"He's trying to re-stabilise his form. I assume his first instinct was to improvise a better way to protect himself. His second was to improve his modifications and survive."
An agonised scream filled the room as the construct fell forward and his right arm split apart so violently that something that looked like bone matter erupted from the inside. It only took Eve a second of closer inspection to realise he had materialised the front half of a weapon. "It’s the way his body is communicating. It’s implementing momentary thoughts as though they were commands. The system can't filter his second to second impulses."
The image disappeared, replaced by Hampon's younger self. "I'll spare you the rest. That was one of the most advanced models, with a cybernetic governor device that tried to rule out all but final decisions. We even tried to replicate the custom framework that the Jonas project was built on. For some reason, framework constructs would not stabilise after their subconscious directives were modified."
"Except for Jacob Valance."
"Yes. So, now you understand why he has been allowed to run rampant, and why you need to build a framework that does not try to go past specification. It must have a limiter chip as well, to reduce the chance of self-destruction or unnatural levels of self control," said Hampon.
"While generating flesh in a tenth the time of the current model and implanting or preserving a set of memories. The limiter chip will have to be modified," noted Eve.
"Feel free to do so, but ensure that stability issues do not arise."
"Don't worry. When you are implanted with framework technology that works quickly enough to replace all your cells fast enough to beat temporal radiation without killing you, the technology will be perfect. I already have workable theories. This file has given me a few ideas," Eve said.
Chapter 13
Reckoning
Jake had to pilot the shuttle around Kambis to get back to the Enforcer, but he didn’t mind. The passenger compartment was filled with the ration meal packs he’d commanded his former captors to empty from a crate before he forced them inside. It was a tight squeeze, but the crates were still large enough to fit one man each, and they sealed from the outside.
As the shuttle crossed one of the main navnet lanes leading out of the system, the shuttle lurched. “Ronin to shuttle pilot,” announced Minh through the communicator. “This extended model Uriel fighter has eight engines that can each out thrust everything your little boat’s got, and I’m latched on.” Jake leaned back in the pilot’s seat and decided to let Minh finish. “There’s also an entire wing hiding in orbital traffic,” Minh continued. “If any further harm comes to Jacob Valance, I’ll drag your asses back to the Enforcer and we’ll use you for target practice. It’s been a long, boring salvage, I’m sure they could use the distraction.”
“Good speech,” Jake said. “I’m terrified.”
There was an unexpected hesitation before Minh replied. “You could have stopped me earlier,” Minh said with a chuckle.
“No, really, it was very good. I especially like the target practice bit,” Jake replied. “Now that you’re latched on, let’s get back to the Enforcer at fighter speed. This shuttle’s a brick strapped to a thruster.”
“You have something in mind,” Minh said, more of a conclusion than a question.
“I do, it’ll be a surprise.”
“Are you all right?” Minh asked.
“Better than ever,” Jake replied. “Better than I’ve been for a very long time. How did you sneak up on me, by the way?”
“Ah, Tamber navnet has been tracking you. I got under a big freighter hauling hot cargo and waited for you to pass.”
“I saw that one, you didn’t even come up on scanners.”
“Well, I was between the main engines,” Minh replied. “You wouldn’t expect a ship there.”
“I know I didn’t,” Jake replied.
A new navnet route was assigned, and Minh rolled into a thrusting dive, accelerating to maximum pattern speed in seconds. Within minutes, the Enforcer 1109 was in sight.
“Welcome back,” Frost said once they were in proximity radio range. “Still in one piece?”
“New and improved, actually,” Jake said. He could feel full control of his framework systems come flooding back, a sensation that made him feel excitable and powerful. He took a deep, shuddering breath and consciously let it go. The sensations faded, and he felt normal again.
The subdermal communicator he’d constructed on a whim worked better than any he’d used before. The tiny mechanism was nested in his jaw, requiring no more power than his body could naturally provide. He’d seen a design for one like it once, and remembered shaking his head at how expensive the miniaturised stealth technology was. It was tempting to try more, to push the framework to create other enhancements. He looked at his hand, squeezed it open and shut, marvelling at how much stronger he was, at how strange it felt. He could feel the muscles flexing under his skin, as though they were bands that begged to be stretched and stressed.
They landed on an elevation pad and emerged in the main hold. “Time for some discipline,” he said as much to himself as to anyone listening in.
He opened the side door of the shuttle and hurled the first crate containing a captor out so hard it bounced and rolled. The second was right behind it. The outrage at being captured returned as he grabbed the belt of the captor he’d crushed under foot and carried him out into the main hold. There was a crowd gathering, many of them looking at the man he dragged along. His head was hanging at an awkward, unnatural angle.
Jake dropped him at his feet and retracted the hood of his own vacsuit. “Get those crates open and bring the men inside here,” he ordered. He turned to Minh, who was half out of his fighter. “I’ll need your sidearm for this.”
“We can’t do that, Jake,” Minh whispered back. “If you execute someone here, then this becomes a crime scene.”
“And that’ll slow down the sale of the ship,” Jake finished. “I have another idea, get some sealant foam.”
“Sealant foam?” Minh asked, cocking his head.
“It’s good to twenty eight hundred degrees, right?” Jake asked.
“I know what he’s thinkin’, lad,” Frost said, grabbing a can of sealant foam from a box nearby. “It so happens we needed some while we repaired this lift, so there’s some ready at hand.”
A few crewmen dragged one of the captors, while the other was dragged by a grinning, broad shouldered crewman Jake recognised – David, a former slave, then defender of the Triton under Agameg’s command. “Your luggage, Sir,” he announced as he pushed the man to his knees. “Crewcast says he’s Regan Diri.”
Three crewmen forced the other to kneel in front of Jake. The captors turned captives eyed the crowd warily and avoided their commander’s eyes.
Jake knelt down. “Who organized this?” he asked Regan.
He hesitated, glancing at his companion before Jake caught his forehead in his hand and looked him in the eye. “This took a long time to put together and you must have had a plan to get out of the solar system. Who was helping you?”
“We planned it ourselves,” Regan replied. “The five of us.”
“I killed one of you, put another in stasis, and there’s you two,” Jake paused a moment, staring at the man, who was growing more nervous by the second. “That makes four! Who’s number five!”
“Four!” Regan cried. “I meant four!”
Jake let him go and stepped back. He took a can of foam sealant from Frost and tossed it to David. “Paste this guy to the front of my shuttle,” he ordered, gesturing towards the shuttle behind him, “and use the whole can. I don’t want him falling off when I enter the atmosphere.”
Some of the people in the crowd surrounding them were shocked, but most laughed or cheered, including Frost, whose belly laughter rose above even the hundreds that gathered.
Regan tried to fight David as he was drawn up to his feet, but David clutched the man’s suit be
tween the shoulder blades and shook hard. A few helping hands held Regan’s arms while they tied his wrists with binding straps.
“Now, what’s your name?” Jake asked the other one.
“Fullerton, Bernard Fullerton,” replied the remaining captor. His attention was noticeably split between Jake and the front of the shuttle, where David and a couple of other crewmen were spraying sealant beneath the front viewport.
“All right, Fullerton, who was waiting in a ship with a faster than light drive?” Jake asked him.
“It was a guy named Edward, left the group a while ago,” Fullerton replied.
“I remember that bastard, Edward Sherman, set fire to crew quarters in the green section of the Triton,” Frost said. “Never thought a man of science could be such a pain in the ass.”
“Where were you going to take me?” Jake asked, smiling a little.
Fullerton relaxed a little. “Port Sullivan, in UCW territory; they could pay the full bounty there.”
“How long have you been planning this?”
“Ever since we got aboard the Enforcer, Sir,” replied Fullerton. “I, I apologise,” he stammered. “This wasn’t my idea. They needed a good pilot and I didn’t think they’d hurt you.”
“Well,” Jake said, grinning a little too much. “It’s good to hear that you weren’t interested in slagging me or stunning me, just passing me off to my worst enemies for cash.” He looked to Frost and sighed. “Put him beside his friend there, I want to ride these morons through the atmosphere and see if the vacsuits hold up.”
The laughter and excitement filling that huge hold made Jake feel like things were falling in order again. “We make the final trip in twenty minutes, load up!” he ordered.
“Good to have you back, Captain,” Frost said as he came to stand beside Jake. “Just wondering, what are you going to do with the broken neck fellow and the corpse?”
“Put them in one of those combat gurneys we planned to leave behind. We’re going to have to take them with us so the Carthans don’t have something new to bitch about when they take possession of the ship.”
Minh took his place on the opposite side of Jake, shaking his head at the sight of Regan getting pasted to the front of the shuttle. The crew were behaving as if it was a party game. “A crew that plays together…” Minh said.
“Stays together,” Frost finished with a satisfied grin.
Chapter 14
Determination
"I actually felt guilty for a while after they gave me my new body. It was so easy when I spent most of my time with the Child Prophet," Eve said as they strode towards the airlock nearest to her quarters. The hallways in that section of the Overlord II were older, the shiny black decks slightly worn down from being polished thousands of times over the years. It seemed most of the ship was scrubbed, if not once a day, several times a week by mindless bots that went out of their way not to be seen. "They used to call me Nora."
"That was your name before your father-" Lina started to ask quietly.
"That's in the past now. Hampon hasn't called me that once since his toy clone was killed."
"Another one is almost finished. He's being implanted today."
"Why would Hampon create another Child Prophet? His Victory Machine stopped sending him information weeks ago."
"I don't know about that, but I think he wants a live clone so he can properly introduce you to the Order Of Eden flock."
"Flock. I hate that word. It makes them all sound so helpless and mindless.”
"Hampon said it was apt, especially from your point of view."
Eve thought for a moment and nodded. "He's right. The people below are mindless. They follow their stomachs and baser needs. I cannot believe that there are nineteen million of them already. Pregnancy rates are over twenty percent."
"Twenty one point seven percent, actually. They seem to be embracing the goal of repopulating the galaxy wholeheartedly," said Lina.
"If there's one thing I've learned, humans don't have to be told to breed. As far as I'm concerned, the only reason the pregnancy rate is so high is because we disable contraception as part of the intake process when someone arrives on Pandem. Directive or not, that world is about to be awash with humanity and everything they've rebuilt or are building will look used and stained within a year," Eve said.
"I think that's why some ships carrying new followers are being sent to another system now, closer to the New Frontier. There is a greater purpose to Pandem, though. I'm sure Hampon will enlighten-"
"I'm not interested in Pandem. There is one thing I want from this solar system, and it’s something I already own anyway.” She stopped in front of a large airlock door and regarded Lina. “You’ve been sent to make sure I behave, and that extends well past making sure I eat and sleep regularly. Who are you, really, Lina?”
“I’m your loyal servant,” Lina said, warily.
A flash of silver metal moved past the transparent door of the airlock, and Lina flinched. She stared through it a moment before her eyes widened. “That’s a construction ship,” she said. “You’ve summoned it here against the wishes of our Master.”
A surge of rage seized Eve, and she slapped Lina so hard she was almost pulled off-balance herself. “Hampon will never be my master!” she shouted. “He’s a deluded, diseased waste of a being, and he won’t keep me from taking what’s mine.”
Lina’s cheek was already turning red. As Eve moved towards the airlock, Lina rushed into her path, punching the disengage key as the construction ship tried to dock outside.
Eve tried to pull the shorter woman aside. Lina turned towards her and pushed Eve’s hands away, preventing her from getting a grip on her robes. “I can’t let you do this,” Lina said. “The Virus!”
With a lunge, Eve caught Lina’s throat in her hands and started to squeeze. “It’s a lie, he’s only trying to keep me helpless. I won’t be in his thrall.”
“It’s true,” Lina croaked.
“You’re blind,” Eve said as she squeezed harder and looked into the woman’s dull brown eyes. “You’re useless to me.”
A harsh blow caught her behind the knees, and Eve caught sight of a pair of armoured guards as she fell to the ground. They’d come up behind her while she was focused on Lina, something that would never have happened if she’d been in direct communication with the system.
A flash of light from a high-powered stunner blocked her vision and made her numb. Another flash rendered Eve unconscious.
Chapter 15
An Entrance
Agameg and Finn always found a way to connect when their shift started in the morning, despite the nondescript grey worker vacsuits everyone were sealed up in. They were assigned to work on the Samson after a long argument with their new head of intelligence, Jason. At first, Jason had them running around from one random job to another, something different every day, but on day six Jason’s system had Agameg and Finn working on the same trash removal detail.
Finn recognised Agameg when he saw him shift between the two forms he spent the most time in while hiding amongst the workers. There were other issyrians on the detail, but there was something about the way he shifted that suggested it was him. When Finn caught him shifting into the shape of a portly man behind a crate one afternoon, he couldn’t stop laughing.
“Apparently, you find fat people very funny,” Agameg said.
Finn shook his head, then pointed at Agameg’s knees. “I don’t think-“ he took a breath, “-don’t think they’re supposed to waddle below the middle so much,” he managed before another bout of laughter.
With a little help, Agameg shifted into a more convincing portly human. No one seemed to notice that Agameg could shift some of the bulk out of the way when necessary, so it didn’t impede his work.
Separately, they may have never complained openly about being kept away from the Samson, but together they felt fortified enough to approach Jason Everin directly, and tell him they wouldn’t go along unless they
were allowed to participate in the Samson project. Finn and Agameg, being two of the new designers for the ship, were given a way to give orders and instructions to other workers using proxies, so no one could tell who the orders came from; all they knew was that they came from someone with more authority.
In the weeks since, Finn and Agameg watched morale plummet. Sealed vacsuits with blacked out faceplates and instructions to keep your identity to yourself made for brutal conditions. Hundreds of people worked on the Samson, and they needed visible leaders who could be present. They also needed each other for support and camaraderie, and to feel like a proper crew. Finn hated Jason’s plan, couldn’t believe it had gone on for so long, but he had to admit he was learning a lot about leadership. He and Agameg used the proxy band not only to issue commands, but after a few weeks they used it to cheer people up with comments like, ‘Your Secret Overlords are highly impressed with worker 1128. Please dance with them for one minute if you see them today. Vigorously.’ One worker on ground duty, or ‘move and pile objects’ duty, was not only surprised but entertained all day, and Agameg never stopped laughing when he saw someone stop and follow instructions upon seeing that worker.
There were others, like making a few kiddie pools out of scrap outside the hangar that were eventually used for their intended purpose, but initially used by the more lighthearted crewmembers. They didn’t use them to cool down, but to take funny holoimages during breaks in their sealed vacsuits. Oz first noticed them when one of the larger wading pools had as many people sitting along the inside as possible. “I think the pretence of so many humans who cannot feel the water relaxing in once place has broken, Oz,” Agameg said as the Commander laughed so hard he had to sit down. They waved, and beckoned for him to join them, making it much worse.
Most of the ‘Overlord Gags’ as they came to be called weren’t as elaborate. Though they did become a daily thing, they could only do so much for morale. Agameg and Finn were careful not to suggest anything that got in the way of the work or put anyone in danger, and Finn was sure that’s why they were allowed to keep it up for as long as they had.
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework Page 10