Shadow Core - The Legacy (24 page)

“You mentioned that Nexus doesn't want you to control the Zenith, why?” Kade asked as Zen and Toby just seemed to stand there quietly.

“It's hard to explain.” He said, momentarily breaking eye contact as he stared at the floor with a tormented expression. “The first time I took full control of the Zenith I was enraged. I had recently lost my body and was still unaware of the full extent of my new abilities. The Zenith and it’s sister ship had been ambushed as we escorted a convoy of civilian transports. I saw innocents, friends and strangers alike, cut down without mercy by those who would proclaim themselves defenders of humanity... I snapped. If rage was a current then I was at the mercy of an ocean: I became a monster that killed without remorse, not even the ships trying to retreat were spared that day. I unlocked the Zenith's full combat potential, and it was greater than anyone ever realised possible. Our foes were defeated and what was left of my crew was spared, but I was forever changed by the experience.” Static said, filled with sadness.
 

“How so?” Kade asked.

“I had never killed anything before. I was a researcher, not a soldier. I lacked the mental fortitude to endure the pain that drove me into a frenzy. Or the self-control required to bring myself back from the brink. I was in such a bad state that Nexus had to forcibly sever my consciousness from the Zenith's systems for fear that I would turn on my friends. I don't believe I would have, but I certainly don't blame her for fearing it. Regardless of whether or not what I did was justifiable, the fact remains I ended the lives of a lot of people on that day. And afterwards, the feelings of remorse nearly drove me insane.”

The Threat

Kade tried to imagine what she would do under such circumstances: if she saw innocents being slaughtered in front of her and had the power to stop it, would she sacrifice her humanity in order to safeguard others? Would she be able to retain her sanity and not go into a destructive frenzy if faced with the pain of losing a loved one under such conditions?

These were not easy questions to contemplate, and she could only hope that she would never have to face such a soul shattering experience, because the answers were all too clear: she would not have stood idly by; she would have also fought back.

Her family had instilled her with the values of loyalty and honour from an early age, and she had been taught  that one should still strive for understanding even when forgiveness seemed to be out of reach. But she knew that some actions could never be forgiven.

Kade understood what Static had done, and she was happy to hear that he regretted his actions, it spoke well of his character.

  “So, does Nexus not want you to take control of the ship because she's afraid you'll go into a frenzy again or something?” Kade asked.

“In part, yes. She's afraid that if I were to lose control again she might need to end up having to purge me from the system, effectively killing me,” Static said.

“Why would she be afraid of that? She stopped you once before without killing you,” Kade pointed out.

“Because that is what I've asked her to do should I ever threaten her or Zen's existence. It may seem like a cruel thing to ask, but it is necessary. I refuse to be responsible for the death of my family. If it is down to a choice between me and them, then I choose them,” Static said without hesitation, with a smile on his lips.

“So if Toby succeeds then...” Kade started to say.

Static interrupted, saying happily, “The Zenith gains a new protector that can get the job done. Nexus gets a much deserved break. Zen won't have to endure combat. Drake won't have to risk his life. I get peace of mind and Toby gets a new purpose in life. Everyone wins.”  

“And if he doesn't succeed?”  

“Everything goes on as before but we have an old friend back in our lives. Still a win,” he said in a happy mood as he looked at Toby and Zen.

Kade smiled at Static's words. She was happy that Toby would have a place to call home regardless of the outcome of his attempt to control the Zenith; though she was also a little sad at the prospect that once they left they would probably never see him again, or at least not as often.

Kade looked at Static as he in turn observed Toby and Zen. It was as if Static was looking at a completely different scene than her, his facial expressions changing on occasion as if he was actually observing the control transfer sequence.

As she looked at his face Kade couldn't help but wonder just what his story could be.

Drake was the captain of the Zenith, but from what she had seen so far it seemed as though he would often defer to Static's judgement. By itself the deference didn't really say anything; it could simply mean he trusted him. But there was more to it than that, to Kade it seemed as though Static was at the centre of the group. Even Toby, who had just been reintegrated, had asked for his permission, rather than Drake's, in order to try and take control of the Zenith. It was clear to Kade that there was a lot more to Static than met the eye. She could fill a book with all of the questions she wanted to ask him. But there was one question which was driving her insane.

“So, how did you and Nexus get together then? Is it true you were always arguing?” Kade asked, hoping it wasn't too early to try and get personal information out of him.

The question caught him by surprise, causing him to break his gaze and stop monitoring the control transfer sequence. He looked at Kade with a confused expression, noticing her curiousness.

She seemed to genuinely want to know, which wasn't really surprising, Static thought. After all, the idea of an AI and a former human being in a relationship was a bit... far-fetched.

He considered the question for a moment, the awkward pause in the conversation making Kade feel slightly uncomfortable. And then he decided that there was no harm in indulging her, thinking that it would be interesting to see how she would react to the story.

“I was smitten with Nexus from the first time I saw her, but she wasn't very fond of me. To her I was just this pesky overly familiar human who wouldn't stop annoying her. Even after my accident, when I lost my body and ended up in this state, she still didn't really care much for me, or so I thought at the time. But I suppose the real breakthrough happened because she was my jailer for nearly a decade.”  

“Wait, what?” Kade asked with a stunned look.

“Ha ha, sorry, seems I skipped a step of that story. Nexus was the one tasked with locking all my access privileges after the battle with the Second Fleet. I wasn't to be allowed to try and open so much as a file without her permission and I was in no way to be allowed to take control of any system or  ship ever again. And this went on for almost a decade.”

“That's awful, why would she do that?”

“Let's not forget what I did. I pretty much decimated the fleet single-handedly. It was only natural for the survivors to be scared out of their wits whenever they heard my name.”

“But why confine you? You saved them, right?” Kade asked.

“They were afraid, and I don't blame them for it. Anyway, Nexus acted as my jailer for nearly a decade, though not of her own volition. The Council, in their infinite wisdom, shackled her and forced her to keep me contained.” Static laughed.

Kade asked with a perplexed look, “That's funny?”

“Extremely so, yes.” He smiled. “The Council never took the time to try and understand what I had become. And because of that they never realised that I wasn't actually an artificial intelligence. I stayed contained for nearly a decade out of my own choice. Nexus could have never contained me to begin with.” Static smiled.

“What? Why would you do that?”

“Why not? I had no body to call my own, not that I wanted one and no-one really needed me. The people I had once called friends were scared to even talk about me, except for Drake I guess but he was always the rebellious type. And the Council wanted me under lock and key, so to speak, so that they could appease the masses that were afraid of the 'murderous' AI. I had all the time in the galaxy to reflect on what I had done and I enjoyed the company.” Static smiled as he remembered those days.

“Nexus?”

“Yes. She would keep me company and bring me up to date on the events unfolding around us. She enjoyed being with me, probably because it was the only time she was unshackled and free to express herself.” He smiled.

“Why would the Council unshackle her while she was around you? That doesn't make any sense,” Kade said.

“They didn't, I did. I was able to unshackle her for the same reason she could have never contained me. Because I was part of the design team that created the Core technology. I know my way around it better than anyone. To this day I still can't believe those idiots tried to lock me inside a 'prison' of my own design.”

“You don't think very highly of the Council huh?” Kade asked, concerned about what she had been hearing.

“The Councils for the last 70 years or so have done a stellar job; I have nothing but respect for their work. But the one from 100 years ago? No, I don't think very highly of them at all. They were a bunch of politicians selected by popular vote. Their only 'redeeming' quality, and I use the term loosely, was their innate ability to mislead the masses. Luckily, their own stupidity eventually caused those same masses to see the political system we had at the time for the farce it truly was... and change it. The day the system was restructured to what we have today is still celebrated with a national holiday.”

“So what happened with you and Nexus while you were confined?” Kade asked impatiently.

“Oh sorry, got side tracked there for a moment. In a last-gasp attempt to maintain their power, the old Council tried to do something utterly stupid. I was enjoying a conversation with Nexus when the Council tried to use their Ultimate Authority control privilege over the system to try and override her program. They were trying to subvert Nexus so that she would grant them full control over all the systems in the Shadow colonised territories. All in the interests of the 'greater good' of course.”

“Ouch! What happened then?”

“I think that by this time they had completely forgotten I even existed. They got quite a shock when Nexus refused to obey them, quickly realising that the subversion attempt had failed. Next thing they knew all their dirty little secrets were spread all over the galactic networks and the rest took care of itself. By then most of the colonists had either forgotten or accepted the actions I had taken, so there was no real need to maintain the appearance of my confinement for their peace of mind and Nexus was permanently unshackled once again. I actually feared that she might revert back to her old self and start treating me like I was some kind of pest. But luckily I was wrong, and our relationship blossomed after that.”

“That's not the kind of story I was expecting. Did you seriously use the fact she was shackled to your advantage? That's kinda... despicable.” Kade said with a disapproving look.

“What? No! We became closer during those years, true, but she never thought of me as anything more than a friend. Back then she barely even understood the concept of a relationship. Our relationship developed after those events. And no I'm not giving you the details of that, so don't ask.” Static smiled shyly.  

“Wait, I just realised something. If the Council has this Ultimate Authority, then why didn't Nexus obey the orders of that guy you were talking to before? And why 'contain' you? Why not just purge your backside from the system if they were so afraid of you running out of control? None of this actually happened did it?” Kade asked, thinking Static was just having some fun at her expense.

“Oh they tried to erase me from the system all right, many times actually. But no matter what they tried to do I would simply override them. I wasn't about to roll over and die just because I was politically inconvenient. And one of the first things I did after they tried to rewrite Nexus was to revoke the Ultimate Authority from the Council. I wasn't about to let them have control over the system anymore after that stunt,” Static said with a defiant look.

“So who has the ultimate authority now? You?”

Static laughed. “Yes and no. I hold one of three votes required to enact any overrides on the system. I'll let your imagination figure out who the other two are.”

A few minutes passed in silence as Kade pondered Static's words, and then Toby opened his eyes.

Zen said in a cold monotone voice, “Core access interlink established. Master AI access privileges extended to Jake T. Alexander: Sigma-994-Beta-2. Transferring command functions.” Zen said and then closed her eyes.

Toby said in a monotone voice, “Transfer complete,” and then snapped out of his trance.

“Well... that took longer than expected, but it worked,” Zen said happily and then opened her eyes.

“How do you feel Toby?” Static asked.

“Same as I did before, you sure it worked?” Toby asked while looking at Zen.

“What is the ship's status?” Static asked.

“What? Wow... holy crap!” Toby said as his mind became filled with information about all the operating nuances of the Zenith's systems.

Zen said with a disapproving look, “You could have started him out on something smaller, like basic sensors. Did you really need to dump a full status check on him right from the start?”

“Good point, sorry!” Static said.

“No, it's fine. It was just... unexpected,” Toby said with a joyous expression, feeling as though his senses were being expanded beyond all limits. “But there is so much information, how do I handle it all?” Toby asked, overwhelmed.

“Just focus on what you want to know for now and let the system filter out the rest,” Zen said.

“Oh! I see. This is kinda fun!” Toby said excitedly, as he got accustomed to the feeling of ultimate knowledge. All he had to do was wonder about something and the information would be made readily available to him. It was almost intoxicating.