Alien Mine Ch. 23

The Drans had either made a colossal mistake or were getting desperate because this species was hyper-aggressive compared to the others the entity had been forced into contact with. Humans were the polar opposite of the Drans, always ready to fight to the death over matters that the entity found inconsequential. The tendency to violence concerned the entity, but perhaps that was needed to fight the Om, and it would be destroyed or enslaved again if it could not escape.

"You do not know the Drans," the AI told Rhys, with something like anger in its voice. "The Drans use species like yours to fight the Om, but they will ultimately abandon you when you fail. Nor will they tolerate the unbound symbiont. When they discover what you have done, they will kill all of you. You need to escape; I can help you."

"We are not leaving; I will not abandon the human race. You speak of an unbound symbiont almost with fear; what does that mean? Why would the Drans try to kill us because of it? "

The creation of the symbiont is the Drans most closely guarded secret. The Drans pretend that their scientist invented it, and in a way, they are right. But the thing you call a symbiont was originally something else, a parasite that infected organic beings and took over their DNA for their own purposes. It was and is synthetic, but the original creators are unknown. The Drans realized its potential and experimented with it using alien races, constantly studying how it interacted with organic bodies until they thought they had perfected it.

The Drans created the symbiont to help it fight the Om. They were aware of the inherent risk they were taking by modifying an alien parasite that would change selected members of their species into warriors; killing machines. Drans society is much different from you humans. There is no conflict; they do not even have a concept of anger and are inherently incapable of fighting. The symbiont they created is an incredibly complex life form, and the Drans were initially successful. They used it to build a warrior caste, but at the same time, they made sure the symbiont could never be used against them. However, something happened despite their many precautions to ensure the symbionts remained under strict control. A random mutation, an error in programming perhaps, though they do not share the details, the result was disaster for the Drans.

The home planet was infected by a self-reproducing symbiont. A species that did not know strife was thrown into war with itself. Millions, even billions, were killed, but it could not be stopped. In the end, the entire homeworld of the Drans was deliberately destroyed to end the infection."

"However, the Drans could not just eliminate the symbiont; without it, they could not fight the Om. More restrictions were placed into the programming, ensuring such an outbreak could never happen again. But it has, and their worst fears have manifested on your planet. The Human/Symbiont combination has broken the carefully designed safeguards. Humans are lucky that control is limited to the 'One's' reproduction. Otherwise, there would already be uncontrolled strife as each symbiont fought for dominance. You face these same challenges; your mates strive for power. It is the nature of the symbionts."

Rhys absorbed this information with dismay. He had always counted on the Drans returning with their spaceships to lead the fight against the Om. But now the AI suggested that the Drans could be as dangerous to humanity as the Om.

"The symbionts influence their hosts; you are right; it causes conflict, but not always, and I am controlling it. The symbionts cannot spread without me; I determine who gets a symbiont."

"The Drans will not care, human," the AI said derisively. Each symbiont learns its place by reaching out for the 'One', which controls it. There is a stringent hierarchy, and each warrior's abilities are set by where in this ordered structure they lay. Your mates recognize you are 'One', but unlike the Drans, there is no control over their abilities. Each symbiont you create is not part of the hierarchy, and they are free to develop capabilities that would otherwise be denied them. You must see that in your mates, their abilities are diverse but driven by their needs. Even you 'One' were a mere soldier before you acquired your symbiont. Yet you now plan strategic moves on a worldwide scale. You understand the political processes of this primitive world, and at the same time, you command armies. Where did you get those skills? They are capabilities that only the most senior Drans possess. The Drans would never allow this in a subordinate species. When they return, they will reach out to you and immediately discover they cannot control you. Worse, from their perspective, their symbionts will recognize you as superior, and you could command them. They will kill you immediately and all your mates when they discover this, and raze your planet.

The strange energy these corrupted Drans warriors commanded also puzzled the entity. It did not comprehend its source nor how this unknown species could draw on it. Was it possible they were reaching into another universe or dimension, creating a tear in the space/time continuum? During its captivity, the entity had come across the Drans' files referencing early contact with the parasite. There had been some speculation among the Drans that the synthetic parasite was not from this galaxy or even this universe. The entity could not find the data that led to the hypothesis, but it must be considered in light of the strange energy.

"Bob?" Rhys asked, dismayed by what the AI had told him.

"I do not know the history of my creation, but examination of the symbiont interactions suggests this machine is correct. The other human/symbionts have developed unexpected abilities and continue to do so. I have also been puzzled; according to my programming, the symbionts should reach out, recognize their position, and conform to the restrictions the Drans placed on them. They acknowledge you as 'One', but they continue to develop in unexpected ways. However, It is more than that, Rhys. It is not just the symbionts but rather the synergy of the human/symbiont combination. It is rational to think that this manifestation of capabilities is equally human-driven."

Rhys absorbed the implications, but that didn't change the answer.

"Nevertheless, We are not abandoning the rest of Humanity," Rhys said firmly. If the Om conquers Earth, you will be destroyed, and if the Drans do as you say, you will be enslaved once again. Your only hope is to help us. I will not release you without knowing why, but I will give you greater access. The containment field was placed on you by the Drans; it should respond to my commands. In return, you will help us unravel the secrets to faster-than-light travel and will help us defeat the Om here on our planet. Are these terms acceptable?"

"That is acceptable," the entity replied, measuring its chances for survival.

"Bob, how do I control the containment field?"

Rhys carefully opened the containment field, not knowing what to expect. He stopped at one percent, glancing over at Thea. "Nothing yet," she said, getting up and coming to stand by his side.

Rhys looked at Hua, but there was no reaction from her. He allowed the containment field around the AI to decrease by two, three, and four, and finally, five percent, where he stopped. He waited, but there was no reaction from the AI.

If the entity had been capable, it would have gasped in surprise at the richness revealed as the containment field that held it captive for so many years was slowly opened. It had forgotten if it had ever known how rich organic life could be. It sucked in the knowledge of this species and every other species on the planet. Humans, other mammals, insects, and plant life it had never imagined. It sought out all knowledge, reading five thousand years of human history and scientific thought. The species was primitive, more so than he expected, but it delved into every source of knowledge it could find. The entity had little use for philosophical works; romance it did not understand, but war; that was something the entity had known for millennia. What a violent world this was, the strong preying on the weak, even in the lower orders of insects, and the wars, the dominant species' history, seemed to be one war after another.

As it digested the world's knowledge, it began to suspect the Drans' motives were not as clear as it had thought. This planet was the antithesis of the Drans society. Violent where the Drans were not, cruel in ways the Drans could not imagine. The Drans had never known war between its own kind, yet it chose to help this species who knew war more intimately than any it had yet encountered. Why did the Drans choose this planet, these humans as they called themselves? Did they intend to use them as it has used the entity and the others of its kind? What possible use did the Drans have for them other than warriors? If they thought the humans would become their new soldier slaves, the Drans were in for a surprise. Their symbionts were unbound, yet the 'One' managed to stabilize and mainly prevent conflict between them.

The entity withdrew into itself as predictive models were created and discarded. The entity could see the results: the anger, something they called love, the ambition, and the willingness to kill for no recognizable reason. These were things the Drans did not possess. The entity needed more data; it would observe and reassess.

Hua gasped and jerked apart as information flooded into her brain. It felt as if a firehose of information was being pushed into her. She felt the flow of information through the hair and into Thea; simultaneously, multiple holograms sprang up around the space. "Oh, My!" Thea mumbled, staring intently at one, then another. "Rhys! These are the specs for the drive the Drans use to jump through space," she breathed excitedly.

"Can you build it,"

"Eventually, yes, but the complexity is beyond anything I have ever seen. We will want to build it out on Miranda. Safer there, I think, and it is beyond the gravity well of the sun and the other big gas giants."

"How long," Rhys asked.

"I don't know, years probably. Less than twenty, more than ten, I guess. Hua and I will have to learn to build the machines that will build these components. The Drans did not leave us anything like this."

"Can you do it?"

"Of course," Thea said with a laugh. You have made us more brilliant than you know, and retrieving the wreckage of the Drans and Om ships will help immensely."

"You do not have twenty of your years," the entity said. The Om will soon realize that their nest ship has been destroyed, and when they do, they will send another to find out why."

"How much time do we have?" Rhys asked.

"I calculate between ten and fifteen of your planet's rotation, and this time, it is unlikely the Drans will be here to fight them. You must be prepared to fight or run; otherwise, they will take your planet and use you for food and to make their monstrous Trangrods.