The Cross of Mithras Vol. 1: EOD Operation Welcome to Hell (117 page)

  “So what is known about those ET’s?” Mad Dawg asked.

  “They’re sociopaths in a nutshell. They don’t share everything in common with a human sociopath, but what they do are as follows: they can be manipulative and conning. They do appear to have some degree of shallow emotions and incapacity for love. At times they appear to possess callousness and a lack of empathy. But that may be due to humans misunderstanding a new species. Most of the rest may be based upon the possibility that they are militaristic to some degree. Without a doubt they are coldly logical and contemptuous of those who seek to understand them.” Julius informed them.

  “Yeah, and it turns out that not only they come in groups of three, but those three are always, and I do mean always, female and a cyborg. They obviously choose not to speak a human language even though  they can speak, and understand, our languages. They’re height appears to be between five foot four to no more than five foot eight. And we do not know what he is, but a male version, who is always on a monitor, seems to control them.” Valentina added.

  “And that’s all that we know.” Julius concluded.

  Each of them finished their dinner and then retired to bed. Both Mad Dawg and McIntyre would stay there until everything was settled on that world. The four of them had the time of their life enjoying each other’s company. But each of them knew that it was just a way to ignore what was occurring on that world. They wanted to enjoy their retirement not to be disturbed by the war with Dawson. They were also afraid of the thought that maybe, just maybe, Dawson may win this fight. Neither one of them could stand that thought and at times they found themselves drinking again. They gave each other support during the difficult times. And when it was all over they stayed in contact. The former enemies were now the closes of friends.

(7)

Ramirez, like Taylor, suffered the exact same type of attack that wounded him. But unlike Taylor, he was trained to keep on going (if he decides to do that - that is) despite his injuries. Everybody realized who was there not so long ago and what happened to them. So at least they know that they will not end up like Rymer and company. They also know however, much to their chagrin, that this new threat may be more than even they could handle. Yes they will give it their all, but it might not be enough in order to survive. They need something. And they are fixing to get it.

  “Ma’am… I must object! Do not… I repeat… do not come… Ma’am? Goddamn it!” Ramirez, who was talking to Vaistll, was desperately trying to inform her of the danger of bringing anyone to where he was. It was obvious to everyone, from his conversion with her, that she has already made up her mind. But what confused everyone the most was why would she risk everything to bring a team with her knowing full well that is not necessary.

  Several hours later, Vaistll, Nakada, Coté and several of Lenkov’s personnel arrived at the small town that Ramirez and company was stationed at. When they arrived there, both Taylor and Ramirez was fully recovered from their injuries. Needless to say, both was upset with Vaistll coming there. They knew, or suspected, what she was getting the team into and both thought that she did not know. Both was planning on giving her an earful when she arrived. As soon as she did, it only resulted in the three of them getting into an argument over what she should, or shouldn’t have done.

  “Ma’am. Ma’am!” Coté had to yelled at her to get Vaistll to listen.

  “What!?” Vaistll snapped back.

  “Don’t you think it’s kind of strange that we should be led back to where 1
st
Lieutenant Rymer was at not too long ago? What if this is a trap? I mean, wouldn’t Captain Dawson had known what is, and is not here?” Coté responded.

  “Just what are you getting at Elizabeth?” Vaistll asked her.

  “I always thought that the EOD was the type of evil institution that had the attitude that if you don’t expect the unexpected then you shouldn’t be surprised at your defeat.” Coté responded. Vaistll didn’t responded because she knew that Coté was right.

  “Ma’am would you like to take a look at the access panel?” Ramirez asked Vaistll who only nodded.

  Outside there was a tool shed and inside there was wall computer console with an inventory list on it. Ramirez knew that the EOD always like to hide things in plain sight. They did that because they knew that most people would not even notice. And those who do? Most people would classify them as a nut-job. Another hallmark of the EOD – those who know the truth most be label as crazy by all. Of course the EOD was always far more subtle in their propaganda then nations are. Nobody would ever know that they are being re-programmed by the EOD. So it was obvious that within this inventory list there could be something within that is important. Ramirez knew that in order to find the backdoor he had to look for an item within that list that appears to be out of place when one look at all items in the concept that they all had a double meaning.

  As so typical of the EOD Ramirez knew that he was putting together a simple, but complex, jigsaw puzzle. Ramirez also knew that it would “reveal” a map. The location was a hidden passage behind a nearby waterfall. (Another hallmark of the EOD – hide things so well that even they can’t find it. It was also a problem that the EOD acknowledged, but did not want to change.) As luck would have it, and the team should have loved it, there would not have been any defenses there. Captain Dawson himself also knew, and Ramirez knew it as well, that the location would not be a good place to stand your ground. And thus, Ramirez knew that Captain Dawson would not be there.

  Nobody knew what to expect when they arrived. But those with enough experience in dealing with the EOD strongly suspected that the EOD is losing it’s luster. In the olden days the EOD had the mantra of “never trade caution for security,” now it’s more like “whatever works.” It is indeed the current version that is more revealing for it showed that is becoming increasingly more arrogant and more incompetent than before. The real problem with the current mantra is that the EOD no longer had to think long and hard about how to hide what they are doing, nor did it matter rather or not they put much empathize on what matters the most – security.

  Once inside it became immediately obvious that the secret location was a storage facility, a small one at that. What it held was two clones, both were prototypes and both were gone. The facility computers revealed what Dawson had become which spooked everyone. And now they knew why Dawson would risk all to go there and why he wasn’t there.

  “Excuse me for asking ma’am, but what is a GET-ME?” Coté asked Vaistll who looked at Ramirez. Ramirez who, like Taylor, was still in pain from his injuries.

  “A GET-ME means…” Ramirez was saying. He was sitting down and it was starting to cause him pain because of it. He continued on. “…that it has a symbiote that in large part acts as a DNA database but it’s own DNA, also known as it’s master DNA,  is predominately an algorithm that allows it’s host to cherry pick certain traits from either the host or that of a target. It can also be chosen in advanced by those who, not only MUST know the algorithm, but is also responsible for the creation of the symbiote and therefore knows what it can and can’t do genetically.”

  “So what happens when the symbiote comes out?” Wexler asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “So who’s in control the host or the symbiote?” Ellis asked.

  “Subjective. Since only clones were always used it’s hard to say who could theoretically could be in control. Besides, a person would naturally change when the body changes.” Ramirez responded. It was starting to become obvious that Ramirez didn’t want to answer anymore questions because of his pain. But it didn’t matter since everybody heard enough.

  “We finally got her!” Coté shouted. She shouted mainly because she was glad that after 30 minutes of trying to reach Sayaka they finally got her.

  “It’s about damn time.” Ellis said.

  “You got to be shittin’ me!” Coté frustratingly responded.

  “What?” Taylor asked her as he came near.

  “Everything is in Japanese sir.” Coté responded.

  “Nakada, front and center!” Taylor ordered him.

  “You wanted to see me sir?” Nakada asked him.

  “Ask Sayaka why is she responding in Japanese.”

  “Yes sir.” Nakada responded. He then changed the computer hologram keyboard to the Japanese version. Unfortunately Nakada always had problems in learning the Kanji.

  “Romaji kuso yarou? What does that mean?” Coté asked Nakada who didn’t respond. The words were very big and red. From the emotion icons that Sayaka was using it was becoming obvious that she was angry at Nakada.

  “Why is she angry with you?” Coté asked. Yet again, Nakada didn’t respond.

  “Why is she angry with you? Answer me.” Taylor asked.

  “Because my Kanji is so-so. And this keyboard doesn’t have English letters on it.” Nakada responded with a heavy sigh. Fifteen minutes later, Sayaka out of stress, terminated the transmission.

  “So what’s the deal with her?” Ellis asked Nakada.

  “I don’t think that she knows why she was responding in Japanese.” Nakada responded.

  For five hours the team had to wait for Sayaka to respond. And nobody knew what Dawson was up to or what he had in store for them. They all realize just how important Sayaka was to their survival since she was the only one who could crack the codes that was protecting the data that was in the computers that not only would have mentioned what type of clones were stored at that small facility, but also the location of Captain Dawson. They also started to perceive Sayaka the way fans would perceive their hero in some tragic Greek story. Sayaka at that point in time became critical to their morale. They knew that was dangerous given what would happen to their morale if something would happen to her. But they’re only human and they couldn’t help but to feel that way. And of course, what is considered to be the tragic part of the story has already happened. As the hours wore on with them not knowing the fate of Sayaka, and with Captain Dawson loose upon that world, combine that with them knowing what a GET-ME is, it was driving them all crazy about the fate of Sayaka.

  “Gomen nasai…” It was Sayaka and the fact that everyone finally got the chance to hear from her boosted their morale. But like the love of a fellow comrade, it was bitter sweet to hear from her. They also knew that she was being extra sincere – hence the fact that the first thing that she spoke was in Japanese. “…about my behavior from earlier. Please understand that I, and Joseph, is having a hard time in integrating ourselves into the ship’s computers. Nothing but logical fallacies. My suspicions confirmed. How antiquated. God if it wasn’t for Joseph I would go insane in here. I can’t take it, not anymore. Heaven help me. Oh dear God. I…never mind. I need you to know that I’m having problems in surviving mentally in here. Everything seems so antiquated in here. The reason why I responded to you in Japanese is because I, at that time period, was being integrated into the ship’s computers. It’s hard for me to respond to you since there is a huge difference between the ship’s computers and what could constitute myself. Like I said, like I suspected long ago, nothing but logical fallacies. It’s like the old me is coming back. It’s so hard to be rational within something that doesn’t possess it. I’m sorry but you are going to have to give me some time to pull myself back together.”

  That speech demoralized everyone, including Vaistll. They realized that without her Captain Dawson has the upper hand and it’s only a matter of time before he (or whatever he is) finds out. Yes Ramirez is right – that no matter what it takes, no matter how many of them dies – that factory that produces those monsters must be destroyed. But without Sayaka it would be a suicidal mission to take on that factory. They spent the next two hours in silence waiting for Sayaka to contact them.

  “Listen up everyone. It’s Sayaka.” Coté, dishearteningly, informed everyone.

  “As I stated before, or implied that is to say, computers given the fact that they evolved from a 80 ton calculator is nothing more than a logical fallacy. It is no wonder why so many people would go insane after they foolishly integrated themselves into one. I did, however, took that into account. This ship’s computers was never design to hold a person’s consciousness, let alone two of them, in it’s memory banks. After the shock of informational overload wore off, we kind of fell in love with the thought of being in here. But to answer your question, I responded to you in Japanese because the older parts to my memory were being integrated first. But the integration that I am referring to refers to the fact that I must create software to handle the change, at the same time I must make certain no part of myself or Joseph is lost. I know that each integration wastes, not only your time, but also our own. But please understand that I don’t have a choice. I have thought about what would happen if I were to download myself back into my body, but the ship’s computer no longer differentiate between my memories and the ship’s data. It wants to download everything and my old body can not handle that load. My only solution is to redesign everything. And that would take at a bare minimum… fifty years. But if I were to take the safer route than it would take slightly more than a century. I’m becoming something other than human because of all of this. The greatest fallacy of the human race is creating a logical fallacy based upon the false notion that to be absolutely dependant upon something that is absolutely flawed is the pinnacle of human achievement and not as it should be the very definition of the word stupidity. It is software more than any other human achievement that it must be stated was obsolete before it was even thought up. Forgive me for saying it, but humans are obsolete. I look at the entire history of the human race and see nothing more nothing less than evolved monkeys. This is not the Cyber Doom part of me speaking. I always loved machines far more than what it means to be human. It just that I was dealing with idiots, no monkeys, trying to play god and not realizing that the price for such foolishness is one’s own self-destruction. I see things, I know things, I perceive things, the like of which you will never understand. How could you? My IQ is now well over 7,000. Oh god. What am I becoming? I now understand the Tylkuoply hive. Evil is such a relative term. Am I being evil or just logical? And what does that say about God? You see, the pathway to divinity is wroth with sacrifice. You, me, my dear Joseph, we are nothing more than sacrificial lambs led to slaughter. It’s human sacrifice in a nut-shell. I am now so smart that I know what would create my own salvation. Oh yes, there will be more human sacrifice. Did any of you really think that I never knew that as soon as we betray the EOD that the factory must fall? Did any of you seriously think that I wasn’t trying to defeat the EOD methods in protecting that base? They were using my tactics against me! Those mother… kuso yarou … at the EOD so call High Command, knew that sooner or later both me and Joseph would betray the EOD. It was their suspicions that cause our betrayal. We must go away. Don’t ask where or why. It is important that you understand that although power corrupts, it is the pathway to divinity and the sacrifice that must be perform, that purges one of their sins. I am limited by what I can do at the factory. Although I want you to win, I must go against my own tactics. It’s good to know that you didn’t push things with the cyber-security at that facility that you are at. There is a virus in it. Even though I created it, it’s still not easy in defeating it. The factory is even worse. Although I may be in this ship’s computers let me remind you of the fact that the problem with computers are that they are not a true thinking machine. It is part of the reason why I feel like I’m losing my mind. I want to help you but these computers are not helping me much. The computers at that facility is partially linked up to the lab complex that you came from and that in return is linked up to the factory. I can only delay the advanced AI at the facility but I can not stop it. Hopefully what I can learn from it could help me to delay it further. I do know those machines at that factory are the most devilishly clever non-thinking SOB’s out there. God speed. Over and out.”