Universe of the Soul (7 page)

[Got it.] Adri shoved at the door, prying it open several inches. [You first.]

Gray squeezed through the narrow opening while Adri provided cover fire.

Down the corridor, Adri could see that the reinforcements were armed with much larger weapons than handheld blasters. She dove through the door just as the enemy fired a lightweight blaster cannon at the door.

[Oduran to Rael. We have your cover. Please proceed to point oh-six.]

[This is Rael. Nice job guys. Let's get out of here. It's an Army problem now.]

Climbing into the transporter, Gray let out a long sigh and removed his helmet. The rain drizzling on his head was a refreshing relief. “I must say, moving to your division has certainly put a lot more action into my life, Adri.”

Removing her own helmet, Adri raised an eyebrow. “I'm sure I said numerous times that you couldn't call me that. And we are still in a danger zone, Lieutenant.”

Gray smiled winningly. “Well, we won't always be fighting, now will we? You're going to have to have a better argument than that soon. I'm a persistent kind of guy.”

Adri leaned back and closed her eyes. “So I've noticed.”

***

“Did you see that?” Hildana asked softly as she watched her troops reorganize for the retreat. “I shot her, and the beam disappeared, like she reflected it somehow,”

“Now you know how I feel, big sister.” Giselle replied.

Hildana was not amused. “That was not simple reflexes, little sister. She completely deflected it, head on. There's no way her personal shielding is that good. Was it some trick she's got?”

“Hildana?”

Hildana continued frown. “What is she?”

My Dear Riordan,

Things on this mission have more or less gone according to plan. My sister seems hopeful that while our priority mission goes smoothly, with average casualties, we will have a chance to achieve our secondary mission while Lieutenant Commander Rael is still on planet. But if not, there will be other opportunities. Enough about work, now, how are you?

I was finally able to kick the cold I had gained from this endless rain. I'm afraid it made me a little punchy for a while, and I foolishly tried to ignore it and went on a mission that almost ended in a total disaster. But how is your health? I almost envy you, getting to stay indoors so much, but I'm afraid I would find it stifling after a while, don't you? I'm sorry all I seem to talk about is fighting, but that is all I know, having been raised in an army camp. I wish I was with you now, and you could tell me some wild story of when you were a boy on your farm. The pictures I see in my mind are so beautiful.

My sister believes we will be returning in another forty-eight hours for a rest before heading back to the ship. I know many of us are looking forward to the respite, once our comrades from Edia come in to relieve us. I look forward to seeing you there.

I send my thoughts and love ahead of me. May all that is holy protect you until my return.

With all that is in me,

   
your beloved,

Giselle

“D
id you feel the change? It was like a ripple through the air, a stirring of something…more.”

Freya looked up from the view of the wide valley, the wind blowing her long golden hair across her dainty face. For a moment the only sound was the air rushing through the tall grass, ruffling her long white dress. “Yes, I felt it. Like something brushing up against my heart.” She smoothed her hair away from her face absently, revealing eyes the shade of fresh lilacs. “Did you have a vision, Ayane?”

The young girl sat down beside Freya, smoothing the long skirts of her own white dress against her legs. Like Freya, whose twenty years sat beautifully on her, and whose build was small and delicate, Ayane at sixteen held great physical promise. Silver eyes peeked out of an oval face framed by long brown hair that danced playfully in the breeze. “That is what I wished to speak to you about,
sorja
. There is something strange going on. I don't understand it. It is like a dark cloud around the convent.”

“Yes, I know what you mean.” Freya turned around to gaze back at the large structure that sat on top of the green hill. “A lot of us have been sensing something abnormal. But no one I've spoken to knows what it is.”

There was another long silence as both women watched a bird soar off in the distance. “Freya, I'm not remembering my visions.”

The older woman turned to gaze fully at her companion. “What do you mean, Ayane? Your strength as a Talented rests in your ability to see visions. Have you stopped having them?”

Ayane stretched her slender arms and traced the scrolling sapphire markings on her left hand with her fingertips. “No, I can recall the residue of a vision, like the tail end of a bad dream. All I can recall is fire and fear, but nothing else. I
know
there is more than that, but I cannot see it. Even my sessions with
ada
Sergei haven't been successful. I spend hours with him in meditation, but in the end, I cannot recall even being there, much less any visions I may have had.”

“I thought you said that being with
ada
Sergei was uncomfortable for you. Why do you keep going?” Freya asked.

The young Talented shook her head. “He insists, and really, how can I refuse him? He is head of the convent.”

“That is no reason to capitulate if he makes you uncomfortable.” Freya insisted.

Ayane smiled shyly. “I wish I had your confidence,
sorja
. It probably comes from living with a family for so long before coming here.”

Freya smiled and stroked the younger girl's head. “Perhaps. My brother could be so bossy sometimes, I had to assert my independence!”

Some of the worry eased out of Ayane's face. “Do you still keep in contact with him?”

“I try, but he is a very busy man.” Freya turned to look back out over the valley. “Actually, I'm a little worried about him right now.”

“Why?”

“I'm not sure, I suppose it's just a feeling I have. You know me and my premonitions.”

***

“That seems a very primitive means of repair,”

Zultan continued to stare through the glass partition at Floyd. The human was lying back on one of the lab's infirmary beds, an old fashioned IV stuck into his arm as he slept uneasily. “The infirmary was out of the appropriate medication in a simpler form, and they had some of the archaic IV packs as emergency backup. That information should be stored in your database, Cassie.”

The small, female formatted humacom frowned back up at him from her lesser height. At first glance, one could easily mistake her for a teenager. Her short crop of dark hair accentuated a face that spoke of attitude. The gray uniform that both humacoms wore looked out of character on her, although the pair of ATF pistols did not. “Of course it is. I was only making an observation. I'm functioning just fine, thank you.”

The male humacom smiled. “Indeed you are.”

Both turned back to stare at Floyd beyond the partition. If it had not been for the flush brought on by his high fever, he would have been deathly pale. The young man thrashed in the bed, muttering to himself before settling down again. “He is showing classic signs of stress and overwork, according to my medical files,” Zultan commented.

An infirmary orderly passed by the two humacoms, staring in curiosity. The two humacoms stared back. Cassie spoke to Zultan via the instant messaging system.
He worked too hard to create me.

Perhaps, but I deduce that there are other factors to blame as well.
Zultan replied.

If he knew that being active like this would lead to illness, I don't understand why he did so. It's illogical.

Cassie, that is the difference between us and them. Humans are able to ignore their logic, going on against all proven data. This is often the result.

Are we then always subject to our logic systems?

Yes. That is how humans program us to be.

That makes no sense at all. Why do they program us to do things that they obviously do not adhere to themselves? They are much more fragile than we are. If anything, they ought to be the ones to follow a logic structure. But you said that this is “often” the result. Is there another result for this sort of behavior?

Yes. Sometimes when humans go against their logic, they come up with something new. Being programmed with a logic we must adhere to, we are unable to create something original. We are only capable of using the functions provided for us. Our capabilities are finite, while theirs can be infinite under the right circumstances.

You are speaking too abstract for me. I'd much prefer focusing on my duties and leaving all this philosophy to a database like you.

If you like. But I can deduce that we will not be able to avoid these issues forever.
They both watched as a medical humacom adjusted Floyd's IV dose. The liquid, which had been a pale yellow color, began to change to a darker color, almost black.

“Those actions have been processed as suspicious,” Cassie said out loud.

“I agree. My medical data identifies this change in color as highly dangerous.”

“We should act.”

“I agree.”

Without further communication, Cassie pulled out a pair of ATF pistols and blasted the glass partition away. While the glass was still flying, both humacoms leaped through the new entrance. Cassie, weapons still out, strode towards the medicom. “Your actions have been processed as suspicious. Submit to a hack connection or I will annihilate you.”

Silently, the medicom produced a small ATF and began to aim it at Cassie. Cassie instantly shot the hand off the medicom and then went for the legs. As the medicom's limbs shorted and sparked, the smaller humacom whipped out a connection cord from the port behind her ear and plugged it into her opponent.

While Cassie was dealing with the medicom, Zultan strode over to Floyd's side. After a quick analysis of his medical data, he removed the IV pin from Floyd's arm before the new medication had a chance to enter Floyd's bloodstream. “Dr. Tarkubunji's situation is clear.”

“All hostile targets have been annihilated. Hacking into the hostile's system now.” Cassie was silent as she hacked through the medicom's firewall system. Only a few moments passed before she disconnected. “The order to place polymentholame, a toxin deadly to humans, into Dr. Tarkubunji's IV is scrambled; there is no way for me to trace the source at this time. The same source ordered the attack on anyone, human or humacom, who tried to stop the procedure.”

“I see. My programming dictates that we alert the authorities about this situation. Perhaps they will be able to analyze the command to a source.”

“I agree. Why don't I transmit the command signature to you as well, since you might be able to decipher just as quickly?” At Zultan's nod, Cassie reconnected her cord with Zultan and passed on the information. As she was disconnecting, she said, “There was something strange about that medicom, though.”

“What was it?”

“When I was reading her basic programming profile, she was missing the independent function of the AI unit. She also…”

“What?”

“This is superfluous, but it might be useful for the investigation. She had no personality program.”

Zultan frowned in human thoughtfulness. “Strange. Humans design us with personality programs for their own convenience and entertainment. I have not heard of any of the new models being constructed without one. And she was a new model.”

“I don't understand.” Cassie said softly. “It was like she was empty inside. Less real even than the stationary systems. It doesn't make any sense; we're all machines, but it was like connecting with something that was almost dead.”

“You're right, that doesn't make any sense. But I agree, she did seem…empty somehow.”

Just then, the doors to the infirmary slid open, allowing a half dozen human guards into the room. Behind them, Colonel Stroff strode in with his usual compliment of securicom bodyguards. He glanced at Floyd, still asleep on the bed, to the remains of the blasted medicom on the floor in front of Zultan and Cassie.

“What happened here?” He demanded.

“Sir,” Cassie saluted. “This medicom injected polymentholame, a deadly toxin, into Dr. Tarkubunji's IV. We corrected the potentially harmful situation.”

“You must be C.G.P. 00297.”

“Yes sir. I was activated yesterday morning at 0751. I have been named Cassie.”

Stroff made a grunting noise in his throat. “I demand to know why you and Zultan are out of your proscribed zones. I did not hear of any request to move to the infirmary level of the complex.”

“When Dr. Tarkubunji collapsed, there were no personnel available to transport him to the infirmary. Our programming dictated that the matter was serious enough to bypass zoning procedures, and took him down to the infirmary ourselves.” Cassie explained.

“You both did not need to come with him,” Stroff argued, but Cassie cut him off again.

“True. Zultan could have carried him down to the infirmary by himself, but my programming does not allow him to be beyond a certain proximity of myself. As his exterior firewall system, I cannot function properly if I am not nearby.”

“Why did you stay?” Stroff demanded, scowling down at the little humacom. She only reached Zultan's mid chest. Her large brown eyes stared straight at him, and if he didn't know she wasn't capable of such a thing, he'd think she was disdainfully criticizing him.

Before Cassie could reply, Zultan said, “The doctor had been in the process of downloading some new information into my hard drive when he collapsed. I cannot continue the process without him, so I thought it prudent to wait for him here. And it appears to be fortunate we did. Cassie?”

Cassie spoke again. “After we brought him down, we were informed that Dr. Tarkubunji was ill due to overwork. The current medicom on duty also informed us that the infirmary was temporarily out of medication for this situation, and placed him on IV. Shortly thereafter, the medicom returned and attempted to poison the doctor. I am programmed with an assortment of military programs, which dictated quick action. When the medicom refused to submit to a hack and attempted to open fire on me, I blasted her weapon away, and then prevented it from escaping. When I hacked, I discovered that the commands to give the doctor an IV, and subsequently poison it, were from a scrambled source.”

“Have you sent the command signature to the security database?” Stroff demanded.

“Yes sir.”

“Very good. Since you are waiting for the doctor's return to consciousness, I will place additional security here and allow you to stay.” With a wave of his hand, Stroff ordered the guards out of the room and followed them. Both humacoms watched him go.

“You did not tell the truth when the colonel asked why we stayed, Zultan,” Cassie said. “No humacom is capable of lying.”

“I didn't lie. Floyd and I were in the middle of transferring some data when this happened, if you care to review. I do have to have him present to complete the task.”

“But you told me you were concerned for Floyd's welfare.”

“I was, and that was the primary motive for my decision to stay.”

“That isn't logical. Why would our presence speed Floyd's recovery?”

“Because,” Zultan replied quietly, “I have been reviewing some data over the past weeks which would lead me to conclude that someone wants him dead.”

“Who would want to kill Floyd? He is necessary for the upkeep and development of this facility's humacoms, isn't he?”

“That is correct, which is why the situation is puzzling.”

Cassie scowled at the black mark on the floor where the medicom had been. One of the guards had dragged the remains out with them. Zultan sat down in one of the chairs and looked at the hole that had once been the glass partition. It had left a terrible mess, but a domesticom was already approaching with a vacuum. Cassie watched her companion for several minutes before walking over to Floyd to stare down at him. It was surprising to her that he had slept through the action. Glancing over to make sure that Zultan was not paying attention, she bent down and whispered, “Don't worry
ada
, we're watching over you.”

She straightened back up, and was left to ponder her confusing, and illogical action.

***

The sun was setting beyond the mountain range that hemmed the valley in, staining the walls of the convent a burnt orange where it passed through a window. Ayane and Freya walked quickly through the halls. “I hate to ask you to do this, but…”

“No it's all right. I want to understand what's wrong with you as well.” Freya replied quietly.

“Are you sure sneaking out like this is appropriate?”

“You said you didn't want
ada
Sergei to know, didn't you?” Freya took Ayane's hand and led her through the labyrinth of hallways to a small outer door. Through the door, they made their way to a small grove of woods that would shelter them from view from any windows. Once there, Freya sat down in the soft loam and beckoned Ayane to sit in front of her. “Are you ready?”