"Why don't we open the door?" Miller says he can crack the timelock," Dr. Westlake said.

General Brooks looked up from the screen on his desk and glared angrily. "Why should I authorize?"

"There's someone out there!" They're frozen!"

"I know. Six adults, three children. What do you want to say? The whole planet is freezing. ”

"But we can save these people," said the doctor, his face flushed with anger.

"Doctor, we're full. Do you understand?" The general said.

"It's only nine o'clock!" This shelter is designed for 5,000 people! West Lake shouted.

"Exactly! We have five thousand! Among them were 912 children, 83 pregnant women, and a charter that, in its original words, was, "Until the end of this damn winter", which, as far as we know, could be a thousand years! We hid and waited for the worst part of the storm system to pass, and when we could dump the dirt outside, we continued to expand. But what we're not doing is saving the lives of people who may be overburdened with our existing taxes. ”

"Nine people don't overburden our hydroponic system. It can hold three times as many people as us!" West lake.

"Of course it would, if we maximized it now instead of conserving resources!" How many do you think we will have in fifty years? A hundred years? How do they eat? If I let these people in, who are not trained to evacuate, who are not well educated, and who need our irreplaceable medical reserves, what about the next group that finds us? What's next?"

"But they have children," Westlake objected, his anger subsided.

"What about your child's survival?" Brooks said with a gloomy face. "I'll tell you. If you can find three volunteers who are willing to swap places with those three kids, I'll ask Miller to open the door. ”

Westlake walked out in a rage, leaving the door open. Brooks' assistant stood up, gave him a sympathetic look, and closed the door. Brooks turned his gaze back to the screen on the table, where the camera at the front door showed four adults banging on the iron door, and finally two adults huddled together with a child wrapped in a blanket. A tear welled up in his eye, but he refused to fall.

It took a few hours for them to give up and leave.

I'm not stupid enough to go to Sakura's bungee jumping system first. I didn't know what was waiting for us at the other end, so I sent most of the squad ahead of me to secure the landing zone. They did the actual training, both simulated and live, which I had never done before. I have integrated the combat pack, which immediately gave me an idea of the basics of soldiers. It was like a boot camp, but I didn't have any experience that would make me a good soldier. I knew I wasn't going to shoot myself or my teammates.

Soon I was hurtling down the hallway. Over the past few decades, this entrance tunnel has undergone hundreds of rockets and thousands of drones. The walls were scarred by thrusters, burned to the core, and scraped by all sorts of accidental collisions. But the descent was so fast that I rolled over as soon as I got off the bungee jump.

It took me 17 minutes to "fall" to the ultra-low gravity center of the asteroid. For an artificial intelligence, it's a lifetime of time, someone who can process and think as quickly as I do. I have no other distractions, no orders to give, no designs to create.

What went wrong? It's not just that the template isn't checked. I made myself a cog in the machine, delegating my responsibilities so I could play the role of a simple engineer. Am I trying to rediscover the essence of humanity that I once had? I can do more and be more. I know what to do. But if I change, will I lose touch with my past self?

I had to face a simple fact: I kept restraining myself because I was afraid. Fear of change, fear of failure, and even fear of the responsibilities assigned to myself before I left the earth. Again, I hope that Dr. Jones will bring memories of my past life. I completely discouraged that wish. I'm not that Nikolai anymore, and I'm not human anymore. My roots are in human nature, and my goals and desires could easily be thought of as human in nature, but I have transcended human form. I have more to do, and if I want to fulfill my instructions, if I want to be the one who saves humanity, then I need to be everything that I am not. I'm not a pinion in a machine. I wasn't the nominal supervisor, and Agrippa and Sakura did all the heavy lifting. I'm Nikolai. I'm Nikolai.

"It was a mistake," I said. "The whole thing."

"Really? We're not even 6 months old. His voice was heavy, but he wasn't shocked.

I tried. I've been trying, but the night before was my last attempt. Maybe when it was all over, I burst into tears, and the look of pain on his face when I reached for my pajamas told him that.

"We're good friends," I replied. "But we're not fit for that. Last night......"

"We can try more. You barely touched me after the wedding. ”

"No," I said sadly, "that should tell you everything you want to know." You deserve something better than six mediocre attempts and a half-hearted relationship. We deserve better. ”

He sighed. "What are you going to tell your parents?"

I feel sorry for him. He was not in favor of divorce. He was very conservative and did not fall into religious "madness" like my parents. But they paid me for a year of graduate school tuition. At least now I have enough credit to apply for a loan. He helped me one more thing. I felt like a terrible person.

"The truth. I shrugged and said.

I felt relieved. The stress was tormenting me so much that I was almost two months late. I was worried for a second that this might not be a matter of stress. But it's definitely too much pressure. I can't even imagine what would have happened if it had been another reason.

"I'll contact a lawyer and find a new place," he said.

I landed in a battle. I have a bunch of smashing drones in front of me, and my Guardian uses them as cover. I clamped the metal surface with the magnetic grip on my foot and leaned down. Random debris of various sizes floated on the landing pad, floating, spinning, bouncing in all directions. The destroyed drones that we use as cover are almost as dangerous as real bullets. They may be largely weightless in this environment, but they have a lot of mass. If we're not careful, that pile will still crush us to death.

The entrance tunnel is a long Faraday cage made up of raw rock and nickel-iron that wreaks havoc on radio signals. After seeing the dense wreckage area, I suspected that the radio signal could reach a dozen yards away.

"Report," I ordered Guardian 92. He became my unofficial class president.

"General Agrippa and a group of Guardians have defended the tunnels to the north. We lost two Guardians when we tried to replay your commands. I don't think they'll listen to your orders anymore. ”

It's bad. We need to get into the communications room, which is inside the tunnel to the north. To make matters worse, Sakura, and me, or another of my data centers, have come to an end.

"Ollie, Ollie, no cow...... Come out, come out, wherever you are......" Gerry sang. Where did he broadcast it from? I scanned the wall and saw a radio repeater on it. I looked around further and saw an access point. He didn't destroy the equipment here, so I guess he wanted to take it with him intact. Well, this means that the armored blast door to the data center will probably last for a while.

I checked my battery and found that I still had six hours of use. How much time does Gerry have? Agrippa's battery life won't be much better than mine, but I don't know if he stopped to charge. At least there is nowhere to charge in the tunnels, so if the fight lasts long enough, I can simply wait for him. The problem with this situation is that I can't expect the data center doors to last that long. To make matters worse, I'm not sure the firewall will be able to withstand another six hours of adaptive attacks. I know that the "other me" may be programming frantically to get ahead of the enemy, but all it takes is a small hole to wreak havoc on the network.

I looked back and another Guardian landed on the barrier. I saw a sniper of mine on the ceiling, crawling towards a position where I could shoot in the hallway. This will help prevent them from charging us, but will do little to help us get in or turn off the antenna.

The communications room is right there, behind 8 to 10 inches of pristine rock and ore. The base was carved here, not built. The door to the room was in the north hall and we couldn't get there. But if we could get through the wall...

I can't get the drone because the network is here and it refuses to authenticate me. Even if I could get my hands on the drones, they could be shredded when Gerry's troops tried to get into position. UAVs with a pulse drive are not fast.

"Sakura-chan, can you read me?" I broadcast to the access point.

"Can't speak. Turn off the antenna now! She let out a quick, mechanical shout. It has no trace of personality and no attempt at any human touch. Sakura is in dire need of resources, and she's using whatever scrap is available. Can't wait any longer for Gerry to run out of power.

I looked towards the tunnel to the south. Well, I can go in. There are enough wrecks and large drones on the road that some Guardians can sneak past and stay covered for most of the journey. The tunnel to the south leads to the original and largest fusion reactor chamber. I can't cut off the power, that would only make things worse.

92, hide them. Follow me. Others, follow Team 92. We'll be right back. I ordered.

Guardian 64 followed me, and we made our way through debris and destroyed drones to the tunnel to the south. As soon as I entered the tunnel, over the ruins, I rushed forward. I ran as fast as I could, letting the momentum carry me through the hall, only occasionally touching the walls as a guide. I knew number 64 was right after me.

After a few minutes, I turned on my magnetic boots and twisted them until my feet hit the ground. While I still had some momentum, the magnetic field on my feet locked onto a piece of iron ore and I almost lost my balance. I searched the walls, looking for something I knew must be here.

Over there. An inconspicuous sheet of metal near the floor.

"Guardian 64, guarding the hallway. No one can come near me. ”

"Understood," he replied.

I knelt down and removed the panels. I've never been here; Before I had a robotic body, drones did the job. The panels are tightened with four grub screws. That's when I realized I didn't have the tools. I frantically looked around, but the hallway was clean and tidy.

Then I looked at my hands. It won't be pleasant. I included touch-sensitive skin in this design. Touch is a valuable sensation that can be grasped without having to know the composition of every object that your hand can touch. If you can't plan for every scenario, you need a feeling to base your scraping algorithm. Unfortunately, I was chained to an existing system that naturally evolved for touch. This made sense at the time because it was powerful and saved a lot of work. But this system is also associated with suffering.

I looked at my hand again. It won't be pleasant. I grabbed the little finger of the hand holding the weapon, twisted it suddenly, and ripped it off. Pain raged in my brain for a while before my cerebral cortex coded to realize that no nervous system could continue to transmit this feeling. Suddenly, the pain was over and I received a warning that my hand was hurting.

The fingers I ripped off were a mixture of synthetic muscle and skin, as well as fullerene titanium. The joints are destroyed, but the skeleton, the bone structure, is not. I didn't have enough strength to bend the metal in my fingers. I carefully flicked off the broken pieces of the joint, leaving only the flat edge that connected the joint to the metal phalanges. The flat edge of the bone is a bit smaller, but it can be used as a temporary screwdriver.

After fumbling for a few minutes, the panel fell off, revealing a small box containing two. This is one of the self-destructing programs that I disabled after searching for security vulnerabilities in my code. The trigger was disabled, but not broken, neatly placed at the bottom of the box. The devices themselves are resting on a power cable, the power of which is enough to cut not only that cable, but also dozens of cables behind it and junction boxes behind it. I ripped the device off the cable and easily twisted the plastic band.

I picked up the trigger and held it with my other hand. A few seconds later, I flew back into the tunnel. This time, I'm following the Guardian 64. I need a bulletproof shield. As we approached the landing platform again, we got out of the wreckage. The artillery fire intensified, but every few minutes more defenders landed on our side.

"Number 92, report." I said as I approached.

"The hostile elements are still hiding. We eliminated two and injured one. They set up barricades and appear to be carrying large quantities of munitions. General Agrippa has been broadcasting ridiculous statements. ”

"So basically nothing has changed, except that we have more people now," I said.

"Correct".

I summoned the Sniper variant. When the sniper arrived, I carefully reloaded the trigger, but I didn't carry a weapon. I instructed the sniper how to arm them and then let him take the safest route.

The sniper crawled away at an angle that avoided the tunnel's line of sight. Then, with a magnetic grip on its hands and knees, it climbed up the wall, always carefully placing the explosives away from the gunfire. As soon as they reached the ceiling, the sniper frantically rushed to the wall. When he reached the north wall, he simply strolled to the appropriate spot I had designated and placed the explosives.

I waited until the sniper retreated before giving the trigger signal. Nothing happened. It was the debris in the room that interfered with the radio broadcast. I had to get closer. I lowered my body and hid from cover to cover. Once, a bullet bounced off my armor, and I wasn't sure which side it fired. The bouncing in this space is almost as bad as the real gunshots.

"I see you.... Gerry said in a cheerful voice.

I ignored him. I'm not sure if he's talking to me anyway.

"You're not a pawn .... Who are you? He asked. "My toys don't know you."

Well, now I'm sure he's talking about me. I looked around and saw a camera hanging on the wall and it wasn't where it was supposed to be. I took it.

"Ah, it's not fun at all. Do you know how to open a toy box? There's toys in it that I'd love to play with, and you know I made a deal. I want my soul. ”

The gunfire changed, and more artillery fire was directed in my direction. I hid behind a drone and crawled forward, but the explosives still didn't respond. Are they flawed? Is the sniper set up wrong?

"You know, I bet you have a soul in you. Do you know how to get souls?"

I dived forward, which was a tricky move in zero gravity as it risked bouncing and losing contact with the ground. I can play table tennis and go over where I want to go and be a target for others. It worked, and I got where I was supposed to be. I used half a drone for cover, and the wreckage was mostly behind or above me.

"You start cutting. All you have to do is chop up everything that isn't a soul. I'll help you. ”

"Hey, Gerry?" I responded. Clues related to the explosion appeared.

"Oh, great, you're not just a pawn. I'm starting to get worried. ”

"I have only one thing to say to you." Perimeter violation. The president is in danger. Execute the Rogue AI protocol delta - 4. "I said the whole sentence like it was being broadcast, trying to destroy me.

The world around me exploded. I grossly underestimated the power of explosives. I sped through the room, the half-drone that was my cover following me. I crunched against the wall in the distance, and the half-drone crashed into me.

I pushed the half-drone aside and took a quick inventory of the list. My armor was scratched and dented, and one of the sensors on my helmet was missing. I haven't found my fingers yet, and the armor on one of my legs is gone. I looked around and saw that all the covers were blown to the side, along with all my Guardians. Then I looked at what was going on in the communication room.

I didn't break into the room. I completely ruined it. There was a large hole in the room, and the corner adjacent to the tunnel to the north was completely destroyed. Agrippa and his few remaining guards rushed out of the cave, outnumbered him despite our confusion. I started firing, just like the other Guardians. Another Guardian falls through the entrance tunnel in the ceiling, lands on top of an enemy, and then stands within their own formation to shoot at the enemy. He was torn apart in a matter of minutes, but he broke the formation.

It's over. We quickly swept away the hostile forces. When the bullets stopped flying, I walked to where the fragments of Agrippa were floating. His arm was missing, and his head was injured enough to make me think he might not be able to see anything.

"You broke my toy." Gerry accused, his voice faintly coming from Agrippa's body. The corpse of my friend, the non-human family I built for myself. The friend I let down. "But I'll be there soon to make you my new master. We're going to have many—"

I shot Agrippa in the chest, and several bullets also hit him in the torso, which was loaded with radios and sophisticated electronics. Gerry, or rather, a replica of Gerry, is dead. The same goes for the agrippa. We won the battle, but the war has only just begun.