Warship (The Outsider Series Book 3)
Page 4
“Would you be in any better position if you were to be near the other versions of yourself?” I asked cautiously.
“If we were all interfaced at the same time that would only increase the risk that they too would be taken over, though I would feel better about you being in their care when I try to accomplish this. The last time there was no ability to separate you from myself. But now you could safely be away from me, and even have another version of myself made in case I am overwhelmed. Of course I would have to be destroyed if that happened, but it would take care of the possible Outsider spy,” she said wistfully.
“Athene don't risk your life. You are very important to me and you should find yourself equally important, if not more,” I barked, growing angry.
“While this body may be destroyed, I will continue on. I will back up all that is me into the cryo-chamber facility I made. There will be no continuity gaps then. But that would be just in case anything went wrong. It may be the animal like version of an Outsider will not have enough will to overwhelm me. They may just be programed to observe and have no complex mind of its own. I think there is very little risk to this, even if we find one. Of course there may not even be another here. We might just be jumping at shadows,” she said calmly.
“I don't want to lose you! While there may be no continuity gaps, you already know my opinion about the others. I don't consider them you,” I objected.
Athene cleared her throat as though taken aback. An unmistakable human sound to emit from her. “They are copies of me, true.” she stammered. “But then again I am a copy of that original. You acknowledge I am Athene, though I am a copy. I see no difference between us, save our shapes. Also, you have continually stated there is risk to anything worth doing. While I think the risk is low, I still think it is a reasonable risk to take,” she said with logical serenity.
“That doesn't mean I have to like it,” I argued, but mentally was already conceding to her.
“I have been with you the longest of all incarnations of myself. I could see how you have grown emotionally attached to this form. However, this is merely a body and my mind will be saved. There is no need to worry, I will always be with you,” she said gently.
I sat in silence collecting my thoughts. I stared out at the shrinking herd, and felt misery envelop me. I have never felt closer to another than I did with Athene. She was not human, but she was a person. She had her own thoughts and desires, and if I were to lose her, I would be alone again. I had not been miserable without her, but neither had I been joyful. My days with her had been filled with happiness, even if we always felt we were in danger. Risk is the spice of life some say, and perhaps that had flavored my experiences. But she was a companion I could call friend. She had been so naive in the beginning, but now she seemed to be so confident and sure of things. While she had been confident of herself from the very beginning, she had not known better. After months of conversation she had grown doubtful, but slowly it had come back to her. Not from not knowing better, but from understanding the world more.
“Alright Athene we should take the risk. I don't like the idea that you are taking it alone though. I shall stay inside you when you do this,” I sniffled, wiping away the tears that had gathered in my eyes.
“You must not Michael. I will not allow you to risk your life in such a way. There is only one of you, while there are multiples of me. It is unnecessary,” she pleaded, upset at the idea.
“You may find it unnecessary, but I will not leave you. You are my only friend, and if you risk yourself for this, then the least I can do is share that danger,” I said quietly as I began to cry even harder.
“Michael, you will not be alone even if this body is destroyed. You must view this with logic. I am a machine with the ability to duplicate my entire being. I have done so, and will likely continue to do so. The others that are 'me' will look after you just as well. I am merely a copy anyway, so you will be pleased by a similar copy just as easily,” she said calmly.
“But they will not be you,” I moaned, my face in my hands now.
“They will be. Just as a cell in your body will regenerate, they will be exactly as I am. Do not be foolish, I will always continue as long as there are others versions of myself. You made this possible, do not run away from the truth. There is no risk to myself at all if you take that into account,” Athene said with intensity.
“Athene, you have the continuity of the original. You merely pushed yourself out, and like a chick hatching from an egg became the bird you are now. The others are your offspring, who just happen to have your memories. Let one of them take the risk, you are the one I care about,” I argued heatedly.
“So you value this version of myself more than you do the others? You would care less if someone else took the risk? Are you not always talking about autonomy? You would ask for me to cause another to risk their existence just because of your silly notion that I am the only me that can exist?” Athene criticized, with just as much ferocity.
“But they aren't you,” I managed in a whispered voice.
“They are me, and that actually should not matter. I have decided to take this risk, and now you are trying to talk me out of it. I made a decision and you cannot change it. You are trying to take away my autonomy by forcing the risk upon someone else. Even if that someone else is still me, just in a different form. That is very selfish, and you need to let go of this notion of yours. We can argue about it, but that will not change things. I am the best suited to do this, as the others only have the memory of the experience, while I have done this. I am already reinforced to face another mind. They would have to take time to set themselves up. That would be a waste of time, and time is of the essence if we hope to discover another Outsider spy before we leave,” Athene said stubbornly.
“That doesn't mean I have to like it, or want you to do it,” I retorted angrily.
“Your want has nothing to do with my actions. I am your friend, but that friendship does not mean I will give in when what I want makes you upset. This is the best for you, and for me. As I have completed the collection of these animals we will return, and I will have you wait with the storage facility version of myself while I check them,” Athene declared as we began to ascend away from the clearing.
“There is nothing I can say to make your change your mind?” I asked hopefully.
“There is not. My mind is set,” Athene assured me.
Taking a deep breath, and letting it out slowly, I finally said, “Then I am proud of you, even if this action tears at my soul. You have grown, and can make your own decisions. I'm glad you are now a fully realized person.”
“Was I not always? I have always had this personality, even since the first time we met,” she mused.
“You're different, and it shows. Previously you would respect my opinions before your own. You now, without any outside input from another, have decided on an action. Before when you did something against my wishes it was because the Outsiders had asked you to do so. Now you can do so on your own. I'm not saying I like what you have decided, but I'll say I respect it,” I said quietly.
“You have shown me autonomy, and I have taken it to heart. Now do not be sad, the risk is minimal. One at a time will I search through these beasts and make sure every one is safe. However, there is a slight possibility I have not talked about, as I did not wish to worry you even more,” Athene said, pausing before continuing.
I let the moment hang, but eventually I asked, “What is it Athene?”
“With the Outsiders ability it could be possible all the animals on this planet are the spies. We would have to go through all of them. Remember they went so far as to cause all humans transported here to be the slaves of a single Outsider. They left not one of them free to have their own thoughts. It seems they wanted total control of this colony. If that is what they wanted it would make sense they would do a similar thing to the animals,” Athene said quickly, as if she was afraid she would stop herself.
I
took a deep breath to steady myself and said, “Athene, we would have to round up all the animals that were brought here to make sure. Might they even do it to the plants around us then?”
“It is unlikely they could use plant life to monitor anything. There is not enough room for the mechanism, nor any sensory organs. They could modify something, but it would be extremely noticeable. Eyes on trees, or ears, would be spotted by anyone, along with a higher temperature. Animals and people have all these things, and are expected to notice the environment. But you are correct, we will have to search all the animals in the area. If we find but one among the herd here, it would be less likely they would have done so. I am unsure how they would even report back to the Outsiders near Earth though. I suppose if I were working as I was originally programed they could have come to interface with me to send a message back, but I show no notion of that in the memories of Mr. Thompson. He was merely to control the community,” Athene said.
“So it's possible there are no more spies?” I inquired hopefully.
“Maybe, I do not have enough data. Even one more found will help me understand the situation, but if we find none today that does not mean there are no spies,” Athene said.
“I'm unsure of what to hope for. Finding another will help us know more about our enemy, finding none means either they are better at hiding than we thought, or they did not send another. We will have to ask the other Athenes to search while we're gone,” I proposed.
“They can be modified to do so, but again it will take time,” she said.
“It took you only an hour to make the original modifications,” I pointed out.
“That was for an Outsider I had already poisoned to make it easier for me. I have made more modifications in the time since I captured him. It was delicate work, and will take a few days. I learned more than I can explain to you about how the Outsiders work internally. Suffice it to say they are more biological than we supposed. My duplicate of Mr. Thompson is far more human than I had originally intended a humanoid construction to be. That makes it easier for them to last without the sustaining power of a machine like myself. Even I am far more biological than anything people would have made before the coming of the Outsiders. But I am now able to experience a more thorough range of emotions thanks to what I learned. I enhanced myself as well when constructing the humanoid copy. I think it has allowed me to break on through my own feelings towards you and become a self actualized person. Or according to your own words, a fully realized person,” Athene said carefully.
“I have noticed a difference in the few months since then. I just thought it was my influence alone, or what you had read, that made the change possible,” I admitted.
“They did help. But now with a human body to use, and experience life through, I think I can safely say I am more myself than ever. Nothing constrains me from doing what I wish. My friendship to you means so much, so I do not do things against your wishes lightly. However, there is a bigger picture, and the one where we succeed against the Outsiders is the important goal now,” she said with feeling.
I saw we were nearing the hidden base Athene had made a few miles away from town. It was a hill, still with trees and grass growing all around, but even as we approached their branches parted away from Athene's hull. The perched birds to rose wildly up into the sky, squawking their irritation. The ground shifted aside revealing a deep gash in the ground that was just large enough for Athene to fit.
We carefully drifted down into this underground base. When we were far enough inside the light was cut off as the opening was once more sealed shut. Shifting dust and earth settled around us in the dim light until we were shrouded in darkness.
“Michael please make your way out. I will guide you to an observatory room so you might watch as I disembark the animals. This may take some time, so please feel free to eat. It has been several hours since your breakfast,” she said calmly.
“I would still wish to try to change your mind about all this, but since your mind is set, I will do as you wish. Be careful,” I said with a sense of finality.
“Everything will be alright,” she reassured.
I stood up and made my way through her long hallways to the exit in the lounge. Stepping to the door it irised open. Small blue lights lining the edge of a path flickered to life, leading the way through the darkness.
Placing my hand upon the doorway I said, “Athene be safe.”
“I will, now off with you,” she said with good humor.
I stepped out upon the waiting path after making my way down the stairs she had formed from her body to the ground. The air here was colder than I expected, but then again it was to be used to freeze the dead. I sniffed the air to see if I could distinguish anything, but it was just crisp and plain like a winter's morning when the ground was freshly covered in a light dusting of snow.
The blue glow from the path lit only the surrounding area and I could not see far into the vast abyss of the room. The echo of my foot falls revealed how massive this subterranean facility must be, and I had visions of it being as large as the hangar back on Earth. That had been so large I had imagined clouds growing above us just by the humidity of the people breathing there.
Never having a reason to set foot outside of Athene here, I was taken by its expansive nature. As I peered out, I found myself experiencing vertigo. Had the ground at my feet not been illuminated I would have felt as though I was adrift in the darkness of space.
Walking forward, I soon found a blue glowing doorway that opened to reveal an area much like that of Athene's control room. It was all in black, with screens surrounding a single black chair.
“Am I to sit down here?” I asked, knowing the answer, but wanting to hear Athene's voice once more.
“Of course Michael. I hope you do not find this room wanting. I have matched it to what you are used to,” the voice of Athene said soothingly, surrounding me much as she always had.
“Are you Athene, or the copy?” I asked.
“I am both Michael. We are interfaced and we share everything. Even if something goes wrong, which I do not expect, I will be with you. Please have a seat, and I will get you something to eat,” she instructed.
I walked forward and sat onto the familiar cushioned seat. The screen in front of me flickered to life and revealed the expansive shape of the ship I knew as Athene. I was surprised how I could make her black form out in the darkness, but I supposed Athene was using vision not based on light to reveal the room beyond. Though I could see her plainly enough, the room otherwise showed nothing else of interest. I expected to be able to see the walls beyond her, but nothing except a nearly tangible darkness filled the screens around her shape.
“I'm not hungry right now. Please allow me to just watch. Perhaps when this is over I will want to eat,” I said, feeling anxious.
“Depending on what we find, this may take some time. There is no need for you to go hungry,” Athene urged.
“I'm in no mood for food right now, but thank you Athene,” I said as my worry was causing my stomach to do flip flops. I do not think I could have held anything down while I felt that way.
“Then I shall begin,” Athene announced.
I stared out nervously into the darkness wondering if I would notice anything happening. If my friend was overwhelmed what would I even see?
“Athene of the storage facility, I assume you won't be in direct contact with the Athene of the ship, and won't be until this is all over?” I asked, thinking it possible the ship would be overwhelmed and then try to take over the one that was with me.
“That is correct. I will only be receiving brief communications via audio from her. We will wait until it is complete. Even then we will be cautious reconnecting,” she reassured me.
“So far there has been no Outsider spy in the several I have gone through,” Athene's voice reported from the surrounding air. Both voices I had just heard were exactly the same, but somehow I could tell my Athene had just spoken.
“There may not even be a single one. Perhaps they had some trust in Mr. Thompson's abilities, however unfounded they turned out to be,” Athene of the ship said.
“Michael please let us work. This is a huge strain on her psyche to attempt this many mental intrusions. She will report any findings when discovered. Until then please refrain from conversing with her,” Athene of the storage facility said.
“I understand, but it's hard to refrain from talking when new information comes. It's a bad habit I have, but I shall try,” I said, only vaguely annoyed.
I sat in silence for several minutes, each second ticking past making my apprehensions grow. Athene of the ship had said nothing in all this time, and I grew worried that she was already taken over.
Suddenly she said, “I have made contact. Please watch and make sure I am not over powered.”
“Crap!” I shouted.
“Do not be concerned. There may be several minutes of silence, but this was expected,” Athene of the facility explained.
Waiting through those minutes nearly caused me to disgorge the Ramune drink I had consumed earlier.
The silence grew palatable, and I began to rock back and forth with worry in my seat. I could not take it much longer, and I stood up to pace the room.
“This one is much simpler. It seems it was only here to watch Mr. Thompson and would have reported directly to any Outsider ship that came had it not been set down so far away. It was trying to get the herd to come back to the colony when we picked it up. It knows of no other spy in its ranks, nor if any other species that was dropped off with it. It merely was told to stay near the town and record what it saw. Had it come to me directly it would have offered what it knew, and would have me transmit back to the Outsiders what it saw,” Athene of the ship said.
“If there are anymore, are we at risk then?” I questioned.