The Cross of Mithras Vol. 1: EOD Operation Welcome to Hell

by Douglas Howell

  That speech demoralized everyone, including Vaistll. They realized that without her Captain Dawson has the upper hand and it’s only a matter of time before he (or whatever he is) finds out. Yes Ramirez is right – that no matter what it takes, no matter how many of them dies – that factory that produces those monsters must be destroyed. But without Sayaka it would be a suicidal mission to take on that factory. They spent the next two hours in silence waiting for Sayaka to contact them.

  “Listen up everyone. It’s Sayaka.” Coté, dishearteningly, informed everyone.

  “As I stated before, or implied that is to say, computers given the fact that they evolved from a 80 ton calculator is nothing more than a logical fallacy. It is no wonder why so many people would go insane after they foolishly integrated themselves into one. I did, however, took that into account. This ship’s computers was never design to hold a person’s consciousness, let alone two of them, in it’s memory banks. After the shock of informational overload wore off, we kind of fell in love with the thought of being in here. But to answer your question, I responded to you in Japanese because the older parts to my memory were being integrated first. But the integration that I am referring to refers to the fact that I must create software to handle the change, at the same time I must make certain no part of myself or Joseph is lost. I know that each integration wastes, not only your time, but also our own. But please understand that I don’t have a choice. I have thought about what would happen if I were to download myself back into my body, but the ship’s computer no longer differentiate between my memories and the ship’s data. It wants to download everything and my old body can not handle that load. My only solution is to redesign everything. And that would take at a bare minimum… fifty years. But if I were to take the safer route than it would take slightly more than a century. I’m becoming something other than human because of all of this. The greatest fallacy of the human race is creating a logical fallacy based upon the false notion that to be absolutely dependant upon something that is absolutely flawed is the pinnacle of human achievement and not as it should be the very definition of the word stupidity. It is software more than any other human achievement that it must be stated was obsolete before it was even thought up. Forgive me for saying it, but humans are obsolete. I look at the entire history of the human race and see nothing more nothing less than evolved monkeys. This is not the Cyber Doom part of me speaking. I always loved machines far more than what it means to be human. It just that I was dealing with idiots, no monkeys, trying to play god and not realizing that the price for such foolishness is one’s own self-destruction. I see things, I know things, I perceive things, the like of which you will never understand. How could you? My IQ is now well over 7,000. Oh god. What am I becoming? I now understand the Tylkuoply hive. Evil is such a relative term. Am I being evil or just logical? And what does that say about God? You see, the pathway to divinity is wroth with sacrifice. You, me, my dear Joseph, we are nothing more than sacrificial lambs led to slaughter. It’s human sacrifice in a nut-shell. I am now so smart that I know what would create my own salvation. Oh yes, there will be more human sacrifice. Did any of you really think that I never knew that as soon as we betray the EOD that the factory must fall? Did any of you seriously think that I wasn’t trying to defeat the EOD methods in protecting that base? They were using my tactics against me! Those mother… kuso yarou … at the EOD so call High Command, knew that sooner or later both me and Joseph would betray the EOD. It was their suspicions that cause our betrayal. We must go away. Don’t ask where or why. It is important that you understand that although power corrupts, it is the pathway to divinity and the sacrifice that must be perform, that purges one of their sins. I am limited by what I can do at the factory. Although I want you to win, I must go against my own tactics. It’s good to know that you didn’t push things with the cyber-security at that facility that you are at. There is a virus in it. Even though I created it, it’s still not easy in defeating it. The factory is even worse. Although I may be in this ship’s computers let me remind you of the fact that the problem with computers are that they are not a true thinking machine. It is part of the reason why I feel like I’m losing my mind. I want to help you but these computers are not helping me much. The computers at that facility is partially linked up to the lab complex that you came from and that in return is linked up to the factory. I can only delay the advanced AI at the facility but I can not stop it. Hopefully what I can learn from it could help me to delay it further. I do know those machines at that factory are the most devilishly clever non-thinking SOB’s out there. God speed. Over and out.”

  Everybody was very patient while they waited for Sayaka to “defeat” the security measures. It took at least two hours for them to get the results. And it didn’t look good. They all knew that Sayaka did in fact believe in the existence of evil, so they knew what she meant when she said that it was a relative term. And they knew that next time around she would not have said that. Both clones that were stored there were prototypes – a Dragon Clone and Medusa Pandora. Knowing what a GET-ME is and knowing that they are dealing with the madness of Captain Dawson, they knew that if they don’t do as Ramirez suggested and take down that factory then nobody on that world will survive much longer. It was what occurred next that gave them their opportunity.

  (8)

  Valeria Grumett was the last remaining officer left at the lab complex after Captain Maxwell and Vaistll left. Her rank was that of Ensign First Class and she was strongly looking forward to shore leave so that she could get married. But unfortunately she’d put it off for this mission to Golden Hyperion because she knew that if she did a good job on the mission she’ll get a promotion. How could she pass up that opportunity? Now she wished that she took her husband’s advice into account and don’t risk more than you could take. She had six very good officers to rely upon all of whom, like her, had combat training, for without them she would have to rely upon the engineers. A certain order that she’d just received from Lenkov suggested that she made have to rely upon them. If that turns out to be the truth then only Lieutenant Commander North or that of his son would take over. Valeria did hoped that it would be his son, but for whatever reason Lenkov ordered him to take up a defensive position far deeper into the interior of the so-called continent. Valeria started to noticed that Lenkov was rearranging all personnel under his chain of command. Some were ordered back to the ship like Lieutenant Commander North while others, like North’s son, was ordered to Golden Hyperion surface. But what scared her the most was the fact that nobody under the rank of Lieutenant was stationed at the lab complex anymore.

  Ensign First Class Grumett could only rely upon officers like Senior Chief Warrant Officer Olivia Porter whom, Valeria rightfully deemed her as being either so crazy or suicidal as to never achieve the rank of Ensign. At the height of the Demon Cy-X attack it was Olivia and her crew that risked their lives by flying overhead shooting at the approaching Demon Cy-X army. (Her dropship still bears the scars of that day.) Chief Petty Officer Jaime Alvarez was the ship’s weapon specialist. He was the one who determine the right weapon for the mission. He was good. But what was he doing on this mission Grumett could not understand. Valeria could tell when someone was filling in for Jaime – either the wrong weapon or a shitty one. What scared the shit out of Valeria was that Jaime would literally die than to reveal anything about the mission if you are not in the need-to-know basis. What’s worse, the weapons that he chose was the type that suggests that they on a suicidal mission. If there is anybody that would suggest that they are on a suicidal mission, based upon their behavior, than it would be none other than Ensign Karl Russell. He should have already achieve the rank of Senior Ensign if it wasn’t for his near contemptuous attitude towards the life and death of, not only his life, but also those under his chain of command. Chief Petty Officer Patrick Eckersley always have the look that he seen too much combat even though he never did. His file is kept “Top Secret By Order Of High Com
mand.” The words “Order Of High Command” alone is enough to scare people into silence. But the fact that he is willing to betray High Command without Lenkov being concerned does not help Grumett to find solace. Peter J. Mazzinghi is one out of three civilian overseers on the ship. (One of the overseers died, of natural causes, not too long before their mission on Golden Hyperion.) The EOD does not like it when one of their overseers is on a suicidal mission. So why would he volunteer for such a mission? It is so common that overseers won’t mention why they volunteer for a suicidal mission that nobody ever ask them. Caleb Hackett was the only known serial killer on board the ship. Why in the universe would he be on this mission confuse Grumett. And why was he onboard? He was being transferred to a prison for his execution. It was obvious that he was once in the military.

  “Where in the fuck is Illes?” Porter asked everyone.

  “Maybe he went AWOL.” Russell mentioned.

  “Do you want me to go hunt him down?” Hackett asked with cold eyes.

  “What!? No! He’s on a secret mission.” Grumett responded.

  “And what is that? Might I ask?” Mazzinghi asked. It is against orders not to respond truthfully to an EOD overseer. Punishment is death.

  “Lenkov ordered him to hunt down Captain Dawson and kill him.” Grumett responded.

  Caleb Hackett laughed and then said, “I would have did it for nothing.”

  As the conversion continued it started to become obvious to Grumett that she is dealing with a bunch of psychos without remorse. It seemed to her that each one of them were not only indifferent to their own life, but to the life of others. Neither Lenkov nor Omori would ever allow these people to have the authority that they were given. It only made Grumett more confused. She was deeply afraid to confront them but she felt that she had to in order to maintain some degree of order.

  “Now you all listen to me! I’m the one who is giving orders around here!” Grumett shouted out after she couldn’t take it anymore. Nobody acted like they cared.

  “Now what do you suggest that we do with these bitches who dare threaten this place?” Mazzinghi asked her. He then took a slip of some liquor that he was drinking.

  “Forgive them? Lead them? Save them? Kill them?” Hackett asked through his alcoholic fumes.

  “We are supposed to protect this facility! Although this facility appears to have no value, for some reason it appears to have value to the enemy!” Grumett shouted at them. It had no effect.

  “Bitch! Shut the fuck up! Tell me who to kill and I’ll will kill them!” Hackett shouted out her. It caused everyone to laugh.

  “Captain Dawson. He’s…” Grumett said a little bit defeated.

  “What?” Mazzinghi asked. It is he who sounded like he had the authority that Grumett didn’t have. And Valeria didn’t know how to handle someone like him. Why would Lenkov do this to his own crew if it wasn’t a suicide mission? And since when did Lenkov ever send them on one?

  “Captain Dawson became a GET-ME. And a GET-ME is…” Grumett was saying.

  “We all know what a GET-ME is.” Mazzinghi responded.

  “Shit far even I knew.” Hackett added.

  “You don’t have to mention anything else. We know the nature of this mission and why we are all here and what’s the probable outcome is.” Mazzinghi informed her.

  “When did you learn?” Grumett asked them. It only caused some of them to laugh.

  “You dumbass. We knew when you mentioned what Captain Dawson became.” Hackett responded. It only added to Valeria dishearten state of affairs given the way that they are treating her.

  Valeria didn’t know what to do. She wants to serve with honor, but she is given impossible task. She knows that what Lenkov has become makes him far more smarter than ever before. He is also part of the ship, so therefore any betrayal of him is like mutiny. She will eventually finds solace within the IQ of Lenkov. The belief that he must know things and to comprehend things that she can never imagine. She will put her fate into the hands of Lenkov.

  (9)

  “Is he trying to lead us somewhere?” Martinez asked everyone. They were tracking the monster that is now Captain Dawson. (Both Taylor and Ramirez was well enough to travel.)

  “If anything he is leading us further away from the lab complex.” Taylor added.

  “Who’s in charge back there?” Ellis asked someone who could answer.

  “Ensign First Class Valeria Grumett.” Ramirez responded.

  “Do you think that she is adequate for that assignment?” Vaistll asked him.

  “We should keep on tracking Dawson and not having this conversion or he might hear it.” Ramirez responded. His statement told her that the answer was no.

  At nighttime, when it seemed so dark that only night-vision would allow them to see (one reason why they all were wearing their helmets [minus Taylor and Ramirez]) they heard that the lab complex was attacked. They already knew what Lenkov thought about that. According to him there was a 68.35% chance that the lab will be held but at a high price. That somewhere between 8-10% of his personnel will be lost. Afterwards the desertion rate will be in the hundreds but not exceed one thousand. Those who desert should be let go. It’s the right thing to do. But not if it exceeds a thousand. And what about the rest? That depends upon their victory. If Dawson dies, and/or the clones are destroyed, then they must head back, not to the lab complex, but to the factory and infiltrate it. And after that? He would not comment upon it since prediction is like a pyramid: the further in time you go the more unreliable your predictions. The reason: the laws of unknown variables will play a role. Meaning that if you are at least 90% accurate within your predictions, the 10% that you got wrong must be factored in within the next prediction that you make. Because you don’t know what that 10% is you cannot proclaim that you will be at least 100% accurate. Therefore you must be less than 100% accurate in your next prediction. But 90% accurate within being 90% accurate means that you are 81% accurate the second time around. So if you are at least 90% accurate the first time, and the same the next time, that means that you are 90% of 90%. 90% of 10% is of course 9%, and therefore you are looking at 90-minus-9 which is 81. As this repeats itself it is therefore logically impossible to predict with any accuracy what the future must hold for anyone.

  “Ma’am, I got a good lead upon Dawson.” Martinez informed Vaistll.

  “Do you need support?” Vaistll asked him.

  “No ma’am. But I do need for you and your team to take up flanking positions.” Martinez informed her. He then downloaded all available data on Dawson’s position. Before they could get anywhere near Dawson woke up and tried to run but Martinez shot him in the chest.

  “What happened? Where is he?” Ramirez asked Martinez.

  “I don’t know how sir, but he must have heard you guys coming. I did managed to shoot him in the chest. But I was not able to get off a second shot since I would have missed.”

  “Maybe we’re making the mistake of seeing him as Captain Dawson and not what he has become. So why not just start calling him what the Captain calls him – Yalvfry Qrvlb.” Wexler mentioned.

  “Sounds good to me.” Ramirez mentioned. After that everybody agreed.

  As they were hunting down the Yalvfry Qrvlb Coté started to opine about what the formally known Captain Dawson might be up to. Nobody responded to what she said. They knew she was right and they also knew that they must continue to hunt him down regardless of the consequences. The first thing that she mentioned was the fact that he is leading them further away from the lab complex, or he is leading them into a trap. The first one must be true because of Dawson’s obsession with retaking it. Nobody commented on it because they were waiting for her to get to her point. What she said next, however, got everyone to think differently about what he may, or may not, be up to. She stated that he obviously knew that the secret room was at the lab complex, he also knew the access codes, he must have known that the secret that it held was a map. But did he knew what the ma
p would lead to? Or if he did knew why is it that only now does he acts like he cares? What she said next got everyone to look at her and then think more deeply. She said that maybe he was waiting for something. So what could it be? If he is so obsessed with retaking the lab complex, then why didn’t he accompanied the Demon Cy-X army? She then added something that made sense. She said that Dawson wanted to dwindle down their numbers. To kill as many of them as possible. But why? What’s to gain other than being more callous than what the EOD allows? She was referring to the fact that the EOD don’t like it when their officers are responsible for high collateral damage. Their reason: too much damage cause greater resistance. They want their officers to be smart not destructive. Coté then mentioned that the only reason why he would behave that way is, not because he wanted to restore his standing with the EOD, but rather because he was ordered to. And why would he be ordered to? Because they are testing weapons. That in a matter of speaking, it is further proof of how out of touch the EOD is becoming with it’s own people.

  Coté was not whole-heartily correct, but she was not far from the truth. It didn’t matter what the team thought, for if they realized what Coté got wrong they would have asked the civilian authorities for as much help as they could provide. And what did she get wrong? Golden Hyperion is a weapons testing world, Captain Dawson was not ordered to do what she suggested, and finally… Captain Dawson was motivated far more by what either Lenkov or Sayaka would have called a “total momentary lapse of his sanity coupled with the inability to reconcile each of his defeats which led to his rage, obsession, and partial lost of sanity at each defeat.” They knew that long before they merged into one. It’s why Dawson could still appear rational at times, and then suddenly appear to be emotionally unhinged. He was being rational why he would not accompany the Demon Cy-X army. He didn’t trust them. Who would for that matter? So what was the other thing that Coté got wrong? The team will find out soon enough. And then they will wish that they had more help.