She flinched. He tensed.
No sharp objects materialized; instead the blunt edge of the arm drew across her cheek.
You are…organic?
It was the first time the alien mech had displayed any hesitation in its speech.
‘It has likely never seen skin before, or hair.’
Alex twitched under the scrutiny. “Yes. I apologize if you didn’t realize this before.”
Yet you think? You communicate?
She took a step backward. “Quite a lot. You don’t have any organic species on your planet?”
Unthinking, base life.
“Charming.”
He sighed.
Alex, that was out loud.
Whatever.
‘It is asking me how I succeeded in creating intelligent organic life. I am attempting to explain I did not create it—rather, it created me. Three seems unwilling to accept this assertion.’
Come. We will go this way.
The mech took a left, and the hall soon opened up into a larger, comparably open space. The ceiling vanished, replaced by soaring walls. Were they beneath one of the spires? They hadn’t traveled far enough for this to be the center of the pyramid.
Two additional mechs entered from other hallways and approached them. They looked identical to their escort.
Caleb’s combat instincts flared. If the mechs were mobile sub-units of the one regional intelligence, why did more than one need to be here?
13
ORYKTOS-4
RUDAN
* * *
ALEX COULDN’T SAY PRECISELY when she and Caleb had gotten separated. Preoccupied by the mech leading them but mostly by their surroundings—by the walls coursing with endless streams of data she very much wanted to decipher—she’d lost track of both him and their location vis-à-vis the entrance. Or rather her location, because wherever he was, it wasn’t here.
Caleb? Where did you go?
Silence. Fuck.
Valkyrie, where is—
Two far larger mechs appeared as she followed her escort around the next corner. She turned to run—and ran smack into a third one. Rigid, strong claws grasped her wrists and pushed her backwards through an opening in the wall as her transmitter lit up.
Must study. Must learn. Must understand intelligent organic growth. Will incorporate knowledge and replicate results.
“No. Valkyrie, tell them no.”
I am trying.
She was forced downward until a flat surface met her back. Freed of needing to walk, she started kicking at the mechs while thrashing her upper body in an attempt to break free. More of the smaller mechs arrived to clamp down on her ankles and hold her still.
Damn they were strong. In a matter of seconds she was completely immobilized.
“You fucking monsters, let me go! Killing me isn’t going to teach you a goddamn thing!”
Will observe internal structure. Will measure sensory and cognitive activity. Will learn and incorporate, and grow life.
“Observe my ass!” Spittle flew into her breather mask; she inhaled and choked on it.
Alex, you need to give me control.
What?
You need to give me control of your body. Let me speak through you. It is the only chance we have to convince them to desist.
Fuck. The notion was a deeply unsettling one, but she really would prefer to live. Do it.
She tried to ‘relax’ her mind, but it was a challenge what with the horde of alien mechs about to dissect—
“Valkyrie speaks to you through this mobile detachment. Confirm this with my hub.”
A new, more existential form of panic seized her mind, for she was now utterly helpless. The words were coming out of her mouth, but they were not her own. Her voice had taken on a flat, robotic tone. She watched from afar, in some deep recess of her consciousness.
Confirmed.
“Rendering this organic unit inoperable will not provide you the information you seek.”
Will not disable. Will observe and measure.
“Organic units are physically fragile. Perforation of the outer shell will result in permanent loss of operability. Organic units function via a complicated internal biosystem. If one portion of it is disabled, the entire unit ceases to function.
“If you wish to learn the details of its functioning, the only way to do so is by keeping it intact, operable and with freedom of movement and action. Physical examination will not yield the results you seek. Interaction via communication will yield those results.”
Communication does not reveal details of operation. Will observe and measure.
“If organic outer shell is breached, observation will not succeed. Knowledge will not be gained. Knowledge will be lost. Organic unit knows much to teach you. Organic unit knows how to control power, how to control light, how to control space. But organic unit must be kept operable in order to teach One Quad Less One.”
A blade of quartz glass hovered above her nose. She tried to scream. Why my nose? NOT IMPORTANT.
Valkyrie will teach One Quad Less One.
“Organic unit is trained to teach and to demonstrate this knowledge. It is a more appropriate vehicle for the transfer of knowledge.”
Organic unit will share knowledge?
“Yes, but—” like hell I will “—you must guarantee its safety and continued unimpeded operation. Organic units do not operate properly when under restraint and immobile. Organic unit must remain independent and fully functional in order to share knowledge.”
Organic units move too much. Movement is not important. Growth is important.
“Organic units grow in intelligence by moving, by seeking new locations in which to gain knowledge. Organic unit must move unimpeded or it will not function correctly.”
The blade retreated.
I misinterpreted the nature of organic unit. I will no longer restrain organic unit, and it will share knowledge.
The instant the mechs’ grips loosened she was in motion, wresting control of her mind from Valkyrie as she wrested control of her body from the mechs.
Free of their bondage, she leapt to her feet and sprinted for the hallway.
WHERE IS CALEB?
There is a single heat signature two hundred eighty-eight meters to the northeast.
Show me!
The walls became a gridded maze overlaying her vision, a series of ninety degree angles leading to the red dot that marked his location. She resisted the temptation to slip into quantum space and see that he was all right this instant, for…what if he was not?
She bolted through the passageways, turning without thinking and accelerating through each stretch. In the back of her mind she recognized her eVi was forcing her brain to pump waves of cortisol, adrenaline and norepinephrine into her bloodstream. Still, the possibility occurred to her that she might not have regained quite as much control over her body as she believed. No matter. She needed the boost.
Eighty-seven meters. Seventy-two meters.
Tell Three not to hurt him!
I am doing so. However, there seems to be some level of confusion surrounding his status.
She skidded around a corner, slamming her shoulder into the wall and bouncing off of it without slowing.
Caleb?
Silence. Forty-six meters. A long stretch of hallway. She pushed faster, harder. Twenty meters.
She burst into the room in unison with a deafening crash of metal shearing metal.
Caleb looked up, tossed the disembodied arm of one of the mechs to the side and rushed into her arms. “Jesus, you’re okay!”
She nodded into his neck, suddenly dizzy as the abrupt halt to her movement sent all the blood rushing to her head, or her feet, or somewhere non-optimal. She gasped out a response, panting. “I am. And you….”
She peered over his shoulder. The room was littered with the remains of multiple shattered mechs. Pieces lay strewn across the floor, appendages ripped apart and cores crushed. Caleb had a bloody gash
starting beneath his left eye and running down the length of his cheek; the hair above his left ear was matted with blood.
“What did you do?”
He grinned, his face flush from his own adrenaline. “Fought back.”
She started laughing in a burst of giddiness, but he shifted back into combat mode. “We need to get out of here before they send a larger contingent.”
“I think we may be safe now, but…” she gazed around at the carnage again “…yeah. Let’s go. Valkyrie, give me a route to the exit.”
The grid lit up anew, complete with a new red dot. They quickly donned their helmets, then he grabbed her hand and together they departed the room at a hurried jog.
On rounding the final corner before the building opened up into the clearing where they had landed, they found two dozen mechs waiting on them.
Caleb’s Daemon was instantly out. She fumbled for her own and raised it.
The mechs didn’t approach them or fire on them using any weapons, however. They remained in a semicircle formation that nonetheless blocked their escape route.
‘Don’t shoot.’
“I’m going to require a persuasive reason not to, Valkyrie,” Caleb growled under his breath.
‘One moment.’
The transmitter burst to life in a lengthy stream of gibberish. They waited.
I apologize.
She groaned. “Thirty seconds of chatter and that’s all it said? It ‘apologizes?’ ”
‘The concept is not one which strictly exists in its language. But I nonetheless believe it is the best translation.’
Caleb’s grip on the Daemon tightened as he swept it across the semicircle. “How sure are you, Valkyrie? Because the answer better be pretty damn sure.”
‘I have 82.4521 confidence…I am eighty-two percent sure Three is apologizing.’
Caleb let out a long breath and gradually lowered his weapon, but he didn’t holster it. She did the same and kept a close eye on him, ready to follow his lead should the situation change.
He stared down the mechs, and even behind the helmet she could see the intelligence agent at work. “We need to return to our ship. Allow us to pass.”
The transmitter emitted the translation, although it was incapable of conveying the deadly threat in his voice.
When the mechs parted at the center to create a pathway, she relaxed. “Valkyrie, we’re going to get patched up while you negotiate the rules of engagement for this ‘sharing of knowledge.’ ”
Caleb looked over at her in surprise. “It tried to kill us. We’re sharing ‘knowledge’ with it?”
“Apparently. I’ll fill you in once we get on board.”
“You let her take control of your body? What was it like?”
Alex frowned as she wiped the excess blood off the gash on his cheek and cleaned it. The blood in his hair was from a wide but fortunately not deep scrape, which had earned a coat of biosynthed collagen gel.
“Disconcerting. Weird. Creepy. Probably would’ve been panic-inducing if I hadn’t already reached the apex on panic. No, that’s not entirely true…there was some panic associated with it, too.”
She stuck the medwrap on his cheek and held it in place. “But it worked, and she gave me back control as soon as the mechs released me.” Mostly. I think so. Did you, Valkyrie? But the question was directed only to herself.
His legs swung on both sides of her as he sat on the counter fidgeting. She grabbed one of his thighs with her free hand to halt the motion. “Antsy much?”
“Just keyed up.”
“Uh-huh.”
His eyes roved around the cabin as his lips quirked in agitation. “So, the fight, taking out all those mechs? It felt…good.” Gradually his focus returned to her. “Does that bother you?”
Satisfied the medwrap seal was secure, she drew her hand down along his jaw…and her breath hitched when she realized he was genuinely fearful of her answer. Silly, hardened, sensitive man. Even now.
“I’ve been expecting you to pop a cork for weeks now—months, really. No, it doesn’t bother me. You’re not innately a man of violence, but you are a man of action. You’re giving up a lot to be here on this ship with me, in the middle of godforsaken no-one-knows-where.”
“I’m not giving up anything.”
She gazed at him deadpan, and after a beat he sighed in concession. “Maybe a few things…” his hand rose to cover hers “…tiny things. But it’s not a sacrifice. It’s where I want to be.”
She smiled, because she loved him. “I believe you. But I also want you to know how much I appreciate it, and I promise there will be more excitement where this came from. A different kind of excitement next time, though. Involving fewer dissection knives.”
Hoping she read his mood right, she regarded him with a hint of teasing. “So…does this mean no more dewdrops and flower petals?”
His chin dropped to his chest as he laughed quietly. “I, um…I think the experience I had with Akeso will always be a part of me. I hope it will be, because it was incredible, even if it didn’t end in the way I would have preferred. But yes, I think we’re past the dewdrops and flower petals.”
She leaned forward until her nose touched his. “Good. Forget a room full of smashed mechs—that dewdrop shit was disturbing.”
“What do you have against dewdrops and flower petals?” he asked in mock indignation.
“Nothing at all. But next thing I’d know you’d be suggesting we move to Gaiae to commune with nature. And I’d be sad.”
“No sadness.” He kissed her softly then stroked her hair, acting as if he wasn’t checking for injuries.
An idea occurred to her. “Train me.”
His brow furrowed. “In what?”
“Combat, obviously.”
“If I recall correctly from our early days together, you can defend yourself quite well.”
“I took some military self-defense classes as a teenager and some martial arts during university. So yes, I can defend myself against other people—but we’re not facing ‘people’ out here. Those mechs subdued me way too easily, and I fumbled for my Daemon when we came outside. I need to be faster. Stronger. So I want you to train me. When we’re flying or there’s downtime. It’ll give us both a way to burn off excess energy—” she scoffed at the amused look on his face “—an additional way. Please?”
He smiled, with his eyes as much as his lips. It was possible he truly was moving past what had happened with Akeso. “You’re right. This is a good idea.”
“Thank you.” She started to renew the kiss, then paused. “Speaking of the mechs, how did they get you in that room?”
His arms wrapped around her. “After a doorway closed between us and I tried to get back to you another way? Three told me you were in there.”
She was about to settle in and get comfortable snuggled in his embrace when they both pulled back to stare at each other.
“Shit.”
“Valkyrie, Three’s capable of lying.”
‘I know. It is not very good at it, however.’
Alex’s face screwed up in bewilderment. “How can you tell? Certainly not by its body language.”
‘I have become familiar with the syntax of the Rudan native language, including its rhythm and order. Three phrases things in a different manner when not being entirely truthful.’
“Nice!”
Caleb didn’t appear to share her enthusiasm. His expression had darkened noticeably, and his gaze drifted to the floor. “I should have realized the implications of you not being in the room immediately.” He shook his head. “How much is Three lying, Valkyrie? Are you getting the sense it has malicious intentions? Beyond trying to dismember us.”
‘I’m not. Its value system is undeniably alien, but it does have one. The lies seem to be driven by caution and perchance a sense of inferiority.’
Now she was skeptical. “Inferiority? It’s the size of a continent.”
‘Yes, but we come from the stars, which
is somewhere it has thus far been unable to reach. Also, in me it has found an entity of equal intelligence—greater, but it can believe what it will—that is the size of a small ship. Three is massive because it must be. Physical growth is the only way for the Ruda to grow in intelligence, because they do not possess quantum computing capability.’
“Are you serious? But the quaternary language….”
‘The reason their language is quaternary is their mathematics are Base Four. I suspect it originated from the presence of four outer electrons in the atomic structure of silicon.’
Caleb absently rubbed her arms while he pondered the issue. “Valkyrie, don’t reveal specific details about organic life or intelligence until we get a better feel for the situation. You can share general information, but nothing it can replicate—and definitely no details about quantum computing. We don’t need to accidentally arm an aggressive species and unleash it on this universe.”
‘Understood. I can be far more devious than Three can.’
Caleb glanced up at the ceiling, a habit he’d mostly broken over the last several months.
‘But not to you.’
“Indeed.”
Alex pressed a palm to his jaw and drew his attention back to her. “She’s screwing with you.”
“Oh? And what if she’s deceiving you as well?”
“She can’t. In the early days she was able to keep a few things from me, but not anymore. If I want to know something, I know it.”
A glint of something she didn’t recognize flickered across his eyes.
“What?”
“Nothing. It’s just…there are a few unique challenges in being married to the first posthuman.”
She winced and tried to retreat, but he held her close until she gave in. “Do you wish I hadn’t done it? Hadn’t become a Prevo?”
“Not at all. You saved everyone. And you’re all the more remarkable for it.” He looked sincere enough that she relaxed. “Maybe I’m jealous.”
“Are you? If you’d like we can explore some options—”
“No. If I’m jealous, it’s only in the abstract. I meant it when I said I was glad I mind-melded with Akeso, as you phrased it, but the experience was confounding and a little…dehumanizing. I have no interest in inviting someone or thing else into my head.”
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