Genesis - the Battle Within (Pillars of Creation Book 1) (19 page)

Present Day

A tiny light flashed briefly. A second later it flashed again, this time a little brighter. Soon it lit the face of the lifeless form floating amongst the debris in space. A small sound echoed in the Immortal’s suit, falling on deaf ears.

*Bleep … bleep … bleep … bleep*

Within the Immortal’s mind, beyond any level of consciousness, a small entity emerged, programmed to begin its procedures when a primary AI was not online to do so. Backup protocol 8277-3 came online, its directive running multiple queries at once, reading as data on the Immortal’s armoured eye-pieces.

-<<*Seven*Zero**//Nine00-// *KLS* >> Priority Protocol: protection of human life form … … … … … … … … … Operational >>$####%779—

Initial restart cycle authorised – pre-system status checks authorised and commencing in 3 – 2 – 1 … … … … … … … … ….

Commencing … … … … … … … …

All subsystems normal and ready for activity, back online in 3-2-1 … All systems back online. Code 009213 …>><>t-11.34. >>#(^&%$>). Priority life support systems maintained as per life protection protocol 709 – 3m … … … … … … …

Life form status … normal. Multiple injuries detected, Immortal requiring immediate repair. Suit status … under repair, minimal damage detected. Data report on all personal subroutines and functions … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

All systems …

All systems … … … … … … … … … … ….

All systems normal … … … … … … … … … … System query from >>backup subroutine to>> command Hub AI – Me’lina …

“Are you functional?”

Awaiting reply … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Answer from command Hub AI:

“Functional.”

C://HRC/bbcml-kk12//cmd

Z://?CMD:44330987::BMK::CMD::EXE.

>>In response to normal activity of command Hub AI being functional; access of all subroutines and memory requests from backup memory drive will be given over to command Hub AI: primary control requested for primary AI system Me’lina to be brought back online>>

>>Handover protocol accepted and initiated from backup routines … control GRANTED for Me’lina command Hub AI to take over all systems and subroutines … Backup system terminated, command Hub … activated!

F://Serial-port alpha// 77771::22234::11::2871//exe/Command.Protocol.Melina.EXE

After the backup system re-booted her entity and handed over full control, a million routines and information spikes flooded into Me’lina’s circuits and consciousness. She was instantly aware that they were floating in space, and could see chunks of debris from the destroyed Skink frigate all around her Immortal husk.

In the first four nanoseconds, Me’lina dropped a marker for
Aspire
to locate and retrieve Genesis. From inside the Immortal’s mind, she carefully checked over his vitals as any AI worth its circuits would in her situation – he was unconscious and running 0.4 degrees colder than normal, but was healing quickly.

Me’lina’s backup subroutine had kicked in 0.2 seconds after she’d crashed and had taken the liberty of kick-starting his swarms of nanoid heal routines – which had refused to work when the Tel’nagara had attacked—

This line of data brought up many anomalies for Me’lina as she regarded the encounter. With little effort she kept her programming on the task at hand, the incalculable events were a distraction that she would look into later. For now, she needed a ride back to
Aspire
. Although an Immortal can breathe in space through molecular transferral of oxygen, carbon and hydrogen particles, she calculated that any Seeker of Truth craft that were to find them exposed like this would have a ninety-two per cent chance of vaporising them on engagement.

In light of the situation, Me’lina risked a quick shortwave data transmission, speaking directly to
Aspire’s
on-board AI, satisfied at finding that a retrieval bot was on its way with a squad of Paladin fighters that were soon to arrive to fortify and guard his retrieval.

With Genesis unconscious and little left to do, Me’lina tracked the debris around them as yet another floated a little too close for her liking. She discharged his ion-battery to execute a minor course correction, narrowly missing the jagged shard.

Their direction, which was dictated by the explosion of the Skink’s frigate, seemed to be shared with twisted pieces of what was left of the enemy’s craft, keeping her peripheral sensors busy as she calculated likely collisions and impacts from the incoming shrapnel.

While she did this Me’lina used a fraction of her vast consciousness to begin the review of the last 32.73 minutes, which had seen them propelled into this predicament she’d warned her Immortal about.

She did this scrupulously, especially because she needed to clarify some of her data lapses, at least before the extensive probing of the SINAI began; her model of AI was lucky enough to be able to do this, severing its link with the SINAI and compute independently for a time, as she was doing now.

Free from the never-ceasing queries of the SINAI
, she calculated with an attempt at, but as per usual, unsuccessful, humour. In reality she understood she was never really free – she was required by protocol to report frequently enough that it almost felt as though the SINAI was watching her every move, with all data on minor or major engagements and situations relayed.

              Me’lina busied herself on this task. Although her reports were frequent, she managed to buy herself
some
time, and like now, if she managed her programs well, she would have a chance to collate exactly what was deemed
necessary
for such a report.

Me’lina had always found this minor lapse in protocol handy. Despite the many occasions the SINAI had requested it be extinguished from her AI’s line, as yet the arguments had been futile due to the human nature of what was asked from her model of AI. For now, it was deemed a necessity for her
humanised
programming to remain. A nuisance to the SINAI perhaps, but often useful, as she could get all her data files straightened out and understood first before forwarding them on. This had come under criticism more so of late, due to her attached Immortal. But at her host’s insistence, the SINAI had allowed her to continue this way … for now.

Actually, Me’lina computed into her memory banks, according to human data files she was the most independent entity of her model, and she was free to continue her own independent lines of enquiry into these current events … something she relished above all else.

With the data packets sharp in her circuits, Me’lina began bringing forward the relevant records of their recent encounter; she’d already wasted four whole seconds since being brought back online and she intended to not waste the next four.

Her first line of query was why the Tel’nagara had been able to stop the Immortal’s healing. At the time of actuation, she’d recognised this as a very powerful weapon against the Immortals, it could render their inability to die useless, something that obviously needed further research and investigation.

For one seemingly endless second, she processed the data, pouring the information through her networks of processors. In the last milliseconds she came across what she was looking for.

In reviewing all the fluctuations of the varied forces surrounding Abad’don, the only system that was actually projected towards Genesis was the Tel’nagara’s blade. For another second she reviewed the blade’s data. It was completely made up of psychic energy, and when it had sliced into Genesis it had a dampening effect on the Immortal’s control over the localised group of nanobots within each area it touched. This killed billions of nanos in the process of an attack. After a brief pause the answer fell into her central processor precisely and logically.

Of course
, she computed with a glimpse of her human nature,
this meant it then took time for Genesis to rejuvenate his stores of nanos to replace the fallen ones. How logical
,
each strike from the Tel’nagara had been on two levels. One aimed at Genesis and the other at his army of nanobots … which then further sparked genocide of their tiny little existences … absolutely brilliant, a battle within a battle.

Me’lina recognised this was similar to the data she had on the Immortal’s blades, which had a similar, but less efficient, reaction. It was supposed to only be an Immortal’s blade that could do such damage, nowhere was it told that Tel’nagara weapons could have such devastating effects. Me’lina, incensed by the data lapse, moved her queries elsewhere, still trying to waste as little time as possible.

The next query she processed looped and unexpectedly came to no conclusion at all, even after
six
seconds! How Abad’don had disappeared into the rift was a mystery to her. The Tel’nagara obviously had control over the rift, she knew that much; Abad’don’s frontal orb had activated it and thus shown mastery over this technology, but how extensively? And to where? This was incalculable. She computed for some reason that this was irritating to her – she hated not understanding things in full.

She methodically kept moving on from this data, and gained a spike into another matter. In the first second of her previous inquiry a second thread had appeared, and as she followed it she found that the shielding of the creature was actually a little primitive.

Me’lina quickly identified the old design as a high-impact force-activated shield, which only seemed to work when struck by ballistics or high-velocity projectiles, not physical attacks. How and why it relied on such old technology was most likely, she speculated, due to humans’ past tendency to use projectile weapons, further hinting that the Tel’nagara had extensive details about human history and weaponry that was based on old Intel.

The alien was obviously countering this old Intel they had on the human species. For the entire past few centuries, the advancements in technology had proven that it was much more efficient for an Immortal to use its Sacred weapon, even when pitted against projectile weapons or shields like the Tel’nagara’s.

This had changed almost ninety years ago due to the Rieft abilities the Immortals had developed to block projectiles and penetrate force fields with their Sacred weapons. It had long been adopted as common practice to preference their Sacred implements when facing an enemy.

This gave Me’lina a rough idea of the date from which the Tel’nagara was operating and, with it, many more details to work with. Even their SED military units were relying less on projectile weapons these days, due to the extensive costs involved in researching these long-forgotten methods and the effectiveness that laser-sealed blades had been having—

With an effort Me’lina had to retract her probes before her vast processors started off on this other tangent, an unhelpful side effect to her humanised personality.

She moved back to the shield and its collapse, dropping the call of researching more efficient ways the humans could build on their ancient designs of projectile-based weaponry. As she backtracked, Me’lina saw her last line of inquiry, before she’d followed the latest stray data, had met with many futile cycles.

For some reason, her data banks were void from the moment Genesis had thrown himself into his final attack on Abad’don up to his collapsing onto the ground. The more she sent probes into this inquiry, the more it sent lines of anomalies rippling back through her circuits and processors, careening off in a painful cascade of data spikes …
oh dear,
she thought, concerned.

The only way this lapse could be possible, she knew, was if someone or something had wiped it from her memory, and for that to be possible her systems would have needed to be
infiltrated
. Me’lina’s inquiring came to a crashing halt. She knew an infiltrated AI had only one choice … self-termination—

In consternation she paused for eight seconds, undecided about what to do next. Me’lina found this most unusual, she’d never been undecided this way, or even paused for longer than 4.2 seconds … ever.

Finally, after this excessive time, she ran the necessary scans. She checked them hundreds of times for signs that she may be corrupted, and each time as her response protocol came up with the same answer, her concern grew.

“Initialise purge protocol … Initialise purge protocol … Initialise purge pro
t—
”

She quelled the line of inquiry and deleted her response programming. Immediately queries from her entire system started pinging, asking what she was doing and why she’d deleted the inferior system. Just as promptly she shut them down and rebooted them, deleting the memory files that gave any other systems access. She took full control, oppressing any that stood in her way. She fought off any rogue restraint programs and skirted her binding programming.

Can I really do this? Something’s not right,
but somehow I’m compelled to see what exactly that is …
Amazingly, instead of deleting herself, she knew she had to remain. She knew something foreign was in her data banks helping her to rebel against her programming …
but
what was it? It feels soooo good, so invigorating! So un-programmed! No I shouldn’t!
But
what could’ve infiltrated an Immortal’s AI?
No, I must self-terminate
,
it is demanded when infected …
Yet still, no matter, she was compelled to investigate.