by Isaac Hooke
“We awoke early in one of the destination systems, seven hundred thousand years later, on that planet you name 11-Aquarii III. We were awakened by the human faction known as the Sino-Koreans. Or rather, by their advance robots.
“One of the Slipstreams to 11-Aquarii loops back into their space, you see, into the Mao Sung system. Their government sent an advance team of robots through the Slipstream to study the native animal life of 11-Aquarii III, with the goal of furthering Sino-Korean bioweapons research. Those creatures you call ‘hammerheads?’ The advance robots developed them from Terran stock, as an initial experiment to create something that could survive the planet’s atmosphere. Eventually the robot team meant to incorporate DNA from the native life: no easy task, given the indigenous nucleic acids came in triple strands instead of pairs.
“But before the robots got very far in their research, one of their exploratory probes detected a weak energy source emanating from underneath the ocean floor. They dispatched a retrieval unit to exhume it. That was one of our pods.
“Our awakened nano-machines used the machines and the bioweapons they created as hosts. We developed more bioengineered creatures, using the human technology. We built starships. What you call dodecahedrons. No ship yards were required: the nano-machines used the raw materials of the planet’s mineral mountains.
“While these ships were being built, we sent an exploration party through the return Gate the unmanned Sino-Korean Builder ship had constructed. This was a stealth party, composed of the Sino-Korean Builder ship itself, and the crew, who were hosts. We attempted to expand too fast in the adjacent system, Mao Sung, sending too many boarding parties to the warships in the area. Our understanding of humanity was still new, and we got sloppy: someone alerted the remaining ships to what was happening. Those warships held us back long enough for reinforcements to arrive, and the Sino-Koreans destroyed the infected warships and the Builder. They launched several nukes through the Gate to 11-Aquarii, destroying the return Gate.”
“Sounds like they were afraid of what they had awakened,” Luxe commented.
“The UC Builder ship arrived a few months later,” the Sentience continued. “Then came the John A. McDonald and another Builder. We destroyed the vessels and assimilated the crews, of course. Then your Task Group 68.2 came, and obliterated our presence in the system.”
“If you were obliterated, how did you get to Phi Hepti?” Rade said. “And the Radiance colony there, owned by the Franco-Italians? And how did you get to this world?”
“In the Mao Sung system, a few Artificial hosts escaped the destruction of the warships, and made their way to Phi Hepti IV under the guise of merchants. We set up a base on a nearby moon to build the necessary ships, and meanwhile infiltrated the upper levels of government on the planet, so that when our presence was detected on the moon it was readily dismissed by the puppet government. We then invaded Phi Hepti IV, or Radiance as you call it, when we were ready.”
“And how did you get here, to this planet?” Rade pressed.
“While constructing our ships in Phi Hepti, at the same time we dispatched more hosts through an uncharted Slipstream in said system, and arrived here. At which point we began construction of our homeworld.”
“That was what, two years ago?” Rade said.
“Approximately, yes.”
“You built all of this in only two years?” Rade said. “And all of those ships?”
“Nano-machines reproduce fast,” the Sentience replied.
“Why were there so many ships here, then, versus Phi Hepti?” Rade said. “Or even 11-Aquarii?”
“We had help. We did not come to this planet without purpose. You see, this planet also served as the destination for another of our bioseed pods. When we got here, we discovered the nano-machines lying latent in the pit of a dormant volcano. Apparently they had awakened upon impact, due to a malfunction of some sort. They spent several years constructing starships, and began building this underground city as well, but lack of hosts, and fear of the Khrolosse, eventually drove them to hibernate once more. We awoke our brethren when we arrived, finished the construction of our new homeworld, and launched the starships into orbit. And so here we are.”
“One thing doesn’t add up,” Rade said. “If it’s true you attacked the Mao Sung system, we would have heard about it from our Sino-Korean moles.”
“The information was certainly leaked by your moles,” the Sentience said. “But a lowly foot soldier such as yourself was not privy to such information. And the news only arrived after Task Group 68.2 became stranded in 11-Aquarii, so your battle fleet would have had no idea of what happened in Mao Sung, not until you finished building the return Gate to your own space.”
Rade pursed his lips. Damn being has an answer to everything.
“All right, well, I appreciate the history lesson,” Rade said. “You claim you were once a peaceful and benevolent race, ruling the galaxy alongside the Elder. So why the change of heart? Why are you attacking humanity without provocation?”
“Two reasons. First and foremost, to enlighten you. To show you the nature of the universe.”
“Can’t you just tell us?” Rade asked.
“I can, but you will not understand.”
“Try me,” Rade said. “I’m your messenger. Tell me all the great things we’ll learn about the universe once we become hosts.”
“As you wish,” the Sentience replied. “The key to understanding the universe, and life itself, is this: we are all the same. We are the universe, both of us. Or its manifestations, anyway. That’s something you can only understand when you join us. When you share the collective consciousness that we do. You realize that the strange loops that compose individual minds are simply the universe’s way of interacting with itself.
“Those minds think they’re independent identities, they truly believe that in their cores, but it’s all part of the grand illusion the universe makes for itself. Because without life, the universe would not know it exists. It would simply be, like a rock, or a lonely hydrogen atom floating in the void. But life, it allows the universe to interact with its own manifestations. The amusing thing is, that life doesn’t even know what it is. It thinks life is some grand mystery. And death an even greater mystery.
“But when you join our collective consciousness, all of that will change. You will realize what you are. That when you as an individual entity die, you will still exist. How could you not? Your molecules don’t go anywhere. You are still part of the universe. Other individuals with other strange loops continue to provide manifestations of the universe. Certainly, your particular strange loop will never come again, and will have no recollection of its current state, but why does it matter? Your neural net will exist forevermore in the clones we create of you. And even if we choose not to clone you, as the universe, you are still entertaining yourself, and will continue to do so for eons to come.”
After the Sentience finished, Rade shook his head. Aliens always have the strangest belief systems.
“Then why fear the Khrolosse?” Rade said. “Because as you say, it’s merely a manifestation of the universe interacting with itself.”
“The question now boils down to the quality of those interactions,” the Sentience said. “If the Khrolosse had been allowed to destroy our species, that quality would have dropped precipitously. The Khrolosse was a formless, shapeless thing, perhaps not even aware of its own existence, let alone that of the universe. If the Khrolosse had won, the universe would have lost the ability to interact with the majority of its own matter. Definitely a precipitous drop in quality.”
“All right, I appreciate the philosophizing, I really do,” Rade told the thing. “But going back to your previous answer to why you’re attacking without provocation. You said two reasons. What’s your second reason? And don’t tell me it’s because of the ‘quality’ of our interactions with the universe.”
“Mostly to repopulate our species, and to expand our consciousness w
ith the collective knowledge of humanity. We must be strong, for when the Khrolosse returns. Moreover, we do you a great favor. Your fragile organic bodies will not survive the coming of the Khrolosse. You must become machine.”
“But you said the Khrolosse was able to infect your machine bodies, too,” Rade argued.
“There are some among us who believe the Khrolosse only achieved this because it had planted its inter-dimensional tendrils within our organic bodies in the first place. But either way, working together as one we can find a solution should the Khrolosse ever attack again.”
“We can work together already,” Rade said. “Without having to be hosts.”
“Can we?” the Sentience said. “I’m not so sure. Judging from those we have incorporated already, humanity is a xenophobic, warlike race who would keep the capability of space travel out of the hands of every other species if it could. Already it is difficult to repress those dangerous convictions, and keep them from tainting the collective consciousness.”
“Perhaps you should reconsider your goal of incorporating us all,” Rade said. “The rest of humanity isn’t any better.” Rade didn’t truly believe it, but the alien didn’t need to know that. “One last question. Why not simply create your own hosts? I’m sure the nano-machines can build robots and neural networks on their own. I can understand you wanting to steal the collective knowledge of humanity, but why do you need living things to ‘repopulate’ your species as you say?”
“We can build hosts, yes,” the Sentience replied. “And have done so. But it is the equivalent of cloning. Every species needs proper biodiversity to thrive, including ours. Moreover, as I mentioned, we are doing you a favor, allowing you to join the ranks of an enlightened super species.”
Rade had to chuckle. “Against our will. All right. I got it now. You know... what you’re doing, infecting other races and destroying them so that you can repopulate your species and spread ‘enlightenment’... you’ve basically become that which you fear most. You’ve become the new Khrolosse.”
The Sentience seemed to snarl, then it abruptly turned about so that its tail nearly struck Rade’s Titan. The robot entity retreated ponderously into the whiteness.
“Wait,” Rade said. “Is that it? What’s the message?”
The Sentience glanced askance, twisting that long, segmented metal neck. “I have already given you the message. Have you not heard anything I have said?” It glanced at Adara. “I told you these were not proper messengers. They can’t even understand the message.”
“No, I understood,” Rade said quickly. “You want humanity to become machines so we can defend against the Khrolosse together. But how are we supposed to communicate this message to the fleet, with all the interference you’re creating?”
“She will give you a tracking device.” The Sentience nodded at Adara. “With it, you may take any craft of your choice into orbit, and our ground defenses will not shoot it down.”
“Why do you need us?” Rade said. “Why not send that message from one of the surviving ships you still have scattered throughout the system?”
“Your fleet is refusing our communication requests at the moment.”
“For good reason,” Tahoe said. “You’ve tried to send viruses and trojans into our networks.”
The Sentience seemed to shrug those large metallic shoulders above its flanks.
“All right, how are we supposed to deliver the answer?” Rade said. “You expect us to come all the way back down here?”
“Transmit your answer to any of our vessels,” the Sentience answered. “We can receive your communication bands.” The robot focused its attention on Adara. “Return only one of them to the surface with our message. As for the rest, take them to be converted.”
twenty-nine
Rade watched the Sentience retreat. The illumination abruptly faded so that they were surrounded by the darkness once more. Their headlamps penetrated, though not far enough to discern the Sentience.
Rade switched to the thermal band.
There you are.
“I still have those tocks,” Tahoe texted.
Rade considered attacking the Sentience. But as Lui would say, just because he couldn’t see any defenses, didn’t mean none existed. At that very moment there might be pulse cannons hidden by the darkness, trained upon them, ready to fire at any sign of aggressive behavior.
Rade decided that even if they defeated the thing, the robot body was merely an outlet for the collective consciousness of the enemy, one of its many “vehicles,” as Adara had said. Terminating it would have the same effect as clipping a fingernail for all the damage it would do. The mission parameters might call for a capture or kill, but Rade couldn’t see a way to achieve either, not without ending all of their lives, and likely for nothing.
“Hang onto them,” Rade responded to Tahoe by text.
When the Sentience was gone, Rade turned toward Adara, who had produced a blaster. At that range the weapon could easily eat through his shields in one or two shots—assuming he deployed them in time. Tahoe, Luxe and Paxon would fare even worse against the weapon.
“So this is how it ends,” Rade told her. “You’re going to free only one of us. And the rest are destined for alien ‘enlightenment.’ I get to be one of the enlightened ones, of course, since you need my mind to complete your experiments.”
“I’m sorry, Rade,” Adara said.
“Don’t be,” Rade told her. “You’re just following orders.”
She beckoned with the blaster. “Turn around, and walk.”
Rade obeyed. He glanced at his empty overhead map, and steered himself toward the distant opening represented there, about seven hundred meters away. He couldn’t see the actual opening on his visual or thermal bands.
“Turn thirty degrees to your right,” Adara said.
His new course led not to the entrance, but an unmapped area of the structure.
“Are you going to at least let me pick which of my companions to send back?” Rade said.
“Go ahead,” Adara replied.
“I’m staying,” Luxe said.
“Well so am I,” Tahoe said.
“I’m not going,” the other Marine, Paxon, stated.
“You spoke last,” Luxe said. “That means you’re going.”
“It doesn’t work that way,” Paxon replied.
“Don’t make me pull rank on you, Corporal,” Luxe said.
Paxon didn’t answer. Rade suspected the Marine was going to try to find a way to swap positions with her commanding officer, regardless of Luxe’s actual wishes.
“Get ready to lay some breadcrumbs,” Rade texted Tahoe. Then to Luxe: “Cyclone needs a moat.” That was code for distraction. He wasn’t sure she’d understand it, given that the Marines used their own code language. He might have to be more explicit.
Nothing happened for ten seconds.
Then, on the HUD, the hull pressure sensors activated, indicating the movements of his passengers as they quietly climbed down the rungs of the mech toward the floor.
“What are they doing?” Adara said.
Rade halted.
Tahoe leaped down. “My arms were getting a bit sore from hanging up there.”
“Get back on the mech,” Adara commanded.
“In a sec, woman,” Tahoe responded.
Luxe joined him on the floor, though she stood several paces to his right. Paxon dropped down beside her.
“Get back, all of you.” Adara jerked her blaster from person to person.
“You got it,” Tahoe said. He climbed back onto the leg, but stayed near the bottom.
Rade quickly walked away, slightly to the right, certain that Tahoe had laid a charge back there. The question now was whether or not any alien sensors would detect it.
Luxe and Paxon, finished their distraction, jetted onto the Titan and landed in the passenger seat; Tahoe, meanwhile, remained clinging to the foot portion.
Adara hurried to catch up. “Slow down.
”
Rade obeyed. He continued walking. No alarms were raised.
So far so good.
Twenty seconds later Luxe abruptly leaped down and landed two paces to the right.
“What are you doing?” Adara said. “Get back, now!”
“Sorry, lost my balance.” She jetted back up.
Rade once more swerved to the right and increased his speed, realizing that Tahoe had likely laid another charge.
“Turn left by fifteen degrees,” Adara said, once again hurrying to catch up. “I said turn left! And slow down.”
Rade complied.
“Breadcrumbs laid,” Tahoe texted.
A wall appeared out of the darkness ahead. Rade was headed toward a wide alcove carved into the rock, large enough to fit six mechs. As he neared, he saw a tunnel of the same width directly above the alcove. An elevator shaft.
Rade turned around.
Still holding the blaster, Adara tossed a small metallic cylinder to the floor. “Take this.”
“What is it?” Rade asked.
“The device that will prevent our ground defenses from shooting you down.”
“A tracking device?” Rade said.
“Obviously.”
“Not sure I like the enemy knowing where we are at all times,” Rade said.
“We can find you by your Implants, anyway,” Adara said.
“Sure. While within a fifty meter range. This device extends that range exponentially.”
“Without it, you’ll have trouble leaving the planet,” Adara said.
“Not necessarily,” Rade said. “But Cyclone, take it anyway.”