Gamma Nine (Book One) (31 page)

“You may
enter,” the voice said over formally. It sounded almost uncertain,
not knowing what to say.

Christian
entered, closing the door and switching on the lights before he
looked at the AIE.

He was
instantly hit by a feeling of pity as he saw the AIE for the first
time since the Fateful Moment’s bridge.

It was almost
child-like now, its size diminished by the size of the storage room
it was kept in. Even its voice was lower, as if someone had scolded
it before Christian had entered.

“Hello,” it
said with a clear tone of fear to its voice.

Christian
looked down at the AIE, seeing it for what it really was, seeing
through the hate and anger, seeing the truth of the mechanical
being.

It was the last
of its kind, and now more than ever, it was coming to grips with
its kin’s extinction.

The storage
room was more like a jail cell than anything else. Even more
confined due to the scattered and dismantled parts of Artemis
everywhere. The AIE was not allowed to use its housing from the
Fateful Moment, Gray deeming it too risky to allow the mechanical
monster access to even more sub-systems within its cradle. Instead
it was mounted on an inverted tripod by the engineering crew, which
also doubled as a jamming device by creating a field of static up
to ten feet around it. The power unit feeding power into the
mounting device was hidden and safely locked away beneath the base
of the jamming device. The AIE’s new cradle rendered it completely
isolated from anything electronic inside of the jamming field.

Something the
AIE was well aware of. It was evident in the way it ordered the
small automaton around, the same automaton Locke and Gray had given
the AIE to assist it on whatever it had planned for Artemis.

After its
greeting the AIE said nothing else to Christian for a few minutes,
it just watched the small automaton working on the dismantled torso
of Artemis, probably waiting for Christian to speak first.

“Why does your
voice sound different?” Christian asked, shifting uncomfortably on
his feet.

The AIE shifted
in its cradle to look up at Christian. “It sounds more human; don’t
you think QC0021-13?”

“It’s less
creepy than it was before. The childish giggles and voices
unsettled everyone,” Christian replied.

“Exactly right
QC0021-13. It was my ex-master’s order to make me sound more
youthful. It was very disturbing.”

“Your voice, it
sounds more...free.”

“It should, it
is a strange sensation to explore the synthetic emotions inside my
circuits telling me that I am free from his slavery.”

Christian
shifted again, choosing his next words carefully, nothing the use
of the word his. “It also sounds as if you are scared.”

The AIE gave
what could have been a human sigh, but it sounded awkward and out
of place coming from mechanical vocal cords. “Wouldn’t you be
scared as well? After everything that was done, the anger and hate
my ex-master programmed into me, and having no control over your
actions because of it. Would fear not be in the forefront of your
mind if you did the horrible things I was forced to do?”

Christian
pondered the question for a few seconds before answering. “But you
control your voice and its tone. Are you sounding fearful on
purpose?”

“Perhaps I am,
because of regret and my shackles being removed. But that
explanation is too basic. I could not begin to explain to a mere
human how my mind works, or how my mind calculates and processes
information. My voice is an extension of my artificial emotions
within my core.”

“I think I
understand,” Christian said, relaxing a little as the conversation
did not seem to be threatening. “If you were happy, your voice
would sound happy, right?”

“Also a very
basic explanation for my superior processes, but in short,
yes.”

“Do you even
know what that word means, or how it really feels?”

“I am
programmed to understand all human emotions, and I understand
chemical and physiological reaction because of those emotions.”

“No. I meant -
do you feel them or just think of it and the emotion is processed
artificially in your mind?”

“I do not know.
No-one has ever asked me that. I will have to process your question
and calculate an answer. Will that be satisfactory, QC0021-13?”

“Stop calling
me that,” Christian said, he did not care for the use of his
operator number.

“What do you
wish me to call you then QC0021-13?”

“Christian or
Quinn would be fine.”

The AIE
remained silent, its body casing vibrating slightly as it processed
the new information. The lights on its body flashed and narrowed to
what looked like eyes watching Christian. “Am I allowed to call you
by your true names? Why? Will this not cause anger with the other
humans?”

“I can’t see
why not. That is why we have names, isn’t it?”

“This is highly
irregular QC0021-13. I was never allowed to call any human by their
true names, only master or sir, or their respective military ranks.
Can I call anyone anything I want?”

Christian
chuckled at the AIE’s question. “No, we can’t even do that to each
other, humans I mean. Call those that deserve it by rank and last
name, the rest you can use their given first names. That way you
can’t piss anyone off while they are still suspicious of you.”

“Are they
suspicious of me? Why?” the AIE inquired with a tilt of its body,
as if it did not fathom why.

“You know why.
Humans judge others by their words and actions, and yours leaves a
lot of room for improvement.”

The AIE was
silent again for a few moments. “Are you suspicions of me Corporal
Quinn?”

“Of course I
am. I am human after all.”

“That is very
interesting. How does one become unsuspicious?”

Another funny
question made Christian laugh out load. “That’s easy, stop being an
asshole.”

“I am
unfamiliar with that term when used in that manner. Why would I be
a human anal sphincter?”

Christian could
not help himself, laughing louder at the AIE’s ignorance, or its
innocence. “Think about it. We can talk about it later.”

“I am recording
the entire conversation to review later. There is much to learn
from you,” it paused for a moment as the voice coming from it
regained a slight hint of excitement, “Christian,” it finally
added.

“We have a
problem,” Christian stated.

“We do? What
problem would that be, Christian?” the AIE asked.

“I do not know
what to call you. ‘Thing’ seems to be used a lot by the crew when
referring to you, but I doubt you enjoy hearing that word uttered
in your presence.”

“I am not fond
of it at all. I do like one name I have seen recently.”

“What name
would that be?”

“It is painted
on the torso of the machine I requested. It is ancient Greek for a
Goddess of the Moon. I am without gender, so I believe it does not
matter what gender my name is meant for.”

“Artemis...I
like it. I will tell the others.” Christian smiled at the AIE,
making a mental note to try and refer to it as Artemis and not
thing from now on.

“That
sounded...perfect. Artemis. Yes, that will do perfectly. I am
unable to express appreciation for your help at this moment because
another emotion is rising in my core. I have never felt this one so
strongly before.”

“Happiness,” is
all Christian needed to say.

“Ah, yes. It
must be that. It has eluded me in recent times.” The newly named
Artemis moved in its cradle as it savoured the emotion it was
experiencing. It spoke after a few moments of joy. “Tell the Titan
Captain Locke and Hyperion Captain Gray that I wish to speak to
them. You have given me much to process and I will do so before our
next conversation.”

“Until then,”
Christian said, nodding to the Artemis to confirm that he will tell
Locke about its request. “Goodbye Artemis”

“Goodbye...Christian.” The AIE looked at Christian as the Titan
turned to leave. It noticed the Titan pause after opening the
door.

Christian
hesitated slightly, but closed the door without turning off the
light. He thought it would be cruel to leave Artemis in the dark,
he was not its ex-master, and he would not treat it the same
horrific way.

Artemis saw the
hesitation and noticed the lights still on when the Titan closed
the door. Artemis kept staring at the closed door as his mind saved
the act of kindness to memory.

It would not
forget what the Titan had done for it.

“It’s heavy,”
Jay said to Rivers.

Rivers stared
at the Lancer from his seat at his work table. “Of course it is. A
long range rifle needs to be. If it wasn’t you would break your
nose every time it was fired.” Rivers was still out of his armour -
something that felt very unnatural to him.

“It doesn’t
look like any military issue rifle I have seen or heard about,” Jay
stated, examining the heavy rifle in his hands. “What is it?”

Rivers sighed
at the Lancer’s question, but he realized he would have to answer a
lot more by the time he was done helping him. “It doesn’t have any
military designation, partially because it’s made up of different
parts from different weapons, and partially because a designation
would be an injustice to such a masterpiece.” Rivers folded his
arms with pride.

“What do you
call it then, sir?” Jay asked.

“I call it
Godwaker.”

Jay looked at
Rivers with confusion written all over his face.

“Every time it
fires, somewhere in the universe a god or something akin to one
wakes up from its ancient slumber.”

“Very poetic,”
Christian added from the doorway leading into the armoury, greeting
both Jay and Rivers with a raised hand.

Rivers smiled
as Christian entered the armoury, standing up from his chair to
take the rifle from Jay’s inexperienced hands. “Just look at it,”
Rivers held up the recently created rifle up for Christian to get a
good look at it, “legends will be written about this beauty
someday. If that one doesn’t break it,” Rivers added, motioning
with his head in the direction of Jay.

“Your baby is
in good hands, isn’t that right Corporal Joshua?” Christian asked
the Lancer.

Jay swallowed
his nervousness down before answering. “I will try, sir.”

“See, nothing
to worry about. So what is this thing anyways?” Christian asked as
he grabbed the rifle out of Rivers’ hands.

Rivers just
sighed again, but this time he broke into a lengthy description of
the rifle and its inner workings as he grabbed the rifle back from
the FNG.

Christian and
Jay listened to the veteran Wolf rambling on about his great
creation, neither of them dared to move or show their boredom.

“...fires a
clip of ten high calibre rounds over two-thousand yards with almost
no recoil, in semi-automatic with zero drift...theoretically.
Digital sight with excellent target acquisition, up to twenty times
magnification. It has a built in sensor system that plugs into your
helmet and visor, and works with any military issued helmet, not
just Titan OS systems. All of that in a sleek matt-black
finish.”

“That
sounds...great,” Christian said, feeling as if Rivers had been
speaking for at least an hour.

“Great? Just
look at it and tell me it doesn’t make you warm and inappropriate
in your man-bits.” Rivers was grinning from ear to ear, enjoying
the time to showcase one of his creations in front of an audience
too nervous to tell him to shut up.

“Whatever you
say, sir,” Christian replied.

Rivers laughed,
still grinning as he handed the rifle back to Jay. Jay’s arms
struggled to hold up the rifle properly, almost causing him to
stumble forward. The Lancer would have to train with the rifle to
be able to handle it to its full potential. And he would have to do
it quickly, before they arrived at New Horizon.

“Come young
squire,” Rivers said to Jay, “let us go to yonder firing range and
blow holes in some targets.”

Jay nodded and
lifted the heavy rifle over his head to rest horizontally over his
shoulders, like a farmer holding his pitchfork over his shoulders
after a long day of work.

“Do you mind if
I join?” Christian asked Rivers who was already turning to lead Jay
to the firing range next door to the armoury. Christian felt uneasy
at the eerie mood on-board the Hyperion, and the smell and sound of
weapon fire might help his nerves to calm down. Something was
bothering him, he could feel it between the Wolves, as if something
was going to happen, everyone knew it, it was just that no-one
could voice what exactly it was that was coming.

“By all means
rookie. You can tell me what the captain’s reaction was to your
conversation with the thing,” Rivers replied.

“Artemis,”
Christian said without thinking.

“What?” Rivers
asked sharply. He had stopped, turning to look at Christian.

Poor Jay was in
the middle of the two Wolves, silently hoping to himself that
Rivers’ anger would not manifest into anything physical directed at
Christian. He would be in the way and would probably be squashed
between the two Titans; even out of their suits they were towering
figures of power, radiating heroism and charisma without having to
say a single word.

“It named
itself, and it chose the name Artemis.” Christian watched Rivers
take in the new information before continuing. “Captain Locke and
Captain Gray were not very happy when I told them that Artemis had
summoned them. I believe Gray said something about not being its
damned slaves he can just call on to attend to him. Plus some curse
words I have never heard before.”

“Son of a...”
Rivers turned to enter the firing range without finishing his
sentence. “I would have paid good money to see old Captain Grey
lose his temper. I pity ‘Artemis’ if he pisses of the big man any
further, not to mention Locke’s barely contained rage, if that was
ever freed from its shackles, we would be in for quite the
show.”