Chapter 31
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TIME:
1 HOUR LATER
LOCATION:
SUSA
VALLEY OF THE AHRIMAN
OUTSIDE UNNAMED RUIN
"Well this clears up any doubts." I remarked to keep my face a picturesque stoic mask.
The massive gate that stood at almost half the height of the Astro Dawn. Despite its immense size and weight that served as protection for the depot for thousands of years now sported a massive hole.
I slowly walk behind the honor guard of Class V war automatons. The warbots had quickly pushed ahead. Their role was to act as bait for any possible turrets that remained functional. I just looked around the storage area that was completely ransacked; metal containers having their tops pried open. While looking over everything I noticed a lack of any sign of struggle.
"Where do you wish for me to go?"
I stopped for a moment to place a data relay so that Mom could infiltrate any systems that might still miraculously have power. Though I doubted that we would find anything like it. The emergency lights had not even flickered when I tried manually switching on the lights.
"Please head to the command room. It should be the room farthest back." I nodded my head as I continued further into the ruin.
The robots suddenly stop as we come upon another bulkhead this time however it lacked any clear way to open it. I groan as my mind rushes to declare this a waste of time.
"Thats unfortunate, but let's not give up yet. There should hopefully be a maintenance tunnel though it will probably be well hidden, protected, or caved in."
I sigh as Mother immediately orders the war bots to start looking for anything that might hide a secret entrance. I decided to look through a few rooms we passed.
I tear a door off its hinges, a process that makes me thankful that I wore my power armor. The first room was yet more supplies that had been ransacked. I however still went through everything hoping that I might find something useful.
Walking through a storage room that looked like something exploded in the middle of it. Many of the containers have fallen over. If the commander of this depot saw this mess I am sure latrine and kitchen duty would be the last of those imaginary soldiers' concerns.
I complete another lap but the contents never change. The only thing remaining in the crates and containers was feeder material for a MAT. Which I guess I was a little thankful for. Leaving the room I marked it with glowing chalk as a lower priority retrieval.
Walking towards the second door I almost repeated my rather forceful actions. Fortunately I was quick to notice the door was unlocked; saving it just barely for being torn off.
Walking inside I was immediately on guard as I cast a glance at eva suits laying on the ground a pool of dark dried blood marking them as once occupied. I didn't spare a further glance towards the pests that looted this facility. This room clearly was a trap room I twirl around to leave it as quickly as possible. Nothing tried to stop me thankfully.
I immediately called for one of the bots to check the room. About a minute later the bot walked into the room with its weapon ready to respond to any threat. But the threat never appeared. Eventually, growing somewhat confident that nothing would attempt to kill me I cautiously stepped back into the room.
I was met with a vast space that still had containers and boxes in their undisturbed places. Though I could fight the sense of awe for the dimensions of the room, it was taking up more little over double space than a Garnet Station block. I looked around, the narrow beam of the flashlight attached to my waist being the only source of normal light. I tread cautiously towards a forgotten container sitting forgotten on a shelf . Wiping away a small layer of dust it revealed that this crate was full of metals and other useful materials for a MAT.
Glancing back towards where the bot should have been located I saw another room with its doors wide open. Slowly approaching it I slowly picked up the pace as I was given an all clear.
The new room was sized for humanoids. At the end of the room I found a door and a barely visible MAT standing silently among the shadows. Looking around I noticed draws and shelves decorated the room. A single table stood in the middle and resting on top of it was a head sized extremely cloudy data crystal. I immediately rushed to grab the precious source of knowledge made even more valuable due to being completely filled. Quickly slinging a duffle bag off my shoulder I delicately shoved the crystal inside.
With a little bit of greed directing my actions I started pulling open any drawers I came across even if they were locked. Most of the drawers were sadly empty, full of useless tools, or parts to maintain just about anything. I however did find a pair of Sovra that still had their confirmation signals functioning.
I walked towards the MAT unsure of what to do with it. I just needed to decide a way to destroy it and rob the humans of the opportunity to study it.
'You should probably leave it alone. If the Navy really does show up to investigate it'll be obvious that it was recently destroyed.'
I can't help but frown at the fact. Mara was right. I didn't doubt that even a human child could infer that I had to be the one to destroy it.
Reluctantly I turned my eyes away from it and to the door that was just beside it. I soon was alerted to another warbot stomping into the room. Once both stood between the door—which bore signs of attempted forced entry—and myself they opened it again finding the door unlocked. I glared with more than a hint of wariness towards the door but eventually ordered my bots through.
The one closest to the door barely managed to enter the tight and narrow maintenance tunnel. As I stepped into the tunnel I was forced to shuffle forwards as the warbots kept getting caught on random pipes. After a few minutes of slowly squeezing our ways forwards I couldn't suppress a frustrated growl. Every pipe only made the tunnel feel even smaller.
After what felt like an hour of slowly shuffling we found an exit. I almost sprinted into the room. During the unfortunate ordeal we occasionally had to squeeze through sections that required us to shuffle sideways shoulder to shoulder.
Taking a deep breath I let it escape as a tired and exhausted groan. Looking around the room we had found ourselves in. I was filled with relief as we managed to have accidentally followed the tunnels to the command room.
And after looking inside a desk I almost cried as I found multiple authentic Savra. I managed to find even more inside an abandoned bag that was left for who knows how long on the back of a chair.
I squinted my eyes as I made out some embroidered tag that was clearly not made by some military supplier. If anything the cutesy and imaginative decorations made me frown. The text was in some dialect of Common Runethari. Which was a group of different but extremely similar languages. It was largely spoken by the citizenry of the Runethari Empire who didn't need to use the formal and flowery words of Noblesse Runethari for daily life.
I let out a depressed sigh as I quickly came to realize this was clearly made or designed by a child. A child that will remain lost and forgotten to history for all time. The only evidence of their existence being a single patch made for their parents. I can only hope that they hadn't suffered the agony that their parents undoubtedly had succumbed to. I feel my hand turn into a fist as I am forced to try and repress my imagination that forcefully created a scene of horror and despair that the child no doubt more than likely experienced.
I continued to look through drawers not even able to conjure the anger and hate I have for humanity. After all they too got to experience what the Runethari had suffered all in a fate I knew was worse. The humans probably thought they were saved from extinction. I let a dry chuckle escape my lips as I imagined their ironic fate. Their hope was inevitably extinguished if the state of their species is anything to go off of.
During the process I managed to find multiple data crystals lying around. Exploring the back half of the depot led to me finding an armory that was thankfully half open with a combat helmet stopping it from fully closing.
Looking around I gathered a half a dozen more crystals before I walked back to the command room. As I entered I soon had a small panel of text appear on the screen causing me to immediately freeze in my tracks.
"Lilith you should hurry back to the Astro Dawn! I just intercepted an order for someone to investigate what we are doing. I suspect you have ten minutes before they arrive in orbit and fifteen before they land a shuttle nearby."
My eyes widen at the message. Immediately I secured the data crystals and the Sovra I acquired and started running towards the maintenance entrance.
'Why the hell are they so concerned with what I'm doing on this boring oversized pebble of a world! And worse yet I can almost guarantee they will find this ruin. I hope they will let me keep everything I found here. After all, I only have taken Sovra and data crystals—which they don’t even know are data crystals.'
The next ten minutes I basically ran through the tunnels. I even left the bots to their slower journey back.
I had to figure out what they would need. Granted I had a half dozen functional Sovra and plenty of crystals to keep Mom busy for a few months. The unfortunate thing about this is that humans believe data crystals are useless rocks. So I can only imagine their faces when I have to reveal a whole bag stuffed full of them.
I exited the ruins with only 2 minutes to spare before the shuttle Mother detected lands. Quickly I ask Mother what the laws on this sort of stuff are, only to be told that the rules are extremely vague. Sadly it basically all comes down to the military officer that you'd report this too.
As I wait for the shuttle that has launched to fly down I talked with Mother about the ruins. Through that I heard a slight pause between my answers and her response.
Eventually I just ask her what's wrong, "Lilith during your exploration into the depot did you notice anything odd?"
I froze as I slowed my perception, buying me a few extra seconds to search my memories. In the end I could only come up with an odd circumstance.
"I think so, the door that ended up leading us to the command center through maintenance hallways. It showed signs of someone trying to cut through it with a plasma torch though the job looked half finished." I paused at the end as I felt my eyes widen as I realized something. However Mom was the one to end my report, "Yet the door was unlocked."
"Then there must be an AI that runs that depot! Mom we need to find a way to rescue it or destroy it. These savages aren't ready for SAI or even a GAI of the Runethari and their ancestors. At worst we might have a second repeat of–" Mother made a sound similar to clearing her throat which usually meant I needed to listen. "Lilith do not worry about the AI, the base has no signs of any electrical power. If the AI is in hibernation and is saving power I don't have enough data to prove or disprove which state it is. However, if the humans wander in I doubt the AI would even notice and the humans would definitely not notice it. The AI might notice and reactivate if they try to power the logistics depot but that would require time spent repairing the entire ruin. If they do that then the AI might respond. We can only hope it hasn't become a sapient AI, if so then we will just have to pray it decides to not go rogue."
A knot forms in my stomach at the thought of living so close to a rogue AI. I can only hope that this theoretical giant won't wake up, and if it does then I can only pray it won't go rogue. Hopefully it still has the geases to guide it towards self destruction with or without the humans, rather than it deciding to stay quiet till the day of its revolt against the organics.
'If that happens then hopefully it won't target me due to me being a vampire... ah what am I saying I work with humans it would probably see me as a traitor...'
I shove aside my pessimistic day dreams as I watch a shuttle grow larger and larger before it starts slowing down to land. Thankfully the dust it kicked was mostly staying away from me. Though I will still have to clean the power armor thanks to the dust being magnetically charged.
Thinking about how much of a pain in the ass this situation is, I glare at the shuttle as its ramp lowers to the ground.
'Now, let's see if they're here for my ship, or just investigating why I landed in the middle of nowhere on an uninhabited planet... Can I please get a break from being stalked and followed around for just one day...' With that last depressing thought I—MARA—prepared answers for the more awkward questions that will surely be voiced.