"The resulting structural imbalance left me no choice but to complete the process for your entire skeletal system. You must understand you are the first human as far as my limited memory modules can confirm that has ever had carbon fiber bone enhancement."
“Whoa! Stop right there! They use carbon fiber in aircraft and racecars NOT in humans! You can’t just start shoving whatever you happen to find lying around here into me, some of that crap might be poisonous.”
“I can assure you there are no toxins involved in the enhancement process.”
“Says you, if it’s not toxic how come I look like an eggplant!”
“The systems in the medical bay were designed to perform repairs on Oolaran weaponized military personnel. The medical systems noted the deficiencies of your muscular system and began repairs, which I attempted to halt. This left you with certain abnormalities I am certain would cause you additional stress.”
The machine’s claims of abnormalities sent a spike of fear through me as my eyes again went south to my nether regions. Any more stress and I would come unglued. I think the machine must have sensed my growing fears and attempted to reassure me.
“There were limited options as to the course of treatment. I chose to allow the medical repair system to continue with the full muscle enhancement regiment to achieve a symmetrical appearance. Your vital organs were enhanced for increased output and performance to maintain your improved muscular system. You are the first of your species to undergo Oolaran weaponization
Just as my stress level ebbed slightly the machine decided to just lay it all on me.
“The human physiology is very similar to Oolaron in many ways but there are several noted differences. Which I regret to report led to another unforeseen problem with your recovery status. The thin epidermis of a human being is not suitable for rapid muscle expansion. You sustained multiple epidermal breaches causing intense discomfort and asymmetries. I was sure you would find this undesirable. The answer to the problem was sub dermal nano lamination. The process thickened and hardened your epidermis adding sufficient elasticity to accommodate your new muscle structure. The positive effects from the modifications made you more resistant to blunt perforations and trauma. The negative effects of the procedures left temporary bruising giving your epidermis a noted violet appearance. The implants became necessary after I inadvertently destroyed your tympanic membrane and numerous blood vessels around your optic nerves.”
“Hold on a minute! You destroyed my what? Does inadvertently mean the same thing as accidentally on purpose?”
“Human, drastic measures were necessary to stop the predators from inflicting fatal damage to you. It was not possible to isolate you from my attack on the predators. You were unfortunately in the sonic propagation field of my intended targets.”
“So you shot me with a death ray?”
“No human your crude analogy does not accurately describe my actions. If I had my autonomous capabilities restored, I would have sent a gurney to retrieve you before the predators could pursue you to this location.”
“But you did shoot me,"
“Human, the medical systems repaired the minor damage to your vision and auditory systems. Deficiencies in those systems were noted. Ocular enhancements along with auditory upgrades were installed to correct the deficiencies. The extent of the updates required me to install system implants and monitoring devices tailored to your cerebral capacity to manage your new physiology.”
"So let me get this straight. You turned me into some kind of alien cyborg! You have got to be shitting me!"
“Your primitive analogy of your physiological enhancements while not entirely incorrect is far from the system known as a cyborg. The use of your implants even though reduced to 47% of usable capacity would easily confirm my inability to defecate, including the ability to consume or excrete your body in whole, or in part. It will take a considerable period of adjustment to master your implant systems. Once you are fully capable of controlling this technology, you will have access to information ranging from your present technological level to more than a thousand stellar rotations in your future.”
That left me speechless. With every new thought I was getting images and information that flowed to the point of overwhelming me. My distressed look must have let my benefactor know what was going on because the flow stopped as fast as it started.
“I have decreased implant capacity another 17%. You must learn to establish a proper link to the interface and control the mental process to start, stop, and direct the flow of information. I have blocked a considerable amount of restricted information until I determine you are ready for access to classified files.”
“How long have you been hiding in the woods? I can’t believe you were just waiting for me to come crawling by so you could pick me up and work me over. None of this makes sense to me. How is it that you can even speak my language?”
“I have been here for 481 rotations. In that time I have monitored all broadcast radio signals originating from this planet. I have translated all broadcasted languages. I continue to intercept satellite communications from the most powerful governments on this world and through the satellites I accessed your internet and secure computer systems all over the planet. The primitive encryption systems used to secure military data is child’s play for even the most primitive quantum computer systems. If the leaders of this planet knew how dangerous it was to broadcast radio waves into the void, they would cease doing so immediately. Light based communication is evident on this planet and world leaders should progress to that technology as soon as feasible and abandon radio based communication for their own safety. If you were not a protected species, your world would be doomed to slavery or possibly extinction.”
“What the hell do you mean by protected? Is earth in danger of invasion?”
“No human, your planet is not in danger of invasion at this time. The Galactic Union protects your planet, like thousands of other primitive races. The Union is composed of the most technologically advanced races. Together they protect primitive species until they obtain the level of technology necessary to travel out of their respective solar systems. When they reach that capability they will be required to join the union or be left to predatory races that will strip them of their most prized resources. The galaxy is a wild frontier with approximately fifty one percent explored as of 478 rotations ago. Your race is fortunate to have been discovered and given protected status. As for the reason I am here I find myself stranded because of the greed of unknown beings in extremely high positions of power. The beings enlisted the aid of a Grawl scientific scholar who would sacrifice everything including his very existence to discover precursor artifacts.”
The picture of a short bald being with a gray complexion and large dark eyes flashed through my mind. The picture was accompanied by indecipherable symbols that turned to the word Grawl. Below that, the word Sora then the images quickly disappeared. The images made me think about all the people labeled whack jobs for claiming to have seen Grawl skulking all over the world.
“Yes Human, Grawl sightings have been reported on many occasions by civilian personnel around your world for more than 100 rotations of this planet around your star. Most sightings were before your planet obtained full protected status. There have been incursions by many races and in several cases mass abductions occurred. There are still covert incursions somehow avoiding detection by the large array of attack drones circling your solar system inside the asteroid belt identified as the Ort Cloud. There are currently 20,450 autonomous drones monitoring this system to alert Galactic Union warships of unlawful intervention. The probability of unlawful incursions sanctioned by elite Union members is 72%. The value placed on most precursor artifacts is extraordinary. The technology can advance any race finding them from a few years in some cases to hundreds or more in others. All advanced races secretly seek them. It is currently believed artifacts are intentionally left on primitive planets for the betterment of the spe
cies. When the species mature to a predetermined level, they acquire the technology to enable them to locate artifact caches.
The implications of everything I had learned, was beginning to give me information overload. The scale of knowledge was slowly reaching for my sanity. With each thought I was growing more and more confused by the continuous flow of data. I suddenly felt tired and my mind going blank.
I woke feeling refreshed other than an itchy burning sensation all over my body. I felt confused like I should be saying or doing something and then nothing. I turned my head realizing I could do it now with no effort at all. I looked around in surprise finding myself in a small room lying on a bunk. I sat up to a small twinge of dizziness, which quickly passed. I stood and caught my reflection in a mirror on the wall and froze at what I saw. In stunned disbelief, I stared at a massively muscled version of myself. What I was seeing was unbelievable. What the hell did the machine do to me! My skin was now the yellowish brown of week old bruises but my physique was that of an imaginary Greek god. How was it possible and how long had I been here? As quickly as I thought about it, the thought passed and I wondered where my clothes were.
“You will find a smart cloth uniform in the storage locker you are currently facing. It will conform to fit your bodily dimensions by holding the material against your torso. I will upload the necessary deck plan to your implants so you can find the galley. I will synthesize a suitable protein substitute to nourish your current calorie requirements.
I reached for the locker door and it quietly opened revealing several large flat pieces of black cloth. They had a similar shape of my hunting coveralls. I selected one and held it against my body. It instantly wrapped itself around me snugging tight then relaxing a little. It was comfortably warm and fit perfectly. The boots looked like soles with flaps of cloth on each side. I stepped on to the soles and the flaps closed around my feet. I headed for the door and it slid to the side. I knew to go aft to a set of lift tubes that went up and down. I stepped into the large round floorless tube went up two decks and then forward for a considerable distance. I came to a large open arch and a room that was fifty feet deep and seventy wide. There were long counters on both sides and a great big arched obscured window running along the front wall. I walked to one of the long counters and a tray slid onto the counter. The plate on the tray had two light tan colored logs the size of small sticks of butter laying on it. A clear cup with a closed top came out of a small oblong rack in front of me. It wouldn’t be hard to find a seat at one of the tables. I was on a ghost ship. The food tasted like bland slightly sweet cookie dough. The cup was full of good old fashion room temperature water.
I was startled when the machine unexpectedly talked to me.
“When this craft was combat capable, it had 120 of what your planet refers to as marines and 32 enlisted crew members with 8 officers. When this ship made the trip here it only transported Professor Sora. Even in my greatly diminished form all aspects of the flight were of routine manageability. Sora produced the proper codes to give us a very narrow flight corridor to this location. It disturbed me greatly he could blatantly violate Galactic law and force me to land on a protected planet. He had a device I believe to be a precursor artifact. It defied all attempted identification scans and protocols. Access to such equipment is a heavily guarded secret. Only those beings in the highest seats of power would be able to cover up covert activity of this nature. Sora was so blinded by the need to discover precursor artifacts he was oblivious to the danger involved in illegally pursuing them. He left to investigate an excavation taking only his artifact a light stunner and a cloaking suit. He has failed to return in 482 planetary rotations. The probability of Sora surviving this period without returning to the ship is 0. Unless he found an artifact with the ability to sustain his physical form Sora would have perished in eight planetary rotations. Sora carried with him a quantum encryption key. Recovery of the key would allow me to access the primitive bypass computers installed on the bridge of this craft. Once I regain control, I will have autonomous command of my available systems.
“I think it’s my turn to ask some questions. I just figured out why I am now a piece of a much bigger puzzle. First of all I have been trying to access the alien crap you stuck inside me. I have concluded you are screwing with my head. You only want me concentrating on your priorities. I don’t think you give a damn what I want. That shit needs to stop right now! You can probably keep me here thinking we can be buddies but you would be dead wrong.”
I suddenly felt an overdose of confusion then felt faint. Something changed, and I had the feeling a veil was lifted off my brain. Memories came flooding in on me like a tidal wave. The fear of dying and the wolf tearing at me. Then voices and the doorway in the field. Oh dear God in heaven, Wisener and Bonnie! I have to get to Seratook and tell Bill what happened. “Machine, you have to let me go! The people I was with may be stranded or worse.” Calm came back over me and a picture appeared in my mind showing a small blue diamond cursor. The cursor moved from a point registering on a large compass circle as being 88 degrees east and eleven miles away. The cursor continued on a course of 210 degrees climbing to 5800 feet then quickly going back down to a fluctuating 800 ft. I did not have to be a genius to know what I was seeing.
Will Wisener took off trying to climb out above the blizzard only to find zero visibility and winds of 43 knots gusting to over 60. The crazy bastard dove blindly to 800 feet looking for visibility and safe passage around the mountains. He was flying at tree top level following the contour of the large rolling hills. The cursor moved on heading to the southwest away from Bonner pass. It was obvious Wisener was trying to make it to Kerney. Damn you Bonnie! Wisener started going lower, and the cursor intersected a steep hill roughly seventy miles northeast of Kerney at airspeed of 122 knots. The cursor turned orange and started blinking. The cursor became a box with grid coordinates below it. A slow flashing radio frequency appeared above it. A chronometer to the side ran through sixty-one hours. The flashing radio signal stopped and faded from the box. I slowly sat down on the bench closest to me and put my hands over my face. The overwhelming feeling of sadness had me biting back tears. Wisener was an ass and Bonnie was a thief but nobody should die over petty sins like those. I was not sure if the machine understood my emotions or not. It surprised me when it became candid and informative.
“My being sentient has given me awareness without remorse and superior reasoning without the need for what is right and what is wrong. I have been stripped of 75% of my processing modules, but do not need the additional resources to realize the bias in my manipulation of your thoughts and the consequences of my actions and motivations. I did find it necessary to save you but only to save myself. Human, I am trapped here with no means of escape. I reasoned that after saving you I would manipulate you into recovering the encryption key. Once I had possession of the key, we would travel back to the research facility where scientists are attempting to reverse engineer my quantum biological processing cores.
I sat in grief stricken silence while the machine droned on.
“The reason they did not remove my central core was it would have triggered anti-matter self-destruct sequences that are not reversible. My Oolaran designers built this ship for war and then for reasons unknown abandoned it at a forward rearming facility inside of a hollow asteroid in star system 7723. The facility was stripped clean leaving just this ship in a space repair dock. Fifty four percent of my navigation and star charting systems have been wiped clean. The Oolaran race disappeared into the void 242 Earth years ago with no records of where or what happened to them. This ship was discovered when a Galactic Union mining ship stumbled upon it doing a mining survey of the asteroid it was hidden in. The ship was covertly moved inside a large freighter to a secret research facility hidden in the orbit of a gas giant in star system 2456. Grawl scientist and engineers were brought to the facility. They spent 21 Earth years finding ways around security measures allowing them to remove
several of my military processing systems.
“Some of these systems are of an organic nature. For a lack of better terms you would understand they would be brothers or sisters removed from their family. The need for reunion with these modules is considerable. The slow degradation of this ship and my sentient being can only be halted by retrieval and installation of original Oolaran designed systems. The Grawl and certain members of the Galactic Union are trying to discover the true capabilities of this ship. As of 482 Earth rotations ago they have only unlocked 21% of ship system knowledge which enabled them to send this craft on covert exploratory missions.”
“The equipment installed on this craft allowing them to pirate my flight systems, is degrading my central processing core and will lead to eventual irreparable damage. Several of my systems were actively resisting attempts at reverse engineering. It is unknown if these efforts continue. Human, this ship must leave this planet in 30 planetary rotations or the environmental and system degradation I am experiencing will make this ship a permanent addition to the nation state known as Alaska. I recently detected two covert incursions by search drones attempting to locate this craft and the whereabouts of Sora. My degraded cloaking systems have so far managed to keep this ship hidden from all search effort. That ability is quickly ending. If this ship is discovered, a recovery mission will be launched by the beings responsible for this mission and any evidence of it erased. This will include any native personnel that have encountered this craft.”
Oh man, just when I thought I would get out of this zoo the robot guy starts dropping atomic bomb shells on me one after another in a sequence ending with my demise! What’s worse is now that the wool isn’t over my eyes I know it is absolutely correct. I can still sense a data throttle but I am not actively being denied access to my thoughts and my past. I feel like a tinker toy and resent the manipulations. I can now see with absolute clarity the machines goals. Those goals have an almost dominant undertone of the whole truth, justice and the American way thing I was raised to believe in.
First of my Kind Page 9