AN: I am writing this partly to grow better, so please review and criticize.
The planet my newly acquired ship was observing was, to be frank, a frozen blight on the space that surrounded it, fit only to be mined out of existence, which was exactly what the 25 life signs on the planet seemed to be doing. We'd arrived after about a five hour trip a few miles out of what Database had estimated was their sensor range, and were currently observing the planet quietly.
[What do the sensors tell us?] I asked my intangible robotic assistant.
[The planet is composed mainly of rock and ice, with rich nickel deposits. The average temperature is There is one city, which is currently largely vacant of inhabitants. The population instead is spread across outlying minor settlements.] She replied, voice as hollow as ever.
[How many lifeforms did you detect?]
[No more than 25.]
Hmm. It's a start, and so long as I proceed carefully, I should be able to assimilate them.
It hadn't been very hard for me to put together the universe I had been to. After all, how many universes have factions of cyborgs who go around converting others into cyborgs?
[Can you identify which of these settlements is the most isolated?] I asked.
[Yes.]
During the trip to the planet, I had practiced with my new cyborg abilities, and had learned a few things. First: If I used a variation of the technique I used to interact with Database where, instead of typing on a "keyboard", I imagined looking into the "monitor", I could see whatever she brought up without her having to use the floating monitor. Second: I could sense the console (which had turned green and black for some reason) I had claimed, and, if I focused, the nanomachines Database had told me were now expanding throughout it, upgrading it and improving its systems.
Third, thanks my new cybernetics, I was now several times stronger than the average human. ...Hmm. When did I start thinking of myself as different from other humans?...Anyways, I tested this crushing the metal box in the cargo bay, which had crumpled like a tin can when I had applied some force against it. With my new abilities, I could probably take on a group of unarmed humans with only some trouble.
In my head, I watched as she zoomed in on a region of the planet, which bloomed into detail. What looked like a large box, at least several meters long, was now visible, along with a …tube of some sort that had been inserted into a nearby mountain.
[This region appears to be home to only one inhabitant, who resides in the rectangular structure. He appears to be a miner, extrapolating from the equipment in the structure and what he went into the tunnel with. The nearest inhabitant is over three miles away]
Hmm.
[Are these cybernetics durable enough to withstand a large fall, Database?] I asked.
[Enough to withstand a fall from a dozen meters.]
If I could, I would have grinned.
[Perfect.]
John Warwick was tired from his long day in the mine, and was eagerly looking forward to get back to his shelter on the surface. Mining hadn't been his first choice for a job, but it payed the bills, and it was fulfilling. And there had been that lucky break with the asteroid; Selling the footage of the collision to the extranet corporations had made all the residents of Gilead a little richer.
Rich enough, in fact, that some left the planet for greener pastures. Within the decade, the population had gone from 221, to a meager 25. Still, he thought as he stepped through the door leading outside of the tunnel, there might be less people around, but all of us left are a lot closer. As he walked across it, he observed Gilead's landscape.
It consisted mostly of hard stone, and the occasional patch of ice. There was no greenery of any sorts to be found. Sometimes, he wondered what the Systems Alliance had been thinking when they called for colonization of the planet.
Hmm, that's strange. He thought as he walked around a large crater a few meters from his home that had not been there when he left for the mine that morning. It was deep, like something had impacted it at a great speed. Probably a stray meteorite. He thought to himself, shaking it off.
Soon, he had arrived home. Something was unnerving him about the place, an unnatural stillness around the place. He ignored it, shrugging it off as exhaustion from working in the mine all day. He opened the door.
There was a hiss, and a sudden all consuming pain in his neck. He began to fall backwards, only for someone to grab his arm and jerk him inside. He looked down to his neck, trying frantically to figure out what had happened. Two tubes extending from somewhere his darkening vision could not see had pierced his neck.
The tubes retracted, and he felt someone grab him and lift him into the air. Whoever it was carried him over to his bed, and placed him on it. "I am deeply sorry for this." He heard a sincere-sounding metallic voice say, before his vision went dark.
I sat down in a nearby chair which was next to a table. I had been lurking in the building for about an hour, waiting for its owner to return from mining. Finally though, he had approached the building, and thanks to my new cybernetic eye, I could see him even through the walls. As he had opened the door, I had activated the tubes which carried my nanomachines, and he was finished, knocked unconscious by shock, some agent carried in the tubes, or both.
Even now, I could sense as the nanomachines multiplied throughout his body, converting spare minerals and whatever resources there were inside him into more nanomachines. Soon, they would begin making small structures inside his body. I truly was sorry to have done this to him, because nobody deserves what had happened to me to happen to them.
The problem, is that I also cared too much for my safety in an unknown, probably hostile universe to not do it.
To distract myself from my philosophical musings, I studied the body of the stranger I'd basically just doomed to turning into a cybernetic monstrosity. He was wearing a skin-tight white armor, presumably to help him survive the lack of atmosphere outside, with a helmet whose visor was tinted black so it concealed his facial features. Something about his arm drew my attention though.
I walked over to more closely inspect it. Upon some observation, I saw that an object of some sort was disturbing the armor sleeve. After some futzing around, I managed to get his arm out of the armor so I could analyze it further. The object appeared to be some sort of skeletal apparatus which stretched from where his arm connected to his shoulder to his hand. [Hey, Data, is there anything like this in the files?] I questioned.
[Inconclusive without further data.] She replied. All right then.
I removed the device from his arm and studied it for a moment. Then, I did what was quickly becoming common with me and unknown machines, and pierced it with a tube. There was a crackle, and a puff of smoke. Soon, it had changed from it's silvery metal color to a black and green color scheme.
[So, Data?] I asked.
I was surprised when a horribly familiar, except for how it was (again) green and black, holographic display popped up around the arm holding the device. A slightly feminine holographic model of the upper body of a human being, with what looked like some additional metal plating and wires, also appeared.
[The device is some combination of a manufacturing and diagnostic tool, with an on-board computer connected to a larger network.] The model said in a familiar voice.
[Data?] I asked.
[The previous owner of this device had downloaded this model. I appropriated it and modified it.] She said.
[Good for you.] I said, and this time, I was able to grin.
[Now, can you tell me if there is something called a Codex on this?] I asked.
[Yes, it seems to be a database containing information about this galaxy and it's history.]
FuckfuckfuckFUCK-
[Does it say what the current year is!?] I shouted, descending into a panic so large it managed to overcome the emotional inhibitors.
[According to it, the year is 2184.] She said, as emotionless as ever.
Damn it, I don't remember when that is! Is it before, or after Eden Prime!? Have the Collectors began abducting colonists yet!? How many years do I have before the Reapers arrive and faceroll the galaxy!?
[Does it mention a Commander Shepard!?]
[Some details about a career in the military, how they fended off an attack on the "Citadel" from a ship called The Sovereign, and their death a few months ago.]
Ok, if I remember the plot of 2 correctly, that gives me two or three years to prepare. …Damn it, I don't think even that will be enough time, even with what remains of the Borg technology files in the databank.
[Ok, Data, we no longer have the time to lollygag. Bring the ship here now! I'll grab the new recruit and as many supplies as I can carry.]
I turned around to grab him, not even paying attention to her reply, though I somehow knew she had replied in the affirmative. I was unable to grab him though, because he was already up. He was sitting there on the bed, still as the grave.
"Hello?" I asked tentatively, reading myself to attack just in case.
"[I am Drone One-of-One. Classification: Labor. What are your orders?]" I heard him say, simultaneously aloud and in my head.
I walked over and inspected his suit to see if the holes from the tubes were still there, but luckily it seemed like a store of omni-gel in the armor had repaired them.
[Good to meet you, now grab as much stuff as you can carry.] I said as the sounds of thrumming engines approached outside. He dutifully obliged, walking, shuffling really, over to a nearby locker. I, meanwhile, grimly contemplated the future.
We're going to need more drones.
