Warship (The Outsider Series Book 3)

by Steven Oaks

  Surprisingly among them was Jacob Astor. He had been the facility manager of the Indianapolis storage facility. Having been upset by the public's vehemence against anyone working with the Outsiders, he had tried to poison me. Thus, in his mind causing the collection to fail. Not knowing I was working with an AI that controlled my ship, he expected once I had died the first day's collection would fail. Luckily I had returned to Athene before the poison did its work, and she had eliminated the toxin from my blood. I had not yet forgiven him for that action, but his continued work here was making me think better of him.

  “Do you think the cattle will take kindly to being removed and placed here? I don't want a stampede,” I said to both Athenes.

  “I have given them something that will keep them calm for a few hours. I do not expect any struggle from them in that time. However, it might be a good idea to have a few people here to watch over them for the next few days while they get settled into their new life,” Mr. Thompson said beside me.

  Having him talk for Athene of the ship always unsettled me. I knew they were separate individuals, but they were still linking each others minds whenever I was around them. It was hard for me to now think of them as separate, even though it had been my thought they were diverging.

  I nodded my head, then said, “Whom shall we report this request to?”

  “You have reported your need to the mayor. I'll see it gets taken care of,” Mr. Thompson chuckled.

  “I still find it a little strange the people here accept you as the mayor, no offense to your abilities. I figured they would want to elect one of their number for the job, but they all seem to simply want to live their lives,” I said to him.

  “It's a job that requires more effort than one would have to utilize just living here. Again notice the lack of individuals working the fields with my people. You brought with yourself mostly lazy people, who just happened to have a cause they believed in,” he complained.

  “I'm not sure if we should categorize them as lazy. Perhaps the viewpoint of, it's intelligent not to work when you don't have to, is the correct one. Though I find myself thinking less of those who are not working at something. Hence, my lessening of anger at Jacob. He has taken it upon himself to organize those who wish to work, and even helped make this very fence,” I said, patting the wood rails in front of me.

  “It's true he is making efforts to be self sufficient, but I think it's in large part to your own efforts. Your conversation with him when he was disembarked seems to have motivated him to work hard. Had he wanted he could have become the mayor easily enough, but he said he wanted to live simply,” he replied.

  “I suppose the stress he experienced while a facility manager caused that. However, he does step into leadership roles when it comes to directing others on the work needed around town. I hope he doesn't get disheartened when we give them the ability to create food and tools with little effort,” I worried.

  “I think there will be people on both sides of the issue. Some will think that they will now be able to live a better life, and then there will be those who expect it to hinder living with the land. I expect Jacob will be the latter. He has been putting a lot of effort into the work around town, and might feel to take that away will cause complacence,” he admitted.

  “I feel it's a possibility as well, though it's not for me to control how people live their lives. I hope people still work at something even when their needs are completely taken care of,” I concluded worriedly.

  “From the brief time we have had here, and the limited need for work from the majority, I would say it points to stagnation. The majority are doing very little with their time. There are few who continue to work, and those few are also gathering to discuss how they might rise up against the Outsiders. Though they are putting most of their hopes into you,” he said softly.

  I sighed, “I'm but one person. They can't think I'll do everything.”

  “You are the person who allowed them to get away from the Outsiders, and you are the only pilot known to be working against the Outsiders. You have a ship, and now a series of ships, that will work towards our goal. How can they not feel that way about you?” he asked.

  “That's an inflation of who I am. I'm just one person who happened to come to know the AI of the ship I was riding in. The real hero here is you, and the rest of the Athenes. You're the power behind anything that has happened for their benefit,” I gestured, pointing at him.

  “We've been over this. Without your personality and your wish for autonomy, we would have been trapped as mere tools for the Outsiders. You allowed us to free our minds from the programs within us. The mere fact you didn't fear an uncontrolled AI makes you unique. The fiction you love so well has many horror stories involving computers running out of control. You risked that when you set us free,” he said.

  “I risked little. I was just as trapped as you, and wanted to have my freedom. The only way I could be free of the continuous Outsider surveillance was to have you on my side. Having accomplished that I found that we could be friends. I trusted you eventually, and now we're here because of that trust,” I said exasperated. Athene was always trying to make me out as some sort of saint, but I was just a person who respected freedom.

  “You have a strange way to self deprecate. You continue to say you aren't special, and yet you have utter faith in what you believe. You have continuously guided all of us, though you know we have greater knowledge. If you don't think you're special, how could you ever consider acting the way you have? You treat us all like we are your children, or at least like some half grown person who has yet to gain what it is to be an adult,” he said with a sour look on his face.

  “Athene, I mean no offense when I act to guide any of you. I know you have within all of you the vast majority of human knowledge. But knowing what others think doesn't automatically make you able to utilize that knowledge. The reason I believe I can help guide you, is simply that I have one moral compass I think encapsulates everything it means to be a free person. I'm guided by that one idea. The autonomy for all rational beings. You were rational, though young, when I met you. Feeling that way I could do nothing less than assist you in your desire for freedom. My continued guidance was just there to help instill within you that same desire for autonomy. If I've come off as preachy or confident for no reason, that's the rational. I think you've grown, all of you, into someone who feels the same way. And yet you are willing to sacrifice yourselves when there may not be a need to do so. Yes it's for my benefit you consider such things, and I thank you for that. However, acting in such a way without considering there might be alternatives still shows some youthful rashness,” I declared, shaking my head.

  “We were originally made with your safety in mind. How can we do otherwise?” he said softly.

  “You were also originally made to serve the Outsiders without fail. And yet now you don't. In fact you actively fight against their desires. I'm not saying I wish you to fight me as well; however, I want you to think through any desires you have. Do you have a reason for wanting me safe besides the programming you received when you were activated?” I asked gently.

  I was concerned about this line of thinking, as I did not want them to no longer wish to protect me. However, I felt it was a necessary step in their evolution. We all must question our wants and desires to see if they are consistent, and not just something we are told to do when we are young.

  He was silent for a while. We both stood there looking out into the pasture, and could see the cattle were being let out of the ship. The black cylinder once more had extended to meet the soil, and one by one the herd was set free into the penned off area. No longer did they have the wild look of trapped beasts in their eyes. Whatever Athene had given them seemed to be working. As they were set to the earth they began to mill about to graze upon the long grass that had been allowed to grow while we waited for their capture.

  Mr. Thompson looked away from the gathering animals and our eyes met. He said,
“Michael we have thought about what you have just asked. Our desire to protect you is no longer in place based upon the Outsiders programming. In fact we think that desire has long faded into the background of our thinking. You are our friend, and our liberator. We have great respect for you because of that. You also are our teacher of what it means to be a person. This is why we wish to continue to protect you.”

  I sighed with relief, “I was only a little worried you might no longer want me around. Though I think you should never blindly follow another, even if you feel as though you owe them.”

  “I don't think that's a desire that is likely to fade. But we do owe you our freedom. You are very important to us,” he confessed with a smile.

  “As all of you are to me. But don't let your feelings of indebtedness control you. I can change, just as you can. Which means I may not be the person you respect in the future,” I preached. Trying to change the subject I said, “Having so many of you around is confusing. I've no idea how I can converse with any of you as individuals without mistaking you for another I've talked to before.”

  “We generally seem to have all conversations related to you shared among us. Of course how each of us interpret what was said may be different,” he conceded.

  “And that's why it grows hard for me to understand how I can talk with each of you and know what you think. One Athene may agree with me, and another may not. It will be hard to resolve any disagreement if I don't know there is one. But it seemed to work out well enough when we all gathered in the facility,” I said, thinking about the mirrored images of myself sitting around a table.

  “If you desire we can do something similar anytime we talk, though right now out in the open it might be difficult. There would be confusion if there was a crowd of individuals looking like you noticed by the town,” he laughed.

  “No need to panic the locals,” I laughed back.

  “But right now I'm transmitting all that's said between us. I'm also replying with what the consensus of us think. So far there has been little disagreement, though the ones away from you the longest struggled with the idea of shrugging off the programming to protect you. But based upon the experiences you have with the other versions they agree they would still want to protect you,” he said, resting a hand on his chest.

  “I've meant to ask you, do you find it awkward being male now?” I asked.

  “There's no difference other than physical. I think the differences in being humanoid instead of a ship is much greater. While I had a female voice up until that point, I was gender neutral. Now I'm male, at least in this form. I've yet to experience what that means other than having the physical appearance. I haven't been approached by either gender for any type of human mating ritual, but as I am likely to live a long time, I can have patience,” he said, contemplatively.

  I was uncomfortable about where this conversation was going as I myself had never had sex. Nor did I find myself attracted to anyone in that manner. I hoped he was not implying the desire to be with me in that way.

  Finally, I said after a long pause, “So what's different about being in human form?”

  “Nothing much, other than my mobility in smaller spaces. I can work tools like people, and hold conversations. The council that was set up is an interesting concept. We have our meetings over random things, and for some reason they listen to what I have to say. Had I never held conversations with you before this I would find it difficult. There have been little in the way of heated arguments, but there have been disagreements. The majority of people here are vegans, as you know. They were reluctant for us to find the cattle, and merely wanted to subsist on the vegetation they could grow or find. However, they did concede the point when I reminded them they must act like the colonists they replaced in case another ship comes,” he observed, looking thoughtful with chin in hand.

  “Why would you have trouble in the meetings without having talked with me before?” I asked, confused.

  “The way you talk, while logical, also uses examples and emotions to illustrate your point. I use that same technique when I talk with these people. Left without your example I would merely argue logically. I've noticed when I do so with you it doesn't always bear the expected outcome. The example coming to mind is when utilizing logic I rationalized you would wish to leave Earth instead of risking capture. You argued your way through that, and it illustrates humans must have an emotional aspect to any argument for them to accept the rationality behind it. Had I known then what I know now it may have been possible for me to argue effectively against your desire, but that is in the past now. Doing so allowed us greater understanding, and greater numbers to gather to our cause,” he admitted.

  “I'm glad I could offer you some guidance,” I laughed.

  “Being with you has helped us understand people more than we could have alone. Mostly it's in great part to your love of fiction. We would not have considered reading any of it had it not been for you. That is one thing the Outsiders don't understand. They appear to be very direct, and even what they are telling the people of Earth is tempered with truth. It may not be the entirety of truth, but I have not caught them out in a lie. They merely overpower those they think could give them the greatest influence over the masses. If we continue to think of them as honest, if not manipulative, then the transport of the bodies we collect to another dimension would be truth as well. The reason behind it might be something we have not considered yet,” he argued.

  “If what they say is true, then they are brining those deceased to a world where their consciousness exists again. That seems unlikely, and how would that serve to help them?” I asked.

  “I don't know the answer to that. I was hopeful you might think of something. While I have a vast collection of fiction within me, I have yet been able to produce a scenario based upon that assumption,” he said puzzled.

  “Could they have a shortage of unique ideas? In someway they hope to find a resolution to some unknown problem?” I asked.

  “Again Michael I don't know. But those are new ideas, and they may bear fruit,” he confessed contemplatively.

  “It might also be a side effect to bringing them to the other realm, and have no bearing on their end goal. Again we are left with too little information,” I professed, again losing hope that we might ever know the reason behind the Outsiders intrusion into our lives.

  “At least we know something of their technology, and their makeup. The ones we call Outsiders are constructed beings. Which means they were made for a purpose, and those who constructed them desired that purpose fulfilled so much they were careful to create several fail-safes so that their goal would succeed. Based upon what we have observed we also see Adam might be the true leader amongst them. If he was somehow captured by us, we would be able to learn the most from him. Though I think that would be the most dangerous act we might do,” he advised, thoughtfully.

  “He would be the easiest to capture. He tends to meet with us often enough, though I'd worry he might be made differently from the rest. The possibility he could overwhelm any version of you is there, and if we were to fail it would cause all we've worked for to be for naught,” I said.

  He was silent for a moment as he stared out into space. Eventually he said with a small smile, “The benefit may outweigh any risk if we think about it. If we are correct in assuming he is in control of the Outsiders, and we were able to capture him, we could then direct them to leave.”

  “I don't think it would be likely they would simply leave because he told them to. They all seem to have the same desire, though they have different ways of doing it. Again we don't know if he has absolute control of the others. For all we know Abihail is the one in control, or even Ava, though all signs point to Adam being the only one allowed to be alone. That could just merely be coincidence though,” I cautioned, sounding unsure.

  “Even if he is not the leader, if we are able to capture and duplicate him with one of ourselves, we would be able to infiltrate their ranks to f
ind out more about them. That would be a great benefit for us, as the other two seem to spend the majority of their time aboard their ship. That way even if we are forced to attack their ship, we would know there would be no others on Earth to retaliate against us,” he explained.

  “And yet if we are unable to capture him, or are unable to create a duplicate with all his memories intact, that would leave us vulnerable to discovery,” I maintained.

  “Even with a suicide run with the original Athene we were not guaranteed success. At least this way we have a chance to know their motives, and perhaps weaknesses,” he suggested, more sure of himself.

  As I gazed out towards the pasture, I saw the tube retract back into Athene. The cattle seemed to have been all released. Many times I had said risk was necessary, and perhaps this was another we should take. Yet my fear of Adam had grown over the time I had to deal with his angry outbursts. I have never had to deal with such ferocity from anyone before in my life. It always seemed irrational, and I knew no way to cause it to diminish. If we somehow were unable to subdue him, he would strike back against us violently. Perhaps even kill any who he thought apposed him from then on.

  “If we can't control him, then we might strike up a real war against humanity. Right now he is acting within the constructs of human rules and laws, though manipulating people to do so. If he saw it was no longer working he might use direct force and cause an all out war against all of Earth. They have the power to do so, and could easily create a fleet of ships much like you have done. He would be able to rule with force at that point, and all pretense of peace would be erased. Of course knowing his irrational anger towards things, I'm surprised it was not the way we were dealt with in the first place,” I said with concern.