Living Ship Chap 8

[Aragon Speed]

Chapter 8: Moving

Blue One considered this revelation and felt slightly confused. “What do you mean by ‘Intact’? Surely you must have captured a Sohnen before now?”

“We have had captured Sohnen here before yes, but they have all, without exception so far, had a small detonation device implanted into their heads which when they are captured is set off destroying the brain.” Replied the male.

“I know I keep asking this, but why am I here? What purpose do I serve?”

“Unknown to the general populous at this time, the Sohnen are a race of machines. Their brains are actually supremely advanced A.I. that is sentient in nature. Your unique skills from your previous occupation are perhaps the only chance we have of understanding how this technology works.”

Blue One raised his eyebrows in surprise at the information, but made no comment. He thought about this new information, it was an amazing opportunity to advance their knowledge of S-A.I., jumping ahead of the game so to speak. Assuming that it was not so advanced in construction that it was impossible to even determine how it was built, let alone how the programming etc. worked. “How did you manage to capture an intact S-A.I. if they destroy themselves with an explosive charge?”

The male opened his mouth to reply, but before he could Laiban leant forward in his chair and addressing the male said. “May I?”

The male paused. It was obvious that Laiban and Blue One already had established a tentative rapport, and they were going to be spending a lot of time together in the near future. The male nodded at Laiban and once again sat back in his chair.

Laiban turned to Blue One. “Ironically it’s you that gave us this opportunity. The Sohnen ship that you collided with in your last battle was very badly damaged. The Sohnen, being machines, are directly connected to their ships while they are piloting them. As you can imagine this is a very efficient way to control your craft, you think what you want to do and it’s already being done; Instantaneous reactions to any situation. Basically you and the ship are one and the same, you are the ship, and the ship is you.

The collision caused, as I have said, massive damage to the Sohnen ship and its systems. Simply put, this damage had the effect of totally disabling and shutting down the pilot. So the detonation device didn’t have a chance of being set off and destroying the brain. We have removed the explosive from the Sohnen, but it has not been reactivated yet. We felt it best to have the needed specialists on site before that happened.

Not having previous experience in this field, we also felt that whoever was working on this project may wish a chance to study the brain before, or even instead of, reactivating it.

As the only person in our history that has actually built, or maybe created would be a better term, a sentient A.I., how we proceed with this is entirely within your control.

We have already assembled a small but hand picked support team for you to get started with. Most of them you will already know as they are from the team you originally worked with. If you need anyone else, ask, and we will try to get them for you.

We can’t force anyone into accepting the same conditions that you have just had to accept, any more than we could force you, so we can’t guarantee that you will get the people you would like. All we can guarantee is that we will try.”

Blue One looked at the two men and then said. “Luck.”

The male looking confused asked. “What do you mean?”

“This whole situation has arisen from pure luck and coincidence. The odds against this happening are too great to be worth computing. Has the Sohnen been fully scanned for any other possible explosive devices and/or booby traps?”

The male grunted and nodded. “Using previous Sohnen that we have dismantled for study as a guide, we have concluded that this Sohnen is no different in construction from any of the others. As far as we can tell the only difference is the fact that we have an intact brain. I am suspicious of coincidence as well, and I had the Sohnen gone over with a fine-toothed comb to be sure it wasn’t planted here on purpose. The way it came into our possession, combined with the unusual tactics, for them anyway, the Sohnen exhibited in that battle made me wonder if this was just a little bit to fortunate for belief.

We can’t completely rule out the possibility that there is something else that’s different with this Sohnen compared to others, to do so would be idiotic, but to paraphrase your own words, the odds against it are so high it’s not worth calculating them.

This doesn’t mean that there isn’t still a danger though. The difference may be in the brain itself. We have never had one intact before, so we obviously have no way of knowing if it is different from a standard one. All we can say is that if you decide to reactivate the Sohnen, extreme caution is advised. Even conversing with it, if that’s at all possible, could be dangerous. I can’t imagine an artificial intelligence would have any form of telepathy, or ESP abilities of any nature, but this cannot be ruled out at this time.”

“Hmm. That’s one possibility I hadn’t considered. I agree that ESP abilities are improbable, but not impossible.” Blue One responded.

After a short pause the male spoke again. “You now have a basic outline of what is expected of you, the current situation, the circumstances leading up to this situation, and the possible dangers that may be involved. I don’t think any more discussion at this point will further our aims, and I expect that you would like to go and have a look at the Sohnen for yourself. So unless you have any further questions, this meeting is over.”

“You’re right, I would like to go and see what all the fuss is about for myself, and also where I will be living from now on. I can’t think of any other questions that are pertinent at the moment, so let’s get going.” Blue One said smiling.

The male nodded. “I shall stay here. I had originally intended to show you to the research lab and to your new home myself, but Laiban will be just as good a guide as I would have been, and I have more than enough work to do here. I shall see you again soon enough though as I will be checking on progress regularly.”

Blue one nodded in acknowledgement and then turning to Laiban grinned and said. “Lead on oh guide extraordinaire.”



Laiban and Blue One spent most of the next 8/25th of a cycle travelling. First they returned to Blue One’s current accommodation to collect personal items and clothing for Blue One. Then a brief stop at the base commanders office to give him Blue One’s release from pilots duty and transfer orders, and finally to a military airport to catch a plane to their destination.

The research labs and Blue One’s new home were in a remote area of the planet, and had their own landing strip for moving personnel and supplies in and out.

After landing and disembarking from the plane they visited the base commander’s office. Laiban nodded at the soldier that had shown them the way to the office in thanks and then knocked on the door.

“Come in.” said a female voice from within the room.

Laiban opened the door but indicated that Blue One should enter the office first. As he entered Blue One glanced around the office. It was spartan and had few furnishings. To his left the wall had a row of filing cabinets along it, but apart from the base commanders chair and desk, and two more chairs for visitors to sit in, there was nothing else in the room. The right wall had floor to ceiling windows in it which gave a view across the base airstrip and the grassy expanse beyond. Due to this the relatively small room had an open and airy feel with plenty of light during the day.

Blue One stopped in front of the desk between the two chairs and saluted the base commander. “Blue One reporting for duty.”

The commander who had been watching the whole time smiled. “This may be a military base, but its primary purpose is research, as such we are less formal than normal. Please relax and take a seat.”

Blue One nodded and sat in one of the chairs. Laiban, who had followed him into the room, passed a large, thick envelope he had been holding to the commander and then sat in the other chair.

The commander opened the envelope and scanned the first page quickly, then smiling she looked at Blue One. “According to this you shouldn’t be saluting me anyway. It seems that you were recently promoted to a rank that’s higher than mine, perhaps I should be saluting you sir.”

Blue One opened his mouth to reply, and then shut it again. He couldn’t think of anything to say.

Laiban laughed at the surprised expression on Blue One’s face. “I thought that might be a shock, which is why I saved it.”

The commander raised one of her eyebrows quizzically and looked at Laiban obviously amused. “I take it this is news to the General then?”

Even more speechless than before Blue One looked at the commander, then at Laiban, and then back at the commander. “General? I think this must be a mistake, I am… was a lieutenant. I am grateful that I should warrant a promotion, but jumping that many ranks must be incorrect.”

Laiban still broadly smiling at Blue One’s shock replied. “No there’s not a mistake, you now outrank me. I’ll explain the reasons behind it later, but for now just accept it as the truth… Sir.”

The commander looked at both men, she was also still smiling at the joke played on Blue One. “It’s getting late. May I offer you both something to eat in the officers mess?”

Blue One, recovering his composure a little, replied. “I don’t know about the Captain here, but I for one could quite happily eat a rather large meal. If you could arrange for someone to take my belongings to my new quarters, I would be honoured to join you.”

Laiban also nodded his agreement to food. The commander pressed a button on her intercom and ordered someone to collect both Laiban’s and Blue One’s belongings. They then followed her out of the office, along a corridor, down two flights of stairs, along another corridor, and finally into the officers mess.

“I see they don’t want you nipping out for quick snacks.” Blue One said wryly to the commander.

“Good job too. I have enough trouble keeping the weight off sitting behind a desk for most of the day as it is.” She replied with a slight smile and in an amused, conversational tone.

The officers mess was no better furnished that the commanders office. There were eight or nine square tables in the room with seating for 4 people at each table, one on each side. On the far wall opposite the only door was a large serving hatch, through which you could see the mess kitchens. The only clue this was the officers mess rather than the general one was the chairs around each table. They had good padding and were obviously designed with comfort in mind.

“Not exactly what I had envisioned when you said ‘Officers mess’ I must admit.” Blue One grinned.

The commander laughed. “As I said, this is primarily a research establishment, and too much furniture takes up valuable floor space that could be used to scatter bits of paper over instead.” She finished with an impish grin.

They reached the serving hatch, and once they had chosen and received what they wanted to eat, the commander led them to an empty table and they sat down with their meals.

After a couple of minutes of eating, and with the edge taken off his hunger, Blue One looked at the commander and said. “How much do you know about what I will be doing here?”

The commander looked at him and paused before replying. “I probably know more about it than you do at this current time, but this is a matter that should not be discussed while we are outside the ‘Sink’.”

“The sink?”

“It’s what we call the ultra high security area of the base. I’m not sure how it originally got its nickname or why, but that’s what everyone calls it. The sink is mostly underground with only two stories above the surface. They are used as accommodation for the sink’s security forces, and from the air they look like just another part of the base and give no indication of what is beneath them. The first five subterranean levels are nothing more than ammunition stores, this gives an excuse for the increased security around the sink, and as far as most people are concerned that’s all that’s there. The next seven levels down are unusable. The first two are filled with shock absorption and deflection materials, just in case the ammo store is ever hit by some sort of weaponry and explodes. It protects the levels underneath. The other five levels are the scrambler levels, and as the name implies they are filled with equipment to block any kind of transmission entering or leaving the sink. That includes radio, magnetic, radiation, even just general noise etc. As far as anyone who might be listening is concerned, nothing exists below those levels. Because of all the sensitive equipment, apart from maintenance access those levels are unusable.

Below the five scrambler levels are twenty-eight more levels where the various research projects are carried out. The top six of these are all accommodation for the researchers and for any extra personnel needed, like the captain here.” The commander indicated Laiban with a movement of her hand. “The floor between the accommodation levels and the main research levels is given over to large rooms which can be used for anything else that’s needed at will. There is a gym in there, but mostly the rooms are used for meetings and presentations. That leaves twenty-one floors that are dedicated to nothing but research. Forty-two floors in total”

“An impressive set-up.” Blue One said with genuine admiration.

The commander smiled at the compliment. “The equipment in the sink is reviewed once a year, and anything that has been updated or improved upon within the past year is replaced with the latest version. On top of that there is also a permanent twenty strong research and engineering crew that is dedicated to improving the equipment you already have, or to design and build anything you may require that doesn’t yet exist. You will always be using the latest cutting-edge equipment in the sink.”

“That must cost a fortune to run.” Blue One said thinking of the funding trouble he had while his team were building the S-A.I. He didn’t try to hide his astonishment.

“Actually the sink tends to break even on expenses most years. There is a large initial outlay once a year for new or improved equipment, but the in-house improvements and/or alterations often made to that equipment, coupled with new specialised equipment that is built in the sink and then sold to other research establishments over the year, tends to bring in enough income that the sink can pay for itself over the long term.” Replied the commander. “It fluctuates slightly from year to year, sometimes we make a healthy profit and sometimes we pay out more than we can reap back, but over the last ten years that I have been commander of this base the sink has actually shown a slight positive profit margin when taken as an overall figure.”

Blue One glanced around the mess hall and at the few other people that were also eating. “I suppose this must be fairly common knowledge among the officers as you are discussing it openly here.”

“The sink itself is yes, but not the projects that are being carried out inside. Only I know exactly what is going on in there. Each team knows what it is doing, but only I know about everything going on in the sink. On this base anyway, obviously higher ups also know.” She finished with a smile.

Blue One couldn’t think of anything else to ask that could be discussed openly, and the commander seemed to have said all she wished to without further prompting. They all finish what little remained of their meals and returned their plates and cutlery to the serving hatch.

“What would you like to do now?” The commander asked Blue One as they were walking along the corridor to the stairs that led back up to the commanders office. “Would you like to see your accommodation, see your new team, or perhaps see why you are here?”

“I have been awake for a long time now, and the Captain has been awake even longer than I have. As curious as I am to see the reason that I am here, I think that should wait until I have slept and feel refreshed. I’m still a little hyped up from the large changes I have gone through today. With moving homes, changing jobs, meeting new people, and all the travelling, I’m not quite ready for sleep yet either though. So I think meeting the team would be a good move. I also think that I have another bodyguard to meet as well as the Captain needs to sleep at some point.” Blue one finished with a grin, and glanced over his shoulder at Laiban who nodded his willingness to meet the team as well.

The commander nodded “That’s fine, you have both already been issued security clearance for the sink, but we will need to return to my office first to collect your clearance badges which arrived on the plane before yours. The security access they give you surprised me at the time, but I understand it now. Due to your rank General you have been given a clearance level which allows you to enter any area of the sink. This is not normal and most teams are restricted to their own project areas. The Captain would normally have restrictions as well, but as he is your main guard he will also be allowed free reign within the sink. This means that apart from myself you two will be the only people on this base that could potentially have complete knowledge of all the projects currently being researched in the sink. Please do not abuse this privilege gentlemen.”

“I cannot see us needing to be in areas other than those our project covers, but your warning is noted. We will not abuse this relative freedom of movement.” Laiban said from behind the commander and Blue One. Blue One also indicated his willingness to keep the peace.

Once they had reached the commanders office, she moved to the back corner and stood in front of a filing cabinet that was two in from the far end. Taking a small key ring from her pocket the commander unlocked the filing cabinet, and to Blue Ones surprise, pulled the whole cabinet away from the wall. Behind this there was a safe sunk into the wall, the commander opened this as well, and removed a strong box from the safe and placed it on her desk. She then walked around to the front of her desk, the side that visitors would normally be sitting at, and placed her hand under the front edge. There was a small click and a hidden draw that was only about 3 inches square slid out. The front of the draw had merged perfectly with the front of the desk and had been invisible to the naked eye. From this draw the commander took another key which she used to open the strong box. Finally she handed Blue One and Laiban a small credit card sized badge each, which had their picture on it. She then reversed the process.

Once the room looked how it had when they had first entered, the commander turned to them, and grinning said. “If you think that’s a pain try losing your card. It’s a really quick way too get into my bad books.”

“I’ll bet.” Said Blue one smiling at the commanders half joke.

“When we reach the sink you will need to have a voice sample taken, a retinal scan, and a DNA test so these details can be added to the cards smart chip. That should only take a couple of minutes to do though.” The commander then picked up the phone on her desk and dialled a number. “Commander Trivi here. I will be escorting the General and the Captain. We will be there momentarily.” Then she hung the phone up. “If you will follow me gentlemen, I will take you to meet your new team.”

[Syndrome]

Nice to see a new chapter up.

[Aragon Speed]

Nice to see a new chapter up.

It's a shame I haven't more time to devote to it ATM. The time between chapters makes reading it a little disjointed.

[parameter]

A very good read there! Glad to see you managed to get the 'quill' back in your hand. I hope you will be able to add to the story, even if it is monthly,
or every 6 weeks...

[collins50]

Very good,
I have enjoyed your story, Keep it up.

Thank you