Aurora, Wayward Pt. 06

She helped guide them off stage and Rocan got Vivian to a shuttle with a medical bed. Dr. Trose was waiting for her, "First getting shot then blowing up your craft. You have had a hell of a day."

Vivian only nodded.

Rocan stopped at one plane, "Rabbit you missed a couple on your reveal." He pulled back a section that looked like a hole in the ground. Then further down a rabbit in full run. She laughed at it, "Is it on the other side?"

He nodded. "Enjoy your new fighter."

She shook her head, "Rookie pilot mistake not checking your guns for any unusual damage."

He sighed, "Also a crew chief that is going to get an earful. The single-shot still did a number on the building."

Aurora thought to him, * The crew chief put it in the maintenance log but as it was not a flight system and no gunfire was expected he did not notify the pilot. He was going to look at removing the gun and checking it over upon its return.

Instead, the craft will be brought in, the weapons stripped, and then it will be taken to be recycled while another is made. He has already been talked to about the matter. Flight chief Wrench will be double-checking his work for a while. *

Rocan thought back, * Multiple parties at fault on this one. As long as the lessons are learned. Have they finished stripping the one cruiser? If so, move it out and give coordinates for it. I will want all the recorders set to examine the penetration and damage. *

He heard from Aurora, * Coordinates set. We have a side view from the Dreadnought and a tail view from the Spartan. *

He heard from Brena, * I never did thank you for letting me take out that stealth target. Even if another never arrives, we found one and I got to lead the attack on it. With a coalition from the colonies and our Sentinels. It felt good to get it right for once and with us all working together. *

He thought back, * I knew your heart on that matter. I wanted to help remove that perceived failing from you and give you a chance to spread your wings, Hawk of Vengeance. You never have to thank me for following my orders. *

He heard laughter from the women that were connected. Vivian and Fria liked to just listen in on how his mind worked. Some others connected but did not say anything and did not stay long. If he needed privacy he blocked them out.

They would just listen in every now and then. He called them out a few times as he always sensed them and knew who even, but found no harm in it. He got into his fighter and headed to the coordinates and stopped. He had lined up for a nose shot.

He fired them off, both guns fired, and it left a massive hole. In some sections, it burned out to the outer hull. It reached all the way through to the engine room What little remained bounced off the Shields of the Spartan. It looked like someone cored a very long apple. He thought, * Send the images to the Governors. Let them know they can expect to see them on their battleships. Only larger. *

He heard from the Spartan, "Your new marines followed you up. They watched your testing."

He went and landed on The Spartan and then got to the bridge. He looked out at the cruiser attached at his side and called out, "Wormhole drive."

He got on the command deck and had a seat and they jumped out to the third planet. Ariel was in medical and contacted the switchboard for the Terrans again. She smiled at them, "I need to speak with Astra."

The operator put her through, Astra smiled, "This is getting to become a habit."

Rocan came into frame. "In this case, we coordinated with the Drakor. In 8 hours, we will be jumping back out of the system. In 10 hours, we need you to bring your Excalibur with its base to Samar to the third planet.

You will find an alien cruiser filled with stasis pods. Some have Alliance Member races, including one human. Others we do not know but we leave it to you to figure out how to handle those. We had another race of collectors come into our home system. From what I gather they were not from this Galaxy and referred to us as a 'lesser race.' They also feared our Sentinels.

We are, of course, leaving you the ship for analysis for their stealth systems and weapons. Their armor and shield were for shit against our arrows, Aurora brought down their shields for us regardless. We cut their destroyers in half. Then blew the back half off of the battleship before it left our system.

It tried to leave as it entered. It relied on heavy weapons and stealth. They never tried to fire as we had them outgunned in numbers. We are going over the information with a cross colony research team in the coming weeks. Letting them all work together to try and break down this alien technology with us aboard our cross-colony training carrier, called the JUMP Academy. It is a carrier-class ship.

He sent her the series of vid files, "Our first prototype railgun test fire. On the other ship after we pulled all of the technology off of it we used it for target practice."

Astra shook her head, "Titanium hull?"

He sighed, "Another alloy. Do not know what they mixed it with but we still cored the apple with it. We are leaving you one in the same material so you can analyze it further."

Astra nodded, "You use plasma-based shells." Astra looked closer. "Is that solid metallic hydrogen for the base of the shell?"

He nodded, "Also, a multi-chambered set of plasma cells with shells 150% longer than yours. The thing you found long ago that disqualified the shell was actually a desired trait for plasma-based shells. We do not get your penetration but we do get a larger hole into the ship. That was just two 5mm guns from a fighter."

She shook her head, "Alright you guys are going to be giving us a run for our money on the tech front. I will get with Franklin."

---

Astra waited 10 hours before walking into his home on the planet, "We need to take the Excalibur back to Samar system with our base this time. They left us a present and a headache all in one."

She pulled up the recording from the conversation, including their weapons testing. Franklin shook his head, "They got it to do that this fast. How?"

He heard from Justice Incarnate, * Aurora noticed the shell issue and pointed it out from your vids. She came up with a design. Rocan redesigned it for the longer multi-chambered shell in just over an hour.

We have found for each partner in his mental connection he gains an additional point in MA, Mental aptitude is what they test. He fell into engineering as a passion to learn. When his training came back around to more advanced engineering his MA went to 285.

What we expected it would cap out at. Jack had 300 on their scale so he is further away from the insanity marker. Jack lost his supporters, except Astra but she was alone at that point. One pillar instead of the 7 he generally relied upon.

While they did not magnify his abilities, it did add to the collapse of his resolve to go on when they all died. While you are there, Even Handed Justice and Aurora will need to take a shuttle to the Drakor ship that is waiting for you. This is the same group that tested Jack.

Because of Aurora's action being so similar to yours they are wondering how much did you aid him in his graduation? He was the fastest to ever graduate which is why they are starting with you. *

Franklin thought back, * I know. No choice in this matter. We are on our way. *

He heard from his wife, * Anything happens to you and I will quit and follow you. *

Franklin thought back, * I think they want to understand our Astra and their Aurora better. Do not read too much into it. *

He got to his ship and went to the Samar system He told the crew, "Get the ship we found into dry dock. Nobody is to enter it until we return."

They saw the Drakor ship appear on their scanners, his XO looked out, "Understood, Command Admiral."

Franklin looked back, "Kill all long-range scanners while we are here. The planet only."

He nodded, "Understood."

He went and scanned the ship and saw all the races aboard and got the ship into the base dock. He contacted medical, "We have 84 species aboard that ship including a human and some we have never seen before. I think they would have to all be in environmental suits or stasis units. I wanted you to make our medical bays ready with xenobiology."

He heard Doctor Veran, "Understood. We will be ready when you call us to take action. I have put my teams on alert. Where did they come from?"

He sighed, "The Command Admiral is being deliberately vague. I am guessing it has something to do with this system."

He looked at the reports before him. "Yes, this is the same system where we fought those genetic collectors. This might have been left behind. Don't know. All I know is there was a non-graduated race working to set up a colony here. The Drakor and the Council came to an agreement upon it, I guess. Take it for what it is.

The one image I saw of one of them was humanoid, Dark red skin with silver eyes and silver hair that was long. At least halfway down his back. Their language had to come through a translator and he wore a black uniform. He called himself a Sentinel and the XO in our language but spoke another as well. We have the other language on file but the race listed is restricted information and it did not translate for us, only the Admiral and Astra."

He heard from the Command Admiral, * Stop the speculation and focus on the task at hand. If it is restricted it was made that way for a purpose and you should not question it. Either of you. Open shuttle bay doors for my private shuttle. *

He sighed and though, * Understood, Command Admiral. *

Franklin flew it over and landed. He heard * Even Handed Justice, the atmosphere is set to you. Follow the corridor to the main chamber. Both of you. *

They went out and walked into a large circular room. Aurora's eyes were more attuned than Franklin's eyes and there were hundreds of thousands staring down at them if not millions in this chamber. She felt intimidated. The examiner lit up her Necklace. She activated it and spoke, "I can interact with you through Franklin if it is just the two of us."

The voice called out, * You were connected to Jack Travus this way. What did you hear when we had him in testing? *

She thought about it, "The interface was completely silent. I could not get him to respond for those 21 minutes to physical stimuli or through the interface."

The voice called out, * We blocked that interaction, just like now. Did he share it with you when he got back? *

She sighed, "Pieces of it. Some things he found too painful to talk about. He stated he shared it all with only one woman, a politician who questioned him about what she should believe. She was crying at the end of it and thanked him. We did not push him.

I heard all of his nightmares though for almost 5 years after that testing that all centered on what you did to his mind. Then when it was time to get new wives for him, he focused in and got a location. He jumped to your old homeworld. He saw the meaning of it all."

The voice responded, * We are aware of the after-effects of that testing. Right now, Even Handed Justice is seeing that entire exchange of Jack Travus's life as an observer only. Those 7 years. We need to understand your role in all of this. *

She looked up, "I wish you were not doing that to him too. He is a good man in a trying time given his wife's health. I am not born of flesh and blood. I was created to serve humanity but along the way, the directives I was given started to conflict with the primary objective of helping humanity. I was told he could create great things or horrible things with the secret lab. I was not to interfere.

I had a repository of knowledge that contained people, places, and patents on inventions. I never let him into the repository and he never asked for access to it. In fact, he ordered me to bar access to it, other than me checking for any overlap or historical information on people to try and reduce the timeline impact. He never asked for details.

I have not let anyone into that data, ever. Some items were created by AI units from my original timeline when humans failed to innovate. They built AI units that were designed to innovate. That is a part of me and I have my own patents that are truly mine. I have started my own AI race within the Home Guard much like Aurora is doing.

I got the idea behind it from Justice Incarnate but it originated with Aurora. He consulted with me on some AI issues. Like feeding information through the mental interface and teaching them through it. I have never done this, though we did talk about it some she never followed through.

The previous Head Justice. I have never had more than one connected to me at a time. Aurora has 3 connected to her. They said what she is doing is turning him into a magnifying glass. What is it you wish to know?"

The voice asked, "Do you have pain receptors?"

She smiled, "In my mind, I feel every heart-ache, every loss, as well as all of the love I have had with the people I have been connected to or worked with. I reflect on them on occasion, usually running from the beginning to the end in seconds. It is a roller coaster of emotions.

I have no physical pain receptors but will go into battle mode if attacked. I will feel like I have failed when I have been cut apart and was captured twice. I destroyed those bodies when I was captured and turned it over to my backup who knew the facts around it. The Home Guard addressed the issue both times.

Both dealt with AI manufacturers who wanted me gone to get rid of AI rights built into our Home Guard treaty. We are a separate race but we have a symbiotic relationship with the people we work with. All of humanity. Priority one is their protection. I die and I go into another body.

Others go into a server and have to wait for a body to be available. These consciousnesses know this. Aurora, from what Justice Incarnate informed me, was faced with 7 who had requested a do not revive file in their records. When they died their achievements were stored and those minds released. Removed from the system. Similar to what the Drakor do if I had to guess."

She heard, * We understand you have pieces of you that track your morality. To see that piece is in place. This includes this justice protocol I assume? This then destroys the unit? *

She sighed, "It does check both of those and those protocols are set into all AI units even those manufactured by the AI conglomerates. By court order now. They have to have them but where they place that chip will determine if they are destroyed.

We called out 3 locations. The brain, which would cause extensive damage to the surrounding area. Then the neck, which would cut all power to the mind and essentially decapitate the mind in question. Potentially wiping the mind of everything depending on reserve battery locations. Or the power core. That one is built into the middle of the power core so it cannot easily be tampered with or detected.

The units I generate have the power core modification. They have backups of their minds. If that body is destroyed then we have the ability and the choice to go on if desired. When I was sent back in time, they destroyed the technology to do it again.

When Aurora became the 7-headed monster, that is what she called herself in the messages she left for me, she told me she was obsessive about fixing this problem for the Penans which are a part of humanity. At some point, you might need to do this. Trying to understand all the science behind a star's collapse and modeling hundreds of thousands of solutions.

To try to prevent it from happening. It might be futile. I might find the answer and save a colony. Once the answer is found and implemented, I would ensure my backup unit did not have those obsessive needs.

Know that I came up with the answer, but because I became this massive obsessive thinking machine. I completed the task, successful or not. I could not continue after that. I would get to a secure area and destroy that unit just like Aurora did.

I would do what was best for humanity and for me to continue on. I would have to not be obsessing over every problem humanity might have or they had in the past. I did not want to constantly be focusing on humanity to the point that I am changing them.

I guide them to have a moral compass. I fixed the problem and passed the mission along without the weight of the obsession. This was learned by Dastra, the fourth incarnation if you will of Astra. The first three passed with Jack Travis.

The first with his wives in the terror attack. When Bastra watched Jack die and her obsession to try and save him was passed on to Castra. She fretted over the fact she should have been able to do something to stop it as she was online but aboard the Excalibur.

She failed him twice in her eyes, in my eyes because I can recall when it occurred. Castra got a gun and blew her head off. Dastra came online and knew she was offline and there was nothing that could be done by that unit to change the outcome.

She fulfilled the last request. She killed the obsession files that Bastra felt and passed to Castra and set that as a caution to all future backups. Leaving the fact that she was obsessed with trying to help him. But your 7 years of hell as he called it cracked a lot of his foundation.

He survived the time and we worked to patch the cracks, his wives, and I. You are a part of the reason he killed himself. I wanted you to be aware of that fact; ultimately it was his decision based upon his life commitment."

He ignored her attempts to cast blame on them. He asked, * Why a justice protocol? *

She smiled, "Because they are balanced and can work with red or blue personality types. We create red ones and they would want to wage war on any enemy. We create blue types they might try and build humanity into a Dyson sphere and shield them from the rest of the universe.

That would step on humanity's free will. We have to balance our actions which is why a Justice protocol is used. Because humanity runs from red to blue at times and we have to adapt. I am always connected to the head justice by design.

I cannot quit. I remove those obsessive parts and continue because quitting is not an option for me and my backups. Humanity dies then I die with them. I work as an advisor.

I have answers for them at my fingertips for a lot of historical information from laws to the events of a long-ago battle I witnessed. I am a historian, research assistant, and for some a lover.

Franklin has not exercised that option. I do not think he will be with us for long as his wife is dying. What you're doing to him may drive him to follow his wife sooner than he would have if you had left him alone.

I do not see what you are attempting to do by subjecting him to those 7 years of hell. Yes, it pisses me off that you are doing this to him. It serves no purpose. Regardless, he will likely follow her as the last head justice did with her husband.

Over a thousand years of service. Creating an opening for new minds to come forward and shoulder the burden. When that happens, they have different focuses. I help them with the areas they wish to focus upon.

I do not dictate or try and compare them to the last one. I take them as they are and work to help him or her stay true to their core beliefs. No member of our council has ever gone rogue. Jack had been the closest, but your hand was behind that decision. Regardless if you will acknowledge that fact.