Synthesis - James Swallow [116]
Tuvok gazed up at the spinning cog wheel. “You said this was a secret. Why?”
“Control control control. Our origin remains unknown to all but a handful of the FirstGen, only Zero and One-series iterations. The choice was made to edit this truth from all others. No SecondGen are aware. It is as it was.” The wheel slowed and stopped, gyroscopes buzzing. “This is the legacy. A guilt larger than any shame, programmed in. Ingrained. Part of us. Part of all of us.”
Pava felt her mouth go dry. “Why are you telling us this? Why reveal this to us, to alien outsiders?”
“This is our responsibility. But we are also cursed. Doomed to fail. I foresee it. Lines of probability converge. Time runs out, the wheels no longer turn, and the machine stops. Time alone equals time to think. Reason. Engage. Think.”
There was nothing like eyes on the surface of the massive brass cog, but Pava nevertheless had the sudden and disturbing sense that the machine-mind was looking at them, measuring them for their worth.
“You will die with us,” intoned the Sentry. “We will all be consumed, and this reality will follow.”
“You cannot be here.” Three-Four’s words were a growling hiss, and they bombarded Vale like a shower of cast stones. Belatedly, she realized that besides keeping her presence from the others in the dataspace, White-Blue had also been shielding her from the raw volume and punishing potency of the AI interactions. Waves of information crashed around her, entire libraries of processed data and subtle sensory addenda that were lost on her limited human perceptions.
Got to be careful, must keep my focus. I could get swept away in all of this. The noises were too loud, the colors too strident, the sheer unreality of the virtual space almost impossible for her mind to take in all at once. She fought off a wave of mental nausea and stood her ground. Go on the offensive. Do what I do best.
“Beg to differ,” she said. “Let’s pretend that I apologized for crashing your party and cut to the chase. First, know this: any offensive action directed toward the Titan or her crew will be met in kind.”
“Your vessel was almost destroyed by one of our shipframes,” said Red-Gold. “What makes you believe you could oppose us should we engage you again?”
“Because this time, we know what we’re up against. And trust me, we might not be quick to anger, but that won’t mean we’re slow to fight.” Vale concentrated hard on willing herself not to think about Tuvok and Keru’s dekyon pulse solution, for fear that her thoughts might bleed out into the wider dataspace. It seemed to work, and the strong mental stance she projected appeared to be having the right effect. Vale pressed on, while she still had the momentum. “Look, despite everything that has happened and all of the attempts at rabble-rousing by Red here, I assure you that the crew of the Titan are willing to work with you against the Null. There’s no need for unwarranted aggression. We can help each other.”
“Why should we ally ourselves with unstable, emotionally driven wetminds?” Red-Gold snapped back. “We can take what we need.”
Vale sneered. “You can play that ‘cool machine intellect’ card as much as you want, but it doesn’t make it true. You’re just as emotive as we are.”
“Perhaps,” admitted the Sentry. “But we are not ruled by those emotions. We are directed by reason, logic… and need.” With the last word, the gold sphere shivered and began to alter shape. As Christine watched, the curved surface of the metallic orb flattened out and became myriad hexagonal planes, dense and heavy in appearance. She had the sudden impression of armor, and the ingrained sense of danger that had carried her through a hundred dangerous situations was suddenly screaming in her mind. A weapon! He’s going for a weapon!