The Unknowing War (Optimum Project sequel)

Chapter 12

Ghost ship

"Tom, what's going on?"

"I can not seem to pinpoint the true issue, the ship's threat analysis AI identified a threat, but only notified me of it's existence, it did not notify me of what the threat actually was."

I frowned, "if I hook you directly into the system could you identify the threat and analyze the ship for issues?"

"At this juncture it may be best to avoid interfacing with ship systems, my firewall was not designed to defend against a potentially compromised alliance computer system such as the Titan's."

I sighed, this just got really hard.
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I eventually tracked down Pix's tablet, and during the hunt I found more of them just laying around on floors, chairs, and desks; all completely abandoned and like Pix's, still unlocked.

I tapped the screen real quick to make sure it didn't time out and then accessed the Titan's main frame. As chief technician of the Titan, Pix had master access to the entire system. I scrubbed through the security footage, which about an hour after I fell asleep were filled with static, that meant that what ever was going on, as far as I could tell, started seven hours ago. Next thing I did was start a ship systems analysis, which would take several hours to complete.

Then I preped up.

Considering I didn't know what I was up against, I figured it would be best to prepare for everything in the most practical way possible: nanites and skill.

I grabbed a pistol from the gun locker hidden near the back of engineering, there was a full sized combat rifle as well, but I would be headed down some narrow corridors and a big gun would just get in my way. I also grabbed a flashlight and locked it into place on the lower attachment rail of my pistol, the diagnostics would effect the electrical systems and I did NOT want to get stuck in the dark.

Next thing I did was form my nanite gloves from training (I had dissipated them afterwards because I needed the nanites for another exercise), as well as my sword and a sheath on my back to go with it.

It was a last minute suggestion from Tom to grab my little side project, after all, I never knew if it would come in handy.

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The halls eerily quiet as I traversed throughout the Titan, my first stop was the bridge, and the whole way there I kept finding things that upped the creepy factor. A chair rolling idly down the hall, the ship's hull groaning from gravity fluctuations, and lots, and lots, of abandoned tablets.

When I finally got to the bridge I set the Titan to maintain position and locked the consoles down to prevent tampering.

I was just starting to wonder if I'd find anything when I walked into the mess hall.

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Everyone was there, and not in a good way. Most looked unconscious or semi-lucid, and the rest looked sad and defeated.

But what really got me were their guards:

I automatically labeled them Sad Masks.

"Really? Sad Masks? How original." Tom quipped.

"Cut me some slack man, that's what they got, that's what they're called." I snapped.

At this point I had slipped into a shadowy section of the room where I was virtually invisible and then waited and watched. Tom analyzed a few nearby and identified that they were human, but the clothes they wore shielded them from anything more than a rudimentary scan. I noted that the Sad Masks used hand signals and gestures when nearby each other, but just basic or general ones, not anything detailed enough to direct or organize a group...

"Tom, cycle through any radio signals within this room."
"Affirmative."

He cycled through some oldies music stations for a moment or two, until he finally locked onto what I was looking for.

"The coward isn't showing up, I told you he wouldn't have the balls." The speaker was female, and spoke with a sarcastic kinda snap in her voice.

I heard a sigh, "You're probably right, let's just mobilize to phase two." This was a guy, with a light voice that hinted at laughing at an unheard joke.

Phase two apparently involved removing the masks, because that's what they all did.
And then I realized why the threat analysis AI had trouble figuring out what the threat was: every single sad mask wearer was a crew member.

Others in the group of captives seemed to make the connection too, because a large murmur rose up from the group before it was quickly silenced by these would be mutineers.

Tom cycled through the files associated with them, the two who had spoken were actually engineers, Daisy Swayrez and Chester Subpliumia. I took a deep breath, but stayed where I was, I had to find out what they had in mind for 'phase two' before I made my move.

Daisy was the one to speak.

"Alright! Some of might know us as we wanted you to, but now we'd like to introduce you to the real us..." She paused, watching people's reactions before continuing, "The main thing is, we work for The Predecessor."

Immediately Pix cried out as if kicked, and two of the Sad Mask members went over and dragged him up in front of Daisy.

She crouched down and grabbed his jaw in her hand, "You know, he said you would react like that, said it's how we could single you out later."

Pix shook his head violently, as if he knew what she was about to ask.
Daisy grinned, "Where is Noah Price?"

Pix shook his head again and a shadow seemed to cross Daisy's face, she pistol whipped him.

She smiled again, but this time you could practically see the malice dripping from her mouth, "I'll ask again, where is Noah Price?"

He took a deep breath, "Probably asleep in his bunk, I triggered a sensory fail safe that wouldn't let him wake up from outside stimulus, and I made sure his bunk was cloaked during the raid."

I tilted my head, "Pix can cloak my bunk?"

"Of course he can, you're a secret military weapon, why wouldn't he be able to do that?"

I conceded to the point.

Daisy smiled and patted Pix's cheek, "Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

She wiped her smile away like it was a smudge on a window and stood up, "Seal this room, I want guards posted outside every door and nobody goes in or out, if it's anybody other than Noah Price, shoot to kill."

I raised my eyebrows at this, "They need me alive?"

Tom deemed it necessary to correct me, "No, they want you alive, I'm sure if you cause enough trouble he'll settle for your head on a platter."

---------------A/N----------------
Im really liking how this is turning out, there's a lot more action, emotional development, and just plain Jane cliffhanger shenanigans than what "The Optimum Project" had. ;)