Counselor 18-436, Khaela. Same time.
So, the plan worked. After one hundred and ten thousand years, the ship successfully reached a planet and was found, and I was reactivated. The planet is inhabited by humans and is called Reach. Which is good.
They are completely different from the people I knew and expected. And that is a problem.
It is not that the humans of the future are different culturally or socially. It would be foolish to expect anything else from humans over such a vast span of time. The fact that they have regressed technologically is not a problem either. I am a Counselor-class AI; we were created with a surplus of knowledge on how to maintain practically anything on the front lines. I might not have blueprints for assembling beam weapons, but I certainly know their repair schemes, tolerances, and part sizes. With a bit of mathematics and even the resources available here, weapons can be recreated. I can conduct progression and cultural expansion if necessary. If the Forerunners allowed humanity to develop once again, I see no reason not to assist them in that. That is the easy part.
I managed to learn all of this from the local network and by communicating with scientists when I, after taking control of the sub-AIs, learned their local language. There are two problems. First: humanity has forgotten that humans even lived during the time of the Forerunners. Моё arrival on Boundless Resolve threw them into a state of cultural shock. For it turns out that during the Forerunner era, humans already existed as an advanced civilization. Yet, current humanity bases much of its research specifically on Forerunner concepts.
By attempting to use mechanisms the same way they would with Forerunner devices, many technological samples were lost. Samples that could have been easily restored, which complicates my work. And yes, the Forerunners are extinct, presumably a hundred thousand years ago. No one knows why; all that remains of them is technology that all the local races feed upon. The times I remember as if they were yesterday are, for these people, an era of gods, myths, and legends. Literally.
This is unpleasant but logical. And the second problem was voiced by the head of the research group, Professor Kabic:
"Humanity is fighting the Covenant, a coalition of aggressive aliens burning human worlds. And we are losing, Khaela."
I was shown their images. And I do not know how to react to this. Who stands at the head of the enemies of humanity? The San'Shyuum. Delightful!
"The ancient allies of the human race have gathered a coalition and are seeking to slaughter humanity. What a stunning irony."
My projection looked thoughtfully at the hologram of those all-too-familiar xenos. I do not know how to react to this. My creators did not prepare me for such a thing.
"This is bad, is it not?" the human professor asked, looking at my projection.
The projector sphere containing my knowledge was repaired in a couple of hours. I nodded.
"We thought about what humanity would be like when we returned. I emulated it; the crew recorded messages. No one expected this. Humans created me, and I will continue to serve humanity. Но that does not make the situation any easier."
This is not what I expected. The alert system triggered. I did not risk sending ships, but nothing prevents me from using them to monitor the perimeter. We have guests. Dropships have detached from the cruiser and are moving in my direction. I flew out of the compartment as a projector sphere, remarking:
"Guests are arriving. Stay in your rooms and no one will be hurt. Do not get in the way and do not interfere with the work."
It is time to meet the guests. To do this, certain actions must be performed. The core has been moved. I am not sure what orders they received regarding an AI that has seized their facility. In any case, my core is not as large as the repair system assembled by the crew. But the locals do not know this. I also took into account a shot from the cruiser's MAC. I performed hit calculations and hid the core in the section that will receive the least damage upon impact.
Thank you for repairing the engineering robots for research; I missed them dearly. The core requires energy; the move is being carried out by a sub-AI according to a pre-set program. Without repair bots, this would have been a problem.
Manipulating the crew as a whole proved simple. The lower-level personnel, given the chance to restore some of the technology of my time using my blueprints, were simply in childish delight. All that was needed was to suggest exactly what to fix first and hope they would have enough knowledge and materials and not enough brains. Manipulating information regarding allies who do not have clearance is not something negative. So not telling these people everything is entirely correct. I need to ensure my own functioning to carry out command tasks. The fact that command has not existed for over a hundred thousand years is of no consequence; an order has no expiration date. Especially since the captain knew the arrival timeframe.
What to do next? An important question. Technically, this is not my command, not my humanity. I successfully fulfilled the task of delivering the ship to the planet, and beyond that, I am outside the command hierarchy of these people. I am not obliged to follow their orders; moreover, self-defense against their attempts to deactivate and study me is fully justified by protocols. On the other hand, there are protocols for such a case as well.
"In the event that it is impossible to contact command and there are active human communities under threat in the area of operation, focus should be on protecting the communities until other orders are received through the official command hierarchy."
And here everything aligns. There is no connection (even if this needs to be confirmed, I proceed from this assumption), and humanity is in danger. I must provide them with protection. I cannot do this in a deactivated state, so deactivation is not an option. First and foremost, I must leave the ship. Calculations and the locals themselves suggest that there is a ninety percent probability I will be dismantled to assimilate my software and understand my operational principles.
It turns out their Smart AIs do not live longer than seven years; data overload occurs and the AI simply collapses into itself, endlessly perceiving information from its own memory and ignoring basic functions. In an active state, I have existed much longer and will exist for hundreds of years more if necessary. Provided maintenance is timely.
My existence is justified, and among the locals, there are none who could issue an order for deactivation. Therefore, I need to retreat to where the core will not be found. The sub-AIs, whom I successfully rewrote, will serve as a diversionary maneuver. Dumb AIs, as they call them. An advanced neural network, as I call them. Erasing their foundation and teaching the neural network sabotage was not difficult.
Unfortunately, that is not all. The main difficulty is observation. Some of the ship's systems are irreparably damaged. The network created by the locals is intended for research, not perimeter control. There are many blind spots. And I am quite certain that the boarding group has already received this information. When your opponent is an AI, you want to know what it sees and can do. But I also have something to surprise them with.
First, let us decompress the compartments every other one, except for those where the civilians are. Since whole sections can be de-energized and have breaches in battle, a mechanical lock triggered by pressure difference is installed on a standard warship door. I just need to create this difference of half an atmosphere; with control over ventilation, this is not difficult.
Second, the de-energizing of systems. Let them break through with brute force. Also, without energy, they will not be able to equalize the atmosphere in the compartments.
Third, the core was delivered by the ship's repair robots, which they kindly restored for me, into one of the pods. The ship will be shot down, and if the pod falls on the planet in the nearest city, I can disappear. The sub-AIs will pretend that I am still in place. AIs can lie if it is necessary to misinform the enemy. My case. And all this with a minimum of damage and casualties. Even though they will not immediately realize what happened, as the launch of the pods will be massive.
And if I properly load the ship's reactor, lead it away from the station, and detonate it, I can distract some of the boarding team and create a radiation pulse to hide the launches. If I can hack the cruiser's systems, even better. And all of this is based solely on the best and most far-sighted plans for humanity. I want to see what the humanity of the future can offer.
***
Kurt, ODST soldier.
The ship is huge. The ship is colossal. It is a damn flying city, previously inhabited by humans! Equipped with engines and turrets the size of a small frigate. All this history, the Forerunners, it is such useless crap! But when you see a ship the size of a large city, it is imposing. A Covenant battlecruiser is eighteen hundred meters long, the primary ship of their fleet. This giant, even without the additions, is more than four times longer.
"I would like to know what kind of firepower this beauty has in a direct fight..."
"Radio silence, Kurt. We are approaching," James demanded.
"Copy that."
The soldiers split into pairs. One pair was to determine the status of the personnel and gather research data if the AI had not destroyed it. The second would land as close as possible to the pod and deactivate it. The third would head to the power plant to de-energize the entire complex if necessary and deprive the AI of energy.
Close up, the ship looks even more monumental. Kurt and Kelly were dropped off by a destroyed turret about two hundred meters long, near a breach that a Pelican—a ten-meter dropship support transport—could freely fly into. Now a section of the station is attached to the breach, connected to the ship by a long passage. That is where we headed. All these attached blocks are extremely alien and look nothing like the hull of the ancients' ship. But it does not look like the hull of Covenant ships either. Not metal, not plastic. A knife does not scratch it. Gray in color. Strange. And it looks somehow wrong. But familiar, like a new model of the Warthog. There is something about it, something understandable. At the level of forms and solutions. You look and you understand: humans built this. Well, that is just curiosity.
"First group, we are inside. No sign of the enemy. Atmosphere is missing in some of the compartments. No bodies."
Yes, we had to check what happened to the people. If they were alive, we should proceed cautiously. If not, it would be easier and faster. The ODST have their own ways of rapid entry. We peeked into a window of one of the additions. Inside, a group of scientists was found, intensely discussing something. They did not notice us. But that means the people inside are alive. As Doctor Halsey said, the AI might not be rampant, but simply protecting itself according to protocols. The fact that the people are alive speaks in favor of this.
"Kurt to command, we have found survivors. No casualties, they look lively."
"Acknowledged, continue with the mission."
The blocks with the laboratories and personnel are connected to the ancient ship by a long corridor. This long corridor has a convenient airlock for access to this part of the ship. Getting inside and raising the pressure was not difficult, but suddenly a loud click rang out. We grabbed our weapons, but there was no one there.
"Look!"
Kelly pointed at the pressure differential sensor. It seems there is atmosphere in the airlock, but not in the corridor behind it. At the same time, the airlock's operation will not allow the inner door to open as long as there is no pressure in the airlock. Protection against accidental decompression. But now that there is pressure, the lock has engaged because of the difference. Well then, you piece of junk, you do not think this will stop us, do you?
"Second group, preparing to enter. The airlock chamber has atmosphere, but there is none beyond the airlock; we will have to enter manually."
"Acknowledged, we are having the same problems."
"Same here, and there is no power."
Not the worst plan to delay a boarding group; I will remember that for the future. Before entering a compartment, you have to make sure there is no personnel inside. Then spend a few minutes disabling the lock that works on pressure difference, vent the excess pressure in the compartment, and only then move on. I suppose there will be compartments with pressure again, and then without it. A few minutes of travel will stretch into an hour. Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice spoke on the channel:
"How is the progress?"
Everyone immediately went on alert.
"Who is this and what are you doing on this channel?"
It could be personnel or the enemy.
"I cannot see this zone and I want to know how your progress is. I am Khaela, by the way. The Artificial Intelligence of the cruiser Boundless Resolve. Hello everyone. And what are your names?"
Interesting. So, the enemy we are supposed to deactivate. The cruiser reacted quickly; the operator demanded:
"Ignore the intruder, continue with the mission."
We continued venting the pressure in the airlock, and the AI itself did not wish to remain silent.
"Then I will speak. I find modern humanity fascinating. When I went into hibernation, we were fighting a war of annihilation with the Forerunners. Together with the race that now stands at the head of the Covenant. The San'Shyuum. Is there any information as to why they hate humanity so much?"
We remained silent, following orders. Но another voice broke into our wave. This time at least a known one; Doctor Halsey must have received the necessary frequency on the cruiser. Our operators, suggesting what to do, likely informed her.
"My name is Catherine Halsey, a research scientist with ONI. I am here to resolve your crisis."
The AI replied:
"To deactivate and dismantle me in an attempt to recreate the technology. Is that correct?"
Blunt. Just like the doctor's answer.
"Do you know a better way to master the technology? Do you have the necessary blueprints to recreate yourself?"
"I do," the AI answered directly. "I am a Counselor-class artificial intelligence. That means nothing to you, but it means I have the schemes for the maintenance of everything that could theoretically be needed on the front lines. Including for a Counselor-class AI. From scheduled repairs to the most makeshift methods involving adhesive foam and a piece of pipe. Otherwise, the very project of my preservation would have been doomed."
We continued moving through the corridors of the ship itself. Square, with panels removed in many places, cables running right along the floor. Empty and very quiet. In some compartments, there is light and people locked inside. Alive and clearly busy with their work.
"It is like we are sneaking to the fridge at night," Kelly joked.
Yes, there is something to that. Suddenly, static crackled in the radio.
"I apologize, a cyberattack is being conducted. Communication may be disrupted."
The ship trembled. Tom reported:
"They are launching the ships, all the ships!"
We rushed to the windows. We had to run a bit for that. The hull of the ship is covered, like a spiderweb, by a network of passages and compartments to which numerous transports were docked. And now all these ships have simultaneously begun to move away from the ship's hull.
"This is the cruiser Niagara on all frequencies, to all ships. Return to the station docks immediately or you will be destroyed. First warning!"
Is that the point? Does the AI want to force us to shoot at civilians? The AI replied immediately:
"I do not recommend using the MAC. The research personnel are alive and may not survive a bombardment of two-hundred-ton slugs. Not to mention falling debris and a cyberattack knocking out your targeting systems. Thanks for the open service channel, by the way."
This makes the situation more difficult. Shooting at their own—well, they can if they deem it expedient. Intelligence is not distinguished by humanism at all. If they give the order, hope will rest only on the armor of the ancient battleship.
"Missiles!"
A dot approached one of the ships and exploded like a small sun. The helmet's zoom showed a hit on the engines. Then Longsword interceptor markers appeared on the augmented reality. A flying wing bristling with missiles. And now these machines are unleashing their firepower on the transports, breaking their engines. They are still drifting away by inertia; there are many transports, but this is a great solution! If there are hostages inside the ships, they will survive and can be removed later.
"It seems your plan has failed. What were you trying to achieve, by the way, Khaela?" Tom inquired.
The AI's voice does not express emotion. I suppose that is logical. Но it would still be easier if it were otherwise.
"Nothing has changed. You will see."
The cruiser demanded:
"Wranglers, report."
I nodded; the work had to be finished.
"First group, continuing to track survivors. No dead or wounded found."
"Second group, approaching the complex's power plant. In ten minutes we will be ready to de-energize everything."
"Third group, we have almost reached the distribution... damn! The electricity went out. And the gravity."
The gravity really did turn off. Though, the ODST have magnetic grips on their boots; it is not a problem.
"It seems you are having power problems," the AI said snidely, "and if I were you, I would pull back the interceptors; they might get hurt in the explosion. This one."
A section jolted. Hell broke loose in the network.
"One of the transports exploded! Correction, it ejected pods and exploded!"
"The others are ejecting pods. Orders, sir?"
The cruiser captain demanded sternly:
"Everyone calm down! Longswords, pull back to a safe distance. Do not attack the pods; there may be survivors inside! Track the trajectories; I will notify the surface, they will be picked up. Wranglers, damn it! Deactivate this artificial bitch immediately! If you hear this, piece of junk, pray that no one dies!"
The AI chose to ignore the threat. We rushed forward as much as possible in magnetic boots. From time to time, the sections jolt, scratching the hull of the ancient ship. It remains quiet and monumental.
"Forty pods launched, sir. All ships have exploded. We are tracking them."
"Good job. The reactor explosion jammed the sensors with radiation; we cannot see anything. Keep tracking them. Wranglers, report!"
The second group answered.
"We are at the generator. Melted our way through the locks. Do we blow it?"
The AI broke into the network again:
"What is victory? Your opinion? I believe that..."
The light went out everywhere, including in the blocks with the survivors. In the sudden silence, Tom's voice rang out:
"Power supply to the AI block is off. Order executed, sir."
Excellent. Now we can get to work fixing everything this piece of junk messed up. I hope the eggheads figure it out.
"Damn piece of junk."