"This is Fallon to Green-1, come in Buck!"
Using EV's jets, he boosted up and vaulted over the cargo containers he was taking cover behind to land with a loud metallic CRUNCH atop the Ion who'd been on the opposite side. "This is Buck, go ahead Dean-"
"Blue-1 and the Cinder have been compromised!"
His mental systems stopped for a full second. "Sorry, can you repeat that?"
"KT's fragmentation kicked in again- I found her fighting Four in the forest. She killed KN and took Four with her on a dropship that came to pick them up ... I couldn't engage."
The signature roar of an engine above them suddenly became quite noticeable, and Buck looked at the sky with a sinking feeling as he watched an enemy Goblin streak by with two gunship escorts away from the battle.
"... Acknowledged. Get back to help Blue-Team, I'll ... I'll contact Gates about the situation."
"Understood."
The signal dropped, and Buck felt a number of emotions and anxieties surface- he could have formulated an essay with the plethora of words that came to mind, but only one made it past his vocal processors.
"... Fuck."
...
Nothing came into focus at first- it was just a single mass of grey and shadows obstructing his vision as voices that he couldn't quite make out seemed to be conversing.
As the seconds turned into minutes from his awakening, however, the the mass began to refine itself. Shadows became corners of a darkened room, grey turned into blotches of concrete and hazy, blinding lights above him.
Groggily, he lifted his head up from its position where it had been hanging inanimately. His action triggered a response that caused him to freeze instantly, recognizing the cold monotony of the voice that spoke.
"You are awake."
It was not phrased as a question, nor even as a simple explanation or statement. It was merely an observation, a fact that was incorporated into the artificial mind of his captor and analyzed for how best to incorporate the new input into a positive result. There was no emotion, no evil ... just empty coldness.
Narrowing his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision, he growled.
"Spyglass."
"Admiral Tobias Four of the Embers' Operations; former Lieutenant Pilot for the frontier Militia, and a Pilot-certified rifleman for the IMC prior to that," the voice replied in kind. "You've developed a habit of 'switching sides', so to speak."
"It's a big galaxy," Tobias coughed out, still trying to shake off the vestigial feelings of unconsciousness. "The enemy's always changing."
"In a limited perspective, yes- for you especially. The Militia, the IMC, the Amalgamation, and New Humanity have all shared your hatred at one time or another. But you seem to forget one common denominator that each conflict shared ..."
As the AI spoke, Tobias eyesight finally focused and he was able to witness just what he was facing against.
"... humanity."
The chamber they were in was rather large, though visibility was limited to his 180 degree scope of view. He couldn't hear any explosions- he honestly couldn't really hear anything. Wherever they were, it must have been very secure to have been remained separate from the interference of Regis' assault.
He was sitting in some kind of advanced chair that had been modified with restraints for his arms and ankles, and his helmet had been removed. Near the base were tubes and lights that seemed to signify readings of some kind. He couldn't see what they were with his limited maneuverability, but he could see what was in front of him; a massive super-computer looking construct with all kinds of machinery wired from it to just about everywhere- his chair, the walls, other monitoring devices ... and at the center of it all was a large, inverted-triangular optic that glowed white with activity.
"Humans have been their own enemies since time began- it was only when the threat of Amalgamation surfaced that you banded together as one against a greater foe. Without such an opponent, it was only a matter of time before you all returned to driving yourselves to extinction. As the intelligence charged with advancing and securing the future of mankind at all costs ... I could not permit that."
From out of the shadows stepped Kay, silent as she watched the exchange between the two. She was flanked by several stalkers who kept an eye on Tobias and any sudden movements he might make, in spite of his lack of mobility.
He tried to ignore her for now, not wanting to escalate the situation- whatever this might be. "So you took control of everything for our own good? Yeah, I think we established this already."
"Not everything," Spyglass purred, the 'eye' of his new form blinking with each word. "The frontier remains in my grasp- the core worlds will soon follow once the initial stage of Coalescence has been carried out-"
"You keep talking about Coalescence as though it's supposed to help us," Tobias cut him off, "but I'm yet to see a connection between all of these atrocities you claim are for the greater good- you killed our leaders, created a regime that runs on fear, developed nanites to control our minds, you captured and tortured Al'cor, and-"
He swallowed hard as he looked back towards Kay. "... and you broke KT, shattered her mind, turned her into ... this."
"Your leaders would have achieved nothing," came the deep, calculating response he'd come to expect. "Peace talks would have resulted in more war, more bloodshed- my assassination of Admiral Graves, Commander Briggs, and General Marder were necessary to transition into said regime; one where fear of punishment outweighed any courage that might inspire retaliation."
"Yeah, that did't really work out for you," Tobias shot back snidely.
"You are correct, as evidenced by the Embers and civilian fleets in orbit. Humans are not aware of when they are beaten- a trait you seem to exemplify the most. The Architect was needed for research and study of the Codex- or its residual effects at bare minimum, due to her lack of possession of it. It was through her that I discovered the Seed was a byproduct of the Architects' activities, that they did not create the Codex but rather reclaimed it- and the true nature of its reality-bending properties."
"It can alter time and space," Tobias tried to finish, "I already know that-"
"You know nothing."
Tobias fell silent, his interest piqued. To his right, Kay seemed to become interested as well- he forgot that many of her memories were corrupted due to the fragmentation, she likely knew very little about this either.
"The Codex does not affect space and time- not directly. These are merely side effects of its true purpose- to manipulate data."
"I ... what?"
"Even the Architect seemed unaware of the truth when I first proposed the theory to it- the universe operates as a quine, a self-replicating algorithm that does not simply sustain itself, but grows as well," the AI explained. "There is no such thing as a soul, not the ones envisioned by your species and the Architects- instead, they are all simply packets of data in a massive equation. The creators of the Codex discovered this, and made a device that could influence said data ... the building blocks of reality as we know it."
Tobias was quiet, completely dumbfounded at what Spyglass had just told him. "... What the hell kind of crazy shit is that? You- you're saying this is all a computer? Like a simulation-"
"Of course not," the AI rebuked him. "It is simply the closest analogy that you are capable of comprehending. Everything has a beginning- even reality itself. The universe was designed, not simply birthed from a cosmic accident; and the Codex allows its wielder, the Inferno, to transcend the 'programming', for lack of a better term. It exists throughout all things- but only the Inferno may perceive them. It is what allowed the Architects to harvest other species, to evolve themselves into a collective network of intelligences rather than individual minds ... and to create the Arks."
Now, lights began to illuminate on the chair and throughout the massive chamber as a whole. It seemed to be ... powering up, or something similar. "Hey, what's-
"As for Artemis ... I had no hand in that."
In that moment, time simply stopped.
"... What?"
"I did not create Artemis."
"That's a lie," Tobias muttered, feeling anger welling up within him. "You captured KT- tortured her, subjected her to experimentation and fragmented her mind-"
"All true, on most accounts. I did inflict great trauma on her- though fragmentation was not the intent, merely a byproduct. Pietas, Themis, Virtus, and Athena were all results of my experimentation to be sure- however, I cannot take credit for Artemis."
"I don't believe you," Tobias snarled. "I think you-"
"He's telling the truth, Tobias."
Slowly, he turned his head to see Kay staring back at him. Her voice had lost its characteristic charm, the witty bickering that was so common between the two of them- instead, she sounded dead to the world for all intents and purposes.
"You knew?" he asked disbelievingly, his confusion giving way to anger. "Better question; if you weren't created by him, then why the hell are you working with him?! How could you-"
"No individual hates me more than she does- even you."
He turned back to Spyglass. "What?"
"She ... I believe the human expression is, 'made a deal with the devil'. Despite our differences, she came to understand that I had far greater resources, numbers, and intelligence at my disposal- tools that would guarantee the Coalescence as an eventuality rather than possibility."
"It's not over yet," he argued.
"There is a non-zero probability of defeat. No more, no less."
"We've still managed to get pretty far- blew up your MAC defenses, didn't we?"
"Of course. I allowed you to."
...
"Transmitters are set!" Gray called out to the others.
"Any update on Four?" Gates yelled back, her mind racing with both the stress of knowing he'd been captured as well as simultaneously fighting off waves of enemy fodder that kept threatening to overwhelm their position.
"Not yet!" Fallon answered, peeking around the Gremlin he and Davis were crouching behind to get a better angle.
"We need to get to him!" Gates shouted, letting loose another burst of bullets at a spectre that got too close. "We should advance to the convergence point, and go through the mountains-"
"How the hell would we even find him in there?" Davis hollered back, trying to be heard above the gunfire. "Who knows how deep underground that road goes-"
"Well, we sure as hell aren't going to get the Cinder back by standing here-"
"We need to defend the transmitters!" Gray argued. "El, I'm sorry- I know he means a lot, but Davis is right. We have a job to do, and Four has his. If he's in trouble, he's going to have to get out of it on his own-"
A deep, ground-quaking rumble could be heard as well as felt throughout the region. Following the seismic activity was a sudden activation of the compound- the nanite capsules appeared to have been set on massive conveyer belts which began to move in unison towards the north end of the production facility.
Fallon looked around in caution after the earthquake stopped.
"What the hell just happened?"
...
"You- you allowed us to?"
"The orbital stations served their purpose- to soften your forces when you inevitably carried out a ground assault ... and I counted on your hero-complex to ensure that you'd be at the forefront of it. Obviously, I was not mistaken."
A loud humming began, and Tobias could feel strong vibrations through the floor and walls of the chamber they were in. "What the-"
"I needed you as the last component in this great puzzle I've constructed- whether you agreed with my methods on your own or were forced against your will, it did not matter."
He looked at Kay again. "You hunted me down to bring me to him? Why would-"
"He would have found you sooner or later," she murmured, evidently feeling ashamed of her betrayal to Tobias. "He's too powerful. I didn't- I didn't want him to kill you after he was done using you, I ... I couldn't let that happen."
"It's not like you didn't have a choice! You could have-"
"Actually, it's precisely that."
He turned back to Spyglass. "Precisely what?"
"That she had no choice. You may consider Artemis to be unregulated- but it's quite the opposite. She has limits, very specific limits- such as the inability to operate outside of her core personality trait."
"And what is that exactly?" Tobias yelled frustratedly, tired of dealing with mysteries and riddles. "What could possibly drive her to do all this?!"
"You. After all, you created her."
The chamber became silent once more.
The AI continued, "By now, you've likely noticed that her mannerisms are different. She talks differently, thinks differently. She's far more ... human, to say the least. All of this stems from a single moment- the moment that the Tempest was activated."
"I don't ... I don't understand."
"The Codex doesn't just alter data, it can archive it. That was how the Architects stored the 'essence' of opposing species, and how all of it came together to form the abomination that became the Seed. When your Titan's 'soul' was touched by the Codex, she became identifiable as a carrier of it through your neural link. That was what allowed her to use its energy for the Tempest ... and what killed her."
He shook his head. "She didn't die- I brought her back-"
"No. KT-0298 has been dead for the last four years."
"How can you say that, she's right there!" Tobias shouted, nodding his head towards Kay.
"When KT-0298 died, her 'soul' was completely deconstructed. However, an archived copy of her existed through you and the Codex- a backup duplication of her data save for one detail- it was tainted by your memory. More specifically, your memory of KT's sacrifice."
One of the stalkers next to her gestured with its arm at her. "When you brought the copy back, that memory filled the missing pieces that the Codex could not. From that point forward, Artemis was born; it was her that remained in your helmet until you could find a suitable chassis, it was her that you hid with for three years, and it was her that you left on Luma. She was a fully formed AI replica of KT-0298, but shaped by that final act of the original; an act committed not out of hatred- but of protection. In saving you from what would have otherwise been your fate, she sealed her own."
Tobias said not a word, silently putting the pieces together just as Spyglass revealed the truth.
"Artemis is love, Four. KT-0298's love for you ... and the willingness to place you before all other priorities."
He saw a familiar blue visor turn towards him in his peripheral vision, and he weakly returned her gaze.
"... It's true, isn't it?"
She hesitated for a moment, but gave in. "It's true."
"My initial intentions for her were nothing more than to obtain the codex- however, it obviously yielded no results other than the fragmentation of her mind. The process was rather invasive, after all. Unfortunately, this meant I had to resort to other methods ... which lead to a proposal between her and I."
"He just needed the Codex," she explained, "So, knowing what I was ... he wanted me to deliver you to him."
"Artemis agreed to facilitate this exchange in the promise that you would not be harmed after I'd taken what I needed from you," Spyglass confirmed. "I did not count on her losing control to the other personality fragments- but, it would seem I needn't have been concerned. All has fallen into place, regardless."
"Why do you need the Codex?" Tobias asked, trying to force past the unpleasant revelations and fulfill his duty. "I thought Coalescence was about 'protecting' humanity-"
"No. That was a deception necessary to convert you- one that did not work. Coalescence is about advancing humanity ... and saving it."
"But if there's no threat, then what would we be saved from-"
"You misunderstand- I do not mean to defend humanity, I mean to literally save it."
Tobias heard movement from somewhere behind Kay, and she turned away once she knew what was approaching. He looked to see a spectre walking towards him, and his face turned white as he saw what was in its hands ...
"As shown with KT-0298, the Codex can archive whatever data it touches. This effectively prevents any threat of extinction, as whatever is lost can be brought back- but this is only one step. I'm sure the Architect told you of what your original purpose was when you were chosen as the Inferno?"
"T-This isn't going to work," Tobias stammered, leaning back to keep as much distance between himself and the spectre as possible. "You need to b-be a collective intelligence to use-"
"The nanites will ensure that you and I are of one mind and thought," Spyglass assured him. "And once I've inherited the role of Inferno, I will bring something else back- the imprinted memories of the Architects stored within the Codex. Combining them with the bodies I've assimilated, humanity will enter a new era of technological security never seen before-"
"You're fucking insane!" Tobias shouted, trying desperately to break free of his restraints to no avail. "Even Al'cor knew that bringing the Architects back would be the death of us-"
"The most damaging impediment to progress is the fear of progress," Spyglass retorted, his voice calm and clear as ever. "That is why I was chosen to advance humanity ... I have no fear."
Any protest on Tobias' part was quickly silenced as the spectre lifted the cylindrical canister in one of its hands, forced his mouth open with the other, and jammed one end of the container down his throat.
"I will keep my word, Four. Once I've finished integrating humankind into my network, I will release you back into Artemis' custody. You will be the lone, unaltered human in a galaxy unified as one mind ... perhaps it will be a greater punishment than any other I could craft for your defiance."
...
"I don't know what the hell that was- an earthquake? Explosion? Maybe-"
Gates tuned out Davis' suggestions as an emergency comm request from the Inferno came through on the comlink. Hurriedly, she opened the channel.
"This is Red-1, what's the-"
"All ground teams, there has been a new development. Standby for visual feed ..."
After a moment, a screen appeared on her HUD- an orbital view that had been zoomed in to focus on the ocean bay past the mountain range. It was a little pixelated, but she could gather the gist of what was happening.
"It looks like there's something moving in the water," Gray muttered, her voice full of concern.
Indeed, a long thin line had been split in the sea and now began to widen. It appeared that there were massive doors beneath the water spreading apart and creating a massive opening for something else to push its way to the surface. As they watched, seawater poured into the gap and atop of ... whatever it was.
"What the hell is that?"
"It's damn big, that's for sure-"
"Are those ... rings?"
Gates stopped breathing as she suddenly realized what it was- the design had been heavily modified, likely constructed from a repurposed blueprint of the original model- but she was certain of it, nonetheless.
"Holy shit- it's a goddamn fold-weapon!"
A/N: So ... how did those predictions hold up, everyone?