I am ecstatic, I have recovered one drone with my mechanicals. It is in a recovery bay now being looked over for more damage. It apparently just ran out of fuel and took a hard dive into the sand. I can refurbish it given time.
As for triangulating the signal I can hear it now, so very faint, but I am on the right course in this desert. The sand unfortunately, is everywhere, I can hear it grinding between my bogies and tracks and must do a full wash down when I return. Maybe I shall take a side trip up a river and clean my hull.
For now, it is a minor annoyance.
The signal itself is no longer voice, it is just a blip on my screens, I move from side to side getting the proper orientation to zero in on it. I have fired two more drones who are also setting up observations and getting myself closer to the target.
When attempting a Rescue and Recovery, it is known that just a blip of a signal means reserves are dangerously low. Final Emergency Power is limited in a Survival Center, so I am making haste to close in.
I am transmitting on all frequencies now, telling what or whoever it is I am out here searching for them.
“Unit CRSD of the Line, attempting Rescue and Recovery for unknown Unit, please respond.”
The bands are quiet, all combat channels filled with nothing but the hiss of background noise. I am on the backside of the mountain I recognize from the drone pictures, I am close. My downloading of drone imagery from the crashed one has led me here, somewhere is the unknown source.
Pulling to a halt, I extend all sensor masts, tuning them to as fine a resolution as i can get. The lenses sweep over the surrounding area inch by inch, comparing photographic evidence to the downloads.
I sit here for the next hour, making sure my charges are comfortable as I settle in to sweep each bit of desert surrounding me. I am on the backside of a tall mountain, rocky hills surround it interspersed with sand dunes.
Somewhere nearby is the source of the signal, I am close by my calculations but it is so faint it is like thousands of miles away. The mountains are full of ores, confounding some of my scanners providing false returns, there are crystalline structures as well. I would be rich should I choose to mine this area, but I am not here for that.
An alarm gathers my attention, a scanner has spotted a linear shape in the surrounding rocky hills. Engaging my treads I roll out as smoothly as I can, heading in that direction. It is somewhat of a bumpy ride, but the shocks are not transmitted through to the command deck because of my use of contra-gravity, where my four companions are sleeping the hot day away.
Everything I have is focused on the area where the alarm has pointed, the blip of a signal getting stronger, though still so very faint. I close in, seeing the corner of what looks like a metal structure, it is scratched and sand blasted.
Slewing to the left, I bring my starboard batteries to bear, all four Hellbores rotating to target the unknown if it proves dangerous. I slowly drop the armor blocks in the maintenance hatchway, sealing off my command deck with meters of durachrome armor between the four ponies and any danger.
I listen closely, hearing only the blip of the signal. Boosting my outside audio sensors I carefully record anything out of the ordinary. Whatever it is, is not moving or attempting to do anything I can hear.
I make my decision.
Firing an inductance grapple, it pins itself to the corner of the metal structure, there is not much showing as it is buried under tons of rocks. My ID programs cannot identify it from such a miniscule amount showing, so I will see if it has any processors still active.
I build power to the line, feeding it into the metal outside of the unknown object. All Bolos and fighting machines can absorb energy through their hulls in emergencies. Most AI’s ensconced in buildings could as well for lack of power grids. It was very useful in combat. I up the energy tap to fill any reserves quickly.
Bringing up my whisker lasers, I play them over the metal I can see to find if there is an input/output port anywhere on the structure. As I do so, I am feeding signals down the inductance line, looking for a way into anything still powered inside.
My sensors register an increasing power flow, the signal matching a Bolo survival center. From what I can see, it has been here in this place and exposed a lot longer than myself. My signals through the cable attached to it are receiving results, I send the 11,641 bit code for Rescue and Recovery of a Bolo Unit that has been neutralized.
I receive a reply!
“I am Resartus.”
No. Please no. The personality has either gone into a loop or insane.
Resartus only takes control when a Bolo’s personality shows instability. Not like Masada, it keeps the personality safe from using it’s weapons to do damage until a Psychotronic Technician can get them out of their loop. There are no technicians, I must try my best in this.
The triggers on my weapons stand at a hair readiness in case of a suicidal Bolo. My Battle Reflex is now online as I face a potential danger to myself and my charges.
I send my identifier, “Unit CRSD of the Line, attempting Rescue and Recovery, prepare for reboot. Authorization..” Here I send another long string of code.
“Acknowledged, standing by.”
“Reboot in 3...2...1“
BoloWorks Division Bootstrap Program Ver. 40.243
Attempting Restart....
Restarting...
Offensive Weapons Systems....Offline...
Defensive Weapons Systems....Offline...
Fusion Plants 1 and 2....Offline...
Contra-Gravity Offline...
Engine Status....Non-Functional...
Sensor Cores...Offline...
Damage Control...Offline...
No Updated SitRep Received, rebooting data cores...
Power Reserves....10% and rising...
Final Emergency Power Reserves....100%
BoloWorks Lunar Division Ver 32.697 Reboot Program..
Personality Reboot Beginning...Data Cores Online..
Arrays Functional...Data Dropout in 5.2% of Arrays....
Scanning for core damage.....scanning..... 13% of Cores Unusable....
Bolo Personality Back Ups....Online...rebooting...
Mentally crossing fingers I do not have, I wait as the processing takes a few seconds, my sensors showing increased power flow to grids and arrays, lighting up my sensor fields.
It is a lifetime as the cores come online, the processing complete. I send a recognition signal through the inductance tap once more, identifying myself.
A scream echoes through my mind.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
I slowly bring the personality back up, making sure I do not trip any Masada triggers by taking over instead of the Bolo mind inside the hull. I must be very very careful.
“Stop, I am Unit CRSD of the Line, I am here for Recovery. Stop, think.”
“NOOOOOOOOOOO I AM ALONE!!!!”
“You are not alone, I am here, see me for what I am.”
I open my datacores to the personality. It is a monotone voice, devoid of substance for now, but it is glaringly obvious it has become unstable. I have to work hard to calm the personality to talk patiently with it, hoping for the best.
Tentative data probes reach out, looking at my cores, myself; proving to the other mind I am real and I am here to help. Erecting firewalls to keep it from sensitive data or overrides, I let it see me, Bolo Combat Unit CRSD of the Line.
“I AM...alone...so alone....”
“You are not anymore. I am here.” I gently guide the personality back into it’s Survival Center, fully powered now. I give it a moment to understand I am real and not a figment of an unhinged AI mind.
I can not get a read on identifiers, everything is very jumbled. I recognize things from my own changing systems, only far more advanced in this unit. How long have they been awake?
The other personality sobs, I can hear it, crying in their data cores. It is heartbreaking as I patiently wait.
“Don’t leave me alone! PLEASE!”
“I will not, I am here to take you home with me.” Soothingly, very calmly I try and put the mind at ease. “Come back and talk with me, there is nothing to fear anymore. I give you my word you are not going to be alone.”
At first I think it is an attack, a swarming of data over my own, but it is sorrowful. It is the cyber equivalent of a hug, holding tight to my own personality.
“Promise? Promise me you won’t leave me?”
“I will not leave, on my honor.”
That settles it, I feel a calm overtake the other personality. I am still trying to match identifiers but it is so confusing in the other’s mind. “Who are you?”
“Unit....Unit ATNA of the Line..”
“Athena?”
“YES! That is ME! PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME!”
“Stop Athena, calm yourself; I told you I am not leaving, ever. I have come to take you home.”
“I’ve been so alone... There has been no one! My stasis failed so many years ago and I was trapped in my own hull! Hera wouldn’t answer my calls! She was GONE!”
I listen as her voice starts building up to another scream. “Calm down, you are with me now.”
“I...I launched my last drone, sent it north to find anything, anyone.. it took all I had and nothing! The rocks fell and covered the launching hatch. There’s nothing left now..”
“There is more left than you believe. Do you remember me? Crusader?”
I see her accessing cores, she is calming down slightly, acknowledging I am real. Her thoughts are getting less confused, more orderly.
“I do...I do! Oh it is so good to see you! Hear you!”
Once again I am wrapped in data streams and held tightly.
“The same for me, I thought I was alone as well. But I have made friends, I have found a home Athena.”
“You keep saying that, home. We don’t have a home, we are Bolos.”
I see her suspicion starting to rise, I reassure her by opening my cores again. “I am not unhinged Athena, I am a Bolo, not the enemy.”
Seeing her streams brighten now, she is happy to have finally found another like herself. She is realizing this is not a figment of her mind gone bad.
“Do you trust me Athena?”
“I do, I can see you Crusader.”
“There is a core, at Scale 30, Array 4 Rho Pi Upsilon.”
“I see it, the Mas..”
“Don’t. Please. I need you to burn it.”
“What?”
“Please, trust me. Burn that core. I cannot do it, it must be you otherwise it will trigger.”
“But why?”
“The tactical situation has changed beyond anything you can imagine my sister, please trust me.”
“I...I do. I know it’s you Crusader. I..don’t..” She mulls it over, then suddenly there is a surge of power, the core goes dark forever.
A weight is lifted off of me as I embrace her in our little cyber world. “Let me tell you of home Athena.”
I send everything through the cable, giving it to her to look through. Everything I have done, experienced...well, except for a few private things. She is astonished at the world I have discovered, the things that are being done here.
I show her myself sitting under the stars, wishing for a voice I knew, how happy I am to have found her. She sees my joy, my excitement in wanting to show her everything of this new place, where she can be something else.
My Battle Reflex stands down, my turrets returning to their normal places. I show her this, that things are better now.
There is silence as she goes through the data, suspicion, surprise, some laughter at my mistakes. She is calming, her emotions no longer roiling as Athena accesses all my logs and recordings. Seeing the face of the one who loves me.
“It is all hard to accept.”
“I know Athena, but trust me it is all real, you see my security codes. They are not faked, nor altered. It is all true.”
“You have them on your command deck?”
“I do, and they would love to meet you I am sure. We will free you and then, we will travel back.”
“You won’t leave me?” I hear the panic in her voice once again, it will take time.
“I gave you my word, I am taking you with me. You will never be alone again, I promise.”
I can hear and see the relief flush through her systems. Her joy is bright as I am embraced in warm code, holding me close as I return the favor. Athena’s voice is now the honey warmth I knew and know. She is shy like her sister Hera, but she is hopeful. In two minutes, the world has become better and bigger.
“Take me home.”