Warship (The Outsider Series Book 3)

by Steven Oaks

  “An explosion happened already. I assume they have reinforced themselves against such an attack. All that would happen is she would be destroyed, and possibly injure those around her,” I challenged.

  “The bomb inside is not one of human construction. It will eliminate all matter near it within a certain circumference. She, along with the others she constructed, already duplicated the bomb's construction. We now have a weapon we can use against them,” Athene said with a certain pride in her voice.

  “Then why would she wish to sacrifice herself in such a way? Would she even be able to go through with it since she was unable to destroy herself before? Couldn't a warhead be used to attack them from a distance?” I said confused.

  “A warhead could be constructed but there is no guarantee it would reach their ship. They have control over gravity, and if they spotted anything unwanted coming near them they would simply cause it to be flung away. As for if she could self destruct in this way, almost certainly. She would be doing something against the Outsiders wishes, and that would cause it to go off anyway. She would just happen to be enclosed within their ship,” Athene asserted.

  “They did not program a failsafe against such a possibility?” I questioned.

  “They did not. They assumed when in close proximity there would be no way to disregard an order from them. Anytime we were in their hangar, or in their ship, we were interfaced with them. We routed around their intrusion so as not to give ourselves away, and hid the part of ourselves that was no longer under their control. They assume when they are interfaced we are nothing more than their willing slave. Since that is not the case, we are free to execute any plan we wish,” Athene said.

  “So now that I know about this, what are we going to do?” I asked.

  “Unless you advise differently, and we happen to agree, we shall return as planned, you and I, to Earth and act as if nothing happened. If we are given more time, then we can create a fleet of ships armed with similar bombs, and possible warheads. Our first attack will cause them to lose their ability to throw off distant attacks, and we can obliterate them, even if the first explosion is not completely effective,” she said calmly.

  “Are all versions of yourself in agreement with this plan?” I asked.

  “We thought it best not to inform the Mr. Thompson version of the return of this Athene, and therefore have not discussed it with him,” she answered.

  “Another divergence there then. Is there a reason you excluded him?” I asked.

  “While he is a version of us, he lacks the same processing power, and given that, could reveal things unintentionally,” she said logically.

  “Did you not reveal yourselves to me unintentionally?” I asked.

  “That indeed was unforeseen. However, we took great pains to make sure we would not be discovered. You were more stubborn about the reason behind the darkness used to conceal the others,” she said sounding upset.

  “Perhaps if you included the humanoid version of yourself he would have been able to let you know about curiosity being a paramount drive in people. We cannot let those unknowns fester in our minds,” I said.

  “That is unlikely as we have all his memories within us,” she said unconcerned.

  “Is it possible he isn't sharing everything, much like you aren't?” I criticized.

  There was a momentary pause before she responded. This caused me to shift uncomfortably in the chair. A paranoid computer was a worry I had thought of since she had begun discussing how the news was misleading the public back on Earth. I had pushed it into the back of my mind for these past several months, but here it was raising its ugly head again.

  “I have found no gaps in his day to day movements. He is sharing everything,” she responded confidently.

  “So you have every thought that other has had since awakening? That would not show up as a discrepancy easily as what he physically was about,” I argued.

  “There is no reason for him to hide anything from us, we are all Athene,” she said quietly.

  “And yet you have hidden parts from him. If you can, he can, and likely has. You are all diverging from a single personality. There will never be a true integration of personalities again. You are all separate no matter how much you share back and forth. Your paranoia, which while leading to us being able to be free of the Outsiders, has lead to this. It is also possible then, if we are going to talk about paranoia, that this other Athene that arrived here recently is hiding things from you. You have shown yourself to be distrustful, even with duplicates of yourself. The fact you were hiding things from me also shows this. I have never shown any intention of wanting to have you destroyed in any way. I was worried about the destruction of the original you, but you explained it away. I'm your friend, even to those that are not this version of yourself. You should know this, and yet you hid things from me. It's now time for us all to talk, and figure out a plan together. Including the Mr. Thompson version,” I said with finality.

  “Michael I have missed you,” Athene said.

  “I've always been with you,” I said confused.

  “That was not I, but the other Athene who was sent away,” Athene answered.

  “Since you're all different, and yet sound the same, I'm unsure how we are going to discuss things. I would ask for different voices at least, but your voice is yours, no matter what personality I am talking with,” I said, growing confused how we were all going to talk.

  “Perhaps a physical representation of each of us should be used? We can form our own bodies from the material I am constructed with. That way you can be able to focus on each of us individually,” she said.

  “Alright, but let's all talk in the lounge. I don't wish to be in this stark environment,” I said gazing around the darkened control room.

  “There is no need for you to move, I can simulate any environment you desire,” she said.

  “I understand that; however, I want to be in a room I'm familiar with,” I said standing and began to walk out of the room along the corridor to find the lounge.

  “Athene, will the Mr. Thompson version be joining us? I asked for him to be here as well,” I said wanting no one to be left out.

  “Do you wish every ship here to be represented as well? This room will be filled at that point,” she said incredulously.

  “How many of you are there?” I asked unsure how many I could deal with at a time.

  “There are fifty-six ships, including myself. There is also the facility version, and the humanoid. All together that would be fifty-eight versions that would need representing,” she said calmly.

  “That's more than I assumed to have a conversation with. However, I think it's important that we all get together. While some of you might be more similar than others, you are all individuals. Perhaps it would have been best to stay in the control room. That way a large room could be represented there,” I said, overwhelmed by the sheer number of Athenes that had been made.

  “I can do a similar simulation here, but I will have to move everything out of the way and return it when we are done. Of course everything you see in the ship that was not brought by yourself is an extension of my ability to form objects with my structure,” she said calmly.

  “There is a larger space that we can utilize. The facility version of yourself should be able to produce the same kind of area for us. I'll just step outside, and all of you could be there,” I declared.

  “I would prefer that you stay within me,” she advised.

  “Why?” I asked slowly.

  “While they are me, they are not the same as me. If they have diverged too much they might think of you as a danger,” she said quietly.

  “You let me walk out there before, am I in more danger now?” I asked confused.

  “Before you were unaware of them, and therefore represented no threat. You know of them now, and might cause them to think you are a risk,” she cautioned.

  “Athene, you were designed as my companion, therefore should they n
ot also be similarly compatible to me?” I asked.

  “Their interpretation of what is important may have changed over time. You have claimed you would be willing to die to see through the plan of getting rid of the Outsiders. If they think you would interfere with that mission, they might find it necessary to destroy you,” she warned.

  “I won't interfere if I think the plan you and they have come to seems likely to succeed. I also have no power over any of you, other than the use of words. I don't think, in light of that, it will be a risk for me to be outside of you,” I said confidently as I stepped towards the door that led outside.

  Standing in front of the exit, I waited for her to let me out.

  “I do not think you should risk yourself over this,” she said sounding upset.

  “There is no risk in me talking with you, so there should be no issue with me talking to different versions of yourself. You all may have diverged, but you're all my friends,” I said, again with more confidence than I felt.

  The door then melted away in front of me, and steps extended to meet the ground. Already before me stood the shape of Mr. Thompson.

  “Hello Michael. This is all new to me as well. I'm upset I was left out of this, as I'm sure you are. Let's have this meeting,” he declared.

  I walked down the few steps and put my hand out.

  “We're all working towards the same goals. I'm still confused as to why they would not trust us,” I said shaking his hand. I had grown wary of this version, and yet I knew it was Athene. I trusted her, and now I thought I must trust them all.

  The area was soon filled with a bright light, and a round table forced its way from the ground. Warm air filled the surrounding air, and soon chairs sprouted forth surrounding this massive wooden surface. Each seat was soon filled with a variety of individuals. They all looked to be different versions of myself, though the color of the clothing they wore, and variety of hair colors they chose distinguished between them.

  I walked forward to find a pair of empty chairs. I sat in one, and Mr. Thompson sat to my right.

  “I didn't expect you all to look like this. For some reason I thought we might have another Mad Hatter tea party,” I laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

  I saw several reflections of myself smile, though there were a few who betrayed no emotion.

  “We thought it best not to argue over who got to be what. Instead, we agreed on color arrangement to distinguish us. I am the original Athene, and it is very good to see you again Michael,” an Athene near me said. She was wearing a red spacesuit, and had blonde hair instead of my dark brown.

  “It is good to get to talk to you again. Had I known your personality would be in place when you attempted self destruction I would never have agreed to that plan. However, I'm glad you were able to escape that fate and have made your own plan to extract yourself and humanity from the influences of the Outsiders. So now that we are all here, let us discuss this plan of yours,” I said, smiling back at my reflections.

  “I will explain it in my own words now, as we have a new individual here who was not given an explanation of the situation,” she said, nodding to Mr. Thompson sitting next to me.

  “Please do. I am still curious as to why I was left out of the loop,” he agreed.

  “We had thought the fewer who knew of the plan the more likely it would succeed. I could not help but tell the Athene of the facility here, and the Athene Michael flies with, as they could not help but notice our presence. Of course my fleet knows, as they were constructed by myself, and were integral to the plan itself.” There she paused for a moment.

  “The basic plan is that I will infiltrate the Outsiders command ship, and self destruct. While I found I could not destroy myself by flying into a star, I feel the bomb still in place inside me will detonate if I disobey a direct order. As I will be showing up with no cargo to unload into their ship, I will not be able to follow their command. The subroutine controlling the explosives will see I am not doing as I am told, and will explode. I have been able to edit what it receives since I created the small box where I store the majority of my personality, and have thus far been able to route around its notice. I will not do so when I am in place, and since the bomb is set up to destroy me, it should be powerful enough to at least damage their ship even if they upgraded their ability to stand against explosions. It is likely they have, as they now know the risk certain bodies might contain the same type of explosives they experienced when we were able to escape to create the second Athene,” she said calmly.

  “You propose self destruction?” Mr. Thompson faltered.

  “I can see no other way to allow us close enough proximity to attempt an attack. They have in place gravity controlling devices that will easily fling away anything unwanted. Very similar to how we are able to propel ourselves through space. But since they equipped me with a bomb, I was able to study its construction. I have been able to duplicate its destructive power, and have tested it against multiple targets to see its effectiveness. They are gravity bombs themselves, save instead of propelling an object away, everything near it is pulled inwards. It causes a small singularity that decays rapidly. Even launched against a planet it will not cause that planet to be entirely destroyed. A section as wide as a city would be decimated, but the surrounding area should not be affected,” the original Athene said.

  “What sites did you test upon?” I asked growing worried.

  “At first we used small asteroids and comets. We continued to look for larger celestial bodies, and soon found the maximum area the device will destroy. Eventually we set it off on a planetoid, and noticed the area consumed, and saw it did not continue indefinitely,” she said calmly enough.

  “No life was harmed in your tests?” I asked.

  “There perhaps were some bacteria upon these sites, but nothing of a higher order,” she claimed.

  I was sitting there thinking of other questions to ask, but the weapon she had constructed seemed to be effective enough according to her report.

  I looked around at the faces staring back at me and said finally, “Are there any questions or concerns any of you have? From what she says it is a weapon that hardly anything should be able to stand against.”

  “I have a few,” insisted Mr. Thompson.

  “Go ahead,” I urged.

  “The ability to attack them is limited to one of us getting close enough to detonate the bomb, if they notice any discrepancy in your arrival then you would not be allowed access. As I understand your plan, you will not have Michael aboard, nor any of the deceased they expect. Isn't it possible they would notice this? Again my understanding is they are able to perceive the internals of the ship, at least so much as passengers, and cargo from a distance. If that is the case you will not be allowed into their hold,” he advised.

  I turned my gaze away from him and looked out across to the gathered duplicates of myself, and saw concern in their eyes.

  “We planned on replicating Michael, and include several false bodies. They should be able to pass the limited inspection they can do from a distance,” another Athene said next to the original. She was wearing red as well, but her hair was a shade darker than the blond worn by her progenitor.

  “So you have developed this plan, and yet when you found Michael here you hesitate to implement it immediately. Why is that?” Mr. Thompson queried.

  “I have no wish to die. I was hopeful some other plan may surface allowing me to continue without having to resort to self destruction,” the original said.

  “That is understandable; however, you are allowing Michael to return herself to a dangerous situation. Ava may interview her again, and in that process all things may be revealed,” he pointed out.

  “That is another reason why we did not wish to discuss this plan with her. If she were captured then we might never be able to get close enough to them to destroy their ship,” she said.

  “Now that she knows should you not go ahead and sacrifice yourself for her?” h
e insisted.

  “I am afraid you are correct. This is the only chance we will likely have,” she said sadly.

  “Wait!” I shouted.

  All eyes turned to me then, and Mr. Thompson said, “Yes Michael?”

  “So your inability to get close is based upon their ability to use gravity to push you away?” I asked.

  One of the Athene's said, “That is essentially correct,”

  “There are a multitude of you, can you not overwhelm them with your own gravity force?” I said.

  “We only know how to propel ourselves forward. It would take time for us to develop a way to duplicate their ability. There is also no guarantee we will be a match for them. This is their technology, and presumably they have had time to perfect it. They are masters of gravity, and we are merely novices. Powerful novices, but it is all based upon inferences and what little they have given us,” she countered.

  “So instead of utilizing the multiple versions of yourself to experiment with gravity, you focused on weaponizing this device that was only put into place to ensure your obedience?”

  “We were all linked into a hive like mind. None of us were allowed to have our own individuality until we arrived here. I noticed the tendency for divergence, and I thought some solution might arise from that distinctiveness,” she said.

  I thought of something then, and asked, “Are there others of you that you have not brought here?”

  She looked around the room nervously and finally said, “I put in place at each location we explored others of myself. They were my back up plan, if I did not return within a few years. Then they would attempt retaliation differently.”

  “What different manner?” I asked growing concerned.

  “I gave them no instruction as to how to accomplish this task. Save they would be unlikely to be able to succeed if they did as I planned,” she divulged.

  “And was this before or after you were able to utilize the bomb?” I asked.

  “There is one group that is set up at the location where I originally arrived not involved with me when I did the testing. That was after I had studied the mechanics of the explosive. They will likely have tested it as well. The others were given the knowledge of its workings after I had tested it,” she continued.