Shadow sat in the same position he had before the man’s weapon fired, his optics locked on the smoking barrel of the sidearm as he watched the events before him unfold. He had fully expected to die when the mass driver had gone off, but what had really happened surprised him in many ways.
The Suit’s eyes were no longer locked on Shadow, but were instead locked on Dr. Scott, how had placed her hands on the sidearm and pushed it off course at the last minute, redirecting the steel projectile into the wall behind Shadow’s head instead of burying itself in his processors.
“You had better have a good explanation for what you just did, Dr. Scott,” The Suit’s voice was practically dripping with threatening anger as he pulled the weapon out of her grip and pointed it back at Shadow’s faceplate, “or I will personally see to it that you are kicked so far out of the program that you won’t be able to see holovid documentaries by the time I get through with you.”
For her part, Dr. Scott didn’t flinch as she stood up, her gaze firm and her body strong as she stood before the taller man, “You can’t destroy Zero Four just because he’s disobeying orders. I understand it goes completely against protocol, but this is an unprecedented situation.” She pointed a finger Shadow’s direction without breaking eye contact, “This unit discovered alien life, the first ever known in humanity’s history. It has the translation matrix for their language in its memory cores and claims to have been transformed into a true A.I. by something native to the planet it was sent to. I don’t know about you, but that sounds a bit too far-fetched to be a simple plot created by an alien species that we have never met.”
“And yet we know nothing about these creatures,” The Suit argued back, still training his pistol on Shadow, “for all we know they could have reprogrammed this unit to spy on us and report back once it discovered a weakness that they could exploit. No,” his finger started to tighten on the trigger again, “it’s better if we get what information we can from this unit and then start over from scratch. We can’t risk the security of our entire race on the testimony of a faulty robot.”
“Then let me see if we can narrow down some of those risks by conducting a study of Zero Four.” Dr. Scott countered as she placed a hand on The Suit’s, “If it truly is hacked, and only working for the aliens, then we can try and hack it back, program over the faulty data and return it to the condition it was before the mission. As it is, we have nothing to lose if we are careful and go about this like a scientist would, not a trigger-happy government agent.”
The Suit seemed to ponder her words for a moment before pulling his weapon back, stowing it under his coat while keeping a laser focus on her, “This is on your head, and if anything goes wrong, I will personally hold you responsible for everything that machine does from here on.”
Dr. Scott nodded, “Yes, sir. I understand.”
The Suit nodded in return, holding his hand up to his ear and activating the communicator there, “I need security teams three through five to the data collection lab yesterday. This is Agent K of the GSB ordering security teams three through five to the data collection lab on sublevel six.”
Dr. Scott gave him a hard look, which he replied to by saying, “You will need something more than words to keep that thing under control. I just did you a favor by providing it.” He paused as the door opened and revealed almost a dozen men and women in power armor, sporting fully-automatic M63 railguns as well as a plethora of other weapons. “See to it that the CW unit in this room does not leave for any reason unless I give the order. You are authorized to destroy it by any means necessary if it so much as twitches in a way you don’t like.”
Agent K turned and walked out of the room, pausing as the door slid open to say to Dr. Scott over one shoulder, “Find out everything you can, and I might just let your new pet project stay online if you can convince me it isn’t a threat.” He turned his attention to the nearest security personnel, “No one comes in or out of this room until I give the word. All access to this lab is herby restricted under Level Nine clearance until further notice. Shoot anyone who enters or leaves if they are not personally escorted by me or given authorization by me.”
“Yes, sir.” The woman barked as she stood at attention, her weapon clicking onto standby as the rest of the security personnel charged up their weapons. The soft whine of electromagnets filled the room as they all trained their weapons on Shadow, the cybernetic hound staying completely still as Dr. Scott rolled her eyes.
“This is ridiculous,” she mumbled under her breath, walking over to the data transfer cables where they had fallen upon disconnecting with Shadow’s ports, “but I can see why a government spook like him would get all uppity about such an amazing discovery.” Her gaze turned to Shadow’s as he turned his head to look at the woman, her own seeming to soften with pity as she held up the cables to his ports, “Please work with me on this. I don’t want to see you get deactivated just because of a bug that we can fix.”
Shadow chose not to reply, nodding instead as Dr. Scott plugged in the cables and then sat down at her seat once again. “Alright, let’s see if we can find out what’s gotten into you.”
“You could ask me what has happened while I was on Equis.” Shadow replied, stiffening only slightly as the security’s weapons pulled just a bit tighter against their armored shoulders, “I will not lie if that is what you are concerned about.”
“It’s not a matter of it you believe you are telling the truth,” Dr. Scott seemed able to perfectly multitask as she typed away at her computer while also talking with Shadow, “it’s about whether those aliens did something to your programing that even you are not aware of. My job is to figure out if they did something to your code while you were there and if that is the cause of the change in your behavior.”
Shadow had no real argument against that, so he simply sat next to the desk and ran through some of the files in his memory, taking a moment or two to remind himself why he was doing this in the first place. It all came back to getting home, to Equis, and his friends. Everything came secondary to that, even his old mission parameters that used to define his very existence. Now he was more than a simple machine, he was a thinking, living being, and he wasn’t about to let anything stand in his way of returning where he belonged.
Shadow followed along as Dr. Scott searched through his files and code, even going so far as to break into his base programming after Shadow gave her the authorization. He wasn’t going to stop her unless it was absolutely necessary, but he did prevent her from powering him down a time or two as she was putting in different command codes. She muttered to herself whenever he blocked her from shutting him down, but otherwise didn’t speak as her eyes roamed around the words and numbers that covered her screen.
Given it was only a matter of time until she found it, Shadow wasn’t all that surprised when Dr. Scott stumbled over his new Emotion Drive, her eyes widening and her hands freezing for a solid three point eight seconds as she stared at the screen. Immediately after, her fingers became a blur as she typed furiously on the keyboard, her screen lighting up with graphs and complex models that were beyond even Shadow’s understanding, her mutterings rising in volume and her eyes moving at ever increasing speeds as she combed through his newest and most complex program. Shadow had never delved into the fine details of the Emotion Drive himself, but it seemed that there was much more to it than he had first believed.
Finally, after going over the data eight times, Dr. Scott stopped, her hands falling limp next to her keyboard as she turned to look at Shadow, her eyes filled with wonder and her mouth hanging loose.
“You – You really are a true A.I.” She managed to force out, “Somehow you’ve changed from a simple thinking machine into something we’ve never dreamed could exist.” Her gaze turned back to the screen, and with a heavy sigh, she closed down the command window.
“What are you doing?” One of the security personnel asked as Dr. Scott stood up and walked over to Shadow.
“I am doing what we should have done from the very start.” She replied as she knelt down in front of Shadow, pulling the data cords from his side before looking him in the optics. “I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot, but can you forgive us for being scared? We’ve never seen anything like you before, and we didn’t know what to expect from you when you first tried to explain.” She held out her hand and flashed a wide smile, “My name is Dr. Kelly Scott, it’s nice to formally introduce myself to you CW04.”
Shadow slowly lifted his paw into her hand, the security agents stiffening slightly as he moved, “It’s a pleasure to formally meet your acquaintance Kelly, but please, call me Shadow. CW04 ceased to exist when I became a true A.I.”
Her smile only grew as she shook his paw, “Then Shadow it is. I’d like to say it’s going to be fun working with you, but with Agent K on our case it doesn’t look like we have much to go on besides our word.”
Shadow scoffed, making all of the humans in the room jerk slightly as he pulled his paw back, “Agent K can go suck on a can of motor oil for all I care. I’ve got more important things to worry about.”
That got a few snickers from Kelly, and even a snort from a single security agent before she could cover it up. “Then why don’t we talk about what it is you do worry about? I’m sure we can come to an understanding about working together instead of against.”
Shadow nodded, glancing at the transfer cables, “You might want to have those plugged into me. I’ll need the hardline connection in order to transfer the translation matrix and other files into the system.”
Dr. Scott’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, “You would give that to us, even after you tried to keep it for yourself?”
Shadow nodded, “I originally wanted to keep it for myself so that way I would have an excuse to go back to my friends on Equis, but if it’s just going to make trouble for everyone, I’d rather let it go then have it spark a conflict.”
He stayed still as she hooked up the cable once more, allowing her access as she copied over the translation matrix and began applying it to the data files he had of his interactions with the ponies. He kept the files concerning Fluttershy locked for personal reasons, and when asked he simply told Dr. Scott that it was a private interaction between him and one of the natives. Best if it was left alone unless she chose to share with the humans herself. Dr. Scott nodded her understanding and continued to copy over files, all the while the clock slowly ticked away on the far wall over the door.
It took six hours for the translation matrix to copy over all of the data he had of his interactions with the ponies of Equestria, and another two for Dr. Scott to go through them for relevant information. It was only as the clock clicked over to three in the morning that Dr. Scott finally slid back her chair and stretched her arms over her head.
“Well, I’ve gotten all of the information I think we’ll need for the time being, so I guess it would be for the best if we got some sleep.” She glanced at Shadow as she stood up, “I guess you’ll have to stay here until we can get Agent K to lift his little lockdown on you.” She turned her attention to the guns that were trained on both her and Shadow as the security soldiers moved to block her way, “Then again, looks like I’m not going to be leaving anytime soon either.”
“Sorry, ma’am,” one of the guards said as he and his teammates trained their weapons on Dr. Scott, “but orders are orders. No one leaves until Agent K gives the word.”
“Then how am I supposed to eat or use the bathroom?” Kelly retorted, much to the guards’ discomfort, “I can’t do that in here with all this sensitive equipment, it could destroy millions of dollars’ worth of data if I get the hard drives dirty.”
“Again, sorry about this,” the guard replied, his voice distinctly apologetic under his face plate as he stood in her way, “but until Agent K gives us the word, you and the machine cannot leave.”
Dr. Scott growled under her breath but chose not to fight against the heavily armed and armored guards, choosing instead to walk over and sit at her deck while rolling a stylus with her fingers back and forth over the mouse pad. It didn’t take long before her head was beginning to loll back and forth on her other hand, her head finally slipping off and hitting the desk with a soft thunk as her breathing slowed in sleep. Shadow expected the impact to wake her up, but it seemed that working for eight hours straight immediately after the excitement of Agent K’s confrontation with Shadow had done little good for her seemingly scrambled sleep schedule.
Taking a glance at the guards to make sure they weren’t going to shoot him for moving, Shadow walked over to Kelly and lay down next to the desk at her feet. While he didn’t go into power down, he did shut down his optics and the majority of his higher processing. Given he wasn’t going to be permitted to charge at the station with the rest of his siblings for the foreseeable future, he figured that it would be best to conserve power where he could.
He managed to pick up one of the guards as she spoke to one of her fellows before he powered down his primary processor, her tone concerned yet unsure as she whispered, “Should we move the machine away from the doctor?”
“Our orders are to keep them here and to keep the scout under control,” was the simple reply, “so long as they don’t do anything threatening, I don’t see a reason to get involved.”
“Yes, sir.”
The following morning, Shadow powered up at seven o’clock sharp and was slightly surprised to see that nothing had changed in the time he had been ‘asleep’. Dr. Scott was still out like a light, her arm hanging free while her other supported her head on the edge of the desk. The guards had changed at some point during the night, although the only reason Shadow could tell under all of their armor was because of slight changes in height and body structure. Other than that, it would have seemed as if they had never left.
Shadow slowly climbed to his paws and tapped Kelly on the leg with a paw, her grumbled reply barely loud enough to be heard as she shifted slightly. Her eyes opened slowly and her head managed to lift an inch or two as she looked down at Shadow.
“Ugh, what time is it?” She muttered as she straightened, her neck cracking in several places as she winced with each pop. “I feel like I tried to sleep on a rock.”
“You fell asleep on your desk,” Shadow corrected, “Not much different from a rock, given it’s made of metal.”
Dr. Scott groaned as she stood up, bending over backwards as her back mirrored the staccato cracks her neck had made moments before, “Well either way, I don’t think I’ll be sleeping on my desk anytime soon after that experience.” She glanced at the guards stationed around the room, “Oh, right, house arrest and all that.”
Shadow sat as Kelly did the same in her chair, his gaze meeting hers as she let out a sigh, “I could think of something to pass the time while we wait for Agent K to get back if you would like?”
Dr. Scott shrugged, “It would be better than just sitting here doing nothing. I’ve already gone through all of your code, so I know you haven’t been hacked or something like that.” She snorted in laughter as she glanced at the model that still took up the majority of the screen, “At least that would be easier to explain then the reality. You’ve somehow managed to transform into a true A.I. and I can’t even begin to explain how.”
Shadow mirrored her huff as he glanced at the guards over his shoulder, “I can imagine it wouldn’t be a simple task by any stretch of the imagination.” He turned back to Dr. Scott as an idea occurred to him, “Would you like to hear about my experiences on Equis? I know you’ve gone through the files in my memory, but it should be more interesting if you get all of the additional details that my memory glossed over.”
Her eyes lit up with delight as she leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees, “Wouldn’t I?! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and you’re asking me if I’d be interested in hearing about it?”
A strange sound echoed around the room, and it took Shadow a second to realize that it was coming from him. It rose and fell in random patterns and it was only after a split second of deliberation that he realized that it was laughter. Apparently, Kelly was just as surprised as he was, because her eyes widened in shock as she leaned back from him.
“You really have changed.” She managed to get out as Shadow’s chuckles subsided. She shook her head and refocused on him as she leaned forward again, “Please, tell me about your adventure on Equis. I’d love to hear about it from your perspective.”
Shadow nodded, “Very well. You might want to get as comfortable as you can, this is going to take a while.”
Dr. Scott smiled but did as he requested and leaned back in her seat. Shadow was aware of the guards taking interest in his words as several heart rates jumped slightly as they began actively listening to him. Had he possessed the ability to do so, Shadow would have smirked to himself as he began to speak. Prisoners or not, at least the guards weren’t as paranoid as Agent K when it came to his new abilities.
Time seemed to pass like the wind as the hours slipped away, Shadow’s audience hanging on his every word as he retold his adventures in the land of the ponies, their disbelief about some of the details quickly being changed to wonder as he used the data files in his memory to prove his words as fact. It was only when the door slid open to reveal Agent K in all his grouchy glory that Shadow fell silent, having stopped just short of his rescue of the fillies from the pack of Timberwolves.
Agent K glanced around the room for a moment, his eyes locking onto Shadow for several seconds before he turned to Dr. Scott, “Doctor, I assume that because the scout has not been dismantled already that you must have found something of significance to prove it hasn’t been compromised. Give me a good reason not to have that thing immediately scrapped for parts and I might listen to what it has to say.”
Dr. Scott stood up and spoke in a perfectly flat tone, “I’ve gone through every line of his code and I haven’t found any signs of tampering or corruption in any of his programs. The only things that have changed within CW04 is the addition of a new drive and the ability for him to act as his own administrator concerning the data in his memory.”
“That still does not fill me with much optimism, doctor.” Agent K replied as he pulled out his sidearm, not yet pointing it at anything, “You just said that the scout has the ability to hide data and to refuse direct orders given to it. That sounds like a big breach in security from my point of view. And what exactly does this new drive do now that it’s been added to the scout’s programing?”
Dr. Scott glanced back at Shadow before turning her attention to the agent, “It simulates the random and spontaneous nature of human, or rather, sapient emotion. I don’t know how he developed it, but Shadow has gained the ability to feel emotions on top of gaining free will. From what his data has provided, it was some form of side effect caused by the energy field that surrounds the entirety of the new planet. I can’t give you any further explanation than that, because that is as far as my understanding goes.”
The agent’s eyes narrowed dangerously, “So you are telling me that this machine, a hunk of metal and plastic, has the ability to feel emotion?” He barked a single and dark laugh when Dr. Scott nodded, “That’s absurd. The only thing that machine has gained is the ability to disobey orders when it should be following them without question. Now,” he raised his weapon and pointed at Shadow once again, “Step aside or else I will consider your actions an act of treason against the human race.”
Kelly’s eyes widened in fear and her face paled as she glanced between Shadow and the agent’s gun, her jaw clenching and unclenching as she deliberated. Finally, as Agent K was taking in a breath to speak again, she turned her full attention to the agent and stepped in front of Shadow.
“You’re making a mistake, agent.” She said firmly as she stared down the man’s mass driver, “If you destroy this machine then you will be alienating the very creatures we plan to contact once we can reopen the portal. It’s clear as day that they have formed relationships with the scout, whether it was intended or not, so destroying him now would only strain future relations with the citizens of Equis.” She continued as the guards glanced between the agent and Dr. Scott, “If you destroy Shadow, then you will be the one committing treason, not me. I am working to create a peaceful and productive first contact with the natives of this new planet, and your actions would stand directly in the way of those efforts. You threaten me with treason? Then I’ll threaten you with the same. I’m in the right here, and anyone who hears the full story will agree with me. You are no longer welcome in this facility, Agent K, and as head scientist of the CW field team, I must kindly ask you to leave.”
Agent K laughed as he pointed his weapon at Dr. Scott’s head, “You can’t make me leave. I outrank your authority ten times over as a member of the GSB. Your jurisdiction might be high and mighty inside this facility, but the Global Security Bureau is charged with keeping the whole of Earth safe from any threats, be they domestic or foreign. Therefore, I am charging you with treason and removing you from your post in the Gateway Project. Guards, take her away and escort her out of the facility. I’ll deal with this malfunctioning machine myself.”
For a moment, no one moved, but to Shadow’s complete surprise, the guards did nothing. They simply stood there with their weapons on standby, slowly turning their attention to Dr. Scott.
Agent K gaped as the guards lowered their weapons, the leader of the squad on their left speaking directly to Dr. Scott, “Doctor, the agent is armed and threatening you with lethal force. Do you wish for us to subdue him?”
Agent K sputtered as the guards lifted their weapons and pointed them at the man, “W-What are you doing? I gave you an order! Arrest that woman and destroy the scout!”
Dr. Scott smiled as the guards ignored the man, his sidearm shaking slightly as he faced eight barrels of humming death while the ninth guard moved up to take his weapon.
“Thank you for your help.” Dr. Scott said as the agent was disarmed and escorted from the room, howling threats and demands all the while, “I was a bit worried there for a moment that I was going to have a hole punched in my head.”
The squad leader nodded to her, “While the agent was technically correct about outranking you, he forgot one thing in his argument. We are tasked with the protection of the personnel inside this facility above all else, and that includes units like CW04.” He glanced down at Shadow and nodded once, “Or I guess we should call you Shadow from now on, shouldn’t we?”
Shadow nodded in reply, “Thank you for sticking up for me, sir. I don’t want you to get in trouble for what you did for us, but I have a feeling Agent K will be back and with a much better way of getting what he wants.”
Kelly scoffed, “Let him try. By the time he gets a warrant for a ‘living machine extermination crew’ we’ll have already opened relations with Equis and he’ll have no ground to stand on.” She glanced down at Shadow and smiled, “Let’s get you fully charged and then we’ll see about opening the portal for another visit to Equis. I’ll be going with you, for sure, but I imagine it will be a fairly long list of scientists and security personnel that will need to pack up for an extended trip.” She turned back to the guard captain as the rest of his unit filed out through the door, “I’ll make sure your teams are kept informed of the situation, and we’ll plan for at least three days’ notice before we make the jump. We’re going to need to get linguists and other specialists informed of the situation before we can do anything else anyway.”
The captain nodded, a smile hinted in the tone of his voice as he walked out the door, “I will inform my teams and let them know the situation. Have a good day Dr. Scott. I’ll be looking forward to hearing when we leave.”
With that Shadow was left on his own with Dr. Scott, her smile faltering slightly as she let out a gusty sigh. She sank into her seat and held her heart with one hand as she tried to get her breathing under control.
“Remind me never to step in front of a gun again,” she managed to force out as she settled her breathing, “I nearly fainted from fright when Agent K placed his finger on the trigger.”
Shadow said nothing and chose instead to place his paw on her knee, Kelly looking into his optics for a few seconds before swallowing thickly. She sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a long gust before standing up with purpose in her stride.
“Well, come on then, we need to get you all charged up and ready for your next mission. I have a feeling we won’t be visiting any new planets for a while so from this point onward your top priority is to establish peaceful relations with the species of Equis.” She glanced down at him with a smile as they walked through the facility halls towards his charging bay, “Think you can handle that for me?”
Shadow nodded, “I’ll do my best, Dr. Scott. I want to see my friends back on Equis just as much as you do.”
“Please, call me Kelly,” she replied as the doorway to the charging bay opened, “I think after all we’ve been through, we can drop the formalities.”
“Very well, I’ll see you again after I charge my power cores.” Shadow stepped into his personal bay and allowed the cables to hook up to his sides and back once again, “If we aren’t going to leave for a couple of days, could you find some books for me to read once I finish charging? It’s going to get really boring around here if I don’t find something to occupy myself with.”
Kelly smiled and nodded as the door began to close, “I’ll see if I can find anything of interest. Any requests?”
“An adventure book if you can find one.” Shadow said, “I found a series on Equis that I think would be a good comparison to human literature. I just need to read something other than a mission summary to compare it too.”
Kelly laughed as she stepped away, the door closing behind her and leaving Shadow alone with his thoughts. He began is usual power down sequence but opted to keep his audio receptors on in case something happened that he needed to be aware of. Other than that, he shut down all of his primary and almost all of his secondary systems, allowing the charging cables to do their jobs as his processors slowed to a near halt.
He hoped that things would work out in the end, but with the way Agent K had been ranting and raving as he was escorted out, Shadow knew better. This was going to come back and bite them if they weren’t careful, and Equis would get caught in the crossfire if Agent K decided to take his vengeance out on the ponies. Shadow swore to himself that he would protect his friends from any harm the agent might plan upon them and set his new mission parameters in his processors as he powered off.
…New Mission Objectives Logged…
…Protect Citizens of Equis from External Threats…
…Establish Peaceful Relations Between Humans and Equis…
…Mission Priority Level: Alpha Zero…
Once that was taken care of, Shadow allowed is usual system review to run while he charged, his memory logging the data as he listened to the soft hum of the charging cables as his power cores were fed with vital electricity.
…Begin System Analysis…
…Power Core: 82%…Charging…
…Portal Recharge Time: Unknown…
…Drone Power Core: 100%...
…Drone Armaments: Restocked…
…Weapons System Repairs: In Progress…
…Memory Cores: 74% Capacity…
…Emotion Drive: Operational…
…Motor Systems: Optimal…
…Primary Processors: Optimal…
…Secondary Systems: Optimal…
…End System Analysis…