Synchronicity Trilogy Omnibus

by Michael McCloskey

  Claw was working on several projects in the Terran lab when it received an urgent message from a Terran. It said that the exotic supplies may be cut off if an issue didn’t get Claw’s personal attention at a supply station near the spaceport.

  The summons was suspicious, but only slightly inconvenient. Claw didn’t have to be physically present in the lab to make progress on most things. Certainly Claw could investigate the message and keep working on increasing the accuracy of its translators of the many Terran languages.

  Claw and Slicer had been planting special links into interesting Terrans to gather more information about the situation in the L5 zone. Claw used two lobes to make the links more powerful and increase their lifespan using the Terrans’ fabrication tools. Claw could compose its own, but the energy cost was high. If the Terran facilities could make good spy links then all the better.

  The most important project had just completed. The urgent need for a new weapon to defeat the Terrans had been addressed. Since the weapon was ready, and Claw couldn’t guarantee success of the spy links without the right materials, it decided to investigate.

  Claw-L3: The problem must be severe for this Terran to contact me in this manner.

  Claw-L4: I don’t see anything suspicious in this one’s past behavior.

  Claw-L8: It’s been a while since the Terrans resisted. This may be a trap.

  Claw-L1-8: Consensus.

  Claw became more alert as it neared the supply station where the message originated. The cyblocs in and around the room didn’t report anything amiss. Claw accessed the usage logs and saw the Terran who had called had been in the room recently.

  Claw opened the door.

  A gentle scrape and rattling noise alarmed the Spinner. A metal ovoid scrambled across the floor toward it, gaining speed. To the Spinner, it seemed to move slowly. Then the ovoid launched itself into the air, headed straight for Claw.

  Claw halted its motion with a gravity field spike aimed directly at the device. Then everything became black.

  Claw-L4-6,8: .

  Claw-L1: I’m encased in a stiff substance.

  Claw-L4: Get out! Now!

  Claw-L1: Composing cutter molecules...

  Claw synthesized a thousand cutters and launched them outwards in a cone before it. Then it accelerated the shell of weakened material away by deforming its gravity field. Most of the barrier in front of its field effector flew out and crashed into the wall.

  Light returned to Claw’s world. But it still couldn’t move freely.

  Claw-L4: Hurry. I’m vulnerable! No doubt the Terrans will attack any second!

  Claw-L3 composed another series of cutter molecules and launched them on a plane, dividing the glue shell into two hemispheres above and below. Claw-L1 pushed the fragments apart with more gravity spikes.

  Chunks of cement-like glue fell away. Claw spun forward clumsily. Odd pieces of glue still clung to some of its legs. The Spinner scanned its surroundings with its own senses, then checked the nearby cybloc-controlled cameras and microphones.

  Claw-L4: There is no attack?

  Claw-L7: That was close. Very sloppy. They could have killed me without a fight!

  Claw-L1: Slicer would have been very disappointed.

  Claw meticulously removed the glue from its surface. It used a few tiny bursts of cutter molecules to clean itself off.

  Claw-L7: I need to more aggressively deflect such devices in the future. Or maneuver to avoid them by a great distance.

  Claw-L1: It won’t happen again.

  Claw-L3: I need to remove another ten percent of them.

  Claw-L1: No, just find the one responsible.

  Claw-L6: There are cyblocs reporting another Terran was here with the one who contacted me.

  Claw-L5: They aren’t far from here.

  Claw spun away at top speed. The targets were nearing the spaceport.

  Claw-L3: Don’t let them get away.

  A vibration traveled through the station. Terrans nearby looked around in distress. Claw ignored them.

  This is the United Nations Space Force. We are conducting a surprise inspection of this facility. Report to your personal quarters and stay there or face possible severe injury or death.

  Claw kept on its course. Claw-L3 alerted the security machines to go to high alert. Claw-L5 activated its sleeping assimilator factories to set aside ordinary activities and lock down the station, preparing for a network assault.

  Claw moved so rapidly it had already covered most of the distance to its targets. They split, but Claw saw one of them wore a military skinsuit. A UNSF operative? It pursued that one.

  Claw-L2 switched the helmet effector network on and instructed the Terrans to seek out large robots and inhibit their progress. The Terrans under its control became enraged and fearless.

  Claw moved in on the Terran operative. It ran just ahead of Claw, removing pieces of its gear.

  Claw composed a hundred cutter molecules, just enough to cripple its target. It launched them at the limbs of the Terran. The molecules cut through the material of the skinsuit easily, continuing inwards to cause soft tissue tears. The Terran stumbled.

  Claw was upon it in a split second. It tried to use a firearm to shoot the Spinner, but Claw batted the puny weapon away. It perched above her, brandishing its claw in an almost instinctual deadly embrace. Thus had Claw’s ancestors dispatched others of its kind in ancient times.

  “Merda,” the Terran whispered.

  Claw stunned the Terran with its field effector. Its eyes closed and it became still. The other Terrans all around had formed groups and moved out to find the UNSF.

  Claw-L5: I should kill it. I have to deal with the assault.

  Claw-L6: It knows a lot. This is a perfect candidate for a spy link.

  Claw-L3: Then it’s time to spy on the spy.

  Claw-L1-8: Consensus.

  ***

  Slicer connected to Claw through Ship.

  “We have to find a way to stop the Terrans. A shift of strategy. I can’t defeat Captain in time to use Ship to save you.”

  “I am well aware. It is my survival, after all, that I prepare to ensure.”

  “Your survival is vital to me as well. I need a loyal Spinner to help me rule over the Terrans. Did you know that Hitler and Captain had a plan to stop the Terrans? I subverted it.”

  “I was surprised at the defeat. Now I understand.”

  “I’ve been thinking about how to aid you, but I also have to fight Captain here.”

  “Then waste no more time. I have a plan to survive, of course. You should know me better than that. You concentrate on the challenge. Defeat Captain and take Ship. Then we will rule the Terrans together. Two or three of us, I don’t care.”

  “What is your plan?”

  “I’ll share that with you once you’ve taken over there,” Claw said.

  “You hide it from me?”

  “If I fail then it won’t be a strategy worth knowing about, will it?”

  Slicer didn’t reply immediately. It hadn’t expected such behavior from its long time ally.

  “We are in cooperation, not competition. Your behavior isn’t optimal.”

  “You may know soon. The Terrans sent a spy ahead of the invasion. I’ve placed a secret link into it so we can learn what they know.”

  “Very well. I’ll concentrate on my challenge as you suggest. I look forward to learning your strategy.”

  ***

  Claw moved into the spaceport when it observed seven of the heavy UNSF quadrupeds walk into Avalon at a breach near the main concourse. It dispersed its security machines and Terran puppets into small groups around the station to provide distractions to the invaders, which would be opportunities for Claw to attack.

  The assault on the Avalon network was fierce. Claw noted hundreds of cyblocs falling out of its control at the bridgehead. Claw released the next wave of assimilators right away, to prevent an immediate takeover of all cybernetics on the statio
n.

  Claw watched through its cybloc resources as the Terrans seized the spaceport. Several of the quadrupeds were there, but two had stayed behind to guard the breach point.

  Claw-L6: A miscalculation. If I were near the other two...

  Claw-L2: I’ll have my chance.

  Cyblocs under Claw’s control in the spaceport dwindled. Before it lost control of the last camera, it observed the Terran ASSAIL quadrupeds walking out.

  Claw-L2: How sure can I be of that information?

  Claw-L4: Seventy percent. These AIs may have managed to suborn the feed.

  Claw-L5: Then time to teach these Terrans a lesson.

  Claw spun up a stairwell into the spaceport. Claw-L7 composed a stream of cutters. As soon as the deadly molecule chains were bonded, Claw-L7 sprayed them at the UNSF marines. The alarm spread quickly among the enemy, but many of them fell, disabled or killed by the sudden attack. The floor ran red with their internal fluids.

  Claw-L4: Too easy. They’re so slow.

  Claw-L1: There! Two of the quadrupeds moving in.

  Claw-L7 composed two thousand cutters for each of the ASSAILs and launched them. Counter-fire started to come in. Claw spun away behind the stairwell casing, but a round plowed through the metal and had to be deflected at the last moment.

  Claw-L1: Prepare the field effector.

  Claw-L3: Not yet. Disengage.

  Claw-L2: Actually, the ASSAIL units are leaving.

  Claw-L8: Only to regroup. They’ll be back as long as the Terrans are dying.

  Claw-L2: Then one last round of cutters and time to leave.

  Claw-L1-8: Consensus.

  Some marines had spotted Claw and fired at the Spinner. Claw responded with another lethal wave of cutters, dropping many more of the enemy. Then it fled through another exit. Claw whirled along a pre-planned escape route into an airlock station. The Spinner left Avalon through the lock and sped through the void to a distant part of the giant metal ring.

  Claw-L3: Such freedom!

  Claw-L6: When I rule, I need to construct more wide-open areas in their habitats.

  Claw came to another lock near one of its ambush locations. Reluctantly, it accessed the portal and let itself back inside. It spun down two short corridors and came to its destination.

  The security hardpoint was already staffed. A controlled Terran greeted Claw.

  “We’re ready to take down the Chinese,” it said through its link.

  “It may yet be an hour before they arrive,” Claw said. “They’ve already killed dozens. This is to the death.”

  “I understand, sir,” the Terran security commander said.

  Claw made some last minute inspections. It had anticipated two likely approaches to the hardpoint’s laser emplacement. The walls were pre-cut to open new lanes of fire for the weapon, but it was all disguised to look normal. Terrans under Claw’s control waited in attack groups around the emplacement. They all believed their trap was prepared to repel Chinese invaders. Claw had created a frightening illusion to scare and motivate them, a world where the Chinese threatened to throw every Westerner out the airlocks.

  Claw monitored the Terrans’ progress through the network. Frustratingly, the cyblocs were constantly falling out of its control. Claw let loose waves of assimilators, but each time the flow only returned in its direction for a few minutes before its system began to erode again.

  Claw caught sight of the quadrupeds approaching from its prepared sniper’s position. They advanced along one of the anticipated approaches, through a wide-open cafeteria.

  Claw-L4: Here they come.

  Claw-L6 told a few of its Terran slaves to move in. Claw-L7 started to launch bursts of two thousand cutter molecules at the exposed quadrupeds. A few 12mm rounds came flying in Claw’s direction.

  Claw-L2: That one, Meridian. It’s spotted me already.

  Claw-L4: The ASSAILs are impressive weapons with AIs in control.

  Claw-L1 had to release a new wave of assimilators. As it was, local cybloc control was already crumbling.

  Claw retreated back to the laser emplacement. Claw-L8 took direct control of the laser. Claw-L6 gave the signal to the Terrans it controlled to drop the wall panels and attack.

  The cafeteria erupted into battle a second time. Claw’s minions hurled grenades and shot their slug throwers at the UNSF marines.

  Claw remained in back, launching salvo after salvo of cutter molecules at the armored quadrupeds. It darted behind support struts and heavy equipment as it recharged, avoiding direct confrontation while the Terran puppets took the brunt of the damage.

  Meanwhile, Claw-L8 made use of the laser. It lanced out at one of the ASSAILs several times. Smoke began to obscure the scene. The laser eventually crippled the target ASSAIL, so Claw-L8 looked for another target but the smoke roiled thick in the cafeteria, blocking its sight. It listened for the heavy footfalls of the machines but couldn’t pick any up.

  Claw-L4 prepared its secret weapon. With many hours of poring through details of the previous battles, incorporating scans of the UNSF quadrupeds, Claw had learned enough to calculate a reset state for the ASSAIL bodies. The Spinner could use its field effector to put the ASSAIL body into a state that would isolate the AI core and give control of the body to Claw. Though the effort would expend a lot of energy, Claw knew it would be a devastating attack method.

  Smoke moved across the area of engagement, obscuring the scene.

  Claw-L4: Activating the effector. Resetting the machine...

  Claw-L5: Holding off on composing more cutter molecules until more energy is available.

  Claw-L4: I have it. I have the one designated Nergal.

  Claw-L1: Target another ASSAIL.

  Claw-L4: As soon as the smoke clears... wait. The machine is malfunctioning.

  Claw-L1: I damaged it too severely?

  Claw-L4: This machine is useless. It’s been hit by a large projectile. I don’t know what happened.

  Claw-L1: I weakened its plates. One of the Terrans must have shot it by accident in the smoke!

  Claw-L5: Such bad luck.

  Claw-L1: Or not? The one called Meridian was right next to it. It may have killed its ally to stop me.

  Claw-L4: It’s dead so I’ve still gained ground. I’ll simply reset another as soon as I can gather the energy.

  Claw-L8: The laser is down. Shot by one of the quadrupeds.

  The smoke cleared as the station’s systems filtered it away. Claw saw many Terrans had been disabled on both sides. The UNSF Terrans had secured the area with tiny machines as well as the large ones.

  Claw spun away, headed back to the spaceport. Whatever suborned Terrans were left in the area would quickly fall to the invaders.

  Things had changed in the spaceport since the last engagement. The Terrans had brought in cover, dozens of large plastic containers, which were stacked in interlocking fashion to create enclosed islands here and there. The marines were placed inside the low walls of each island, protected by the plastic containers and their contents.

  Claw-L5: That’s not all. They’ve spread their smaller devices all about the floor.

  Claw-L2: Avoid those. They must be weapons.

  But several of the devices had already locked onto Claw as it emerged from a conveyor entrance. Three of them rolled across the floor towards the Spinner while two others actually launched themselves up into the air, flying towards it.

  Claw-L5 sprayed the nearest marine island with cutter molecules as Claw-L2 started to spike its protective gravity field. The three rolling mines exploded simultaneously. Claw-L2 grabbed the energy it needed to deflect the hundreds of fragments of metal released toward it.

  A sonic wave hit Claw’s body, hurting its sensors and overloading the feed into its biological brain. Claw-L5 bonded a hundred cutters and sent them flying out toward the last location of the tiny Terran devices that had flown upwards.

  The Spinner’s visual processing remained. Claw retreated, spinning away down a corridor le
ading away from the spaceport.

  Claw-L5: I killed a few more. Next time, I’ll be more careful.

  Claw-L8: Perhaps the factory.

  Claw-L1-8: Consensus.

  Claw had prepared the factory core as an engagement site. By happenstance, its favored body fit through the main access tubes, but it judged the Terran quadrupeds would have a hard time moving there. It would reduce the firing arc since their heads would have less room to swing the cannons about. Targeting their bodies would also become easier, and in many of the spaces an ASSAIL wouldn’t be able to turn away a compromised armor plate.

  Claw-L3: They’re here.

  Claw-L1: I need to kill more of them. They’re dangerous. Too smart. Too many.

  Claw-L5: I can get a temporary network advantage. That’s it. I have to kill some of them.

  Claw-L4: Reset another one.

  Claw-L5 launched three new types of assimilators at once in all corners of the factory. It used the temporary influx of cybloc control to block out as many Terran signals as it could.

  Claw-L4: Time to attack.

  Claw-L2: No need for a clear shot. They’ve been shooting at me through walls.

  Claw-L5: True. Easy enough to tell where they are with the cyblocs or even just those loud footsteps.

  Claw-L1 chose two of the enemy ASSAILs and launched four thousand cutter molecules through the factory towards their position.

  Then it darted down a narrow tube and launched a finishing round at one of them. Two 12mm rounds sliced through the metal tube on a collision course. Claw-L2 deflected them away, but one of the rounds’ new courses intersected an arm and blew it off.

  Claw-L2: .

  Claw-L4: I have energy for the reset.

  Claw-L5-8: Yes. Go.

  Claw reversed direction and spun back the way it had come. It could hear the steady footsteps of another ASSAIL in this direction. A small Terran machine, some kind of scout, popped out of a pipe ahead. Claw-L1 used five hundred cutters, causing the fragile six-legged machine to collapse.

  Claw neared the sounds of the next ASSAIL.