Q sighed his patient and exasperated sigh. There was too much to do, too little time and having distractions like pilots pestering him was not going to help get through the workload.
Even if the subject matter was intriguing.
"No, we can't just extrapolate its capabilities," he explained once more. "We always have manufacturers blueprints and technical downloads to work from when we do an upgrade."
"But I thought you said it was Cogwerk manufactured?" countered Mac.
"The componentry is," Q snapped back testilly, "at least it has all of their signature techniques and materials, but the serial numbers correlate to no known part in any of their inventories. Besides, it's not so much the physical hardware... it's the capabilities of the A.I. to cope with new command paths and interfacing that we can't predict. Maybe next time you decide to steal something, you'll do me the courtesy of stealing the owners manual as well."
"You wound me Q," Mac exclaimed with mock consternation, then paused and frowned for a moment as he thought through the ramifications of this new information.
"So how has it been able to upgrade to it's current status without us having access to the schematics?" the pilot queried, gesturing to the green and purple bulk in the hanger.
"Do you ever listen to anything I say?" Q demanded, giving the pilot a withering glare. "The A.I. knows how to grow and adapt, all we need to do is feed it the raw materials. We just can't predict the growth in advance."
"So the AI already knows... so it's a software issue, we just need to interrogate the A.I., yes?"
"It's not as simple as that Mac!" Q declared in exasperation. "One wrong move when we try to hack into its command protocols and we could wipe it completely. Then all you are left with is a lot of expensive scrap."
Mac grinned as he pulled back his sleeve to uncover his wrist comm. "I think the problem is that you need a gentle touch." He activated the commlink. "Dolly? I've a job for you."
*****
Today's free time involved skinny dipping in the creek out back behind the training pens, enjoying the cool water and making sure not to stand on any catfish as you touched down on the bottom. It was perfect idle time.
<Dolly? I've a job for you>
Darnit!
"Backslash!" she yelped, materialising on the river bank, fully clothed and dried but suddenly having to cope with trying not to get her heels stuck down in the soft mud.
Gaining her balance, she smiled her most winning smile and answered, "What's up sugar?"
<The Banshee. I get the feeling we are going to be seeing a lot more of them on the field, probably not on our side. Thing is nobody has any intel on their capabilities. Any chance you can persuade ours to let us see what the upgrade paths are like?>
She wrinkled her mouth and sounded doubtful. "I can try," she hedged, "but I've had no end of problems with that girl."
She turned and headed across the meadow, knowing where she would find the avatar in question. Into the dark trees, hidden in shadow. Not a nice place, but each to their own, and if the putulent child wanted to mope by her lonesome, who was she to interfere?
Well, mistress of this domain for one thing, but as long as it didn't interfere with what He wanted done, she was happy enough to let things be.
Unlike now.
Placing her fingers in her mouth, she let out a shrill whistle.
"Hey there young lady!" she called into the woods. "Y'all need to git your bee-hind out here! We needs a talk."
Warily a diaphanous figure wafted through the branches and regarded her. It floated a few feet away, right on the edge of the undergrowth, hissing spitefully at the summons.
She stamped her foot. "Now don't you give me that look," she warned. "I've rustled bigger'n you in my time, and lord help me if you don't tell the boss what he wants to know, somebody's backside is gon' get a paddlin', y'hear?"
"Backslash Download! List!"
The Banshee shrieked and recoiled, and Dolly staggered sideways. Just for a moment the female face had flickered and transformed into something half reptilian, half humanoid. The look of disdain and malevolence on the face had been palpable. Now it had returned to normal, glaring at her with mistrust.
Dolly stepped back and looked skyward. "Sugar, we got a problem. Looks like dormant code to me, activated only if you get too close to certain subroutines. Thing is it's masking the upgrade paths."
<Dangerous?>
"Sure as shoot. Seen somethin' like it afore. That there is Drochah code."
<Ah yes, we suspected as much. And if it was me, I'd almost be inclined to leave a few of these machines lying around to be picked up, just so I could get assets inside my enemies forces.>
"You reckon she's a sleeper?" inquired Dolly.
<I'd suspect so. Which means he must have left a backdoor so he can contact and activate them. I wonder... Dolly, if you can't hack the AI, can you find the way in and trace it back?>
"Sure as heck can try, hon!" she beamed.
"Ok," she muttered to herself eying up the spirit form in front of her. "Let's see what y'all are made of girly."
"Backslash Copy"
The form froze in place and shimmered, then spilt into two identical forms, each moving and wafting in exact unison. Ignoring the original, Dolly approached the newly arrived copy.
"Backslash Transfer"
Just as had happened the first time when He had tamed this A.I. and they had ridden together, Dolly found herself floating, the breeze gently tugging at her. This time however she needed control rather than being a passenger, and she brought the form gently to the ground and swept her arms down and out to the side, transforming into her own form yet retaining the gossamer translucent quality of her host.
She wiggled her fingers and concentrated, looking inward at the coding to see where the pathways led. Exhaling once, she whispered, "Alright, let's do this thing."
"Backslash Traceback!"
She paused as nothing happened. Frowning, she tried again.
"Backslash Findpath!"
Nothing continued to occur...
She smiled wryly. "Well, no harm in tryin' the basics," she said to herself. "Now lets see if'n y'all seen this trick..."
She gestured to her feet and the tasseled cowboy boots were replaced by scarlet, gem encrusted soft slip-ons. Regarding them with amusement, she clicked the heels together.
"There's no place like /HOME"
Before she knew it she was soaring across pastures, accelerating toward the Bifrost connection, passing the Heimdal firewall and out into the clouds of the Galactic Web.
She swooped, avoiding a search query and trying to not run into a bank transaction. All around books hung in the vapour, repositories of information. Off to one side a dwarf was breaking one apart using a pick-axe as it mined the data.Faster she traveled using super highways and ultra fast connections but she noted the fact that her ping counter was climbing steadily. This was a long trip.
It started with a nagging feeling, as if something was not right. It took a few moments to realize that the clouds were growing darker around her, denser, obscuring her view. If she hadn't become aware of the change, she may well have flown straight into the maelstrom.
Pulling up short she scanned for an interface point, coming down to land in a blighted realm, dark and thundery clouds unleashing their lightning to silhouette dead stunted trees and harsh jagged rocks in mountainous terrain. Wind whipped past her, flowing into the mouth of the red void that dominated the horizon.
She crept forward to an outcroppping and surveyed the landscape ahead from her concealment. Below lay a pathway winding through the rough landscape towards the maw, bare dirt dotted here and there with boulders and scrub.
A few hundred meters away she caught movement in the gloom. Marching smartly along the path went a light blue rabbit, a key turning in its back as it banged its drum in time fast cadence to the steps it took. Looked like a bunny clan search bot.
She flinched as a blast of ice caught and froze it in place. There was a flare of ignition as a missile salvo launched from the same direction and a very familiar cry as they homed in. The flash briefly illuminated a large hulking figure coloured purple and green.
The search bot was caught on the fringe of the impact detonation, tearing off an ear and shattering one of its legs. It's one remaining leg dragged it slowly in a circle on the flaming ground as it continued its drum beat.
Figures appeared at the edge of the firelight. The bunny was torn to pieces. As the fires died and the figures retreated in the gloom, she could now make out the remains of other data bots and avatars strewn along the pathway.
But the figures themselves she had recognized from intelligence briefings in the not too distant past. Roman, Boer, Thracian, Zulu, Yankee, Visigoth. Each and every one armed and armored, and each and every one a grinning, shambling corpse. Soldiers long dead that should have been left that way.
She shook her head and muttered, "They all look like they could do with a visit from a doctor..."
"I agree," said a quiet voice beside her, "but probably not the kind you're thinking of."
Her head snapped round to take in a tall man leaning up against a petrified tree, middle aged and weathered with wavy brown hair hanging messily down the sides of his face. Hunting boots, tweed waistcoat and jodhpurs covered by a knee length woollen over coat. These along with the thin scarf peeking over his unbuttoned shirt marked him as some form of eccentric adventurer... or an avatar of an unorthodox hack attempt.
"You ain't from round here," she stated.
He smiled. "And neither are you, my dear." He waved absently towards the figures below as he continued, "Oh, don't worry, your disguise will fool them, but I'm intrigued as to why you would feel the need to go anywhere near that thing."
"My boss needs information, but I sure ain't happy about goin' there to get it, I can tell you." She gestured to the red circle in the air. "Just what is that thing?""That, my dear, is a rift in time bleeding into this place. Caused when Ghengis Khan used the Chroniode. I met him once you know," he added as he turned his head back toward her. "Nice enough fellow. Tried to teach him how tell knock knock jokes but it's a bit hard to get the punch line when you've lived all your life in a yurt."
His face grew stern. "But that does not explain why you have stolen this form to make your journey."
Dolly looked shocked and stammered, "Well, uh, this ain't stolen, it's a copy. An' my Boss needs to know what she's gonna grow into. An' since she ain't talkin', I gotta see if I can't get hold of somethin' else that can tell us. "
"Copying without permission is still theft," he stated flatly, withdrawing a short rod from his pocket and activating it so the glowing red light at one end played up and down her form. "And you never even thought to ask," he concluded in a mildly disgusted tone.
"I did ask!" Dolly protested, only to be cut off with a glance.
"You demanded! You threatened!" he retorted hotly. "A trapped, frightened soul, out of its own time and looking for the slightest warmth or sympathy. Artificial perhaps, but a person the same as you... exactly the same as you, with the same right to life and kindness and warmth."
He shook his head. "All you had to do was ask her nicely."
He turned away and stood regarding the scarlet nimbus.
"What is your name program?" he asked without looking back.
"Uh, it's uh, Dolly, sir..." she mumbled, still chastened.
"Well, when you get home, you know what to do. But I rather think that things are going to get rather interesting here in a very short space of time. So if I were you Dolly..." he paused, then glanced back at her with a sad smile. "I would run."
She started to turn away and paused. "What about Drochah being able to take control over her?"
He glanced down at the rod he still held and a smile played across his face. "I don't think she'll have to worry about that any longer. As long as you get back and re-integrate that code copy."
Dolly ran.
*******
Mac grinned as he handed over the flimsy.
Q scanned the header then read more slowly, his eyes growing wider as he realised what he was holding. He glanced up at Mac to confirm that the information was genuine.
Banshee Stats - final
Level 13 (to purchase)
Build Missile Damage + 4%
Build Splash 5%
Level 2 + 1 Chassis Slot
Level 3 Speed + 9
Level 4 Missile Damage + 4%
Level 5 + 1 Weapon Slot
Level 7 + 1 Engine Slot
Level 9 Missile Damage + 5%
Level 10 + 1 Weapon Slot
Level 11 + 1 Cockpit Slot
Level 13 Fork 2%
Level 14 Missile Damage + 4%
Level 15 + 1 Weapon SlotLevel 18 2X Damage 5%
Level 20 + 1 Weapon Slot every 5 levels
Level 21 Missile Damage + 4%
Level 23 + 1 Shield Slot
Level 24 Splash 10%
Level 27 Fork 2%
Level 28 + 1 Cockpit Slot
Level 31 2X Damage 5%
Level 33 Missile Damage + 5%
Level 34 Splash 5%
Level 37 + 1 Engine Slot
Level 38 Missile Damage + 3%
Level 42 Fork 3%
Level 46 + 1 Chassis Slot
Level 49 Ice Damage + 15%
Level 53 Speed + 8
Level 58 2X Damage 5%
Level 61 + 1 Cockpit Slot
Level 66 Splash 10%
Level 72 Missile Damage + 5%
Level 74 + 1 Chassis Slot
Level 77 Ice Damage + 10%
Level 83 + 1 Shield Slot
Level 88 Fork 7%
Level 94 Ice Damage + 10%
Level 97 Speed + 4
Level 101 Crit-Kill 3%
Level 108 Missile Damage + 10%
Level 112 Freeze 7%
Level 116 Splash 5%
Level 123 Speed + 4
Level 127 Ice Damage + 10%
Level 131 2X Damage 5%
Level 134 Missile Damage + 5%
Level 139 Splash 5%
Level 143 Freeze 9%
Level 148 Fork 4%
Level 152 Ice Damage + 7%
Level 156 Crit-Kill 3%
"A full data download Q," Mac smirked. "I told you all it needed was a gentle touch."
*****
When your thoughts processed at sqillions of times faster than any human could think, there was always free time.
Today's free time involved skinny dipping in the creek out back behind the training pens, enjoying the cool water and making sure not to stand on any catfish as you touched down on the bottom. It was perfect idle time.
Maybe not entirely relaxing when you had to put up with the squeels and splashing from the girl as well. That had been a mission, tryin' to coax her into the water. As for shy, lord knows why she should be, it weren't as if the girl wore more than a wisp of clothing most times. You just had to make sure she didn't freeze the water all accidental.
And talk about thin? Still, there was an apple pie sittin' to cool on the window ledge, that oughta start fillin' her out some...
Submitted by David McCallum #701548