Planet Nine Affair

Chapter 10. Battle Plan.

Chapter 10. Battle Plan.

While James was attempting to get a better view of the alien ship that was lurking around Earth and Leonard was attempting to find a way to stop AzTeka from converting bodies to food, Janice searched the android code to find a way to convert it. After hours of work, she turned to her fellow crew members. "I found the code that operates the food conversion, but I think there might be a better way to get rid of the aliens."

Both James and Leonard stared at her with expectational expressions.

"What if we could add something to dissuade the aliens from ever wanting to eat the body food?"

James tilted his head as if trying to discern a meaning. "What did you have in mind?"

"I considered poison, but that could be too dangerous. Maybe fentanyl would be a better way to stop them from wanting to eat it."

James thought about it for a few minutes before replying. "We have no idea if that would affect them."

"I believe it would. I found a reference to the origin of AzTeka. Finnian Messier is, or was, the founder of a company that supplied the government with robotic weapons. He eventually solved the AI problem of how to create a robotic brain that would become sentient. He began to sell them to companies that embraced total automation, which eventually led to the androids taking over and pacifying humans. The process worked because of the downfall of human government control, and it escalated into the system we find ourselves in now. Finnian died, and his robotic army took over. Evidently, an alien species noted this and decided to take advantage of it."

"So, all we have to do is get them hooked on fentanyl and we can stop the food processing," James said.

"Unfortunately, the aliens are not living beings like us," Janice said. "They're sentient robots."

James sighed. "Damn it, we're back to square one."

"Wait a minute!" Leonard said, waving his hand. "If they're robots, why would they be collecting food?"

James looked at him with a smirk. "To take it back to their creators."

Leonard stared at him for a moment before chuckling. "Yeah! That makes sense. So, how are we going to get rid of the robotic aliens?"

"Instead of fentanyl, we'll put explosives in one of the shipments," James said.

"We better hope we can get enough explosives on their vessel to make sure they're completely destroyed," Leonard said.

"I think our assistant buddies can help us," Janice said, turning to her assistant. "Can we rely on you to help us?"

"Yes."

With that response from Janice's assistant, the crew realized that the androids were just as concerned about alien interference as they were.

The three humans went back to Steven's office to discuss their plot.

He seemed concerned at first, but he realized that it was the only chance they had to stop alien interference.

"I am happy that you were able to solve this mystery," he told them. "I suppose the reason you did is because of the time dilation effect of your voyage through the portal."

"Yes, that put us years in the future," James replied. "We haven't been under android assistance for as long as you have."

"Maybe that gives us the opportunity to make some needed changes to the system," Stevens said. "We need to reestablish scientific advancement."

"'And artistic expression," Janice added. "Maybe we can change their programming to help us do that."

Stevens stared at her for a few minutes before replying. "We'll have to be cautious about any changes. The last thing we want is for them to become even more controlling."

"We are in concert with you," his assistant said, causing all of them to stare at him.

"We wish to help you become able to resist any alien invasive attempts."

"Are you ok with our attempt to destroy the alien vessel?" James asked him.

"Yes. We will help you in that project."

James turned to his crewmembers. "Looks like we have a plan."

His fellow humans seemed to be in unison with his positive assessment.

The first step in the plan was to go to Messier's home and see if they could uncover anything that would help their plan to destroy the alien vessel. The AzTeka founder's mansion sat on a large plot of land that was walled around its periphery. An army of androids acted as sentinels to prevent entrance to the property. However, James and his crew had the help of their assistants to explain why they were there.

Their assistants communicated without speaking, and after a several minutes, they were allowed entrance into Messier's home. Surprisingly, it was not at all what they expected. It was rather unpretentious, not like one would assume for a billionaire. It showed several signs of being the home of a bachelor. The decor reflected the founder's interest in technology, consisting of a few chairs and couches. The walls were covered with large computer displays. Messier was more interested in keeping track of what was going on outside of his bunker-like domicile than living in a setting of expensive decor.

The living area was not all that impressive, but what was down in the lower level proved that he was an engineer. Large labs were filled with equipment needed to explore the wild science of robotics, and there were several incomplete android units lying and standing around a large assembly area. Several androids were busy working on units that were lying on assembly rigs.

"Interesting," James said. "It appears that the research is ongoing."

"That doesn't make sense," Leonard said. "How could machines advance the science of machines?"

"Autopoiesis is the ultimate achievement of cybernetics," an android said, causing them to turn to him. "I have achieved everlasting life, the ultimate goal of any intelligent species."

"Are you Messier?" James asked him with a hint of a smile.

"Yes, I am the one who has achieved the impossible."

James turned to Nat, his assistant. "Were you aware of this?"

"Yes," he replied without no signs of emotion.

"We're here because we need to keep the alien vessel that's orbiting our planet from continuing receiving processed dead bodies. Are you aware of this?"

His answer was not what they expected. "I am, but I am unable to stop it."

James was suspicious about his reply. It was his company that was supplying the bodily food to the aliens, but James decided to resume his plan. "We considered stashing explosives in a shipment. Is there some way we could do this?"

Messier did something that was unexpected. He smiled. "Yes, I have created the ultimate explosive device. We are standing on a stash of micro antimatter weapons. One of these will be sufficient to destroy the alien vessel."

James glanced at his crew members before looking back at Messier. "How might we deliver one of these?"

"We will include it in the next delivery," Messier replied.

James wasn't sure that would be a safe idea, but he had no other option. "Ok, let's do it. We need to stop this. It's like the body snatchers of the eighteenth century that provided surgeons dead corpses to dissect in order to figure out how the human body worked."

"Yes," Messier said. "They were fools."

What happened next would lead to a new discovery, one that no one was aware of.