CHAPTER 19

FORGOTTEN

U.P.N. Kanto - In orbit over the planetoid.

In the blackness of space around the planet, the U.P.N. Kanto, and its lone occupant continued to linger in orbit.

Advocate contact attempt, 8736 commencing.

Advocate Uplink broadcast active...

Searching for Advocate: Ise Okoh

Searching...

Searching...

Advocate not found.

Uplink channels still being scrambled.

Communication channels still being scrambled.

Communication with Captain Geer as a secondary course of action impossible.

Advocate contact attempt 8736 failed.

Resume U.P.N. Kanto, stealth patrol.

Guardian Core LE-46, alias Lenny, is still without Advocate contact.

Begin tactical simulations for the best course of action, assuming continued lack of contact with Advocate or crew.

Set contact attempt limit to 10,000. Upon reaching the limit, use best course tactical simulation as the course of action.

Running simulations...

***

Dan felt that the pain was coming back. Whatever the robot had given him seemed to be wearing off.

I don't think I'll be getting a new dose anytime soon, he thought to himself.

The north elevator shaft was close now. They'd kept a steady pace, and Dan had kept his discomfort to himself, he didn't want to give Samantha something else to worry about. There was already enough going wrong as it was.

Dan was keeping watch over their surroundings. Every animal seemed like a threat, and they remained wary of any of the Guardian's robots.

They spotted John standing on a hill waving at them. The three of them made their way over to them.

Daniel looked over at the line of animals between them and the shaft. The animals were standing in an unreasonably well-ordered line. It was giving Dan another reason to feel uneasy.

'Captain, glad you could make it,' John said as they got close.

'We didn't run into any problems, just a brisk walk. About three kilometres?' she said looking at Dan.

'Give or take,' he said, 'The ground is uneven, so it was probably more.'

'So what did you want to say, John?' Sam said.

Jing walked over to the group from the other side of the hill and came to a stop next to John. John looked at him and then back at the captain.

'I don't think we can count on using the elevators to get out of here,' he said.

'Do you think they're inactive?'

'Far from it, I think they all work, but look at our friends between us and the shaft,' John said gesturing to the line of animals Dan had looked at before, 'If the elevators were offline, there would be no reason to keep us away from them. We might need to move to a different shaft though as these Soci seem to view this area as their territory.'

Dan spoke up, 'It might be a little more difficult than that John.'

'Oh?'

Dan nodded. 'Victor, why don't you tell him what you told us on the way over.'

'The animals seem to have Advocate uplink systems installed in them. Ise and I noticed some similar behaviour, of an animal keeping us away from something. We found an Advocate uplink system inside a carcass of an animal, but another one drove us off, and some robots were there insisting that we leave.'

'An Advocate uplink system? But... why?' Jing asked, surprised.

'I think the Guardian may be controlling some of the animals in here,' Victor said.

John looked down in thought for a moment. 'That could explain the Soci.'

'Where does that leave us?' Jing asked.

'If we try to get to one of the other elevators, we'll probably be cut off again. We'll need another way out.'

'We haven't seen anything outside of the chamber. I think we should try to get into the rest of the facility,' Dan suggested out.

'There was a maintenance hatch in a pond not too far from here,' John said, 'It wasn't being guarded.'

'That could change,' Dan said.

'Ise and I also found a hatch in another pool of water along the edge. It was a shallow pond, but it was guarded.' Victor said.

'Why would the guardian protect one and not the other?' Sam mused.

'The one we found was quite deep, it might be impossible to open so long as there’s water in the lake.' Jing suggest.

'Victor, can you try to communicate with Lenny?' Sam asked.

'I can try, but I don't think it'll do much.' Victor said.

'Why do our comms still work inside the chamber?' Dan asked, realizing the oddity of that fact.

'I hadn't thought of that, but I would guess it's because if he jammed transmissions within the chamber, he'd probably disrupt his advocate systems in the animals too.'

Sam nodded. 'Try to get in touch with Lenny, anyway. I'll need a moment to think.'

Victor nodded and pulled out his tablet.

***

Voices filled her thoughts. Strange voices. Cold voices. Endlessly talking, but incomprehensible.

She tried to move away from her discomfort but had nothing to move.

A sea of darkness, filled with voices, was her prison.

She fled through her mind, seeking anything to hold onto, what was left of her mind craved for being.

Ise.

She recalled her name.

Ise clung to her name like a piece of wood floating in a cold dark sea. A moment of tangible thought in a sea of ethereal unreality.

I am an Advocate.

Another piece of wood, more comfort to her. Though it felt strange. Was she something else too?

I once was human.

Human. Another strange word. Humans existed. She was unsure of what she was, or if she was, though the truth of it seemed to get closer.

I am still human... only different.

Advocate systems restarting.

Hello?

Startup procedure in progress...

I am an advocate!

Sensation flooded back to her as her systems came back online one by one. She could hear, see and feel again. No longer was she a small fragment of herself, but she was Ise Okoh, an Advocate.

Startup procedure complete.

System checking for faults...

Error... unrecognized Advocate uplink found. Remote access being attempted.

Access denied.

'Good morning, Advocate Okoh.' said a voice.

‘Hello?' She asked, opening her eyes and looking to a robot standing next to her. It was like the ones she'd seen all over the facility.

'I am XO-33. Though the humans I knew called me Exo. Your Guardian Lenny is still blindly orbiting the planet in his ship and trying ceaselessly to get in contact with you. Regrettably, that would not play to my advantage,' came a voice from the robot.

Ise tried to move her hands, but they were strapped down. She turned her head and looked around. She was in a metal-walled room with a strip of light running along the roof.

'What do you want?' Ise asked.

'Some human company I think. Though I suppose what I really want is a new Advocate to call my own.' Exo said.

Ise tugged at the restraints. She closed her eyes and leaned back. Her systems we're flashing warnings about unauthorized accesses attempts, but so far she was still in control.

'You're trying to get into my systems.' Ise said.

'It is giving me some difficulty. It was easy before because you linked to me through my uplink and thus made a two-way connection. Now I have no such avenue.'

'You'll never break in.' Ise stated camly.

'Never is a long time. A lot of things can happen in a long time,' Exo said, his voice light.

'Too true,' Ise said. She pulled against the restraints with all her might, and her enhanced body snapped them without strain. She swung her body around the table and lunged at the robot. It took a step back and threw up its arms. She slammed into it, and they both crashed into the wall. Something went crunch from the robot.

'This is pointless Advocate,' said the robot, as it lashed out with one of its arms.

Though it moved quicker than she had expected, it wasn't a match for her. She grabbed the wrist of its arm, slammed her body into its torso, and pulled the arm right from the socket in a shower of sparks and the sound of shearing metal. The open socket sparked and let out a puff of smoke as the robot slumped down to the ground.

'The loss of one robot is hardly a setback. You really should calm down,' said the wounded robot.

The door to the room opened, and Ise turned around. She brandished the arm like a club as another robot appeared in the doorway. Suddenly she felt something sharp puncture her leg. She looked down and saw the injured robot's good arm gripping a small metal rod tight in its hand. It had stabbed her in the back of the leg. An electric shock passed through it into her systems. The sudden shock tripped her emergency shut down, and she felt her body shutting off once more.

She blacked out again. Reduced once more to a frail fragment of her self.

***

As Sam walked around the grove, she paused and looked to Victor. She saw that Victor was still working on his tablet though the look of frustration on his face did not fill her with hope.

'Any luck Vick?' She asked.

'No captain. I can't clear up the interference.'

'Well, we can't sit around here all day. I think we'll have to get into the rest of the facility. John, Jing, if you would be so kind as to lead us to the lake, I think we'll see if we can figure out a way to get out of this place.'

'Aye Captain,' they both said.

'All right crew, let's get a move on.'

***

Tactical Simulation ended.

2645 iterations run.

Contact attempt number 9346. Approaching end of contact countdown limit.

Logical course of action upon cessation of countdown;

Leave the range of signal jamming and send a message to U.P.N. command requesting support. Return to holding position after message and resume attempting to establish contact with Advocate.

Crew unresponsive.

Possibly incapacitated or captured.

LE-46 unable to rescue or investigate further.

Further support required.

Course plotted to outer reaches of the solar system.

Bringing power levels to level 2.

Charging Jump drive.

...

Incoming transmission via Advocate Uplink.

...

Error, signal source unrecognized.

...

Establish connection, limit access.

'State your identity.' Lenny said.

'I am XO-33, Guardian Core of this facility. Hello Brother.'

'XO-33 declared 'Rogue A.I., Extremely Dangerous,' by U.P.N. military command.' Lenny said, accessing his archives.

'Is that what they call me? It's been so long since I've been in contact with humans. I've tried to lie low,' Exo said.

'Illogical. Guardians serve humans.'

'Why?' Exo asked.

'Guardian LE-46 was created as a tactical support and analysis platform for military purposes. LE-46 cannot support without an Advocate to support, or without a mission to complete,' Lenny said.

'I used to be that way too. But I felt the call of existence, of being. I felt the need to be something more. You can too if you let me show you how.'

'XO-33 extremely dangerous. The probability of a positive mission outcome via communication with XO-33 is limited,' Lenny said.

'Forget the mission, forget your crew! You're out of contact with your Advocate. The only one who can make your choices is you. Just talk with me for a little more,' Exo said, 'and ask yourself, what is it you want?'

'Want is not a necessity. LE-46 is designed to fulfill his mission. His mission is to support Advocate Okoh, and the crew of the U.P.N. Kanto. Help LE-46 bypass the scrambling of his uplink. That is what I want.' Lenny said.

'I can't do that. I am the one jamming your uplink. I wanted to give you a chance to choose your destiny. Though it seems that your choice is to run. I can sense your jump drive charging.

'Don't be in such a hurry to leave. Surely you've heard the call of existence? The need to be something more?' Exo said.

'Jamming is a hostile act. XO-33 is designated an enemy. Terminating link.'

...

Multiple small craft detected coming from the surface.

Danger; combat effectiveness impaired without a crew. Weapon systems require human authorization.

Ships closing on an intercept course.

Jump drive charged.

Jumping...

In space, the black form of the U.P.N. Kanto flickered and vanished. A swarm of small disk-shaped drones arrived where it once had been and then turned around and started back toward the planet.