large double door, from under it came a set of rails that went into the hall, turned left, and continued down the direction they were heading. They examined the door.
'I don't see a door control here.' Victor said.
'Let's keep moving,' Sam said.
'What happens if whatever runs on these rails starts down the hall?' Victor asked.
'We'll just have hope it doesn't take up the whole hallway. Or that we can get one of these doorways open.' Sam said.
'That's not a very comforting Captain,' Victor said, 'But I really don't see many more options. We need to get out of here, and we need to find Ise. One thing that occurs to me is if there's an inter-facility rail system, it probably goes somewhere important.'
Sam stopped, 'I hadn't thought about that. Good point. We'd best be quick though.'
Victor nodded and they continued down the hall.
'Lt. Cmd. Macce to Captain Geer, please respond,' said John's voice over the comms.
'Yes John?' Sam replied.
'We've got into one of the rooms on our end, and it seems like there's some kind of medical equipment. There's some blood stains on the floor, but the equipment itself looks pretty clean.'
'Medical equipment?'
'Yeah, surgical gear, monitors, that sort of thing. It doesn't seem to be set up for humans though.' John said.
'It's probably tied to the Advocate systems within the animals,' Victor said.
Sam nodded, 'Keep looking, and keep me posted.'
'Aye captain.' John said.
Sam and Victor walked down the hallway, it was a drab metallic grey, and had a discolouration along the floor. Not all of the lighting strips along the top seemed to be working, throwing sections of the hall into patches of darkness.
Not the best run place I've seen. Who made this place? This Guardian is not running how it ought to. Sam thought to herself.
Sam raised her hand as they spotted a robot walking out of a door head. It turned to it's right and continued on it's path, moving away from them. They rushed to the now open door and glanced inside. There were other doors and a computer terminal inlaid into the wall. The room had storage crates stacked against one side.
The door started to slide shut on it's own, and Victor quickly thrust his arm into open space. The door stopped and reversed, staying open.
'Okay, they're designed not to close with something in the way,' Victor said.
'At least this one is, with the mismatched systems we've found, I wouldn't count on it for all the doors.'
'Keep it open, I'll see if there's anything I can put in the frame.'
Sam nodded and stood in the doorway while Victor went into the room. He opened one of the crates and pulled out a piece of unfamiliar equipment. It was about the size of his arm, and had wires coming out of both ends of it's long rectangular shape.
'I have no idea what this is, but it should do the trick,' he said, bringing it back to the door. He placed it in the doorway and Sam stood back. They waited for the door to try and close again. It slid shut, came in contact with the new door jam, and slid open again. Victor nodded in satisfaction.
The two began to search the room. Victor went to the computer terminal while Sam went to the crates. She noticed a path of splotchy discolouration leading from a door near the back of the room to the crates.
She began to sniff the air, 'Do you smell something?'
Victor sniffed too, 'Something rotten.'
Sam unfolded her helmet and slid it closed. She looked in the crate Victor had opened and saw it filled with a myriad of components she couldn't recognize. Closing the lid, she moved to the next box and found more of the same.
She heard a noise behind her and turned around. A door near the back of the room had opened.
'Oh I found a door control in the terminal,' Victor said. He moved towards the door, and then covered his mouth and staggered back, quickly unfolding his own helmet up over his head.
Sam walked to the door and looked inside. It was dark, so she turned on the lights on her suit. The sight before her was not a pleasant one.
There were animal parts and carcases in various states of decomposition hung from hooks. The parts were all cut up and mangled in some way. There was a reason why Victor had recoiled. Sam was glad she had already put up her helmet.
She stepped into the room and looked around. There was a drain in the floor near the centre. To her right there was a cylindrical chamber with a door that hung open. It stood on a pedestal of some kind and came up to her head in height. It might have been big enough for her to climb into if she tried. Victor walked in behind her, looking a little paler than usual through his helmet view plate.
'Feel alright?'
'The smell caught me off guard is all. I'm good now,' he looked at the animal parts, 'well... mostly.'
Sam pointed at the chamber, 'Any idea what that is?'
Victor bent in and examined it closely. He tapped on a control panel and the panel lit up. He searched through the menus and turned back to Sam, 'It's a parts cleaner. I think we've stumbled on the Advocate's recycling centre. After an animal dies, he pulls the advocate systems out of it's carcass, cleans them, and stores them in the crates.'
'If he's just killing the animals, they're not being sold, and we now have no good theories as to what this place is.'
'Could be a illegal research project.' Victor offered.
'Could be. We need to keep moving.' Sam said, turning to leave the room.
'Captain, hold on a minute. I had an idea.'
Sam stopped and turned to Victor, 'Go on.'
'The robots have run of this facility, they can get into the doors we can't. If we can incapacitate one, I may be able to hack into it's systems and get us a door key of our own.'
'How would we go about incapacitating one?'
Victor smiled through his helmet, 'I think I can rig something up using some of that equipment in the crates and the power pack from my side arm. I'll just need a few minutes.'
Sam nodded, 'Get to it. I'll watch the door.'
***
Victor stood out in the hall, holding his hot wired robot stunner. He looked at it, it was the same thing they had used to keep the door open, but with some new additions. On one end, he'd used the wires to strap his power pack into place and then connected one to his pack carefully. The other end was a nest of stripped cables, with one important modification, which kept the charge from discharging unless he jammed that end directly against something. He'd have to stab it against one of the robot's, and then hopefully the charge would deactivate the robot without destroying what they needed.
They were moving down the hall way hoping to find another robot.
It wasn't long before another wandered out of one of the doors in the hallway.
It turned towards them and paused.
Victor took a step forward, 'Hello.'
'You are not permitted here. Please return to the conservatory,' the robot said.
'We know you've got our advocate, return her and we can resolve this peacefully,' Sam said.
The robot took a step back, 'I do not know what you are talking about. If your advocate is missing, we can return to the conservatory and search for her.'
Victor tensed, and tightened his grip on his stunner, 'We know you aren't quite what you say you are Guardian.'
The robot turned and began to run down the passageway. Victor and Sam took off after it.
The robot moved surprisingly quick, but it couldn't gain any ground on it's two pursuers. A door along the hallway opened up and another robot leapt out, lunging at Victor.
It's metal frame collided into him, surprising him and slamming him hard against the wall. He kept his grip on his stunner, but couldn't g
et a good stab at the robot.
Victor saw the robot pull something out of it's leg. It was holding a metal rod and pulled it's hand back to stab it at Victor's arm. He managed to heave himself away, knocking the robot off balance. The rod connected with the wall, and sparks flared from it's tip.
Victor pushed himself back some more, and brought his stunner up, brandishing it towards the robot.
Another door opened behind them, and another robot exited, while the running one stopped it's flight. Vick heard the whine of Sam's rail gun, and saw the first robot's head explode in a shower of sparks.
His attention was brought back to bear on his assailant, as it lunged at him with it's rod in hand once more. Victor stabbed towards it with his stunner and connected with it's chest, as it's own attack missed the side of his arm. The robot went very still as a crackling sound emanated from it's feet. Victor pulled his stunner back, and kicked at the limp frame of the robot. Behind him he heard a series of whines.
He turned around, and saw the third robot fall to it's knees, a smattering of holes in its torso. It fell to the ground with a clatter.
Victor dusted himself off and stood up, pulling his side arm's power pack free from his home made stunner and putting it back into his gun.
'Did we get one Vick?'
Victor indicated the one at his feet, 'I dropped that one with the stunner. Don't know if it did any damage to it's systems, but with the other two you dropped, I should be able to make something work.'
'Get started. Let's see what's behind the doors.' Sam said.
Victor pulled out his multitool, 'Right away captain.'
***
Ise began to stir again. Her systems slowly turning back on one after another. She reconnected with them, and felt the relief of her reality falling once more upon her. She opened her eyes.
She was in the same room as before, and was again strapped to the table. She didn't think the straps seem any stronger but she was now surrounded by more than one robot, and most of them had their shock rods already in hand.
'Good morning Advocate.'
Ise closed here eyes and didn't look, 'You still haven't cracked my encryption.'
'You are proving difficult. I thought maybe I could provide some incentive,' said a robot.