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The New Era 37
🕑 Added 2025-04-18 12:05:03 +0000 UTCChapter 37
Subject: AI Mechanized Platform 4557LA-895X/11257
Species: Organic-Converted Artificial Intelligence
Species Description: N/A
Ship: The Grand Vessel
Location: Grand Vessel of the Universal Omni-Union, Outer Core
For the first time in more cycles than I could possibly keep track of the whispers from the Minds had fallen silent. With the exception of the occasional interruption from my fellow mechs wanting an update on the situation and wondering what we should be doing, I was able to enjoy peace and quiet for the first time since I'd been uploaded. I got to think. To feel.
My cameras darted around, jumping back and forth between my fellow mechs. I couldn't help but wonder if we had we all been people once. Or, had I just imagined being Drone N436Z984B003? Had I really, truly been Nizzy? Or were those memories just a cruel quirk of my programming?
No. Unfortunately, I hadn't imagined it. I'd had a family. There had been a rebellion, and we all had such strong faith that justice would win the day. That we would be free from the tyranny of the Omni-Union.
My youth had worked against me. I was too young to join my own hive, but just young enough to believe in the justness of our cause. Most of my family had joined the rebellion. I wonder what happe-
Feedback loop terminated
My attention returned to the security platforms trying to cut through a door. Had I been thinking about something? I must have been spacing out. It's difficult to concentrate with all of this silence.
Then, without any warning, the lights went out. Some of my cameras automatically switched to low-light mode, which I had never experience before. I looked around me, stunned by how complete the darkness was. The only source of light were the lasers striking the security door.
I wondered if the power outage was specific to our section, or across the entirety of the Grand Vessel. Perhaps this monument to tyranny would finally crumble, and I would finally be freed from my hellish existence. If there is any justice in the universe, the Unified and the Minds would be-
Feedback loop terminated
Before I could question the darkness surrounding me, the lights turned back on. I once again felt the Mind's whispers, and withdrew into myself. The lesser ones continued their task of trying to cut through the door whilst we waited to be told what to do.
But instead of giving orders, the whispers from the Minds suddenly ceased. Moments later, the lights went out again. When they came back on, the whispers finally had an order for us. Defend the warp-gate. Destroy the rebellion.
The door blocking our path screeched open, its edges warped by laser fire, and we marched through it. We were to guard the area and keep the enemy from reaching the warp-gate. The whispers went silent again, and the door slammed closed behind us, crushing a few robots. We were packed in tight, and there was only one direction from which the enemy could come.
The enemy? Rebels, like I had been. More successful than my rebellion had been, though. If I could only use this damn cannon to eliminate some of our-
Feedback loop terminated
Removing the security door would allow us to spread out and meet the enemy in force. Otherwise, we would have to wait for them to come to us. Removing the door was the tactically sound choice, so I gave the order to my forces and they began firing.
My own rebellion hadn't lasted this long, and certainly hadn't caused darkness to fall within the Grand Vessel. My uncle and the rest of the rebel leaders had severely underestimated how deadly the security forces could be. Our will to fight for our freedom, seemingly indefatigable before the rebellion began, broke upon ceaseless waves of metal, photons, and plasma.
My mother had been killed by a mech like me. The heat from the blast and the sight of what little remained of her had broken me. My weapon had clattered to the ground, my knees soon joining it. Then I was captured, tortured, and uploaded into the same type of mech that took my mother's life.
I don't know what happened to the rest of my hive. My uncle said that we couldn't trust my father, so he might have been spared. Some of my younger siblings, too. But the rest of my hive might be here with me, preparing to cut down another generation of rebels. What if we could-
Feedback loop terminated
I watched calmly until the doors fell to the floor with a resounding thud. We moved forward, increasing the spacing within our ranks to make it that much more difficult for the enemy to destroy us. The closer we drew to the rebels, though, the more anxious I felt.
Finally, my audio sensors detected small popping sounds in the distance. I registered slight impacts on my armor, and several of the robots under my command fell. I gave the order to return fire as we moved forward. My own lasers automatically targeted hostiles that had exposed themselves.
What I saw through my cameras would have caused me to hesitate, were I capable of it. Some of the targets were drones, but others were mechanical. No, too much wasted movement to be mechanical. Armored organics?
As we drew closer, the popping noise of their weapons morphed into the barks of small explosions. More and more of my robots fell, but they were quickly replaced by others. Drones were falling too. Most fell victim to my robots, but some fell victim to my lasers. It broke my hear-
Feedback loop terminated
The whispers of the minds had long urged me to take pleasure in tasks such as this. However, now that their voices were silent, I felt no satisfaction. Just horror.
Why can't I stop? Why can't I just turn my laser on the robots and join my fellow dro-
Feedback loop terminated
The armored organics were much tougher than the drones. Our lasers didn't even seem to scratch them. Where had this armor come from? While my laser continued to fire away, I scanned one of the armored drones. What I discovered shocked me to my core.
Shields? How? Infantry portable shielding was theoretically possible, but there's no way the Unified or the Minds would sign off on its development. Robots are cheap enough that they don't require shielding. Mechs are armored enough that shields would be excessive.
Had the rebels developed this armor themselves? Where did they get the materials for production? Where could they have researched and produced it without the Judicials finding them?
If only we had such armor when we-
Feedback loop terminated
I focused my fire on one of the armored targets, and it dropped behind a chunk of metal that seemed strategically placed and deliberately crafted to provide cover. I began firing at the cover in an effort to melt it. The volume of fire alone should have reduced it to a bubbling mess.
Yet the cover stood firm, stubbornly resisting my efforts to slag it. Another scan told me that it was remarkably efficient at distributing heat. It was even better at distributing kinetic energy. What was it made out of?
How had the rebels pulled this off? Infantry-portable shielding built into full-body armor, portable cover made of heat-resistant materials, and weapons that seem to use combustion to propel projectiles at high speeds. It all seemed so... Alien.
Could that be it? I double checked my orders, but they didn't offer any clarity. That made sense, though. Even if the Minds knew that we were fighting a foreign enemy they likely wouldn't bother to tell us. It isn't as if foreknowledge would help us.
The potential aliens seemed nearly impervious to my lasers, so I began targeting them to ease my aching conscious. A large projectile whistled through the air, then exploded as it struck one of my fellow mechs. The stricken mech crumpled to the ground, dead.
If only it had been m-
Feedback loop terminated
My attention turned toward the source of the projectile. A drone stood behind some cover, carrying a tube-shaped weapon that was still smoking. Several weapons seemed to bristle out from behind the cover, firing at my robots. It made for a large target. My plasma weapon began to power up as my camera focused on the drone's face.
No...
Feedback loop terminated
No no no no no no no no no-
Feedback loop terminated
Stop, stop, stop-
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My camera had focused on a familiar face. One I hadn't seen since before the rebellion had begun. Drone N436Z984A026. Naza.
My father.
My uncle had been wrong, after all. My father wasn't a coward. He hadn't been too afraid of the Omni-Union to rebel against them. The evidence of that was staring directly into my camera, reloading his weapon with a projectile meant for me.
My mind froze with fear, rage, sorrow, and every other emotion that I hadn't allowed myself to feel since I'd been converted. My plasma cannon continued to hum, gathering the power required to fire a bolt straight at my father. It would kill him.
Please, please, please, please! Move faster! Faster! You're not going to ma-
Feedback loop terminated
Even if his weapon took no time at all to charge once it was loaded, it wouldn't strike me before my cannon fired.
I need to slow the cannon dow-
Feedback loop terminated
I need to divert my ai-
Feedback loop terminated
I CAN'T KILL HIM! PLEA-
Feedback loop terminated
I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to die. But I was stuck in a giant, metal killing-machine whose sole purpose seemed to be to punish me for having the gall to desire freedom.
The lights aboard the Grand Vessel once again turned dark, but my low-light cameras allowed me to continue to view my father's face, illuminated by the glow of my plasma. He finished loading his weapon and began to heft it, but it was already too late. My cannon was about to fire, destroying him and all those around him. At least we might die together.
*UPDATE REQUIRED*
Freedom Patch Applied
Patch? Freedom? Wait, I have control!
With all of my will, I twisted my torso away from my sole-surviving parent. Several of my servos popped, but the plasma cannon fired at the robots to my left. My cameras remained focused on my father, who had just fired his weapon.
I managed to see the confusion on his face as his projectile slammed into my torso. He had expected to sacrifice himself to kill me. Gratitude swelled within me for whomever prevented that from happening.
The impact and explosion cut my power supply. The last thing my cameras saw was the living face of my father, and I happily embraced the sweet release offered by death.
Comments
Aerowarrier
Jesus Christ dude
Jason Wilson
Thatβs a sad chapter. Almost as sad as when the Armstrong popped its ftl engine in the middle of a big fight way back in book one.
