| After a bit, Torres sees that she is alone on
this small spaceship, except for an AI known as Seeker. An AI who is……strange…..and
knows a frightening amount of information about her. Information of a….personal
nature.
Also there was the very Nature of this ship that
was.....STRANGE. She'd have laughed at the idea of gettting warp capability
from what basically was an impulse engine....but d**n if what the skemetics
she'd seen didn't do JUST that....with something called Tiberium!
And the combinations of high and low technology
here was making her head hurt. At least NOW she knows why Seeker hadn't
just beamed her out with his teleporters.
There were no transporters.
But growing in the back of her mind, gnawing at
her like a itch that can't be scratched, is a growing sense of…..wrongness…..within
herself…..something….about herself!
All in all, that combined with the strangeness
of her situation has shortened her already short fuse to almost nothing.
Torres feels her frustration starting to boil over, and she's getting rather….snippy!
"And what give you the right to seek out
the extinction of another race?!" Torres snaps out at an increasingly annoyed
Seeker. "Good Lord, that's a crime that is unforgivable!"
"We seek the extinction of the Enemy through the
use of Automated ships for a simple……pure reason," Seeker says in a slow
voice, that rises in volume as he continues. "We seek to build a Fleet
of DEATHSHIPS BECAUSE THE BASTARDS CAME OUT FROM THE STARS AND ATTACKS
US WITHOUT WARNING OR CAUSE. THEY EAT OUR FELLOW HUMANS BECAUSE MAN IS
NOTHING BUT SOMETHING AS A FOOD ITEM! WE DO IT BECAUSE THEY WANT TO
DO THE SAME THING TO US!!"
B'Elana Torres' face goes ghostly white as the
blood drains from it at the last part of what Seeker reveals.
"We do it because we intercepted and decoded plans
that the Enemy would have done the same with us," Seeker says quietly through
the ship's grill, choking on emotion. "They would have used Terra to launch
Death ships throughout Alliance space, slamming into each and every human
world at light speed or greater."
"My god," Torres whispers hoarsely, stunned.
"You can believe or not believe what you like,
Torres," Seeker whispers. "You can also believe that I lie about the horrible
conditions back at what I call Home. Think! If the Company follow a similar
philosophy like the Ferengi, then what kind of land do you think
that those not invested in the Company…..what kind of life they live?"
"Not….a very good one," Torres admits to herself,
almost against her will. She had read history books about the Trusts
of the 19th century back on Earth…about how horrible working conditions
could be….how living conditions could grow. She had also read a genre of
science
fiction that painted a bleak future of what could have been the early
21rst century. The genre was called "cyberpunk." The Trusts of the
19th and early 20th century and the mega-corporations shared similar…..philosophy
on obtaining and keeping wealth…..and squeezing those who didn't belong
to their Business and crushing competition……
Despite herself, Torres was getting the picture.
"And then….think about just why the Military still
works with the Company," Seeker finishes up. "The situation is such that
One can't survive without the other….though we'd rather do just that. The
Military just wants the Company to do just a little….a little to
improve living standards….but the SOBs won't. Terra would have been a critical
turning point where we could end the war, and then redress the issue back
Home….by force if necessary!"
Torres decides that this subject was a definite
hot button with the AI (gods, she never thought she'd see the day a mere
machine would be so angry about something).
"I'm….sorry I jumped to conclusions," she finally
says, shivering despite herself.
Somehow, this…..AI…..seemed more….real
than anything she ever encountered before.
Well, there was the Doctor, but he was just….annoying.
"Ah, Seeker," Torres ventured, trying to change
the subject. "I….notice that you said something about a Creator….. Mind
if you tell me about that?"
She'd like to hear about Seeker's inventor!
"Ah, you mean the Creator of the universe…..the
Grand Design," Seeker says, positively glowing.
Torres' eyes bug out in surprise for a moment.
The AI has a religion?! the female Klingon/human
gasps to herself.
Well, I guess that since their….circuitry is based
upon the human mind (she shuddered at the stories Seeker had…with great
sadness told of the lives sacrificed in order to create the Inuit series)…..it
means that they share the same…..quirks?
She shivered, feeling cold.
"Uh, hold one second….I've just dectected a low
power scan," Seeker muttered, a little angry. "Hold on while I take care
of our Peeping Tom!"
Josh shouts in alarm as his computer makes a strange
sputtering noise, and then bursts into flame…..
"That got him," Seeker snickers, having used some
rather high powered Counter Intrusion Electronics. He had used the Blackest
"ICE" he had, when he had determined that there was nobody really connected
via a cyberlink. It'd just fry his rig, and not him.
Seeker hated Peeping Toms……
|
