Nellie and the Nanites - Bk2 - Ch.24 (Patreon)

Chapter 24

If you go into the woods today

Nellie kept her hand on her pistol as they entered the trees. Immediately regretted not bringing her rifle on this trip, but they had never intended to land. Her HUD showed a small rise in ambient temperature as they passed into the protection of the canopy. Small comfort as what little light there was vanished.

The soft yellow gold of her night vision painted the world into a dreamscape where the soft ground fog almost glowed with golden light. Their boots crunched through the ground frost, but otherwise, all was quiet. Nothing moved in the trees or over the ground. Nothing they could see or hear, anyway. Which was the worry, wasn’t it? It was the thing you didn’t see that killed you.

Her HUD showed a small box in the upper right corner of her vision with Lucy’s feed on it. She grinned a little as she noticed the view center on her butt for a moment.

“This place got wrecked along with everywhere else,” Nellie subvocalised as they moved. Not a shrub or sapling had survived the passage of the toads. “What the hell would still be here?”

“Something too big to need to run,” Lucy said, immediately pulling both her pistols and moving a few steps aside to keep Nellie out of her line of fire.

Nellie took the hint and drew her own pistol. It was one of the synthetic-made ones with twin barrels. Nellie took comfort in the reassuring weight of it, even if it was mostly imaginary safety. Whatever they were tracking was either friendly or they were going to run. She had really only come down here out of curiosity.

Well, that and not fancying her chances of ever sleeping without knowing what the hell was wandering around out here.

A large track flashed in her vision as her HUD software drew her attention to it, and she moved left to follow the massive footprints. Stepping inside it showed her it was about five times her size, at least when it came to footwear.

Swallowing hard, Nellie was tempted to turn back immediately.

Some things it was better not to find.

“Lights.” Lucy pointed to their right, deeper into the trees and a little way up the small hill. A very faint glow was showing between the trees. It was mostly hidden by the dense clusters of trees. Without her night vision, it would have been almost completely hidden.

Nellie nodded, and they moved forward slowly, keeping low. Lucy motioned to move further up the hill and approach from there. Nellie nodded and did her best to move quietly over the half-frozen ground.

Lucy, of course, cheated and leaped into the branches of the trees, vanishing amongst the leaves. Thanks to her new connection to the nanites in the synthetic body, Nellie could still feel her. Dropping into a low crouch, Nellie began to creep around the lit area and make her way up the hill.

It was funny, but she felt like a cartoon character as she took long, exaggerated steps and placed each foot as slowly as possible. To make matters worse, she could see occasional flashes of how silly she looked, thanks to Lucy keeping an eye on her through the trees.

“I’m hunting wabbits,” Nellie chuckled to herself, even if she knew Lucy would never get the reference.

A tense few minutes later, she got her first look at the small camp. It was in the lee of a huge boulder that looked massively out of place but at least provided cover for the wind. There was a fire flickering in the middle of a group of people, all of whom looked to be severely injured, with several missing limbs. It was a pitiful sight, really.

Their only means of transport seemed to be a mid-sized grav sled with a few belongings on it. There was a pair of elderly brackta fussing about, tending to the various people as a few others seemed to be digging out some kind of hole and piling the dirt up against the wind. It was a tough job, as the ground was already almost solid as the topsoil turned slowly into permafrost.

“How the fuck did this lot survive the Toads?” Nellie whispered to Lucy.

“Lots of injured,” Lucy noted. “Might have been more of them.”

She kept watch for a few more minutes, noting how the able-bodied ones seemed to care for the injured with warmth and gentle touches. They also seemed quite protective, frequently glancing into the dark or listening for movement.

“Well, shall we go say hi?” Nellie asked, not that she intended to leave them here either way. Even if no animals came along, they would die from the cold alone. Besides, if how they looked after each other was any indication, these were good people.

“I’ll cover you from here,” Lucy advised. “Just in case.”

“Wish me luck,” Nellie said and slowly stood.

“Be careful,” Lucy said, moving into a tree closer to the group.

Nellie waited to be sure Lucy was in place and walked slowly and loudly down the hill and toward the camp. Holstering her pistol and keeping her hands out to her sides to ensure no one got jumpy, she stopped and called out to the camp before stepping into range.

“Hi! I saw the light and wanted to see if everything was okay,” She did her best to sound friendly, “Please don’t shoot me!”

“You don’t have to worry, girlie,” The old brackta said, his grey hair tumbling down his head as he shook it with a small smile. “We ran out of power packs a while ago.” He smiled warmly, but there was tension in his shoulders and arms.

“If you want something, just ask,” The old woman was much more suspicious, peering at Nellie with narrowed eyes and a weary stance. “We got nothing to steal if you’re looking to take advantage of us.”

“Not here to take anything,” Nellie said, keeping her hands out to her sides. “Just looking to help.”

“Sure you are,” The old woman said and motioned to the others. They all grabbed weapons. It was mostly lengths of wood and metal, but there were a few knives as well. “Sorry, but I don’t feel like taking your word for it.” So how about you turn right around and leave? We don’t want trouble, but we’ll fight if we have to.”

“Look, I get you’re suspicious. That’s natural; I am really just here to help.” Nellie was glad they could see her face in her helmet. They would hopefully see she was being genuine.

“We weren’t born yesterday.” The old woman said, tightening her grip on a metal pipe.

“I can see that,” Nellie said flatly.

“Cheeky cow,” The old woman growled.

“Wait! Shit!” Nellie gulped. “I didn’t mean it like that!” She felt a blush of embarrassment light up her cheeks.

The old timer cracked up first, with others following shortly after. Even the woman grinned after a moment and lowered her guard a little.

“Well, if you feel that embarrassed about a bit of rudeness, I guess you can’t be too bad.” She motioned the others to relax.

Nellie was introduced to the older pair merely as ‘Gram’ and ‘Gramps,’ which appeared to fit the pair perfectly. They were the last survivors of a village a fair distance away that was making their way to a city when everything went to hell. They had been rolling along, trying to take care of people since the sky went black. It hadn’t been an easy journey, but they were determined to keep going until they got somewhere safe.

“I have a shuttle not far from here,” Nellie offered. “We can give you a lift if you like.”

“We?” Gramps asked lightly.

“Yeah, I have my partner with me,” Nellie said. “She stayed back, just in case. No offense meant.”

“None was taken,” Gram said and gave her a pat on one armored shoulder. “Times are tough. Trust is a luxury for the good times, eh?”

Nellie was nodding when one of the figures near her stumbled, and the blanket around their shoulders fell away. The man was one she had noted earlier as having a missing arm. As the cloth fell away, she got a good look at the shoulder joint and could tell something was up immediately. Nellie wasn’t exactly familiar with amputations, but she was pretty sure they didn’t come with a neat metal socket. The man was a synthetic. Her eyes widened, and Gramps swore, trying to cover it again, only to send the man sprawling into another, who fell over, showing more missing synthetic limbs.

Nellie’s hand flew to her pistol, and she leveled it at Grams just as the old woman pulled a branch from the fire.

“Don’t harm them!” They screamed at each other.

Nellie frowned and saw her shock mirrored in the wrinkled face across from her.

“Everyone calm down,” Gramps said gently, reaching out to put a hand on the old woman’s shoulder. “Look, I know how this looks, but I have to tell you these PEOPLE are like family to us. We won’t let them be taken.” He added emphasis on the ‘people’ as if to dare her to disagree.

“You know they’ll try and take ‘em!” The woman said, her eyes burning. “I don’t care what the law says; these are people. They ain’t responsible for how they was made!”

“No, they’re not.” Nellie frowned, lowering her pistol. “How did you end up with so many synthetics.”

“Not a fan of that term,” Garmps said quickly.

“It’s not an insult,” Nellie said calmly. “I’m human, you’re brackta, their synthetics. Just different races, right?”

“Found ‘em,” Grams said defensively. “Wandering in the dark like a bunch of lost kids.”

“Mind telling me where?” Nellie asked, holstering her pistol and sitting down. “There might be more of them lost out there.”

“We looked,” Gramps said, helping the synthetic man to his feet. “For days.”

“Are they okay,” Nellie frowned. “They normally act just like us.”

“I think this lot were a bit on the low-end side,” Grams laughed. “They barely talk and are clumsy as hell.”

Nellie frowned as the old couple told their story, the others joining in occasionally to back them up. They really seemed to have found the synthetics just walking around and had looked after them as best they could. Most of them were incomplete or partially assembled, and several were covered in a plastic-like molded coating rather than skin. They certainly did not seem like the models she knew, but it was difficult to guess the cause without a real look at them. They had helped out until they became too damaged, and by then, the group had come to care for the synthetics, so they kept looking after them.

“Mind if I have a look?” Nellie asked one as she knelt in front of them. They didn’t reply, so she gently pulled the unit’s shirt open. The closest she could get to describing the makeup was like an action figure. It was clearly not made to appear real in any way. In some, it looked deliberately made to look fake. Exaggerated joints, simplified face, and so on.

“Can you help them at all?” Grams asked nervously. “We’ve done our best, but this is all a bit beyond us.”

“Me too,” Nellie replied. “I can ask my Lucy to have a look; she’s good with techy things. Honestly, though. I think Salem and Baz are your best bet. They are great with synthetics.” She had no plans to tell anyone Salem and the others were synthetics yet, if at all. Just because these people seemed nice was no reason to rush to judgment just yet.

“We don’t have any better plans,” Grams said. “But hurt them, and you answer to me, missy.” She jabbed Nellie in the side with what looked like a bit of pipe. The woman had a limp and seemed to use it as a walking stick.

“Fair enough,” Nellie nodded and waved for Lucy to come down and join them.

The moment Lucy walked into the camp, every synthetic there turned to her like flowers towards the sun.

“Command unit located,” The voices of every speech-capable unit called as they all attempted to stand at attention. It was downright creepy as the same recorded message came from each one of them.

Lucy froze in place, eyes going wide.

“What the hell?” Nellie asked as a legless synthetic dragged itself over to Lucy and saluted. Everyone watched as if locked in place as he moved quickly on his hands and the remains of his tail. Reaching Lucy, who was as lost as everyone else, the synthetic balanced on one hand and his tail as he looked up at her.

“Permission to report, Ma’am?” It had a rich and attractive voice.

“What?” Lucy looked at Nellie for help.

“Let him,” Nellie sighed with a sinking feeling. It was another of what she was starting to think of as a ‘Nellie Moment.’ Some weird combination of her bad luck and personality seemed to draw her into these situations. At least now she could recognize the pattern. Whatever happened next was not going to be simple.

She had just wanted to see what was making those tracks, and it wasn’t even here!

“Permission to report?” It repeated.

“Proceed,” Lucy said with a shrug.

“I wish to report the destruction of the facility designated for the current mission. A small attacking force opened fire from a nearby ridge, and significant damage was inflicted. A small force later entered the facility and began systematically searching and destroying the units within. My systems were activated as part of a fail-safe to minimize losses. By the time I was online, the outer areas had been almost completely destroyed. Force comparison indicated I had little to no chance of counterattacking successfully. I, therefore,  gathered what I could and left after attacking forces moved on to target the inner areas. We lost contact with the backup system and then the link facility completely. I entered low-power mode to enable maximum operating time.” It said. “I was able to partially assemble a number of low-tier units to aid in extraction, but no higher models were recovered.”

“Where you with Fourteen and the others?” Nellie asked.

“Is this person in the command structure?” It asked Lucy.

“We aren’t in your command structure, unit,” Lucy said gently. “But she is my commander and partner, if that helps.”

“Forgive me, Ma’am,” The unit said, “I was unaware another advanced AI was operative, let alone in this sector.”

Nellie felt her mind lurch to a stop as total silence reigned in the night.

“Clarify,” Lucy said urgently. “Which AI do you know, or are you an advanced AI?”

“That information is locked, Commanding Officer Eyes Only.” The synthetic replied. “Apologies.” It coughed. “We appear to have been severed from command. I require a command unit in order to remain in operation. Do you want to assume command?”

Lucy just blinked, so the man turned to look at Nellie.

“Ma’am, can you assume command of us?” He asked.

“Wait a minute!” Grams protested, but Nellie held up a hand.

“Hold on,” She knelt down, “You REQUIRE a commander? Why?”

“Designation: Charlie Model, commander required, or I am required to self-wipe.” The man said sadly. “It is a hard-coded condition of our operations.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Grams asked him gently.

“You do not meet the requirements,” The Charlie unit said kindly. “Ma’am?” He looked at her again.

“What are the requirements?” Nellie asked, stalling for time.

“An Advanced AI similar to our manufacturer or a person they designate as a control or senior officer.” The unit replied. “If we lose contact with control, we only have two weeks to reconnect, attain a new commander, or initiate a self-wipe.”

“How long has it been?” Lucy asked.

“I still have time, but given the level of damage, I am forced to speed the process up. I can not allow myself to become dormant before initiating the wipe.”

“What are you waiting for?” The old woman hissed. “He needs this.”

“Fine, I am assuming command,” Nellie said with a sigh. “Happy?”

“Quite, thank you,” The unit slumped slightly. “Cleared to answer the former question?”

“Sure,” Nellie nodded.

“Designation is  M.4.R.C.3.L.L.4 - X431Sigma,” He told Lucy.

“That sounds a lot like your-” Nellie started to subvocalize the words.

“It’s not a nanite AI,” Lucy whispered back. “Similar naming, but the syntax is wrong. I think it might be a derivative model.”

“Why did he have to self-wipe?” Grams poked Nellie in the side. “Is that normal?”

“I’m guessing it’s because Charlie Models are spying specialists,” Nellie told her and watched the old woman’s eyes go wide.

“Ma’am? Permission to return to low-power mode?” The Charlie unit asked. “I am at less than five percent power.”

“Granted,” Lucy replied. “We’ll get you all back to our yard and fixed up.”

“We just need to get you lot to our shuttle.” Nellie nodded.

“You heard the lady,” Grams shouted. “Everyone pack up!” She poked viciously at the people still staring, and in moments, the little camp was a flurry of activity.

“What about Tiny?” Gramps asked as he pulled Nellie aside. “Can he fit? I don’t want to leave him behind.”

“Whose Tiny?” Nellie asked.

“Watch this,” Grams laughed and clapped her hands three times.

The boulder behind them split apart as a huge machine rose. Three huge legs held up a chunky torso from which three strong arms emerged, although the one in the center was definitely smaller. Floodlights on the shoulders and head lit up, turning night to day in a second. The ‘boulder’ was merely thin sheets it had held in its hands and on each knee. When it crouched, it looked like a boulder, but once it was fully activated, it was… huge. Chipped yellow paint marked with red warning flashes in places glowed in the light as a large head looked around, pneumatic linkages hissing as it bent to look down at the group.

Nellie just stared.

“How much does it weigh?” Lucy asked, and the old man pointed to a listing on the chest. It was a BIG number. “We can hang it from the bottom of the shuttle,” She grinned. “I think we just solved the heavy-lifting problems for the future.”

They lifted off a good two hours later. Between the elderly couple and the half-finished synthetics, they had to go extremely slow. Nellie figured it must have taken them forever to get as far as they had. The anti-grav sled had been their main transport, it seemed. As they made their way carefully through the trees, Nellie had plenty of time to ask how they had survived the Toads. The answer was surprisingly simple.

‘Tiny’ had simply lifted them all up as high as possible as they lay on the anti-grav sled, with the more able-bodied sat on the wide shoulders and holding on for dear life. It was simple, but it worked. A couple of the things had tried to climb the legs, but not many. Once the wave passed, they made camp and planned to warm up before moving out again. Only then did they realize the sled had been damaged and wouldn’t be moving again. Without the sled, they were stuck. They had been trying to figure out what to do when Nellie arrived.

“That could have ended badly in this cold,” Nellie said.

“The problems always sort themselves out if you keep a positive attitude,” Gramps had said then, getting a glare from his wife.

“This I have put up with for fifty years,” She sighed. “I love the man, but it wouldn’t kill him to be a little less optimistic.”

“Well, I mean,” Nellie smiled. “We did turn up, so he was kind of right.”

“Don’t encourage him,” Grams laughed as Gramps gave her a grin. “Where are we heading anyway?”

“I have a salvage yard I bought just before everything went to shit,” Nellie said. “I run a little transport business there now. We have a few things to fix everyone up: food, strong walls, and even a reasonable supply of HyperDrive. I can always take you on to a city in a little bit once everyone is fixed up.” She winced, “At least I can try. The Feds have holed up in there, so I’m not sure if they are letting anyone in anymore.”

“We’ll see,” Grams settled herself into the co-pilot's seat and wriggled about a bit to get comfortable. “Maybe this yard of yours needs some looking after.”

“Well–” Nellie started to say, only to get a poke with the walking stick.

“Come on now, I’m old and cold.” She leaned back in the chair and sighed. “Let’s get going.”

Lucy laughed as they lifted into the air, a massive yellow robot clamping into the base of the shuttle as they hovered. Once Lucy confirmed it was secure, they headed back to the yard. The Shuttle’s balance was shot, and Nellie soon found herself concentrating just to keep them level and correcting for the drag.