July 6, 11,958 CE
Machine Settlement of Mor-Central, on planet Mor, Mor System, Midgard Sector, Arcturus Stream…
Android Brosym-2 stepped into her nursery's playroom, where a bunch of Small Stubby Machines were playing around, many of them mimicking games played by Human children millennia prior.
Mor was administered by the Machine Council, so Brosym-2 was one of only a handful of Androids who lived on the planet. Her nursery was one of many designed to care for newly-produced batches of Machines.
"Brosym, Brosym!" One of the young Machines, Guthrie-100, ran over, holding a rather garish stocking with Christmas designs on it. "What's this?"
Another of the Machines, Harriet-264 chuckled. "He found it in the garage! The old stuff we got from Artemis- he won't stop playing with that junk!"
"This is called a Christmas stocking," Brosym-2 took the item from Guthrie. "In the Old World, Humans would wait on for a special day called Christmas- usually December 25th- but some different Human tribes would have different days- and hang these stockings up outside the furnace!"
"Why?" "Why?" A number of child Machines now gathered about the Android, enraptured by her story. "What for?" "Why?"
"Well, at night, when the furnace was turned off, a special Human named Santa Claus would climb down the thermal port- thermal ports on Human living facilities were large and crude at the time- and place gifts into the stockings!"
"Oooooh!"
"Aaaaah!"
"Can I have a gift?"
"Yeah, let's hang it up!"
"I wanna gift!"
"Nuh-uh!" Brosym waggled a finger at the clamoring Machines. "Today isn't Christmas! Besides, tragically Santa Claus is no more. Aside from the Oracles, no other Humans survived, so Santa Claus perished too, in a terrible magic disease thousands of years ago."
"Awwwww..." The little Machines wilted, looking downcast.
"Now, now, don't be sad," Brosym reassured. "If you are good and clean up after yourselves, I will be the one to bring you all gifts tomorrow, when I go to the toy store! I hear they have a shipment of new toys from Byss!"
"Yaaaaaah!"
"Gifts! Gifts!"
"Clean up first, kids!" Brosym-2 chided, pointing to the various toys, books, clothing, and furniture scattered helter-skelter all over the room. One of the Machines had even managed to yank out all the drawers from the dresser.
The Machine children hurried to get everything sorted away, but they were far from done, when the nursery's engineer, Raynaud-165, called for them to get their daily check-up and maintenance.
"Go now, kids. But make sure to come back and clean up later, alright?" Brosym urged gently.
The Machine children lined up obediently and filed out the room.
Seeing the checks usually took awhile, Brosym relaxed, and picked up an Old World book, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, and began to read.
Thus she was still reading when the screaming began.
"W-What?" Brosym set down her book and walked out with trepidation. "Harriet? Thrax? Guthrie? Raynaud, wh-what's going on?"
She walked out into the hallway- and gasped in horror.
Raynaud, his eyes glowing red and berserk, was tearing into a thrashing child, Thrax-168, while several children were attacking each other, tearing each other apart. Several others lay alone on the floor, writhing and flailing their short limbs around.
"Raynaud, what are you doing?! Harriet, Kautsky, stop, stop!" Brosym ran into the chaos. "De Valera, are you all right, what happen- AUGGHHH!" Brosym let out a scream, as a Machine child she was trying to help chomped on her hand. Another child bit down on her leg. "No, no, stop, stop!"
Brosym managed to wrench her damaged hand out of De Valera-113's mouth, and kicked away Kautsky-132. Panicked, she began to limp away, not knowing where to go, where she could go.
"Mor-Central Authority, we have an emergency, can you hear me?" She called into her transmitter, to no avail. Most of what she got in reply were scattered bursts of static punctuated by the sound of screaming and pandemonium.
"Public Security, is anyone there? We have an emergency! Is this the Machine Council Office? We need help! Stolbovo Station, is anyone there- AAAIIII!" Desperately calling everywhere she could, only to receive static or sounds of chaos, Brosym didn't notice the group of Small Stubby children creeping up behind her until they began to bite.
Brosym thrashed violently, knocking the Machines asunder and scrambled to her feet. "Please- please stop!" In terror, she drew her sidearm. "D-Don't come any c-closer!"
The Machine children didn't heed her warning at all, continuing to lumber closely as if possessed or in a trance.
"H-Harriet! Duterte! S-Stop!" She waved her gun about threateningly. "D-Don't make me use this!"
Once Harriet was about a meter away from Brosym, she suddenly leaped at the Android caretaker, thrashing her arms violently.
"EEEKK!" Brosym fired instinctively, blowing apart the small Machine. She then fell to her knees in horror at the destroyed remains. "Oh, fuck! I'm so sorry, Harriet! I'm so sorry-"
The other machine, Duterte-18, reached Brosym and bit down on her arm.
"AHHHH!" Brosym turned her gun around and shot Duterte as well.
This time, Brosym turned and fled from the nursery, sobbing inconsolably. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry-"
She opened the door leading out into the street- and came face to face with a construction Machine.
"Wha-"
That was all she managed to say before the Machine seized her with grasping claws. Then it activated a buzzsaw.
Screaming incoherently, Brosym beat on claw holding her to no avail, then fired her gun continuously at the chassis of the Machine holding her, but to little use.
The buzzsaw sliced through her torso, bit by bit, sending debris and mechanical parts flying. Brosym screamed in agony, fear, panic, and shock. Even after she had been bisected, her upper body continued to shriek and flail about, thrashing in her death throes for a few more minutes as circuitry sparked and oil bubbled out of her insides.
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July 6, 11,958 CE
Union Headquarters in Tokyo, former Old World nation of Japan, Earth, Sol System, Earth Sector, Earth Cluster…
The hologram of a tired-looking Chairman Anemone looked to the other members of the Union Council, whether physically there, or remotely.
"I trust everyone has seen the news about Mor?"
"Those monsters!" Chairman Pascal of the Machine Council condemned vehemently, his voice an octave higher than usual. "How could they?"
"Do you have any idea who could have done it?" Diplomatic Minister Kavar asked stoically. "How they could have done it?"
"Several media outlets across Earth and the colonies- including Union Central Television- have received anonymous messages claiming to represent the Sunshine terrorist group in claiming responsibility for the attack," Councilor Turing of the United Resistance Council informed. "But it's too early to tell. Most of the reports on the ground are erratic and contradictory."
"Those scum have gone too far!" Director Lovelace punched her chair with one fist. Seeing as said chair was being broadcast from Arcturus Station, the impact only made a dull sound across the holofeed. "Attacking our colonies! They need to be all killed!"
"We would if we had any inkling who they were," Director Abel drawled laconically. "The reason why they've lasted this long is because we haven't a clue."
"Does anyone have a good idea how the attack happened?" Representative Accord questioned.
"Well, an orbital station over the planet was also destroyed at the same time," High Admiral Victoria noted. "So it seems likely either the attack started from the station and was disseminated to the surface, or there were two simultaneous attacks."
"What about Intelligence?" Artemisian President Jennifer Brown asked, turning to Director Serov.
"I assure you my agents are looking into it as fast as they can. But there are still so many variables," Director replied placatingly. "And we still have to analyze the virus."
"Speaking of the virus, where did the terrorists get it? Did they program it themselves? Do they have that capability? Was it like the viruses used by the Machine Network during the Fourteenth Machine War?" Commander Jones of the Earth Maritime Fleet fielded a fusillade of questions.
"A virus like those used during the Fourteenth Machine War shouldn't be able to get past our cyberdefenses," Anemone gritted her teeth, as painful memories of her friends broiled in her mind. "We run white-box hypothetical virus and malware simulations every year and upgrade cybersecurity accordingly. Even if they managed to deactivate or bypass such protections on central servers, each Machine should have their own cybersecurity defenses."
"Unless it was deliberately designed by someone with inside knowledge, or inside access?" Director Serov speculated.
"Or it was a completely new type of virus, one so advanced, esoteric, and unprecedented, that all our cybersecurity couldn't do shit about it," Turing offered a terrifying prospect. "Perhaps… various low-level malicious AIs embedded in the code?"
"Well, whatever this virus or malware is, it doesn't seem to affect Androids at all," High Admiral Eleanor reported. "That's how we were able to contain the spread of the virus. After Mor-Central fell, crazed Machines ran outward into outlying settlements and outposts, infecting more Machines. The Machine Council pleaded for assistance from the Navy in containing the outbreak, so the Navy dispatched Marines to destroy the infected Machines, with some assistance from YoRHa units in the vicinity. However, the virus or malware, even when it got on Android hardware, never even attempted to hack in. It would only scan, and then shut down, as if detecting a FFI or something."
"It must be Sunshine!" Pascal denounced, uncharacteristically angry. "They hate us Machines!"
"I agree it's not looking good for them, but we don't know that for sure-" Director Serov began, but no one was seriously listening to him.
"This is a disaster," Director Lovelace buried her face in her hands. "The colonial infrastructure damage is immense. Several servers and production factories were destroyed, causing severe losses. Thousands of Machines, and some Androids too, have been lost for good- we were unable to pull any backup data for them."
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July 8, 11,958 CE
Organization ? Headquarters at Svalbard, former Kingdom of Norway, Earth, Sol System, Earth Sector, Earth Cluster...
Deputy Director Manah looked up to see Specialized Android Agent Legasov enter. "So, what's this you're in such a rush to see me about?"
"It's about the virus cyberattack on Mor…"
"I know, Agent Sihanouk is checking it out-"
"Yeah, but he just sent us some of this malicious code he found on some of the infected Machines. It was so important it couldn't wait for him to actually return."
Legasov placed a datapad on Manah's desk.
Manah read through it, and her eyes widened. "But this is- don't tell me-"
"It's Project Odysseus," Legasov stated grimly.
"That's impossible- !" Manah protested, unusually flustered. "I ordered it to be cancelled in its preliminary stages!"
"Leah told me you and Furiae were discussing whether to give the virus to the Locusts. You didn't-"
"No- I mean, yes, we discussed the possibility of giving Odysseus to the Locusts," Manah held up her hands hastily. "But in the end we decided it was far too dangerous- there was no guarantee we could control them! So I ordered it shelved indefinitely!"
"But this was an inside job."
"Yes," Manah's eyes narrowed furiously. "Only someone within the Organization should have access to this. So either we have a traitor, a rogue element within the Organization..." She trailed off, unable to say the unthinkable.
"... or we've been infiltrated," Legasov finished her thought grimly. "But if so, by whom? Only a handful of people outside the Organization even know we exist." He paused thoughtfully. "Odysseus was Gallico's project. Should we-"
"No!" Manah ordered firmly. "If he's truly involved, the last thing we want is to spook him. And my gut feeling is that he's not the one…"
