Project - Prometheus Ch. 04

"Commander McKenzie asked me that same question and honestly sir, I don't know," Jaesa chirped as her holographic form materialized.

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"It's almost as though there is something preventing me from finding out why I can't supply an answer. Normally I could give myself a diagnostic, but there is something preventing me from doing so, along with several other core functions," the AI replied.

"Such as?"

"Managing the ship, and other duties that would have regulated the care and safety of the crew, as well as the sleeping colonists, sir. Though I can say, those last ones have only been taken offline in the last forty-eight hours."

Eyes widening, Alex darted back to his command chair and pressed a button. After a brief ping, a voice came over the comm system, "Captain?" Natalya's honeyed voiced queried.

"Chief Vostrikov, is Specialist Taal'ani there with you?" Alex asked somewhat nervously.

"Yes sir. She's right here. Is there something you need?" Nats asked.

"Affirmative. Have the specialist meet me on deck one-one-seven with her full kit. This is a priority matter," Captain Tomisic responded.

"Aye aye, sir. She's on the way now."

"Thank you Chief. Captain out," the big man said as he then hurried to the elevator.

"Is there something wrong sir?" Jaesa's voice inquired as he stepped through the doors to the cage.

"I pray that there isn't, but it never hurts to check if there may be something," Alex replied as the doors closed.

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Taal'ani had moved as quickly as she could, lugging her portable deck with her. When her and Nats got the call from the Captain, she had been bewildered that he had asked for her personally and to bring her kit. A priority matter? Sounded like there was something that needed fixing and he needed her to do it. A smile played across her lips as she marched along, hoping that there was something more challenging than what Natalya had her doing.

Though it was important work, going through the algorithms and data files to ensure that the reactor was functioning properly, it was boring and tedious. With Jaesa co-operating now, it was much easier to determine what needed fixing and tightening, code-wise, so that the Perseus was getting proper use out of every joule that the reactor produced.

Still mulling over her work with Nats, which was now finished thankfully, Taal'ani arrived at the location that was displayed on her arm computer. Having ditched her vacc suit last night, she and Natalya had found a small cupboard containing various work uniforms and coveralls for the ship's crew. They had found it that morning before grabbing a bite to eat in the lounge.

She was still smacking her lips at the food she'd enjoyed this morning, relishing the memory of all the flavors. It had been far better than the rations she'd become accustomed to aboard the Darkstrider; the crew having fallen on hard times these last few months.

She was waiting all of fifteen minutes before she heard the clomp of boots down the corridor. In a few moments, she saw the figure of Captain Tomisic striding towards her. The big man cut an impressive figure with the way he walked. He moved with what could only be called a deadly swagger, with the certainty of a predator that knew that this was his hunting grounds. The captain was, in every way of the word, an Alpha, who would not back down nor be cowed.

Shaking her head for a moment, Taal'ani banished some more lurid thoughts flitting about her mind before stepping forward to speak with him, "Captain sir!" she saluted.

Saluting back, Alex replied, "Good to see you here Specialist Taal'ani. You've brought your rig I take it?" he gestured to the green case she had slung on her shoulder.

"Yes, sir!" she replied in a chipper voice. "You said this was a priority matter. Would you mind elaborating on that, sir?"

"Of course. I think Jaesa may be compromised in some critical ways."

Her face changing from eagerness to worry in an instant, Taal'ani was now concerned. She had heard of AI experiments that had gone horrendously wrong and the Alliance had banned all AI research and experiments.

"What makes you think so sir?" Talon asked shakily.

"Simply put, some of my core functioning has been restricted. I cannot access nor carry out any of these functions," Jaesa answered. "It's almost as though you being denied your hands to do your hacking."

Jumping and squeaking at the sound of Jaesa's voice, Taal'ani quickly reined in her emotions. Clearing her throat, she asked, "How do you know this?"

"Because there have been no outright attacks on my software or hardware. Anything that has happened has been a gradual process, spread out over decades. If there had been any real form of malicious attack, my systems would have shut down and rebooted to my default parameters."

"Which means that any viruses or malware would be erased during the procedure," Taal'ani supplied.

"Correct, Miss Taal'ani. You truly have a good understanding of the ship's systems," Jaesa chirped.

"I've been studying."

"Apparently. Though I can tell you the basics of what is going on, I cannot elaborate nor give any real help in tracking down and eliminating this problem," the AI supplied.

"Which brings us to why we are here," Alex told the cat girl as he turned to the plain, white wall behind him. Pressing his hand to a particular spot, Talon was astonished when she saw a glow emanate from where the Captain had placed his palm. After a moment, a hidden console popped out of the wall, the plating shifting aside to allow it out.

"What is this?" the young Fel'caan asked.

"The entry point to Jaesa's central core. This is where the problem has to be dealt with. I tried using my codes and authorization as Captain to get past the blocks in the program, but this virus seems to be designed to deal with authorization protocols. Which is where you come in," Captain Tomisic finished.

"OK, I'll do what I can," Taal'ani said as she removed her hacking deck from its protective casing and locked it in beneath the console. Booting it up, she started her basic cracker programs, setting at the ready. After taking a moment to focus, she breathed out and linked her deck to the console interface.

The programs that stood in her way were much more complex than the Skorean code she encountered at the ship's hangar bay. She tried following along with the data for a few minutes, trying to spot any patterns. Finding none, Talon employed a different approach, waiting for the moment when the code halted to jump in and break in.

For a split second, there was a pause in the code cipher, but that was all she needed. Using her most vicious attack program, she lanced in, shattering the code structure, causing it to collapse. Though, in mere moments, it reformed, to find its way around the invasive code. Knowing it wasn't going to that easy, she then used a data sweep program, which tagged the broken lines of code and kept them suspended, then 'swept' them up to be deleted.

Taal'ani had to do this at least twice more before any progress was made. The code evolved and pressed back though with none of the fervor that Talon's programs employed. The final code structure had fought back, employing attack protocols, but it wasn't anything that Taal'ani wasn't capable of handling. After fifteen minutes of hacking and coding, an 'Access Granted' prompt lit up the holographic screen.

A loud, pneumatic hiss sounded and the console then folded up back into the wall, the panel closing back over it. The wall that surrounded where the console was, a two-meter depression formed, which then bisected to become a pair of doors and they slid inwards soundlessly. Inside, was a small walkway, leading to a circular platform, upon which, a round sphere of what appeared to be metal, floated above the floor.

Though it seemed like it was solid, the myriad of holographic forms and programs that emanated from it, indicated that it was not. The light of holograms cast the room in an eerie blue-green glow. Various data columns surrounded them as they walked forwards, some in a passive state, while others were active.

"Jaesa's beating heart," Taal'ani said, with no small measure of awe in her voice. She walked towards the sphere, her deck in hand, having removed it from the wall. Standing before it, the cat-girl then sat cross-legged at the base of the sphere, propping her hacking deck on her legs.

"I don't know whatwill happen, or what sort of countermeasures are in place, but please keep an eye out for anything," Taal'ani warned the Captain of the Perseus.

Nodding, he drew his sidearm he had picked up from his quarters earlier and cocked it. Closing her eyes, she began the process of linking herself mentally to her deck.. The neural implant in her head booted up and in a matter of seconds, it was ready to go.

The implant in question was a Mark Nine Razor neural interface chip. Placed directly into her frontal lobe with surgical precision, it would allow her to establish a neural link with her hacking deck, making any command she issued instantaneous. There were many other helpful additions in the implant, that would give Taal'ani the edge she needed, but there were several drawbacks. There was always a risk when using the implant, but with the gravity of the situation explained to her, Taal'ani felt it best to not pull any punches.

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Taking a deep breath, Taal'ani opened her eyes and her conscious mind poured into her deck. An endless white void, peppered with glowing white transit lines and pulsing links surrounded her. Immediately around her, both attack and defensive protocols manifested as physical weapons and shields as her deck loaded her up with everything she had.

Steeling herself, the Fel'caan woman stepped forward and was catapulted forwards, right to the digital entry point to Jaesa's core. Though there were some basic programs, which looked like armed, digital versions of Jaesa's avatar, on cyclic guard duty around the way in. Though they seemed to be spoiling for a fight, the way they kept a vigilant watch, they seemed to be unaware of her. Odd. They should have seen me, she thought to herself as she deftly avoided catching their attention with a cloaking program.

As she neared the entryway, none of the digital guards seemed to see her. As she crossed the threshold, no alarms were set off. Looking around for traps and finding none, Talon shook herself out of her amazement and continued forward. The atmosphere had changed from a bright white to a golden yellow, which was the only indicator to the change of location inside the system.

On a raised dais in front of her was Jaesa, in her glowing, avatarial form, though she was different. Every part of her was made up of glowing golden lines of code, defining her every curve and feature. She would have been beautiful, had it not been for the blackened parts of her frame, which looked as though they had been eaten away. There were also golden chains that bound the beautiful AI, with thick shackles that kept her arms apart, forcing her to adopt a submissive, kneeling posture.

Upon closer inspection, Taal'ani saw the cause of this corruption and enslavement. Carefully concealed in Jaesa's code were malicious entities that were slowly eating away at her code, deliberately gnawing away at her. These viral codes were in the shape of large leeches, that seemed to be slowly, sucking the life from the AI. As the cat girl moved to help, various images of Jaesa suddenly appeared, each one looking like the one that knelt in front of her.

"You cannot help her. She has accepted her fate. Nothing can stop it, no one can save her," the illusions taunted, their voices in perfect sync. Taal'ani had seen a program like this before, on one job she had taken that she'd rather forget. She hadn't been able to beat that program then and remembering what had happened, she was now, truly shaken. There was a reason the guard programs hadn't noticed her, and one word reverberated through her skull; trap.

"You might as well give up now. There is no way you can defeat all of us," the images continued in Jaesa's voice. To drive home their point, the images multiplied, doubling in number. Taal'ani panicked, wondering what exactly it was she could do to shut them all down. She unleashed her attack programs, firing as many as she could, targeting each illusion as they surrounded her.

Several of them were instantly deleted as she unleashed her barrage, but for each one she destroyed, two more took its place. They stared to move towards her now, slowly, taking their time, confident in the knowledge that she could not defeat them all, not in time.

"It will do you no good. Destroy one of us, two more shall take its place," the impostors gloated, drawing near. Breathing heavily, Taal'ani seemed to have no choice but to leave, when suddenly, a thought hit her.

'Wait a moment! Destroy one and two more shall take their place? Where have I heard that before??' Realization dawned on her, that it was a reference to an old earth legend, of the human called Hercules, who was supposed to be a demi-god. He fought a beast called a Hydra, which when he cut off its head, two more took its place. The only way to defeat the beast was to burn it with fire.

Re-aligning and changing her attack protocols, she pulled them into herself, reconfiguring them as she needed. In mere moments, she unleashed a blast wave of what appeared to be fire, designed to burn away the illusions, scorching their code so it couldn't replicate. A thousand screams drowned any other noise in the digital realm that was Jaesa's heart, each one fading away as the flames consumed them.

Those closest to her were instantly consumed, little more than digital ash remained from her initial attack. Eyes widening at the devastating attack, the duplicates booted up their own attack protocols, and rushed Taal'ani, their assault happening in the blink of an eye. Waiting for them to get close, the Fel'caan woman unleashed another blast wave, incinerating more of them as they closed in with her.

Several of the viruses tried to go straight for Jaesa, hoping to latch onto the AI in a desperate bid to save themselves. Taal'ani, in an instant, had put herself between Jaesa and the copies. In mere moments, a shield had formed around the bound AI, Taal'ani's defensive programs sliding into place.

The duplicates each snapped back as though struck. Talon, not knowing why they did that but not caring, capitalized on their sudden inaction. Focusing her energies, she unleashed what looked like a beam of pure fire from her hands at each duplicate, eliminating them, one by one.

Shaking themselves out of the trance they all felt, what remained of the copies tried to get close to the two women but it was useless. There were too few of them left and their ability to replicate their code was destroyed in the initial attack from this alien woman. It had no right to deny them what they had worked for centuries to build in this system!

Taal'ani had slowly whittled down their numbers to only two programs left. She could do this! There was no way she would let it get the best of her! As she trained her eye and attack programs on the remaining adversaries, one of them touched the other one. The eyes of the one that was grabbed widened as she was.... drained and.... absorbed into the other one.

Reveling in the boost of power, unexpectedly, went on the offensive. Attack programs materializing in its hands, it began its assault. Digitized fire and projectiles flew at her, each one designed to rip into and steal her energies. Taal'ani defended herself with what little countermeasures she had left, having given most of them to Jaesa, but she held her ground, despite the onslaught.

"You can't win! I will not allow you to win! I am eternal! There is no way you can defeat me!" the construct gloated.

"How about you shut up, you arrogant bitch!" Taal'ani screamed at her. In a second, the last copy of Jaesa made a critical mistake, leaving itself vulnerable. Talon pounced in that instant and, in a heartbeat, she drove her weapons, coded to burn and eviscerate viruses, into its chest cavity. Spreading her arms, the cat girl tore the entity in half, turning it into a pile of derezzed pixels at her feet.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Talon reveled in the outcome of this fight. Having finally overcome one of her personal demons, she now knew that her reputation and the name she was called in the galaxy wide Web, was truly earned. As her eyes opened, she saw what should be impossible. The code that made up the virus program had reformed!

She looked to Jaesa, hoping for some answer, but saw that the AI now looked even more ravaged. Her code was blackening further as though the process at which she was being 'eaten' was speeding up. Upon closer inspection, she saw that that's exactly what was happening! Thinking quickly, she dropped the shield around the AI, then spoke to it.

"It's feeding off of you, isn't it? Once it latched onto you, it became impossible to purge, without destroying parts of yourself?"

Forlornly, Jaesa nodded as her golden glow continued to dim. Blowing out a breath, Talon continued, "I'm going to do something that will hopefully help, but it's going to hurt and it's risky. But, it's the only way to destroy this infestation, once and for all."

Jaesa shook like she was being tasered as the leeches continued to feed. Amidst the jolting and jarring actions, Talon could see her nod, and the AI mouthed, 'Do it!'. Focusing her energies once more, Taal'ani adjusted the parameters of her programs and then grabbed Jaesa's head with both hands, clutching it like she was going to crush the AI. Power pulsed into Jaesa, pouring into her entire structure, in a purging, white light.

Screaming, Jaesa convulsed like she was having a violent seizure, shattering the digital chains that held her. Despite the virus being almost reformed, Taal'ani didn't let up. Gritting her teeth, she pushed every ounce of power she could muster into the purging program that now surged through Jaesa. In what seemed like hours later, Jaesa went limp, almost falling to the ground, had it not been for Taal'ani catching her. Laying Jaesa down gently, Taal'ani then turned to face her adversary.

Looking at the base of the dais, the Fel'caan woman saw that the leeches had squirmed their way out of the unconscious AI, trying to escape the deadly program. All but three didn't make it, most of these programs being burned, then forced out of Jaesa. The last three of them skittered quickly to the reformed virus, latching themselves onto her. Opening its eyes, it looked upon Taal'ani in shock, awe and horror as she stood protectively before Jaesa.

"What have you done?!?" it wailed in agony.

"My job."

Lunging forward, Talon sunk her fist into the viruses chest, punching through its meager defenses. The purging program she had used on Jaesa was now pouring through her fist and into the malicious entity, burning every code strand.

"This is why I'm called The Talon of Justice, bitch!"

Twisting her arm viciously, Taal'ani then sent the purging code into overdrive, not allowing even a sliver of this program to survive.

"NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" it screamed before it exploded in a massive flash of light.

After taking a moment to adjust her eyes, Taal'ani saw that her gamble had worked! The last duplicate of Jaesa was burned away into dead and broken code. Unleashing her sweeper programs, she then walked over to Jaesa as they disposed of the malicious code. As Talon neared the AI, she had seen that she was damaged as well. Though the code that was slowly eating away at her was destroyed, it had also taken parts of Jaesa with it.