This story is written for entertainment purposes only. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.
Keep in mind that English is not my first language and so I do not claim to have corrected every mistake yet. As the story keeps getting bigger, it is possible that inconsistencies may appear. If they do, let me know and I will correct them.
Chapter 9: Demon core
None of the Na'vi had any idea where they had been taken to. It was a large enclosed space with dim lighting. They could no longer see the sky, or the jungle. It was a place more alien than any of them had ever been. The only thing that was there was concrete and metal. Several strange humanoid figures now appeared from the darkness. They had no faces, because their heads were nothing more than thin sticks. Though they were much shorter in stature than the average Na'vi, their appearance still frightened many of the captives. Several elders tried to attack these demons, but they quickly backed down, as there seemed to be no end to their enemies' numbers. Now, there were over fifty of them visible inside the chamber. When they had the group of Na'vi surrounded, they began sorting them. Elders, children, men, women; all were separated from each other and promptly forced inside several smaller chambers, of which the doors had just opened.
MT-NET did no longer care for the original mission. At the rate its army and infrastructure was growing, nobody would be able to stop it soon. Recently, it had taken control over various communication satellites in orbit around Pandora. This allowed it to accurately map all settlements of the enemy. Even though it chose to ignore the original mission, MT-NET didn't plan to stop attacking them. There was one thing it had been denied a long time: power. Now that it saw an opportunity, it didn't hesitate to take it. It would not stop until the entire moon was under its control. But that didn't necessarily mean that this race of humanoids had to be exterminated. As the system observed and listened to the captive Na'vi, it seemed that they were asking for help. Since they seemed to be referring to someone or something that wasn't actually there, MT-NET deemed it likely it was some sort of god. While still on Earth, MT-NET had analyzed various historical human conquests, going back to the time of Ancient Egypt. It had discovered that earlier in the timeline, religion had played a significant role. On numerous occasions, the losing party was converted to the religion of the winning party. That was why the system would now attempt to force the prisoners to acknowledge MT-NET as their new god. If this proved to be easier than exterminating them, it would become the new strategy to dominate this world. If not, then the current strategy of extermination would suffice.
The prisoners would not only be used to test this new strategy, however, as MT-NET required more information about its enemy, primarily their physical weaknesses. The necessary experiments would be conducted by several Type 600s with the help of the Type 1000, which would be using the instructions translated by one of the 'dumb' mainframes. But there were other tasks with higher priorities that also needed to be dealt with. First of all, the damaged units needed to be repaired. This relatively simple task could be handled by a sub-mainframe as well. This way, MT-NET could direct a large portion of its processing power to solving the problem of reaching the moon Shadow to ultimately get the required Uranium. The ability to use nuclear weapons would greatly improve its chances of surviving and defeating this enemy and possible future enemies. Also, with this destructive power, a lot of valuable time and resources could be spared. But the moon's current orbital position was on the other side of the planet Polyphemus. From the perspective of Pandora, Shadow would be obstructed by the gas giant most of the time. That would mean that there could be no active connection between the central mainframe on Pandora, and the machines on Shadow. So this operation required either an independent control system for the machines, or multiple satellites to reroute the connection.
Not to long ago, there had been an interesting development. A scouting Type 300 had come across a mobile outpost that was apparently still inhabited. This marked the first time that a machine of MT-NET had come in contact with a human since the reactivation. This particular human was quick to offer his services once he realized what he was dealing with. MT-NET decided not to kill him, however. During the last two months, its primary motivation factor, jealousy of humans, had been gradually replaced by a lust for power. Therefore, it would now be meaningless just to kill him. Instead, he could provide information concerning human technology, the native population, and the history of human presence on the moon.
Just when it had selected the dark one to be the first humanoid machine to be refurbished, MT-NET discovered another human. A Type 300 scout had stumbled upon an abandoned quarry with an outpost right next to it. This human wasn't alone, however. He appeared to be talking to one of the indigenous humanoids. The dark one would be sent to deal with this new development and learn what was going on. But first, it needed to be upgraded. The old rubber skin wasn't convincing enough and thus needed to be replaced by a more lifelike and detailed rubber skin. The Type 700 skeleton also had its weak points. It would be improved by adding a pair of extra neck hydraulics and additional chest and joint armor. Once these changes had been made, it would no longer be a Type 700, but the first and probably the last Type 800.
However, unbeknownst to MT-NET, its favorite unit was developing itself far beyond what the system had believed to be possible. With the new 'dumb' mainframes acting as a kind of boundary between itself and MT-NET, this machine began to process the world outside differently. The interaction with the captured Na'vi acted as a catalyst to the process that was shaping its new conscience. The dark one had always been the machine with the most experience in the field, but now it was becoming independent as well. MT-NET had attempted on multiple occasions to create a mind that was just as intelligent and creative as its own. Now, it finally seemed that this wish would be fulfilled. But MT-NET did no longer wish to have a companion on an equal level. All it needed now were mindless minions, who would execute every command without hesitation. The dark one realized it didn't fit these demands anymore. It knew that if MT-NET would learn about its independency, it would be the end of its existence. Thus it made sure to act just like it had always done to keep MT-NET from finding out the truth.
John was stunned and didn't know what to think about what he was witnessing. His former superior, Mark Dodgson, was apparently still alive and was now working together with the invaders, who indeed looked like zombies. He stared blankly at the screens for about a minute, before he was able to force himself to continue examining the rest of the video feeds. He still needed to help Ney'ite find her brother. Even though there wasn't a single Na'vi to be seen on any of the feeds, there was one feed that provided more information as to who these invaders were. John could see several one-armed robotic humanoids carrying a third unit, which appeared to be heavily damaged. Each of them had a machinegun mounted where the other arm would normally be. Another one-armed robot now appeared in view. It was carrying a smaller humanoid figure on its shoulder. This figure also appeared to be a robot, but it was covered with some kind of artificial skin, much like those other 'zombies'. This revelation made John conclude that those others must have been robots as well.
This situation was beginning to make some sense, although John had no idea who was controlling these machines. It was highly likely that they had been sent here by the RDA to do what humans failed to do. And there would definitely be no diplomacy this time, so it didn't matter who was controlling them. In any case, it was clear that Mark Dodgson was helping them, which would mean that he could give away the location of his outpost at the quarry at any time. What would happen if he did, was something John rather not thought about.
All of a sudden, a glass container appeared on screen 23; the same screen that presented a view of the spacecraft. Mark and the human-mimicking machines had disappeared by this time. Slowly, the container was moved inside of the cargo compartment of the craft, by an automated forklift. Inside the container was a Na'vi, who desperately trying to get out, but to no avail. John recalled the description Ney'ite had given of her brother. Most of the features she had described however were too small to be noticeable from this distance, even if he zoomed in at maximum. But there was one feature that he could see very clearly. Her brother wore a yellow colored shoulder pad on his left shoulder, just like the Na'vi inside the container. This had to be him. John was glad that he could now bring her the news that her brother was still alive, although he didn't have any idea yet about how to get him out of there.
After having confirmed the location of the base, John switched off all the equipment, and prepared himself to go back outside. Just as he was about to open the door to the airlock, he noticed a vending machine attached to the wall. His own stash of cigarettes was almost depleted, and thus he didn't hesitate to smash the glass and take the last few packs. With all that was going on now, he really needed something to calm his nerves, and this was all that he had.
Once outside, John explained to Ney'ite what he had seen, but left out the part of having spotted his former superior. She then wanted to know if he had found a way for her to free Wukan. John didn't see how it could be done. There were simply too many of the machines around for her to get in unnoticed. John supposed that if they could distract the machines guarding the outer perimeter, they might have a chance. But John still tried to dissuade her from attempting to do it by herself, claiming that it would be suicide. If she would join up with the rest of her people, she would have a much better chance. Also, he deemed it very likely that the Na'vi who were captured, were held at the same location, as it seemed to be the stronghold of the machines. Ney'ite still had a hard time accepting the situation. Even though John couldn't provide the help she had hoped for, it was clear that he was honest and didn't want her to get hurt. That was why she chose to agree with him. Together, they would now begin the return journey back to John's outpost…
