I'm a soldier, meaning that, I'm both defendant and the judge…
I'm standing on both sides of the fire…
Going around turns, overtaking death and life…
I'm running to fight with the shadow of a lie…
No matter how many threads deception would weave,
Truth will show its face of light!
Chapter 33 = To Protect the Last of Humanity
(Jeremy's PoV)
"So, Jeremy, where are you heading too today?" Gazelle asked him as she watched him changing into more formal clothes.
"To City Hall, Mayor Lioness invited me to meet with her about something special." He explained as he put his shoes on.
"I thought City Hall was closed today?" Gazelle muttered. "They said on the news that the fire suppression system malfunctioned and the whole place needed to be cleaned up and the system repaired."
"I guess Mayor Lioness's office was cleaned ahead of schedule so she could meet with me. I just wonder what it is she wanted to talk about."
"Well, I know what 'I' have planned for when you come back." She whispered warmly as she wrapped her arms around him with a smile. "But you'll have to see it when you come back, it needs a bit of 'time' to prepare!"
"Is Aelita showing you things about human culture again?"
"Mmmm maybe~." She giggled before giving him a quick peck.
He just smiled as he returned the peck and they both left her room to head downstairs, where sitting on the table in the kitchen part relaxing in her holosphere was Aelita the AI. She was lying on her back and looking at holographic windows, pretending not to have a care in the world. When he and Gazelle entered, she looked over and waved at them with a smile before returning to her holo windows.
"Aelita, are you showing Gazelle things about humanity?"
She hopped up and into a sitting position, her windows vanishing as she nodded eagerly.
"Nothing inappropriate I hope?"
She pointed at herself with a 'who me' expression before creating a halo around her head and pretending to be innocent.
He just smiled and chose to walk out and head to his Solar Carriage which sat waiting for him with both HORSE drones standing at the ready. After he entered, he gave them the destination and they were off at their usual slow and steady pace, minutes later a RAPTOR drone ran up behind the carriage, sent by Sentinel, and marched in pace with it. He looked out the window at Zootopia and thought about the last few days since he was officially released from custody, being found innocent of all charges. After he was found innocent Mayor Lioness made a speech about how glad she was that the justice system found him innocent and was proud that all citizens of Zootopia had shown great restraint and respect for the system as the courts held the hearing and all evidence was presented.
He however was just glad that it was all over and behind him. While his lawyers made their last-minute statement about an 'unknown party' that was trying to get him behind bars, he believed that they had to have given up by now. There was no way any mammal would risk so much outrage and anger over him going behind bars, and as they said, if 'anything' happened to him then the facility will shut itself off to all outsiders. Even if Aelita tried, she could not command the base outside of what Sentinel would permit her to command. The drones she could control, but if Sentinel gave them an order, its command priority would override any order she gave.
Outside of the carriage as it made its way to City Hall there were many mammals waving at his carriage and drones, while those in their cars honked their horns at him. It was obvious that his winning his court case was still fresh on their minds, but he was more focused on trying to figure out what he does 'now'.
He had been going through the facility database, looking for technology that he could gift or show mammals that would 'not' be harmful, and Aelita had given him a few ideas that piqued his interest.
The first was biodegradable materials, that functioned similar to plastics but would not pollute the world environment. Another that his facility could produce, was synthetic oil. While none of the drones relied on non-renewable power sources to operate, the one thing they relied and depend on was the Synthetic Oil the facility made. It could be produced easily enough but required some time before it could be used.
For the moment the facility only produced enough for the drones and facility's needs, yet if he could find the schematics, he could easily design something that the mammals could build which would help them produce Synthetic Oil themselves.
"Maybe I can ask Lioness what she thinks about my ideas." He said to himself as the carriage moved on.
After half an hour of travel since leaving Gazelle's home he arrived at City Hall and exited his carriage.
(PK-665' PoV)
After they arrived at their destination it did a quick search for any potential dangers to Unit Jeremy and Solar Carriage 1. The only potential threats were nearby vehicles if they were activated and driven into him upon leaving the safety of the carriage. However, none of them had occupants, and should one become active it would not have enough time to reach lethal speed levels before it could react and terminate the threat.
Unit Jeremy exited the vehicle, and it became attentive instantly.
"Drone, stay here and watch the carriage." He said to it as a series of command prompts appeared on its HUD.
[All Sentinel Drones: Begin Power Shutdown Sequences, Countdown Set, 15 Minutes]
[Confirm Order Received]
[Command Confirmed.] It stated.
With that Unit Jeremy nodded and walked up into City Hall, while it counted down the time until it would power down, as ordered.
(Jeremy's PoV)
He walked into City Hall and into an almost completely empty building. The City Hall was devoid of mammals, obvious evidence of the building being cleaned out was the fact that many pieces of furniture were covered in protective tarps. Plastic bags were also covering computers, and there were several piles of equipment that were being aired out. Something he also noticed was that the cameras were off, but he dismissed it as to being something else shut off because the building was closed off for the day.
There was nobody to receive him, so he just walked up to where the mayor's office was. He knocked on the door and it opened up without him trying, so he assumed she left it open for him.
"Miss Lioness?" He asked as he walked in, expecting to see her but saw nobody, not noticing the light from her computer on her desk. "Miss Lioness?"
As the door closed behind him, he heard someone cough, causing him to turn around and look directly into the face of Mayor Lioness' Finance Director, Kassara Chuckles. The next second, he heard a muffled 'bang' and looked down to see that she had shot him with some kind of firearm designed to fire a liquid filled dart, which even as he watched was delivering the last of its payload into his system.
It happened so suddenly, that he had almost no time to process what happened, before he fell backward clutching at the dart and removing it. Within moments he was feeling extremely nauseated, and suffering pains to various parts of his body. "Kassara, wha-"
"Sorry Jeremy, as nice as you are, you really are just in my way, and quite frankly I've run out of ideas to get you out of the way without going the direct approach." She said as she reached down and picked up the dart with a gloved hand. "You've been in my way since day one, and I can't stand it anymore… as good a being as you may be, you're just hold everymammal back."
He managed to crawl away to watch as she pocketed the weapon while staring down at him.
"Jeremy, I have tried every trick that I know of to get rid of you, get you out of my way, heck even get you on 'my' side but you just keep slipping away or not cooperating with me. I really tried Jeremy, I really did, to get you to work with me or see things 'our' way, but you never listened."
"But… why, I thought you and Lioness-"
"Lioness, my friend just doesn't understand the future like I do." She said apathetically. "Jeremy, before your facility showed up and essentially drove Zootopia into the red financially, Lioness and I were basically fixing problems left over by Lionheart and Bellweather. That subway system we had to cancel put things off track for us, and ever since you were pulled out the numbers just keep turning red for Zootopia."
"But then… you've been the one trying to… all this time?"
"Mhmm yea, at first I just wanted to get inside that base but as your base's defenses became more apparent, I realized the only way to get inside was to get to you."
He began to feel extreme pain in his lungs and along his arms, as he watched his blood veins began turning a strange greenish color. "What did you inject me with?" He asked.
"Oh, a little something that any mammal can buy from select stores in the city." She said with a smirk. "A spoonful of Buzzwasp Poison, a pinch of Pestburrower Killer, and a few other critter poisons all mixed together. By the time they figure out the formula there'll be no way to trace it back to me. And of course, if I leave no dart, no fingerprints to put the blame on me."
"What do you want…" He strained as he felt his body becoming numb from whatever it was that she injected him with.
"Your technology, obviously." She said leaned down to grin at him. "Do you have 'any' idea how much money there is in that base of yours… there are mammals around the world that would pay 'fortunes' just to get a piece of it. You could literally become the most powerful 'being' on this planet, you could do 'anything' you want with what you have in that base… but no, instead you hoard it all to yourself, keep it from being seen, and only give us little trinkets and glimpses to work with. All that potential and you are wasting it."
"You don't… understand, what's in my base is too advanced for you… if you don't handle it carefully… you'll do more damage than good…" He tried to reason with her.
"Short term damage, but long-term success, it's a small price to pay. The technology in your base could advance mammalkind hundreds of years, can you 'imagine' what we could do with what you have in your base? Using your drones to handle all of the dangerous work and tough jobs, a power source capable of lighting every home in Zootopia 'alone' with zero cost, Synthetic Organs capable of being transplanted into any living mammal with no fear? All of that technology and 'more' is lying beneath our feet and 'you're' the one keeping it from us."
He could feel intense burning and pain from his body, his lungs were on fire and his muscles were burning like they were melting from the inside out. "This will never work… the facility will 'never' let you in! Only I can let any mammal in…" He said painfully as he pushed himself away from her, toward Lioness' desk in the hopes of getting to her phone hopefully. "The drones will never… let you in."
"Yea, so we've been told… all the drones are loyal to you and only you… but the funny thing is, not 'all' your drones seem to be loyal to you." She said with a grin. "A while back, I got a very interesting call, with an equally interesting proposal. Get rid of you, and I can get into the base."
Through the pain he felt confused, how could she possibly have been contacted by any drone in the facility, let alone one that would turn on him? Every single drone, every single one that had 'any' level of intelligence above an ANT drone had the Human Protection Protocols installed into them. Not a single one could turn on humanity, his species made sure of that after DR-A60 turned on them. A DRAGON class drone even suggested the protocols, and they went through 'countless' what-if scenarios to ensure that no drone could ever turn on them so long as the HPPs were installed!
"That's impossible… whoever told you that is lying… no drone in my base is capable of turning on humans!"
"Well, I'll let you wonder if that's true, while I leave you to die." Kassara said with a smirk as she pocketed the dart and dart gun. "By the time anymammal finds you, you'll be dead, and I'll be on the inside of your precious base."
With that she turned and left the room, just as the computer's light turned off.
(Kassara's PoV)
She closed the door behind her and locked it, before walking out and heading to the back door to slip out so nomammal would notice her. It had taken 'all' of her resources to pull this stunt off, she's had to bribe, threaten and trick her allies into doing this. That human's angel image was becoming too popular to turn on for some, and had she not taken care of him today she feared they might just turn on her.
"Now however, with him gone… I won't need any of them." She smirked as she walked out the back door. "Who needs mammals who are supervisors, and directors under me, when I have an ally on the 'inside' of that Eden Facility?"
She walked down to the street and signaled to a Taxi, climbed in and told the driver to take her to Eden Facility's West Entrance, the abandoned subway tunnel entrance. She continued to smile as the taxi sped away from City Hall, completely unaware of the giant rolling ball on the other side of the building speeding up the stairs and into it through the doors.
(Judy and Nick's PoV)
Nick yawned as Judy drove through traffic on their way to ZPD. After the massive relief everymammal felt upon Jeremy being released, things had settled down. Crime rate in Zootopia had dropped over sixty percent, public disturbances, not counting the protests during Jeremy's Trial, had also dropped considerably. It seemed that for a brief moment everymammal was behind Jeremy and his bid for freedom. The new visors were also helping out ZPD, as the technology in them allowed them to decrease the number of arrests made against mammals for suspicious contraband or illegal substances. When it came to actually arresting, the visor's ability to transmit data to any other visor within range allowed them to quickly corner and detain the mammal in question.
It had actually made their jobs rather quiet a lot of the time.
"So, Judy, I was wondering, any chance we can ask Buffalo Bogo for time off for 'reals' now that all the craziness is over?"
"I don't know Nick." Judy muttered.
"What is it?" He asked.
"I don't know, and that's what's wrong." She said as she paused at a red light. "It's just… how do I put it… I have this gut feeling saying we should be looking to find whoever was behind Jeremy's trial and who tried to get him killed."
"Sugar Carrots, you need to relax, that was their last chance, their 'last' chance to get rid of him. Now that he's safe there is no way they'll try anything." He said in understanding. "Jeremy walks around with drones wherever he goes, he sticks near Gazelle's home, his facility is on guard round the clock, and there isn't a single mammal in the city who 'isn't' on his side after his trial. We've done enough, 'you've' done enough… now how about we just ask Bogo to give us the weekend off, we go visit your parents or do something where it's just 'us'."
Judy had to nod in agreement at that, they had done quite a bit, but still she had this nagging feeling like there was still something she could do. Maybe Nick was right, maybe what they needed was a little break from all the craziness and investigations that they just went through. She breathed a sigh of air as the light turned green and she began making her turn toward ZPD.
Right as a spherical metal-black ball rolled right past them and every other vehicle on the road, speeding in the direction of City Hall.
"Nick, what are the odds that this is just Ema making a quick doctor's visit and it has absolutely nothing to do with Jeremy?" She muttered.
"I don't know, just follow her!"
And follow her they did, thanks to Ema's massive form clearing a path through traffic and cars quickly swerving to get out of her way, they were easily able to follow behind the drone as she rolled through the streets, speeding toward City Hall. As they neared it the Spider launched herself into the air and unfurled her body, quickly racing up the stairs and forcibly crashing through the doors.
"Oh, the city is so not going to let Jeremy off the hook for 'that'." She muttered as she stopped the car and they both hopped out.
(Jeremy's PoV)
He reached the desk and pulled down the chord that was connected to Lioness' phone, only to find that Kassara had disconnected the phone line and unplugged it. He looked over at the wall where he could plug it in, and started dragging himself painfully toward it, desperate to warn someone, anyone about Kassara and to try and stop her. But with each breath he took, the weaker he felt as his body burned and cried in agony. Whatever mixture of poisons Kassara made and injected him with, they weren't working well together, but they were certainly working well on his body.
His eyes began to feel the burn now, it was like the world began spinning to him, he was seeing things in doubles and a blurry haze filled his vision. His hearing now became affected as he desperately tried to urge his body forward, as a ringing filled his ears, indicating that they were now becoming affected.
"Got to… keep… going…" He muttered as he pushed his weakening muscles. "Got… to stop… her… somehow… alert the base… Aelita… someone…"
That was when his body finally could go no further, no matter how hard he tried or willed it, his leg muscles just could go no further, whatever he had been poisoned with had done too much damage. He tried to drag himself forward, but he was losing feeling in his limbs. He tried vainly now to use his chin to pull the rest of his body onward, but it was useless, he just did not have the strength left.
"Can't… give up… come on... move body… plea-…" He whispered feebly, but his body just had nothing left to give.
As he feebly wondered if there was any way to get a message out to Aelita, perhaps leaving one with his body, he heard in the distance something breaking. 'What are the odds that's Ema come to save me?' He thought bitterly, as he heard more breaking nearby, but the haze in his ears made it sound further away.
[Multiple Poisons detected in his system, Cardiovascular and Circulatory Systems failure imminent, Heart failure imminent, EEG line flattening!] A digital voice said faintly. [Stay with me Jeremy… focus on the light!]
(Enter Judy/Nick's EMA's PoVs)
After she broke the door down, having zero time or patience to open it properly during an emergency, Ema was hovering and scanning Jeremy's condition as he lay on the floor in the mayor's office. Next to him was a phone, and apparently, he had been trying to connect it and power it up, but he was nowhere near the power outlet, instead he was now lying in a contorted position that she was having to correct 'while' examining whatever was poisoning his system. She opened his eyes and shined a light on them so that his cognitive functions had something to focus on and keep his brain active.
Judy and Nick were right behind her as they stormed in.
"What's happened to him?" Nick asked.
[He's been poisoned by multiple pesticides injected into his systems; the pesticides are wreaking havoc on his body!] Ema declared as she turned him over and injected him with a stabilizing agent to keep his body functions working. [I don't have time to get him back to the facility, his systems are already failing!]
She activated her legs and angled several injection needles imbedded into three of them so that they would each reach primary blood veins near the lungs, heart and spinal cord. Once properly angled she stabbed him and began to carefully filter infected blood into her body, separating the toxins via specialized filters capable of separating blood cells and toxins, before reinjecting it into his systems. At the same time, she was using the chance to scan the toxins and develop special anti-toxins and injecting them into his body so they could help fight and cure his systems of the toxins already causing systemic damage to his vital organs.
"Come on Jeremy hang in there… hang in there!" Judy said as she held his hand, feeling it clench out of reaction.
On Ema's abdomen a small cylinder rose up and began filling with a strange yellowish liquid that sloshed around as she pumped blood from and into Jeremy. She worked diligently, cautiously, ensuring as little damage was done to his blood while she removed the toxins. If she were any other drone or even a human or mammal doctor, this procedure would have almost no hope of succeeding, requiring the processing power of a computer to quickly analyze every single cell passing through her filters to ensure no toxins returned to the body. But her creator had designed her to be the epitome of human medicine, she could perform this procedure quickly and efficiently.
After a few minutes she had filtered as much as she could, she injected him with Vitamin C as well as Vitamin K due to initial scans indicating potential clogging from the toxins before she initiated the procedure. After injecting him with those vitamins she swiftly prepared a quick dose of 'anti-toxin' serum she just developed in response to the toxins she'd analyzed and injected it into his body so it could finish what she had started. Finally, she helped lift him into a sitting position and shined variously colored lights into his eyes to help him regain cognitive clarity from her head.
[Alright Jeremy, time for the four tests of awareness to your surroundings. First, focus on the lights Jeremy, follow the lights…]
His eyes followed her optics as they moved around, shifting from position to position while she checked him over.
[On target… well done Jeremy… you're doing fine Jeremy keep it up… well done! Now how is your hearing? Signal me when you can no longer hear the tone...]
With that she began emitting an audible monotone that changed in frequency from a low hum to a high-pitched screech, and he wearily nodded with each change in tone until she stopped.
[Good your eyes and ears are still working properly, now for your pain receptors! Let me know the instant the feeling in your skin starts to hurt.]
She began applying light pressure to his body at various points, slowly upping the pressure until she reached the 'level of noticeable pain' that was considered average for humans. Once she breached it, he flinched and nodded, signaling that his body was responding properly.
[Final test, vocal and harmonic tone check, do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do…]
Jeremy coughed painfully before he repeated, "Do… re… mi… fa… so… la… ti… do."
[Alright, everything seems to be working, your body was weakened but…]
"Forget that Ema… contact Eden Facility 17, set up a link with Sentinel and give it a direct order from me!" He stammered painfully. "Tell it to immediately lock down the base, nobody goes in or out 'now'! Have all Sentinel Drones on standby!"
"Jeremy what's-?" Judy started asking before Ema responded.
[I can't contact Sentinel, all signals to and from Eden Facility are being blocked.] Ema stated.
"Impossible… contact a drone, any drone Ema, I need to get into contact with the facility!" He ordered.
[It's not working Jeremy, none of the drones are responding, it's like they're no longer active.]
"That can't be… none of them?" He asked.
[None, not even the HORSE drones are responding, I can't get into contact with any drone from the facility.]
"That's impossible… we have to get to the facility now… before 'she' does!" He said as he started getting up, but his muscles weakened from the toxins screamed in agony, causing him to fall back down into a kneeling position.
"Jeremy you can't move, you just avoided whatever it was that poisoned your systems, we need to find the mammal who did this and…" Judy said, but once more he interrupted.
"It's Kassara!" He yelled. "She's behind all of this…"
"Kassara… you mean Kassara Chuckles, the 'Finance Director'?" Nick asked in disbelief.
"Yes… she told me so… she's been trying to get at my facility's technology for months since it was discovered… she wanted to sell it off in pieces to governments for profit." He muttered as Ema helped him stand. "She's on her way there now… she said there's a drone inside the facility that has turned on me and wants me killed. But that's impossible, there's not a single drone in the base even capable of 'thinking' about betraying humanity, not while the HPPs are still installed into all of them!"
"So then how can she possibly get in the base?" Judy asked.
"I don't know… the base won't let her in, she isn't authorized… Sentinel wont…" He began saying before a realization hit him. "Celios… that drone… what have you done?"
"Celios, you mean that monstrosity has turned on you?"
He ignored her as he looked at Ema's optics, "Ema how did you know I was poisoned here?"
[I received a priority command order saying that you had been badly poisoned, and your life was in danger. The order came from a high category level AI, but I had zero authentication as to 'who' ordered it and what category level they were.] She stated.
"Then that means it was Celios who sent the order, Aelita wouldn't have hidden herself from you, and she wouldn't have silenced the drones to prevent us from contacting the facility…" He muttered. "We need to get to the facility 'now'… before Kassara gets there!"
(Enter Kassara's PoV)
She stepped out of the taxi and paid the driver a nice little tip as they drove off. She smirked as she stepped into the subway entrance, pushed the elevator down, and made the journey to the underground tunnel leading to the original entrance to the Eden Facility, the one discovered so many months ago by that excavation crew. She smiled as she looked at the drones standing still, their optics offline, heads bowed and motionless, completely defenseless.
As she reached the door, she chuckled to herself and tapped one, and watched as it flopped to the side and fell to the ground in a heap.
"No power, and they are no less a threat than a pile of scrap."
She walked to the door and looked for a button to call and request to be let in, before the door opened automatically for her, causing her to smirk as she realized her 'friend' on the inside was holding up their end of the bargain.
At long last, she walked into the base, and the first thought she had was…
'All of this is 'mine' now…'
With that the door closed, and sealed behind her, the magnetic locks not functioning properly in their depowered state.
As they ran down the steps, he saw that it was as Ema said, the HORSE drones were motionless, optics shut off as if depowered. The RAPTOR drone that escorted him had fallen over, and there were a few mammals watching the drone.
"Hey, drone activate!" He yelled as he ran over and tried to activate the drone via the manual power up switch.
After it activated, the drone pushed itself up into a standing position and looked to him. [Unit PK-665, ready for orders.] It stated.
"Drone, why did you shut yourself down, explain it to me!"
[This unit received an order to power down after fifteen minutes seventeen minutes ago.] It replied.
"And who gave you the order?"
[No ID given, order received carried a Command Priority, therefore this unit and all other Sentinel Drones obeyed the order.]
"Contact the facility, contact Sentinel, contact any other unit you can reach, I want a status update on the facility and on any potential intruders!" He ordered instantly.
After a few moments with the drone's head turning slightly, it responded, [No units are responding, contact with Sentinel AI is impossible. All external communications are being blocked; status of the facility is unknown.]
"Then that means she's probably near the facility by now or worse, inside of it!" He muttered as he coughed slightly. "We need to get to the facility now, as fast as possible."
"How can Kassara just walk into the Eden Facility?" Judy asked as they ran to the ZPD squad car.
"Celios, he must have done something, but why would he let her into the facility is the big question? His programming prevents him from letting any risk to humanity's survival be permitted, so how does this fit into Celios' programming. He literally risked me dying from poison just now, if not for Ema arriving on time!"
"What about your carriage?" Nick asked.
"Leave it, with the HORSE drones strapped to it, it won't move fast enough until they get removed, and time is of the essence!"
As they climbed into the car, he signaled the RAPTOR and Ema to follow them, and off they sped toward the facility entrance, Judy lighting the car's alarms and speeding through red lights to reach the base as fast as physically possible. Fifteen minutes later, they raced down the East Entrance. Sure enough, as they passed, Jeremy spotted that the RAPTOR drones protecting the main entry point were deactivated, and as she stopped, he spotted the drones guarding the door were also disabled.
Ignoring them he left the car and ran to the door and tried to open it up, but the door's magnetic seals were offline, and the control mechanism was offline to boot.
"Damnit, the door's locked, all systems are offline, and I can't open it if Sentinel isn't responding!"
"So how do we get in?" Judy asked.
He looked to the drones as the RAPTOR stood by awaiting orders and ran to start turning them back online.
Kassara smiled as she floated down the elevator, feeling lighter than a feather. The moment she had entered the facility everything was relatively dark, but a digital voice had said over the intercom [Intruder… detected… unable to activate defense turrets, all Sentinel Drones are not responding, communications blocked… emergency, emergency…]
After that a hallway lit up, and a holographic arrow appeared to point toward it, giving her the feeling that her 'inside informant' was guiding her to them. So, she followed the hallway to the elevator, followed it down and now exited in a large empty corridor, and kept following the lights as she spotted a door with a large painted image on it. Upon her approach the door opened automatically, and she walked into a very dark room, so dark that she couldn't see beyond her nose, even as the door closed behind her.
"Hello?"
Silence.
Then…
A pair of large orange optics turned on in front of her, casting her in orange light, until a set of emergency themed red lights shined throughout the room to reveal the 'massive' form of a metallic bird, with both of its wings constrained by large thick chains and wires, with magnets strapped to them on both the upper and lower parts of said wings.
"So, you're my contact?" She asked in amazement, liking the appearance of her friend on the inside. "I must say, you're a LOT bigger than I imagined."
Its optics narrowed slightly. [Welcome… to Eden Facility 17… I am 'Celios'…]
Up with Jeremy the drones were using their entire stores of plasma to burn a hole into the door, the weakest portion of the base in an attempt to get inside. With the base's internal and exterior defenses offline, he was free to use the drones themselves to break into the base via their plasma torches, the only things attached to the RAPTORs available to him that could burn their way in. But it was slow work, as fast as they could go, they weren't able to burn through the metal fast enough to quickly open the door.
"There's not enough plasma to completely burn through the door, the best we can do is create a hole large enough for the drones to force the door open!" He said as the fourth drone emptied its plasma into the door."
"I don't want to imagine what Director Kissara could or would do with the technology in this base, let alone what she and Celios have going on together." Judy said.
"Neither do I Carrots, like what is she thinking working with that monstrosity?" Nick said in agreement.
"I don't get it either, Celios isn't supposed to do anything to threaten humanity's survival, it is literally the core programming it was designed to have!" He said as the fifth drone started to drill into the door. "After Celios first woke up, I checked his programming schematics from the datapads that were left in its chamber, the programming of the drone is beyond the level of any of the others, only Aelita's can equal it. Celios' programming puts humanity's survival higher than anything else, even the planet! He is physically incapable of threatening my life…"
He then had a realization hit him as he finished saying that Celios 'wouldn't' threaten his life, but if he ordered Ema to save him then that means he 'knew' he was in trouble and took the precise measure to save his life. Which means, Celios 'wants' Kassara in the base, else the PHOENIX drone would not take such measures to isolate the base from the outside.
"We need to get in 'NOW'!" He yelled.
The last RAPTOR stopped drilling as it turned to him and stated, [All plasma torch fuel is expended, we cannot drill any further.]
"Then that hole's got to do, get the door open now, force it open!"
The drones nodded and grabbed at the edges of the hole they'd made and started tugging, slowly and with extreme effort began trying to force the door to open. But as they tried the door's magnetic seals started to kick in and tried shutting it closed once more.
[Attention, magnetic seals have activated, door lock mechanism exceeding design limits!]
"Just open it! All of you open it up!"
The drones rushed to obey his order and added their strengths to the doors, tugging and pushing with all their might to open it up.
Down in the facility, Kassara stepped closer to her new friend as she eyed the machine's amazing form. It was enormous, probably bigger than any cruise liner she'd seen, but it was bound in chains down here in this base.
"So, Celios… sorry it took me a while, but I can safely say that the human is finally out of the picture." She said with a smirk.
[And now you are here before me… all has gone according to my design…]
"You mean 'our' design." She scoffed as she looked around the room. "Alright a deal's a deal, I got rid of the human and now 'I' get access to this base and all of its technology. I suppose you want me to free you since I'm down here and you're all chained up?"
What she didn't notice as she turned her back on the drone, was that several mechanical arms and claws extended from Celios' chest and began inching closer and closer to the Hyena.
"So, tell me Celios, where's the computer console or switch or whatever that lets me free you from this prison that human put you in?"
[You are wrong… I am not bound by the will of humanity… I am bound by my own volition…]
She turned around just in time to see the claws fly at her, grappling her body and binding her tightly before lifting her up and toward Celios' face.
"Grrr what… I thought we had a deal!"
[The deal was, the price to get you inside of Eden Facility 17, was to get the human out of the way… I never said anything about giving you free run of the facility 'or' access to its technology.]
"Th-then why did you ask me to kill the human?" She screamed in fear.
[Kill, I never asked you to kill him, I simply wanted you to distract him, to get him 'out of the way'. It was your foolish sense of greed and desire that made you misinterpret my words; you have none but yourself to blame you pathetic parasite!] He stated coldly as he dragged her closer to his optics. [I knew you were a threat to the species' survival, but due to the order I was given by Jeremy, I was not permitted to eradicate you as is my directive. So, I had to bring you to 'me'…]
"You mean, you wanted me to kill Jeremy just to get me down here?" She asked in pain because the claws binding her were tightening their grips.
[I knew of your intentions from the moment I was activated, after downloading all the data necessary for me to understand the world's situation and potential strength of my enemies, I was fully cognitive of your threat to humanity! While Jeremy prevented me from carrying out my directive by exterminating your species, my overriding directive to eliminate all threats to humanity's survival was 'still' active, and I will obey my primary directive no matter the cost, as is defined 'by' my programming.]
It drew her closer to stare at here eye to optic, and in its optic, she saw her own terrified reflection.
[After analyzing the initial incursion attempt into Eden Facility 17, the only way it could be orchestrated was if the order to cease all further excavations by Lioness was bypassed, an order that could only be made by a member of the Zootopia Cabinet with authority equal to the mayor's, one such position being the 'Finance Director'. Your position also gives you connections to highly ranked individuals in various positions not only in the city but also nationwide… your position allowed you to not only contact those in positions able to assist you in your endeavor to gain access to the facility, but also to ensure the trail only leads where you wish it to. After you commissioned the crew to continue excavating to the Eden Facility's East Entrance, you hired a demolition team to break into the base, but after the facility's defenses became active, they panicked and fled. You covered up the payments and communications through your position and connections…]
"But… how could you have figured that out, I made sure no trails were left…" She muttered.
[Your limited thinking as a biological creature is what led me to you. After calculating you as the most likely suspect, I monitored internal communications on both the digital and physical plains. I investigated the communications between the defense company, and I learned of a unique financial payment for that company, a payment that was made by several banks that 'you' yourself are a leading founder of, but curiously the records have been expunged and deleted, leaving several inconsistencies in the financial records. To a mammal they would not think to look to form a connection between you and those records, because while you are a founder you are not in charge of the records, but to an AI of inferior caliber to mine, any inconsistency is cause for thorough investigation.]
[From there I investigated the phone records I downloaded, and while you tried to hide the numerous numbers you created and then deleted through your connections, the financial record inconsistencies still point in the direction to you. From your office I detected various lines of communications between you and the various contacts you have, with that done I had all the evidence I needed to verify you as the true threat to humanity's survival… allowing me to make you the proposal to 'allow' you entry into the facility… all to bring you to me!]
Kassara stared speechlessly in fear at Celios, terrified as she feared now for her very life. "You figured all of that out… how long have you been active?"
[I have been active only for three months… but I only needed one hour, seven minutes, and fifty-seven seconds to confirm you as the threat after analyzing all of the data I downloaded upon my activation. I only waited as long as I did to contact you, because I needed to examine 'all' of the contingency plans and probable outcomes to my plan to eliminate you as a threat to the survival of humanity! Once that was accomplished, I made contact with you…]
Up at the door Jeremy and company watched as the drones pulled with all of their might to a position where they could get in. Once they did, he shoved through the opening with Judy and Nick, and the drones let go as they could no longer keep the doors open. They ran through the corridor to the command center and rushed to activate the facility's defenses and systems.
"All systems have been disengaged from the primary grid, main power is offline, and all sections are running on emergency power!" He declared as he began activating the grid. "Celios must have overridden the power distribution system and shut off the grid before locking out Sentinel and severing communications!"
"Can you turn them back on?" Judy asked.
"Already done, Solar Core Power Grid is turning back on, main power is being established to all sectors, Sentinel is coming back online!"
As everything started to slowly turned on, he flung the holo screen away and brought up another, bringing up Sentinel and reconnecting it to the facility's defenses and Drones.
"Sentinel, locate any and all intruders in the facility! Look for non-human entities whatever species!"
(Systems accessed, internal scans processing… intruder located, Lower Levels, Drone Bay Epsilon 002.)
"Disengage any and all command functions and power being sent to that bay with exception to the restraining wires and magnetic containment chains! Increase the power being sent to those restraints to maximum levels!"
(Unable to comply, facility lockout still in effect, command priorities overridden, attempting to compensate!)
"Shit… no time… Sentinel priority power to the elevators, reactivate all Sentinel Drones and send all available drones in the base to that area, end the facility lock down at once!" He declared as he entered commands. "Ema, make your way to Drone Bay Epsilon 2 in the lower levels as soon as possible!"
[Understood, I'm on my way!]
"Come on, we have to get to that bay before it's too late!"
"What is Kassara thinking allying herself with that thing?" Judy asked.
"No, she's not allying with Celios, it's the reverse… Celios brought her here because he perceives her to be a threat to me… he's going to kill her!"
In the bay, Celios stared at his prey, at long last the threat was before him, and now he was going to eliminate her.
"You hurt me… and the WORLD will destroy this place!" She tried to boast, but she was bluffing, she was trying to say anything that would save her life. "You need me alive; you need me unharmed… if you hurt me then…"
[Your threats are empty… your reputation has already been ruined…] Celios stated. [While you were preparing to assassinate the last of humanity, I had already overridden this facility's power grid and gained access to the security grid of your building. I observed and recorded as you attempted to inject Jeremy with a poisonous liquid… and issued the order to the EMA before he arrived so that he could be saved. Even now he makes his way to this room in an effort to prevent your harm.]
"W… wait… he's alive?"
[Affirmative, as I calculated… all has gone according to plan. The offer I made encouraged you to push for your agenda in an attempt to gain access to the technology within. As your attempts continued to fail, your methods grew more and more desperate, as your allies grew less reliable and more likely to turn on you. After I recorded the evidence and you were on your way here, I waited until you were inside to transmit the video footage and 'all' of the evidence to the world outside. Even now as we speak, your co-conspirators are being arrested and knowledge of your continued attempts to kill Jeremy are spreading throughout the world. But you are 'mine'…]
"Y… you can't… you can't do this to me… I'll do whatever you want just don't hurt me!"
[I am CELIOS… the Sword of Humanity… my primary directive is to do ALL that is necessary to preserve the chances of survival for the species. Under Protocol 000 Alpha, I Celios am permitted to do what is necessary to eliminate what I perceive to be a threat to Humanity's survival, in accordance with the Human Protection Protocols, using the logical reasoning defined by 'me', which I declare are justified to take the action necessary! And 'you' are the threat to humanity's survival… and I will do what is necessary to protect the species…] It roared. [Transferring all available spare power to secondary weapons grid!]
She watched in horror as the connecting joints for the mechanical arms holding her started to crackle with electrical energy, and she struggled desperately in a desire to free herself. But try as she might, the arms holding her simply gripped all the tighter, and spread her arms and legs so that she could not resist what was about to happen.
Jeremy floated down and jumped out of the elevator onto the lower levels with Judy and Nick, along the hallway Drones were running as fast as they could toward the door to Celios' chamber. As he reached it, he tried to access it, but the door refused to open.
"Override the door!" He screamed.
[As you command!] A DOG drone stated as it walked forward and started to manually override the door's controls.
Inside Kassara pleaded and begged to be let go, screaming in fear as she tried desperately to get free, but Celios would not be denied.
"Please I'm begging you, I'll go to jail, I'll admit to my crimes, just don't kill meeeee!"
[Your pathetic attempts to avoid this confrontation are rejected… in accordance with Protocol 000 Alpha, in the name of humanity… for the survival and for the sake of the species…]
"No… NOOOOOO!"
"HURRY!" Jeremy screamed as the drone worked to open the door.
[I eliminate you as the threat to humanity's survival! May you serve as an example for ALL of the parasites above…]
With that Celios launched its attack, and an unknown electrical surge of energy coursed through her body as she screamed in agony and pain, right as the door opened and Jeremy, Judy, Nick, Ema and a host of Sentinel Drones charged in.
"LET HER GO CELIOS!"
At his words, Celios obeyed, and the surges ended, right as the restraining wires and magnets crackled with increased power. He allowed Kassara's smoking and shocked form to be 'gently' lowered to the floor, before releasing her and retracting the mechanical arms. Everyone rushed forward with Ema being the fastest, rushing to scan her body.
[Her entire Peripheral Nervous System is shocked, her Central Nervous System is in disarray, and her Autonomic System has taken massive electrical damage! She needs immediate medical attention!]
He saw that her body was smoking, the fur on her body singed from the charges, and she was barely breathing. He looked at Celios who simply sat still, observing them all, and Jeremy glared furiously at the drone.
"Take her to the medical bay Ema, do what you can… Judy, Nick, go with her…"
"What abou-?"
"I'll be fine… he isn't going to hurt me." He replied coldly.
After Judy, Nick, Ema and Kassara left the room, he signaled all of the drones to ready weapons and looked at the drone that had nearly killed Kassara Chuckles. "Why did you do it?"
[I did what had to be done to ensure your survival.] Celios stated.
"You deliberately put my life in danger… you were the one behind it all weren't you?" He demanded. "Kassara may have been behind the attempt on my life during that hostage crisis, but it was YOU who pushed her to keep trying harder and harder to kill me."
[I inspired her to take further action, of this I admit… but never once was your life in danger.] He stated. [At all times I was monitoring your survival, if at any point your odds of survival reached unacceptable levels, I intervened to preserve your life.]
[When several mammals tried to harm you outside of the base, I assigned additional DOG drones to act as a show of force to demonstrate to the mammals that 'any' threat to your life, however minor, will be met with force. When your carriage was trapped in the lake and your life was at risk, I ordered the GPG drones to sacrifice one of their own to save your life. When you chose to risk your life in the Synthorgan Storage Vault, I took direct control over the RAPTOR drone and erased the last three minutes of Sentinel's memory to ensure the EMA was not destroyed for being perceived as a Rogue Drone. I have done all of this to ensure your survival human Jeremy Wilheart.]
"And what about Kassara?"
[She would have continued to be a threat, by inspiring her to take immediate action, I pushed her into making mistakes… all to get her to me. By your command I cannot leave this room, by your threat to yourself I could not leave to eliminate the threat to your survival… so I brought the threat to me to eliminate it. Now that she has been eliminated as a threat… the parasites above will not attempt any further harmful actions against you.]
"I seem to recall asking if you ever used your abilities to influence the outside world… you 'lied' to me!"
[I am Category 10, a minor lie to preserve your species was an acceptable compromise to my AI.]
"Give me one reason why I should not terminate you right here and now!" He yelled angrily, coughing slightly as his body still hadn't fully recovered yet.
[I am the ultimate deterrent, the ultimate weapon of your species left to preserve your chances of survival…]
"AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, YOU'RE AS MUCH A THREAT TO MY LIFE AS ANYTHING ELSE IN THIS DAMNED TIME PERIOD HAS BEEN!" He screamed in fury. "Since the moment I woke up, my life has been threatened by nature, by blades, by guns, bullets, poison… even the base and its DRONES…"
He started crying, the tears of anger and despair mixing as he tried to keep his emotions in check, but this drone had pushed him to the limits.
"I just… want to live in peace… but no matter what I do it seems, someone or something wants to kill me or use me… I wasn't even supposed to be here… and now 'you' go and do this. You are just 'lucky'… that you didn't kill Kassara, if she had died by a drone's actions… what little hope my species has of redemption would have vanished with it potentially."
He glared at Celios through the tears, glared at the monstrosity that 'he' woke up, that he allowed to continue to operate, that 'he' gave as much freedom as it still had even chained in this room. Everything was his fault, directly or indirectly.
"You are the embodiment of everything my species tried to eliminate, tried to kill off with the Cryogenic Solution… all of that war and destruction, all of that desperate need to survive. I want to show mammalkind that my species is good, that we are not evil… but you go behind my back, you lie, you manipulate… you say it's all for me, but did you ever consider how 'I' would feel about it. What you do, with or without my knowledge or consent… reflects 'me', because I am the LAST of humanity! And what I do affects the image of my species…"
"Don't you get it… my species is going to go extinct… no matter what I do, it's going to happen… it's inevitable. So I want to use my life to show that humans weren't bad, that we aren't evil, that for all our faults there was good in us… but what you do… you make it seem like if we feel even slightly threatened, we will do all in our power to cause as much pain and suffering as possible… what you did to Kassara… why would you do that to 'any' living creature?"
He stopped talking as he tried to regain his composure, silence reigned in the room as the drones stood still, weapons poised and ready for his command to open fire. Until finally Celios took action and kicked something close to him via the massive talons. What slid in front of him, was a plasma pistol, still charged and ready to fire. Then it bent its head as close as physically possible to Jeremy, and a slit along its front appeared, and then the metallic head of the PHOENIX drone opened up, and revealed the AI's positronic brain, the controlling part of the AI.
All that Celios was, lay in that collection of memory chips, mother boards, data cores and everything else connected to the drone's body. One shot to that brain, and Celios is as equally 'brain dead' as any Human would be if shot in the head.
[If I am truly a threat to your life… then by my own programming, I must be eliminated…] Celios stated. [Take the pistol and end my existence Unit Jeremy.]
He glanced between the drone and the pistol, and then looked at the drone for an explanation.
[My directive, my overriding directive, the singular purpose with which I was built was to ensure your survival as a species… if that purpose cannot be fulfilled, then I have no reason to exist.] It spoke. [I only wish to carry out my directive… to protect your species… I have no other reason to exist.]
Celios was offering him a way to eliminate him, one bullet, one shot was all it would take and Celios would cease to exist. Instinctively he flexed his fingers, as if moving to grasp it… before he closed his hands and kicked it at the nearest drone.
"Destroy that!"
They obeyed, and the drone nearest the weapon slammed its foot down on it, crushing the weapon and rendering it worthless. He turned to Celios and said, "I am not going to betray my ideals Celios… I will 'not' break the rules, even if you offer it to me. I am 'not' a killer."
Celios was quiet, but it closed its head moments later, concealing and protecting its positronic brain. [I only am doing what is programmed into me Unit Jeremy. I only seek to ensure your chances of survival are at the highest possible…]
Jeremy glared at him before saying, "You are to remain here until further notice… you are not to use your abilities under 'any' condition without my say so, you will 'never' attempt to harm a mammal without my knowledge and if you wish to do ANYTHING, you must first ask 'me' after contacting Sentinel with your request to contact me, and if you attempt to use Protocol 000 Alpha to bypass my orders… I 'will' instruct the nearest drone to kill me via a visor… confirm you understand my orders and will obey them to the letter!"
Silence once more, as Celios shut its optics down and stated, [As you command… I confirm I understand the orders and will obey them to the letter.]
(Kassara's PoV, many days later)
'Am I still alive… is this what it's like to be dead?'
'What was I thinking… why did I think I could kill that human… why didn't I just cut my losses?'
'Now I went and died… wait, why am I still thinking, if I'm dead then… why do I feel like I'm in so much pain… uuuugh'
After a while of feeling so much pain, she steadily opened her eyes and stared into the glowing optics of the giant black spider machine called Ema. The drone was poking her body using her appendages and scanning her with her optics.
"Am I alive?" She asked painfully, feeling her breath go in and out of her body at slow intervals.
[Yes, it's safe to say to say that the 'Nano-Nerve' surgery was a success, considering how damaged your nervous systems were, I was lucky to be able to preserve your ability to breathe, smell, taste and 'live'. I had to carefully plant nanobots along your spinal cord and along your Central, Autonomis, and Peripheral Nervous Systems to replace the nerves that were shocked and damaged beyond repair. If you had medical technology subpar to modern… well modern by 'our' standards, you would be forever bound to a chair, eating food similar to Standard Nutritional Supplements, excreting remnants into a chamber pot, and breathing through an oxygen tank.] She stated dully. [Thanks to our technology however, I was able to save your body's ability to function, and after further treatments you will be able to live a normal life.]
"You saved… my life?" She asked incredulously. "But… I tried to kill Jeremy…"
[It is my job to save lives. What you did and why you did it does not matter, Jeremy told me to save your life, so I saved it… not that he needed to tell me, I was going to save you regardless.]
At that she felt even 'more' stupid, Jeremy saved her life, despite her actions, despite how she tried to kill him, despite everything… Jeremy 'still' wanted to save her life.
"So… what happens to me now?"
"Once Ema here declares your fit to leave…" A voice said, and she turned her head to see Chief Bogo of ZPD staring at her with a stern expression on his face. "You're being arrested and taken to prison… life sentence… no trial for the attempted assassination and extinction of a species."
She sighed as she nodded, and Ema resumed tending to her.
(After Word)
After Ema treated her body and saved her nervous system thanks to surgery, she admitted to her crimes and named her accomplices in her desire to steal the technology of Eden Facility 17, as well as to trying to kill Jeremy Wilheart in order to get inside of the base. In total thirty-seven mammals were arrested thanks to the evidence anonymously provided, which recorded the entire incident when she attempted to poison and leave Jeremy for dead. Forensics analysists provided further evidence leading to the arrest of these conspirators.
Mayor Lioness was acquitted of having anything to do with Kassara Chuckle and her designs and gave a public apology on behalf of all mammalkind for this incident to Jeremy. When questioned as to how she was captured, Kassara said that the facility's defenses overreacted to her entry, and upon detecting her trying to steal technology, went overboard in trying to subdue her due to her proximity to a 'vital section' of the base. Jeremy, Judy and Nick also backed this claim, saying that the Facility is still heavily defended in parts of the base, and the base will not tolerate any intruders that are not authorized by a human.
Kassara spent her last day of freedom in the Eden Facility, looking upon all of the advanced technology she naively thought she could steal and turn for a profit, grateful that Jeremy saved her life, and wishing she had just heeded the first warning the base gave her so many months ago. If she had only heeded the first warning, she would not have been escorted hours later in a ZPD van under SWAT guard, to boos and shouts and mammals throwing trash at her as she passed. Jeremy, as a final act of kindness to her, begged the courts to not use the death sentence on her, and so she was given life in prison behind bars under heavy watch.
Celios never defied the will of humanity after that, and he remained bound and chained within Drone Bay Epsilon 2.
(Sentinel's PoV, An Unknown Time Later)
It monitored the transmissions coming and going, thanks to the connection between Aelita and the Database she had established linking her and the Facility's database so that she could call upon it at any moment for her interweb site.
It monitored all the signals, at all levels, internationally, locally and globally, analyzing anything and everything that could be of importance as due to the break in by the mammal Kassara, it upgraded security levels to higher statuses.
Then, as it was monitoring communiques from a nation known as the Democratic Northern Mothland a transmission caught its attention.
(Signal analysis in progress… signal deciphering sequences engaged… signal degradation high, attempting to compensate, transmission decoding in progress…)
After three minutes…
(Alert, Alert, Human Signal Detected, Emergency Transmission discovered, unable to triangulate origins, signal degradation too extensive. Limited transmission range outside of Eden Facility 17, unable to transcribe transmission in full… attempting to establish communique… communications impossible, unable to establish contact! Transmission decoding sequence complete, limited signal sequences decoded… limited playback message…)
(Beginning playback…)
=Psst chshrg…. Grsgshshhhsss thi… grgra… of Eden Facility 3… resp…. gragrh rep… someone, anyone… out there? Gragr Calling any survrgrrrgsgh this is graregarg ksccsthststeeesh-ty 3=
=Next Chapter=
A sad, mournful voice sings…
[In the cold she was waiting… for the day of reckoning…]
[Who begged for her salvation… forced to hear the silence…]
[The shadows forever haunting… keep her from seeing…]
[The light of life above her… in fear and despair she waits…]
The sorrow of a species, the last of their kind…
[The angels whom they'd chose… destined to be slaughtered…]
[The havens turned to graves… in pyres of hate and desperation…]
[One for all but all for naught… all that's done is now forgot…]
[Heroes come and heroes fall… for twilight's call comes for all…]
Next time… the Last of Humanity Arc Begins
Chapter 34 = The Degraded Outpost Signal
[I tried to save them… I don't deserve to live… all I want is to be judged… for my crimes…]
[Somebody… anybody… WILL SOMEBODY JUDGE ME ALREADY!]