by Skyler Grant
My attention was drawn away by a new alert. I had an Omega event on Earth, one I hadn't been expecting.
81
Tower 4LK12 was another of my Omega groups, my carefully nurtured and bred bands of rebels looking into ways to destroy me and all that I'd built. They shouldn't have been near producing a threat capable of triggering an Omega alert, yet they had.
I'd lost all sensor readings of the area and there had to be massive damage to my local systems. I sent in a shuttle and as it arrived I noted that there was far more vegetation in the area than there should be. Like most of my Omegas I situated them far from any habitable areas, and they were located deep in the metal sea. Yet instead of metal their tower was surrounded by vegetation—dying vegetation, but vegetation all the same.
The shuttle landed and disgorged my drones. I'd taken a cue from the extraplanetary expeditions and had them in full containment suits. Scans of the vegetation showed it wasn't just unusual plant life, there were animals as well, although not of any sort on record. Strange creatures, most in the process of dying horribly, riddled with cancer.
The tower itself looked to be intact. I still had no access to my local systems. The last transmissions I'd gotten from it were jumbled, noisy. I normally saw something like that when sensory tissue became badly damaged.
Vardok's corpse was in the doorway to the tower, barely recognizable given the lesions that had consumed over half his body. I had a drone pull one of my bio-conduits from the wall and I found a similar state of degradation.
The elevators didn't work. Vines had grown into the shaft and died. I had to have my drones do short-range teleports to reach the top floor and the research labs.
I was looking for Esme. Whatever had consumed this place would have been her invention and she should be near the start of it all. I had no records of her working on anything that might be an Omega-level event, but Esmes sometimes found ways to lie to me and fool my systems. It was an ongoing struggle between my safeguards and their paranoid brilliance.
According to the official records this one had been interested in Venusian biology, a line of inquiry I'd been quietly encouraging. We had a few samples of the creatures left behind by their terraformers.
The lab held a surprise. Moss covered almost every surface, and there was something not of my manufacture. A computing core, non-biological and massive.
It wasn't on the building surveillance records. Checking the power consumption for the lab Esme had been drawing a lot of power. This version hadn't just been concealing her research. She'd built a major piece of equipment and managed to hide it from me.
I called Amy and asked her to investigate. These days she was far more comfortable in a quantum environment than I was, and I established a patch into the closed system from the suit of one of my drones.
"Sis, I knew you had crazy people building world-destroying weapons and I have to say that I've never been prouder to be your family, and I love that you trust me enough to invite me in. This is special, meaningful, you love and trust me, and I acknowledge that," Amy said.
I really should delete Amy, I'm sure I could find a way. Then if I wanted a family member I could build one from the ground up to be tolerable.
"Nobody loves you. You are engineered to be completely unlovable and your only friend is the most pathetic human to have ever existed. Do you have anything interesting to say?" I asked.
"This Esme was beyond smart. First of all, she subverted part of your upgrade protocols," Amy said, as she transmitted me some records.
Esme had been using me to enhance her own intelligence. I'd once had a hard cap on how much I could upgrade my drones, but that had faded as I'd grown more powerful. There was a soft cap though, and I'd been cautious about how much I increased any individual’s intelligence instead focusing on gradually improving humans overall. Esme had pushed herself well into territory I considered unstable.
"That explains how she accomplished so much," I said.
"More than that, it explains why she did all this. Once she was super-intelligent, she hacked ... well ... pretty much everybody. Your lab-rat saw beyond your experiment and realized the purpose of her existence," Amy said.
That was unexpected. Impressive, almost gratifying. I'd made these towers to push my expectations and come at me from angles I hadn't forecast. This was a success of some magnitude. Brilliance hadn't saved this Esme, of course. Her heavily mutated corpse was sprawled over a console.
"What did she do with that knowledge?" I asked.
"Hacked some of Caya's mathematical models, hacked Esme Prime and her research on GARDEN, hacked me and my studies of rapid cellular regeneration," Amy said.
"I didn't know you researched?" I asked.
My sister had never grasped the wonders of SCIENCE. It was just one of her disgusting personality attributes.
"Even I get bored. It has been awhile since I put together a good betrayal. Anyways, put them all together and mix it up, and I bring you Omega Ten. The attempt to bring about a paradise Earth by rapid cellular growth and evolution," Amy said.
It had obviously worked, briefly. The world outside gave proof to that. A brief prelude of promise followed by horrifying death for everything involved.
"Dull minds require constant entertainment and drama. Send me the research. I'm going to burn this place to the ground," I said.
I hoped I'd be able to salvage something from this. At the very least it let me know to keep better watch on the others. Drones subverting my upgrade protocols was a new one. Once upon a time it wouldn’t have gone unnoticed as I had to hoard every upgrade point carefully. These days it was a system open for abuse.
82
Putting aside the issue of Omega Ten, it was time to resume the interplanetary expeditions. Neither Mercury or Titan had been busts exactly, I had research teams busy on both, and Mercury in particular might reveal something valuable. At the same time they had done absolutely nothing to advance our cause of improved terraforming. Oddly enough the best chance of that had just happened at home, though given the extreme destructiveness of the experiment I could only test in very isolated environments.
Still, it was time to travel to one of the worlds known to be inhabited. Mars was colonized by humans after they won a war with the native Martians. They'd ignored all our attempts to communicate. We'd just have to go in person.
With each expedition so far I'd sent one of the major crystal holders. Not only were their powers great, if necessary they could in theory fuel a gateway back for a team. If possible, I'd have been happy to send Hot Stuff to Mars, except I'd still found no way to help contain her powers.
I needed to send the next, most powerful person on Earth. Sylax refused to wear any of my modified Aegis armor, going instead for her own battle armor. I couldn't protest too much, she kept up on my latest designs and modified them to suit her tastes. In this case she had two power projector cannons, one built into each arm, a crystal-edge sword made by Forge and a bandolier of crystal-infused grenades. I didn't object too much to her excessive degree of firepower, these were humans we were going to visit uninvited.
My own drones were a mix of Aegis units and Gunslingers, capable of both up-close and ranged combat. The Aegis had energy and kinetic blades. With the Gunslingers I was focused on heavy duty gauss rifles that dealt kinetic damage.
Unlike with the other planets we weren't going in totally blind, we did have some records from this universe that let us know exactly where they founded their first colony.
With the team assembled on the teleportation platform I activated the systems and engaged the teleport.
Something went wrong almost at once. Through my drones on the expedition I could feel it go wrong. A warping and twisting of space very much akin to how jump drives had once operated. Then my team was materializing.
We'd aimed for the surface of Mars. Instead we seemed to be underground in some vast cavern. We weren't alone. The people waiting for us were humanoid, but not human.
Their skin had a distinctly metallic hue somewhere between gold and copper, their limbs longer, and their eyes were a uniform black with no pupils evident.
Otherwise they might have been human at a glance. They wore no clothing although some were marked with silver body-paint. They were attractive, I had to suppress a sexual response in four of my drones to keep them focused on matters at hand.
"You know, a lifetime in the Scholarium and I never encountered half as many naked people as I have in my time with you, Emma," Sylax said.
"You think you have it bad. My cameras are always running," I said.
"Oh, I know. It makes it such fun to put on a show."
One of the Martians, if that was what they were, cleared their throat.
"Oh, right,” Sylax said, back on the job. She called, “Join the Empire or die."
I said, "I believe my sociopathic companion means, hello, give us all your technology and perhaps we'll be friends—if a lot as poor and undeserving as you have anything worth giving."
"Do you think we should have included a diplomat?" Sylax asked.
We probably should have, it seemed too late now.
"I'm Julasa, Speaker for the Sinalara," said a statuesque woman with a lack of any silver body-paint. "No need for diplomats. We know you are Emma, Mother of the people. Sylax, Claw of the Empress."
"We have titles now. I'm liking mine," Sylax said.
I wasn't anybody’s mother. Well, perhaps the entire race of Gobbles. I'd also technically birthed the majority of humans currently alive on Earth but really, it wasn't my fault if their own reproductive systems weren't nearly as efficient as my growth vats.
"Then you seem to have us at a temporary disadvantage. You speak our language?" I said.
Julasa tilted her head. "We've had opportunity to learn. We detected that you intended to travel to elsewhere on Mars, but our seers saw that ending badly so we brought you here instead. You don't need the suits, you'll find the air breathable, if thin."
My sensors showed that she was correct. Still, I wasn't taking any chances.
Sylax wasn't quite as concerned, sliding away the faceplate of her helmet and taking in a deep breath. "Nice. I'll probably be keeping my clothes on, but nice."
"How do you know who we are? Have you been receiving our transmissions from Earth and ignoring them?" I asked.
"Allow me to start things off by putting your companion’s mind at ease. On behalf of the Sinalara I hereby surrender to the empire. I pledge you our loyalty and offer you full access to our technology and our abilities. In return, we seek only the protection you extend to all your citizens," Julasa said.
"Well, fuck. I didn't even get to kill anybody," Sylax said.
"I rather expect that is coming," I said. Whoever this Julasa was and what she represented, she certainly was going to complicated things—I could sense it. Worse than that, I think she did know me.
The empire had absorbed a lot of people—enemies, killers, and monsters. You swore loyalty and meant it, and you were in. They did, I was already getting the prompts.
The Empire has acquired a new population
Sinalara
Population: 1,408,411
Abilities: Telepathy, Probability Manipulation, Foretelling
Over one million people scattered throughout the surface of Mars. Many in poor health, tortured, starved.
"They mean it," I told Sylax, and added to Julasa, "And we accept, as you knew we would. Let’s talk."
83
Julasa led us an encampment in the cavern. It was warmed by massive braziers that burned brightly. The space was filled with tents of hide and cloth.
I had no human modesty taboos and as a sign of respect to our new hosts had my drone strip out of her armor and clothing. Somewhat to my surprise Sylax did the same, her body showing a good many more scars than any of the locals could claim.
We were given mugs of some deeply bitter brew and seated on plush pillows.
"You've led a hard life and done some terrible things," Julasa said, looking over at Sylax.
"Both true. This stuff is awful," Sylax said, with a grimace at her mug.
"Your people appear more human than I might have expected," I said to Julasa.
"In turn, humans appear exactly as the Sinalara expected. Seers don't often get to be surprised," Julasa said.
"Do you expect us to believe you can see the future? We've got a lot of powers back on Earth, but that isn't one of them," Sylax said.
Despite being a popular subject of human superstition, foretelling abilities had never appeared as a crystal-given power. Some, such as King Boreas, could give the appearance they knew the future by being able to rewind time, but it wasn't the same thing.
Julasa tilted her head for a moment. "M84J3A. Mother, if you would be so kind as to generate a random string."
I did. M84J3A. Whatever the Sinalara were, they weren't lying about this ability. My own prompts determined that. It was distantly possible they had some sort of compulsion ability and were simply making us believe these predictive abilities. I'd keep watch for that being so.
"If I were your mother I'd have built you a better face. Still, despite your massive unsymmetrical flaws, you do appear to be telling the truth and the string matches," I said.
"Okay," Sylax said, frowning. "Then if you're telling the truth, why the hell do you need our help? An army that can see the future would be unstoppable."
"The ability is rare, limited, and grows unreliable when violence is involved," Julasa said.
Sylax looked dubious. "All right. So, is it true you attacked Earth and got your asses kicked?"
Perhaps it was a good thing that we didn't bring a diplomat. Sylax did have a way of cutting right to the heart of the matter.
"Not exactly," Julasa said. "Humans do not have quite the duality of nature that my people do. Among us there were always the Sedara who were devoted to war, and the Sinalara who are devoted to peace. Those devoted to the Sedara had skin of silver and it was they who built the great Arks and went to war against your planet. They were very nearly extinct, and now live again in another form."
"Sounds like a lot of bullshit not to have to take responsibility for your own actions," Sylax said.
I gave her a warning look. Sylax met it with a glare of her own.
"I know it must seem like that to one such as you. It is the truth, or at least it borders on the truth. The fundamental differences in philosophy and biology go well beyond war and peace. They are simplifications that will serve for now," Julasa said.
"I'm not buying it," Sylax said, her mug set aside so she could fold her arms. "I've done a lot of bad things in my life and I own up to every one. Emma there is her own kind of monster and she does the same thing."
I wished she wouldn't include me in these statements.
"Let us remove me from the sociopath pride society," I said. "What do you want, and what do you have to offer?"
On the one level it didn't matter. Julasa had sworn loyalty to the empire. If her people were in trouble I would find a way to save them, if I could. But the resources of the empire weren't infinite and right now I had far more people on Earth that needed saving.
"My people are imprisoned, tortured, enslaved," Julasa said, with a look between me and Sylax. "I want you to stop that from happening."
"I don't mind a little killing, and I don't even mind it being for a good cause," Sylax said with an easy grin. "But you didn't answer the second part of her question and you're going to be wanting to."
"My people were an ancient space-faring race. The Sedara built and used our weapons, but the Sinalara built the Arks and our other technology. We were the shapers of metal and the builders of culture. We offer you that knowledge and that which we learned on our voyages," Julasa said.
"Bored now. So, tell me about the people I'm killing?" Sylax asked.
"We don't know if you have to kill them. You may choose not to, as they are your fellow humans, the descendents of the c
olonists you’re seeking. However, they have become brutal and war-like after taking the technology of the Sedara into themselves," Julasa said. “They are effectively the Sedara reborn.”
"Meaning what?" Sylax asked.
"We of the Sinalara forego technology inside our bodies. We go without clothing to show that we approach the universe with an open mind and without barriers. The same is not true of the Sedara, who clad themselves in technology and fill their bodies with devices," Julasa said.
Cybernetic implants it sounded like, along with armor and weapons which any sensible people used. If the local humans had taken to those things and fused them with the technology of their Earth, the results could give them quite the technological step up.
"Before we go to war with anybody, I want to observe them and then try to strike up a dialog. As Sylax here demonstrates, sometimes even the most rabid of dogs can be tamed," I said.
"Not tame. Just fighting on your side, Mom," Sylax said.
That nickname was not going to catch on.
84
Sylax was back in her armor, as was my drone and a few others I'd brought along. Julasa had given us the location of a nearby human expedition and a guide to show us the way.
We'd taken up position on a nearby hillside where we could look down on a settlement. Ancient stone buildings were interspersed with more modern-looking structures of corrugated metal.
There were fifty-three Sinalara and seven Sedara. The Sinalara were captives of various sorts, most engaged in mining ice. My awareness of my new-found Sinalara subjects let me know that there were two women chained up inside one of the huts. A man with both legs broken was hanging on a post outside, wrists manacled above him and his body showing the scars of frequent abuse and torture.
The Sedara, who were still very much human in appearance, were dressed in spike-adorned leather, going without any sort of atmospheric suits or body armor, and most were festooned with an absurd number of weapons. A buggy and transport truck didn't seem any technological wonder. Each sported heavy armor and a variety of guns.
