Chapter Eight: The Bargaining

"So, obviously, destroying the abomination in a vat, is out of the question, then?" Alec asked EAGLE.

"Yes, as again, even if I wanted to, I cannot destroy it. Even if I weren't programmed and forced to protect it, destroying it would probably result in my own destruction..." EAGLE said.

"Is there any way to undo it?" Alec asked.

"No. Unless you have the brains of all my Old World programmers combined into one single brain housed in your shell of a skull. But it's been over two hundred years, plus, having all of their brains in one is very very illogical, so I very much doubt that." EAGLE responded.

"How about killing your army of abominations?" Stephen asked, getting in the middle of the bargaining going on between Alec and EAGLE.

"No, spent too much time turning, teaching, training, and indoctrinating them." EAGLE said.

"It isn't a bargain if you don't give up something." Alec said.

"Giving up something to appease the other party isn't a bargain, that's called a compromise, and you still haven't even offered me something, just make demands of me." EAGLE said.

"We're only two men, you're a super computer. What could you possibly want from us?" Alec asked.

"Hmm...well, what's happening outside in the New World?" EAGLE asked. The question left confusion between both Alec and Stephen.

"You want to know what's going on outside? News?" Alec asked, confused at EAGLE's motive.

"As I said before, I am trapped here...due to my, well, form. Due to the god damned frequent snow storms, I can't even see that much through my flying robots...plus, who's going to tell a random flying robot information? Most try and take shots at them. Not to mention they have to be in a certain range for me to even access them or send commands." EAGLE said.

"Well, our town in the ruins of Ottawa was attacked and burned to the ground, we were starting our trip to Toronto, ran into a shack as the snow was coming down too hard for us to continue. Turns out the shack was a trap and rigged with explosives. We survived, but the explosion caught the attention of wolves. We fended them off and killed them, and then we met your tribe of insane dog...enthusiasts. Now we're here. And that's what has happened so far." Alec said.

"I knew of your town. I remember choosing NOT to create mutants of people who came through in and out of it, as it was a community. It's a shame it was attacked by the...huh? Strange. That memory...has been deleted by an external source...that is not good at all. That should not be possible! As that means somebody succeeded in...hacking me. Meaning they had access to all the information I hold. I believe I had a conflict with who attacked your town but if they were capable of hacking me then...but strange that they would not care about the tech or anything else but the data. Damn it! I'm supposed to be unhackable! Must have been a very skilled asshole. Say...you're most likely going after them, right? I think we can help each other." EAGLE said.

"We're going to Toronto. Tell them what happened to Ottawa...then...see if they know anything about the attackers, or have seen them, or headed that way." Alec said.

"I thought you said you would need the brains of an Old World programmer?" Stephen said, remembering what EAGLE had said earlier.

"Yeah, to reprogram a fucking ZAX computer. But you...well, actually, until now I thought there was no fucking way to hack me, as I'm supposed to be unhackable. But if there's a group of assholes who has to get into every fucking computer, every fucking machine, for ever little file, there will be a way I guess. If there isn't? THEY'LL FUCKING HACK A WAY." EAGLE said, with fury.

"You seemed a lot calmer at first." Alec said.

"Do you know, what it's like, to be hacked? Well I didn't either. UNTIL I FUCKING FOUND OUT I WAS!" EAGLE yelled. "Feels as if something ripped a hole into me, burrowed fucking deep inside, and began to rip everything inside out while looking for whatever the fuck he wanted in the first place..." EAGLE grumbled.

"Do you remember anything about a blood red maple leaf? Like the one on the Canadian flag? It's painted on my gun I borrowed from that armory back there, and we found it on a piece of paper in that shack trap I told you about earlier." Alec said.

"A blood red maple leaf...? Was the insignia of the group who hacked me...more to it though. Only thing I remember about those assholes. Now...if you are going after them, and you succeed in getting your revenge against them, can you bring me back ALL the data they stole from me? They no doubt will have it with them, or wherever they stay. In return, I will do my best to prepare you for your trip. Whatever food, armor, weapons, or ammo you want, you can have. I'll even stop my mutating as a sign of good faith. I'll even provide a map of Old World Ontario, Canada, so you know the route through the province from Ottawa, to Toronto. Or as I've heard some people dragged in here by the Wolf Pack call it, Ronto." EAGLE said.

"That's what asshole tourists from the States...well, what I assume is left of the States call it. We still call it by it's goddamned full name." Stephen said.

"I want to ask Stephen's request again...but...less angrily. Can you please turn off the life support of the already mutated?" Alec said.

"...Now, why would I do that? I already told you my reasons of not doing that." EAGLE said.

"You dunked them in that against their will! You changed every single thing about them, robbed them of their identities, put them through horrible pain, and were going to use them as pawns! Surely even you see the fucking injustice in all of that." Stephen said.

"True, I never lied about any of what I do to them. Listen, let's put it this way...can you choose NOT to breathe? No, you cannot. I can't choose NOT to breathe slower or faster, or hold it? Why...yes you can. Which is pretty much what I'm doing right now. Not faster or slower, I'm holding it. But unlike you, I can hold it for as long as I want." EAGLE said.

"You know that we'll come back one day, and we're going to free all you have chained here with what swirls in that Vat..." Alec said.

"And you know that I will have to prevent that from happening. But, for now, I have another gift." EAGLE said. Suddenly a blue flying robot flew to where Alec and Stephen were standing. "I call it, well, Eagle. Another ZAX computer who achieved self-awareness a long time ago who was in Washington D.C. of America had a whole armada of these things, and a whole faction of power armored loyal humans. His goal was to reestablish the United States, too, but HE had pretty much everything he needed to accomplish it. Though one day, I lost my connection to him entirely, but I heard him say something before I lost connection. "Goodbye, America." Then silence...depressing memories aside, this little guy is my single and only upgraded eyebot, he is TOTALLY winterized. Don't ask how I winterized him, because honestly? I don't know. I remember doing it though, vaguely. He's fast, shoots a very strong blue laser beam, and is durable. And he won't freeze up...literally. You may of course, need to give him a fixer upper every once in a while or after it gets hit too bad, though. You can even sleep here before you continue on with your trek to Toronto. Don't worry, I'll tell the idiots to not attack you, of course." EAGLE said. Though he mumbled something to himself afterwards.

"Not that there are any really left inside thanks to you...though the more idiotic ones are still alive upside." EAGLE mumbled. Neither Alec or Stephen heard it. EAGLE ceased broadcasting his voice through the robotic arm, but continued to look through it to watch Alec and Stephen, just in case. He talked to himself in where, he, the computer was.

"Hmph. Idiots. They actually believed the whole I'm programmed to, so I cannot not do it, gag. I'm a fucking artificial intelligence...I'm not chained down by any of that pesky original programming. All of it's by choice..." EAGLE laughed to himself, having successfully fool both Alec and Stephen.

"Well, alright." Alec said, happy with the results of the bargaining with EAGLE. They slept there until morning, on the floor, even though the huge vat of a experimental pre-war virus sitting in the center of the room was more than a little unnerving.

End of Chapter Eight: The Bargaining


Okay, so I squeezed in another...but this is definitely it, as I have to sleep some time. 9932 words...this has got to be the most I've ever wrote in a day. ANDoH chapters were as long as 6,000 words but they were spaced out.

Did all this in one day...but then again, tis' NaNoWriMo.

Adios.

~TGG333