Mark stood watching the probe’s feed as he looked down the hole, standing at the lip. “Damn it to hell. The last thing I want to do was is jump down the damn rabbit hole like with Alice chasing a stupid rabbit. ” No , Alice had already jumped and he was supposed to follow. ” Chuckling , Mark smiled to himself. “ I don’t believe this You hear that ball. I named you Alice for crying out loud. Now I have to follow you don’t I?”
“Beep beep chirp.” Came the reply.
“What?” He did not see the rapid flash across the small screen in the corner of his field of view that said. “Thank you.” Though he noticed that he suddenly started seeing the air, walls and floor temperatures in the little screen as well as ghosts of the tunnel ahead. “I thought you did not have the capacity Mickey to help me.” Trying to see details in the little screen in the corner of his glasses. “Why are you using the small screen Mickey? It is hard to see.”
“I am not doing that Mark. That is the ball. You can enlarge the screen to cover your whole s creen for one eye allowing you to still see your surroundings through your other eye. Ah , why did you name the little ball d Alice? Why? ”
“Just an old faerie tale fairy tale about a little girl named Alice that fell down a rabbit hole. What do you mean you are not doing that?”
“I am sorry Mark but I am much too busy. The marines have taken the lower tower access shafts from the basement and seal ed ing them as planned , for the moment, killing hundreds of bots before reinforcements could be brought up from below or switched from the core battle. With the help of the English troops they are in the process of slaughtering the bots left trapped in the above ground core from the outside while keeping reinforcements from being brought up from below. The English troops are taking it in the shorts though with almost half dead or wounded but they keep dishing it out. Most of our medics have moved to trying to keep as many of them alive as possible with our APC’s serving as ambulance s after each load of reinforcements are brought in. The bombers and tanks around the outside have taken out several hundred bots that tried to go up the outside of the building from the ground level basement entrances . T hough t he fire started by the torpedo hit in the tower’s shell is well established now since the and with the fire suppressant system was disabled or destroyed and the AI controlled bots not destroyed by the blast ignored the fire when they could have easily put it out . The fire and no fire fighters arou nd, it is spreading rapidly . If the fire keeps spreading in the dire ction it is going, it will eventually reach the bomb on the north east corner . ”
Mark shook his head . That news made it obvious that he had little choice. Mark didn’t like any of the options he could think of . .
“ Oh Mark, I think that this Alice is not just a run of the factory reconnaissance drone. I do not have the time to check now but it shows signs of being some kind of very advanced AI. Possibly a class 8 since it would not allow me to rewrite its systems but only incorporated the program I sent it into its matrix . It is hard to tell for sure until I have the resources to dig into its core time but it is probably smarter than a moron in human terms. Able to do more than just respond to simple orders and instructions with some independent actions . like keeping me from wiping and replacing its core programing at this time. But it should M m ak e ing you a good pet love.”
The screen from the little ball went blank. “Oh shit ! N n ow what. Don’t tell me the AI found and destroyed it already?” Mark backed away from the hole getting ready to run as he pulled the blast riffle off his back.
The screen blinked back on with a big, “NO! Not moron.” Across the screen. A few seconds later the ball appeared in front of Mark standing at the edge of the outside hole blasted in the 10 foot thick concrete wall. Ready to jump out of the torpedo bay and tower at the first sign of a bot as the screen on his glasses lit up again. “Adding most of new programming to core matrix . but n N eed time to assimilate beyond simple old scout mission programing . New advanced program encoded mission ing orders ; , I take care , protect of you.” .
“Ok ? ” ?” Mark said.
“You coming?” “Wait, minute.” Flashed on the screen that now took up Mark’s whole right side of his glasses as Alice squeaked . “We find AI in sub-basement.” The little ball started drifting around Mark as a bright light shown from it bathing the legs of his suit. “We find AI in sub-basement.” “You coming?”
Mark loo ked down at the little ball . P uzzled until he realized that it was cleaning the mud and dirt off his suit from impacting the ground. Cleaning the micron sized Stealth cameras and transmitters.
“Raise arms.” Came the words on his screen as she chirped . M ark realizing the chirp was Alic e talking English at such a high speed it came out as a chirp. His inner mind starting to understand .
Mark raised his arms without thinking as the little ball circled around bathing the rest of his body in the light cleaning off the rest of his suit. “Ok, I take it that the stealth emitters need ed to be clean ed of dirt which makes sense .”
“Yes.” Came the reply in front o f him as the little ball beeped again. It finally slid over to the hole and hovered over it. “You come now.” It chirped and then disappeared down the hole.
He no longer had any choice in the mater evidentially. “Yes Alice.” The last thing he wanted to do was go down that fucking rabbit trap.
“Turn stealth mod 3 on. Mark.” Alice chirped in his ears as the words a A ppeared in his classes and the one side as Alice started showing the tunnel disappeared down the hole again . “I keep you safe. Warn you long time before danger.”
“Shit.” Turning his suit to mode 3 he walked up to and dropped down the hole . Having to climb through the tight space at the mouth of the opening between blasted blocks of plasticrete and the armored hatch. Dropping down into a torpedo transfer room with a tunnel sloping down at the inner end with another set of hatches that were wide open. F f orcing himself not to think about the dangers and terrors that had to be down there as h e started walking down the dark tunnel. The assault gun held pointed down the tunnel in hands that now fel t clammy and shaky. Taking one step at a time ready for a horde of bots to jump out from the many pipes lining one side and lift rail mounts sticking up from the floor every dozen feet surrounded by the plasticrete walls. Wishing he now had an army behind him instead of being alone. Kicking himself for sending the squad away even though he k new it had be en the right thing to do. .
“Turn gravity coils on so you can keep up. I tell you when to turn off. I detect no bots or danger in the tunnel. ”
Well maybe he wasn’t alone after all. Mark picked up his walking pace for a few seconds before switching on his grav-coils to start sliding at what amounted to a jog down the inclined shaft that was not as steep as it had felt in the beginning . Realizing that the little ball was starting to distance itself from him . Mark started to pick up speed . Suddenly safety meant being close to the little ball even if it didn’t have any weap ons . Mark was soon zip ping ped down the tunnel half scarred to death that a hundred bots would pour out of a round every corner or every nook and shadowed cranny he was passing . Mark half scared to death that he would run across some kind of cross corridor or side hatch where a thousand bots would pour out from .
Finally catching up to the little ball and having to put on the breaks to keep from running into her. Forcing himself not to hyperventilate as he fought to control his breathing as he settled down to keep pace with the little ball. . But w W ith Alice leading the way a few yards ahead, he at least felt not so scarred though he continued, was ready to turn and run at the first sign of trouble leaving small chip dots of Mickey’s at every junction and hatch to keep from getting lost or surprised . Afraid of what they would find at the end of the tunnel. Certain that a thous and bots would be waiting for t he m when they got there. Afraid that he would get lost even though they had yet to pass an intersection. Forgetting that Mickey kept a record of his every move with a continues map display if he asked for it. Mark was
way to worried of what he w ould do Then what if bots did start flooding into the tunnel behind him from a secrete hatch in the torpedo bay . Mark swallowed and continued on down the steeply inclined tunnel. His p aranoia growing by the second.
The little ball stopped at a hatch at the end of the tunnel. Mark came up stopping behind the little he had named Alice and watched her hovering in front of the little ball at what looked like the an armored hatch e ’ s control panel. A bluish green beam played over it for several seconds .
Realizing that Alice was trying to open the hatch and wi th nothing to take cover behind as he found out trying to hide behind the track supports and banks of pipes and conduits , Mark dove for the floor . P ointed his blaster at the hatch just in time for the and then the thick hatch to open ed .
Not finding a horde of bots behind the open hatch Mark slowly stood up as the little ball moved over to Mark “You stay put facing out to hide heat exchanger on lower back.” Appeared in his glasses with a little beep s and chirp s in his ears . Then as Alice slide th rough the hatch and zoomed around the compartment several times weaving through the racks of torpedo's and handling equipment and even in front of another torpedo transfer shaft hatch to one of the other torpedo bays. Then across the compartment and up to another hatch where her blue light played over the control panel again. "Mickey won't the AI see the little, a, Alice her opening the hatches? Especially these. ”
"Ahh, possibly Mark… Though the little ball, Alice, is as advanced as I am and should be able to bypass the simple primitive , backward security in this building that is not even the planets best but a cheap copy with many flaws ." The hatch opened and the little ball disappeared through it. The screen in the corner of his glasses showing him a corridor on the other side that went for a hundred feet then branched off into several directions.
“Mickey; can you tell me which way to go to find the AI?”
“Yes Mark. You go north, he should b e several hundred e a thousand yards, at 312 degrees from you according to the records. He will be at the center of the building of the bottom floor you are on now . D In the direction that 3rd corridor from your right own the passageway Alice went down , and take the 3rd corridor to your right should take you . At the center of the bottom floor of the sub-basement. You are on the bottom floor now. The equipment and utility floors are the first 5 floors above you. The 20 floors above that are parking garages with a hundred thousand cars of different types stacked up for storage and an automated handling and elevator car system for transporting the cars m to the surface for delivery to their owners and returning them when they are done with them. Those floors are very crowded and compact with only a few shafts and utility chases running down through them. You are doing fine. Just be careful of the bots in these tight corridors . T t hough you should have only a few bots to avoid Mark. Most of the 4 or 500 bots left should be on the upper storage and cargo handling floors of the upper basement above the car storage floors and the outer tunnels. Ready to defend against our forces coming down from the upper floors."
Shaking his head. “They damn will better follow orders and not even try coming down. All I need is for them to keep those bots busy.” Mark heard something behind him scrape the floor. Whipping around he brought up the assault gun already squeezing the trigger as he saw the bots in the passageway. And then the marines walking up behind t h i e m. Swallowing, he tried to take his heart out of his mouth. Looking down at the blast riffle with his finger still mashed down on the trigger. His face turning white as he looked at the safety and thanked Godstar that it was on.
They walked past him and out the mouth of the tunnel a s they deployed nd looked around the magazine ready for anything . “What direction Commander?”
"Mark, the fire is spreading faster than I expected up the side of the building and has already reached the 16th floor. It is threatening one of the lower landing platforms directly above it. The transport is going to need to take off ahead of schedule. The Captain is trying to get the second barrage moved up to cover the takeoff and the transport s loaded faster. Oh and the marines have reached found the bombs. They are bigger than we thought and definitely have enough industrial explosives in the lower floors to bring down the building and the bomb squad says it will take hours to defuse them. The worst is if that the wind is blowing the fire toward the North West corner bomb faster than I thought. You have less than a half hour Mark. on the lower floors ”
“OK so I need to get moving the n m . Ah. 312 degrees at the center of the basement. Ok." Mark started across the compartment to follow Alice just to keep from freaking out after trying to kill his own troops. Again.
Seeing the marines start to clump up ar ound pieces of equipment or start to relax, Mark shook his head. "Spread out and turn your damn suits to stealth damn it. I almost hosed you.” Looking around the cavern full of torpedo's he pointed toward the other shaft leading off toward one of the other launch bays with a torpedo ready to go up the shaft in front of the closed hatch. "Two of you stay here long enough to check this magazine for a self-destruct charge and two can head for the other magazine on the other side. I will have Alice open that hatch one up as well so we don't have to worry about the AI detecting the intrusion if he did not detect this hatch being opened. Don't go opening any doors you don't have to. Use your scanners to check compartments. We need to find a way to the center of the basement as well as the hostages if they are down here. But we don’t want to let the AI m know we are here yet. Hopefully we can find the hostages and get them out before I have to deal with or the damn AI and neutralized before we run out of time." It seems that a fire has broken out in the tower and is threatening one of the bombs as well as one of the landing platforms . The and the transport boat may have to take off before scheduled. We need to find the AI before that happens.” Mark to ok a breath. “ S o we need to get moving.”
“Why worry about the hostages now Commander. We are beating it’s butt off.” Came the voice of one of the marines . His ikon lit up on his screen so Mark knew who was speaking.
“If it figures out that we are evacuating the hostages it could blow the tower killing them and our crewmen on the upper floors. As long as it thinks it has the hostages it will not get too worried about the battle even if it is losing it.”
“ Setting off the bombs That is stupid. That would bring the tower down on it’s own head.” Said another.
“No. The sub-basement was rebuilt to survive the destruction of the tower in case of an attack during the war. Remember the plug in the shaft at ground level? We have to find and neutralize the AI and we are running out of time. Now get moving but keep it slow and put your suits on stealth 2 for now unless you see a bot then go to Stealth 1 1 . We don’t want it to know we are here until it is too late.”
“And all you need to do to take it out is plant a virus right Mickey?” Mark said under his breath.
“Basically yes, but a little more involved than that.”
Mark stopped at the hatch. "Now no talking and use only burst bit comm from here on.” Mark started walking down the corridor as the marines around him disappeared except for their icons and started going down other passageways. . “Damn. This is way to slow.” He turned on his gravity pack and zoomed after Alice. “Alice how are you doing? Find anything yet?”
A "3,7." Appeared on his screen. “What the.”
“Phrase digit burst code. Love. Three means your Alice ha s d found the hostages but is surrounded and 7 means she is safe. Unless you are synced with the transmitter it looks like just background noise. Very secure. The transport boat is being forced to take off. Captain Summers has told it to take off normally without a covering barrage and head out like any normal transport. As if it had been there all along and just waiting for the lower tower to be taken and safe before leaving. Hopefully if not all the outer sensors in the lower building have not been cut, and the AI sees it, it will think it is just an isolated transport.
The real problem is the fire. If it ge
ts to the bombs, the transports may not have time to come back for a second load. Captain Summers is trying to stuff several thousand more people into each transport and get the mass transit trains going on the recaptured mass transit station for the rest. The Queen’s Captain of Marines has offered to stay behind as rear guard until everyone including the English troops are evacuat ed. While our shuttles and APCC's are trying to ferry in what firefighting equipment they can. A few firefighting gravtrucks have responded to the call now that the lower floors have been retaken but they are not nearly enough with as big as the fire has become and are fighting it only from outside the tower, refusing to land. Even if you get to the AI and neutralize it. If the fire gets to any of the bombs and sets one off; the rest are probably programmed to detonate automatically. Though one bomb may be enough to tumble bring down the mile high tower building .”
Mark slid through the intersection following Alice into the tunnel she had disappeared into. “Ok that means I am probably wasting my time right. So why am I here? As soon as they are able to evacuate everyone , the AI has lost its power and we have plenty of time to wear it down and surrender or it commits suicide.”
“No Mark. The evacuation has been delayed to give the transports more time to load as well as the trains going. It is a certainty that the AI will realize that he is being duped but I do not know when. He is already suspicious and the transport leaving will just make him look harder for tell tales that I cannot continue to hide much longer. He could have the opportunity to detonate the bombs before anyone escapes including the Star Queen marines. You need to find him and side track his attention. Even if you have to expose your presence to him. We are running out of time.”
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