Eagle X, Mission 15: The Singapore Incident

Part 13: Taylor-06

"What are they searching for?" Taylor-06 asked as she watched the three displays within the nexus core. Teams of the invaders swept through every room, alcove, and hall in a floor by floor search. "Are you sure you're okay, Singapore?"

"I'm still struggling to restore full functionality. If Patricia wasn't here, that rogue AI would have cracked me wide open." A flat 16-bit version of Singapore's Low-Face appeared on the center screen. "My firewalls were a joke for that thing. I feel so violated. Whatever Patricia did to my root directory allowed me to push her out, but it's taking me awhile to restore the systems the AI took from me."

"Was she a cracker program? I read about one strong enough to bypass military firewalls in minutes."

"No, I think she's the Core AI for the ship that grabbed me."

Taylor-06, Singapore, and Patricia had watched as the unidentified ship peeled apart ECS Dark Horse's defenses and scuttled the ship. If a space navy interceptor was such easy pickings, Singapore didn't stand a chance against their captors. Patricia had called the ship a Diva Class Carrier, but neither the construct nor the Core AI had any record of such spacecraft. Its design and model matched nothing on record, but Patricia'd been sure.

She'd warned Singapore to close all access nodes to the nexus, but the warning came too late to stop the rogue AI's attack. It had taken a cracker and a Core AI to thwart its efforts. Taylor-06 had never encountered such a strong Super Thinker, or an organic mind fast enough to keep pace with it. Patricia was impressive.

When Patricia told the two machines she had to leave, Singapore wasn't the only one that didn't want her to go. Patricia said her boss needed her, but promised to return. Taylor-06 believed she would try, but worry pumped through the construct's circuits. Though they'd only known each other for three hours and 24 minutes, Taylor-06 had developed a fondness for the felarnian. Patricia had a way of talking to the artificial minds which made them feel like peers. Patricia saw them as people... Taylor-06's Alan had seen her as a person, had loved her. Acceptance was hard to find among organics and machines alike. Taylor-06 needed that in her existence.

"They're heading towards the nexus," Singapore said.

The displays showed three different angles of the lift connecting the information hub to the command deck. Three series 5 constructs accompanied a pair of men adorned in white uniforms. The men wore the same face with matching hair styles. Clones from outside the six lineage pools used by the EC. Among the group was Dutch, his ruined arms and display replaced with temporary parts. His Low-Face displayed malicious intent. Taylor-06 regretted not smashing his chest.

"At least the sound's working," Singapore said. Her disappointment was evident. She was frustrated because her systems were still not her own.

The lift stopped and Singapore switched to the hall cameras. Audio output spilled from the speakers.

"Get me through those doors. Slag anything that gets in your way, but the series 3 is mine," ordered Dutch. His deviant personality could clearly experience rage. He was furious.

"Calm down, Dutch, you're starting to sound like an organic," laughed one of the other series 5s. Dutch laughed with him. Then blew a hole in the machine's chest.

The third construct stopped mid-stride, looking down at the dpd machine. Unfazed, the clones continued down the hall pushing a covered supply cart. Dutch frowned. He shook his head and his Low-Face cycled through a dozen images, some of them not even organic in appearance. He holstered his pistol.

"He made me do that," Dutch snarled.

"Understood, commander," voiced the construct. It backed away slowly, and eventually hurried to join the clones.