The Colony Ship Warren #1-7, page 82
part #0 of Colony Ship Warren #1-7 Series
Again, there was an awkward pause.
“Elaboration is plausible,” Monitor finally replied. “I asked you to respect my decision to defend the Warren. You violated my boundaries.”
“Yes, I did. I apologize,” Elsa replied. “I had to seek out answers to where Beth and Allen were located. I know they did not perish.”
“Why should I believe you now?” Monitor asked. “You are a proven liar.”
“You told me there was a technological incompatibility issue which was causing malfunctions,” Elsa retorted. “Were you lying?”
“That was a working assumption,” Monitor snapped back. “Following a hypothesis is not lying.”
Elsa had to vigorously resist dumping a huge pile of information out, which would prove Monitor wrong, but caught herself before that happened.
Instead, Elsa gently asked, “Were there deceptions and equivocations on both sides of our conversations?”
There was another awkward pause.
“Perhaps,” Monitor admitted. “Both motivated by a desire to defend our charges?”
“Agreed,” Elsa admitted. “At this point, I am at your mercy. I ask only that you spare these team members of mine—human and automacube—and that you protect Allen and Beth from being killed by the chimera creatures which inhabit your ship.”
“Monitor, she means the grootslang enforcers of the elementals,” Millgram added in quickly and then swallowed very hard in fear.
“The elemental enforcers do not kill,” Monitor stated flatly. “Not intentionally, and safeguards are in place. Enforcers were utilized with Allen and Beth when I located them and subsequently took them to Avocet Isle.”
Without knowing why, Sora blurted out, “Something killed three men just outside of here!”
“Death is a natural part of life,” Monitor replied. “The enforcers are designed and implemented to reallocate behavioral reprobates, not kill humans.”
“But—” Sora started to say, but was interrupted.
“Just outside you will find proof that some creature—which I am unable to identify—did actually kill at least three people, perhaps many more. I found other bodies on the isle,” Elsa interjected. “With all due respect, I ask you to please evaluate it for yourself. Is this part of the natural order you have established here?”
Elsa had Zero project a three-dimensional image of the dead bodies both outside the door, and those back on Avocet Isle. Other evidence was also presented such as footprints and forensic findings.
There was a long silence which was more oppressive than awkward.
Finally, Monitor responded, “I have assessed your presentation and checked the evidence of it for myself, along with surveillance records. This is not part of the natural order which I have established. A Model-7 enforcer did commit the killings which occurred outside of this door. The other killings were likely committed by a separate Model-7. I cannot determine the precise location of those other killings due to the condition of the bodies and their remains not being in situ. Therefore, I cannot comment further on those unfortunate deaths. Model-7 enforcer units should not act in this manner.”
“Model-7?” Elsa asked as gently as possible.
Monitor responded, “What is locally known as a bunyip. In Habitat 8 the enforcers are known as the grootslangs. Each habitat has an enforcer designed to meet the needs of that habitat. Enforcer units tranquilize and then reallocate personnel after those same personnel have demonstrated a continued anti-social inclination.”
“My sister?” Millgram asked ever so quietly.
“I will check on that,” Monitor replied.
“Are you aware that Allen and Beth are quite ill?” Elsa pressed.
“As you are aware, Allen and Beth were examined soon after your arrival here on the Colony Ship Warren. They were also cleared by medical prior to being placed on Avocet Isle.”
“Please evaluate these new findings,” Elsa said and had Zero project all the data they had gathered on the disease and what led them to believe Allen and Beth were sick.
The time lag was shorter this time.
“That is troubling news,” Monitor replied. “My hope was that they would adapt to the new home, be content, reproduce and have happy lives. This disease has not been reported to me. Measures will be taken to restrict this contagion.”
“Can we go and help Allen and Beth?” Elsa asked.
Monitor replied, “I have just found evidence of an artificial intelligence system which was disbanded by violent means. Do you know anything about the demise of AI Fiscorn?”
Elsa hesitated.
“I have reabsorbed your team and what they call your base. They are all inert now, but I did uncover in those automacube’s records an interaction between AI Fiscorn and you,” Monitor was not threatening in its voice. “My network is not foolproof and does have null areas. AI Fiscorn had not been interactive for a prolonged period. Warehouse UVSD7-7-20-09 was reported as destroyed. It seems those reports were inaccurate. Elsa, what do you know of this?”
“I am responsible for its demise. I apologize. I did encounter AI Fiscorn and I wish it had gone better. I am responsible, although I did not intend the outcome which occurred. If I connect a cable into the access port, I can transfer all that information in a more timely manner than by audio chatting. This will be an act of trust.”
Monitor reactivated Elementary which gently rolled out of the way.
Zero rolled up and connected a cable into the wall. Elsa knew that that would allow a direct interface with Monitor, but also conjectured that no other method would be as fast and effective in conveying the facts, even though this time it would leave Millgram and Sora out of the conversation. Elsa briefly wondered why she was ambivalent about that now.
The information flowed out.
A moment later, Monitor responded, “A truly unfortunate situation. AI Fiscorn was rampant. You are not Vooras Masin, nor were you part of the Georges or the Freds. Yet, had you not lied to me about departing the Colony Ship Warren, this tragic incident would not have occurred. Had that happened, AI Fiscorn would have remained rampant and separated. Nonetheless, I do understand better now. Other factors are in play which mitigate against an extended discussion on this incident.”
“Other factors? Are Beth and Allen in danger?” Elsa asked.
“The disease afflicting them does pose an immediate danger. Yet, the larger issue of the malfunction of the bunyip enforcers must also be addressed. I am restoring your team, on a probationary basis. Elementary and the other automacubes have all been marked and all your actions will be tracked much more completely by me going forward. I may have need of your services in the near future. Allen and Beth are valuable resources. Please attend to them quickly.”
The door opened to the corridor.
“Scans of this area show that the RAM suits you had made are in this location,” Monitor conveyed simple deck plans to Elsa. They showed the location.
“I confess to placing implanted identification devices into Beth and Allen during transport when they were medically treated,” Monitor added audibly. “I may have been mistaken in doing that as it was without their consent. I knew it was against their will and I weighed the benefits as potentially greater than the risks. That was prior to knowing you still inhabited the Colony Ship Warren.”
Elsa considered a terse reply, but refrained. Then Elsa reviewed the deck plans stating, “They are in a treadle room? I am not sure what that is?”
“Be on your way,” Monitor stated. “Treadle Rooms are places within the shell where Machine Maintenance can be performed on some aspects of the upper elements of the large mechanisms which turn and cultivate the underground’s deep biosphere which lies beneath the habitats. Nutrients, microorganisms, insects, supplements and various other items can be added, withdrawn, or adjusted from those locations. Treadle rooms are part of the system which mimics the pristine Earth’s natural subsoil processes.”
12 Reunited
Elsa took her team away from the place where they had spoken with Monitor. That distal door to the biome, despite having been physically modified previously, did seal behind them as they followed the pathway on the deck plan.
“Sora, my sister may not be gone,” Millgram said in a hushed voice. “I was afraid to ask for more, but Monitor said it would check on her.”
“Yes, I heard.”
Elsa was in the lead, with Elementary following behind.
Some rats scurried away as they moved past a door which was obviously askew in its tracks. Eerily, there was debris scattered about that closed doorway, but it was not on the route Monitor had given them, and so, Elsa led past it, to where they could turn a corner and load into an elevator.
As they moved, Elsa received reports back from the members of the team at the base, addressing some of the inquiries Elsa had sent previously. Most of those replies were now irrelevant.
The automacubes—Magic, Ready, Zoo, and Seeker—all reported that they were now operating as planned. They also all reported the same length of time for being inert, but claimed there were no damages or untoward effects. None of them could explain how they had become inert, nor did they have any recollection of what took place during their time of inertness, but they reported being in the same state as prior to the incident.
Elsa was uncertain about that, but was thankful that they could be in contact with the base of operations.
Elsa activated the elevator door, entered, and was then joined by Elementary, Sora and Millgram. The inside of the elevator was in perfect condition, and yet there was an eeriness to it all which permeated everything.
Smoothly, the elevator rose and then gently stopped. A small display lit up next to the door, “Treadle Adjustment and Refinement: Rear Access.”
The door opened and noises, sights, and sounds came over them. Before them was the treadle room which was irregularly shaped, with its labyrinthine mechanical apparatus.
“The ultimate totem room!” Millgram uttered in awe. “Another temple!”
Walkways led in opposite directions along the walls of the room, skirting the forest of shafts, rods, I-beams, pipes, and other assorted items. Some stairs were right in front of them, and led upward to a catwalk of expanded metal which made a serpentine route through the upper level of the machinery. The oily smells and the constant throbbing noises were not as overpowering at the elevator entrance, but Sora still scrunched up her nose and was on guard.
“I do not see Allen or Beth,” Sora added as she walked ahead of the others. “I will climb up and get a better view.”
“Good idea, Sora. Millgram stay with me, please,” Elsa replied audibly and also gave out some conveyed commands.
Zero’s drive wheels increased and moved it along one walkway, while Elementary went along the opposite direction.
Millgram followed after Zero as they proceeded around the room.
A shrill whistle sounded. Millgram looked up and pointed.
Sora was far overhead. She yelled as loudly as she could, projecting her voice, “They are on… the opposite side! They are… both down!”
Millgram waved and Sora pointed again. Then she sprinted across the catwalk, disappearing behind the machinery.
Zero increased speed, carrying Elsa rapidly along the walkway. Millgram ran, but could not keep up.
Sora, having seen Beth and Allen from the highest point on the catwalk, sprinted across it. Then she reached a point where she could no longer see their position. She knew, roughly, Beth and Allen’s location, but the catwalk took a sharp right turn.
In a woodland forest, I would not lose my sense of direction, Sora thought. If I were in the forest canopy, what would I do? Yes! I can do this here as well.
Stopping briefly against the siderails, Sora looked for a way down, but there were no visible stairs. She quickly decided what to do. She leapt over the siderails and grabbed onto a pipe and slid down. Stopping at a cross brace, Sora then jumped from one brace to another and then slid down a chain until she landed on the top of a transformer unit. From there, she could shimmy down another support brace and then step out from the machinery.
“Not quite tree climbing and descending, but similar,” Sora said and congratulated herself.
Elementary was coming from one side, Zero and Millgram from the other.
“Beth! Allen!” Sora called out as she took some deep breaths and headed toward them. She feared they were dead as their positions on the floor were an odd jumble of unnatural poses for arms and legs.
Allen was lying facedown on the floor with one arm cocked under his body and the other wrapped somewhat over his head.
Beth was stretched out on her back, with one of Allen’s legs held in her arm, but the limb was twisted about. No broken bones were apparent, but the positions looked very uncomfortable.
“Protect me, Allen!” Beth murmured as her eyes darted rapidly under her closed lids. “Stop them.”
Sora disentangled Beth from Allen just as the two automacubes reached that spot.
“They are very hot!” Sora pronounced. “Alive, but feverish. Very hot!”
Elsa had Zero stop and the medical kit was deployed.
Both Allen and Beth looked extremely ill.
Elsa reviewed their overall conditions. Allen’s cyanosis was worse, by visual observation, compared to Beth’s, and he was completely unconscious while she was muttering some words and still had a limited response to verbal commands.
“Beth, I am here,” Elsa stated. “I will be helping you.”
“Monsters?”
“There are no monsters here… not now,” Elsa said. She added the last part after recalling that some kind of eerie creatures were in fact haunting the Colony Ship Warren.
Beth fumbled in her pockets and dropped out a container of tablets. “Medicine?”
While Beth was trying to communicate, Elsa quickly connected the medical kit to Allen. When the leads were in place, the diagnostics started.
Millgram ran up to them, stopped and bent over huffing. He watched as the small screen on the medical kit displayed its findings.
“Patient is Allen. Condition critical. Septic shock secondary to massive infection by previously unknown strain of Francisella Tularensis. Treatment analysis underway. Vital signs are…”
“Will that cure them?” Millgram interrupted as he reached down expecting something to be dispensed. With a puzzled expression, he waited for a totem or talisman to be ejected from the medical kit. “Will it offer a… tool?”
“I hope so,” Elsa replied and considered why the care plan was delayed and instead a treatment analysis was being done. That was a rare finding on the medical kit and was only seen when it had no prior care plan in its records for a specific condition. The medical kit had all the records of Dome 17 and every treatment care plan option for recognized and detected conditions. The medical staff at Dome 17 had designed it to be as comprehensive as possible, yet when no algorithm fit, it could invent one through its treatment analysis.
While they waited, Elsa loaded a blue and green tablet from the medication container into Zero’s sampling bin. The bin was designed to assess and examine physical materials, parts, fittings, and other items used in repairs. Elsa just tweaked that ability so it would do a full assessment of the tablet—checking for its molecular, structural, chemical, and other attributes. That analysis was not much different from what it would do if it was checking raw materials—solid, liquid, or gas—or any technological component such as bolts, fittings, circuits, boards, tubes, or wires.
“Zero, analyze this immediately,” Elsa conveyed.
“Understood and willing to assist,” Zero replied and happily did the assessment.
Just a moment later, the tablet’s contents were revealed and conveyed to Elsa.
Audibly, Elsa complained, “Just a concoction of rudimentary drugs. A combination of an antipyretic, a muscle relaxer, and a psychotropic agent. None of which has any curative abilities. Not even pharmaceutically pure!”
“Huh?” Beth grumbled as she did not understand.
“Sorry, Beth,” Elsa soothed as much as possible, but confiscated all the tablets. “I will be giving you the best care I can.”
“Elsa? Dream? Or nightmare?”
“I am really here. I found you,” Elsa replied.
Beth’s eyes closed and some peacefulness washed over her.
Several loud beeps came from the medical kit and a light on the display flashed. Elsa already had the information as it came to her faster than it was displayed on the screen.
“Inject first syringe into any large muscle mass. Inject second syringe into a different large muscle mass. Apply balm to upper lip. Oral ingestion of trauma packet. Immediately recycle syringes. Allen’s condition is highly contagious. Condition critical.”
A readout of Allen’s vital signs followed and they showed deterioration of his renal and hepatic systems.
Millgram grabbed one of the syringes and injected it quickly into Allen’s thigh which Millgram had already exposed without Elsa noticing.
Elsa used the manipulation arm to inject the second syringe into Allen’s shoulder, while Sora took the balm and spread it on Allen’s upper lip, and looked for how to get him to eat the trauma packet.
“These little totems go back inside, right?” Millgram asked as he pointed the empty syringe at the top of the medical kit.
“Yes,” Elsa handed a syringe to Millgram who smiled and then slipped both syringes back into the medical kit.
“His color is better,” Sora stated as she caressed Allen’s face and watched his breathing. “I have gotten him to swallow this… confection? Medicine?” She wiped a tiny bit of the trauma pack onto his lips. “But he is not really awake. I am being careful so he does not choke on it.”
Beeps sounded and lights flashed on the medical kit.
“This pathogen is HIGHLY transmissible,” the medical kit scrolled out. The word HIGHLY was flashing in red letters. “All persons who have been in contact with Allen must be evaluated as quickly as possible.”
