Sorrow
Jesse was still crying softly as she and Draco entered the medical ward. Alicia and Mei stood near one wall, both looking shocked as Ric and Jimmy worked on what had been the scanner assembly. One look at it told everything that was needed to be known. It was never going to work again. Just the assembly was trashed, the bed was untouched.
"I do not understand." Mei was saying weakly. "There was no power surge. There was nothing. Then it just..."
"Self destructed." Jesse's words had everyone turning to stare at her. "The AI inside killed itself." Ric froze, a tool halfway to the smoking machinery. "It's gone. Nothing left." Jesse said in a monotone. "I heard it. I...felt it..."
"Oh my god, Jesse." Alicia stepped close and held out her arms. Jesse swarmed into them, the floodgates opening again. "Did it...say anything?" She asked as she held the crying younger Tenno. Jesse shook her head.
"It was there and then it was gone." Jesse cried into Alicia's shoulder. "I felt it wink out." She gave herself a shake. When she spoke again, her voice was calm, but underneath lay sorrow. "What happened?"
"I opened the access panels." Ric said slowly, his Vauban warframe's helmet turning from Jesse to the destroyed scanner. "I hadn't even started basic diagnostics. I opened the panel. Then a power surge and it fused. Jesse... I never would have..."
"I know." Jesse said sadly. "I know what everyone says about you, Ric. You would have been careful and precise. You cannot be any other way, brother."
"I am not perfect, Jesse." Ric said heavily. "I was... I didn't think... An AI?" He begged. Jesse nodded.
"The feel is distinctive." Jesse said sadly. "Now it is gone." Ric slumped in place and Jesse shook herself. She patted Alicia's arm and moved to where Ric knelt. "Not your fault, brother."
"Jesse..." Ric said slowly, feeling his words with care. "No one has touched this scanner since..." He paused and looked at Mei who nodded. "Since Mei left. We did some basic maintenance, replaced some worn parts." Mei nodded. "Why did it not identify itself?"
"I don't know." Jesse said quietly.
"After what the clan went through when Karl came here..." Alicia said slowly. "...it may not have felt safe identifying itself." Jesse looked at her and Alicia slumped a bit. "When Karl arrived, he found four humans who had been... enthralled." Jesse hissed at that and Alicia nodded. "Yeah."
"What kind of an idiot brings Sentient tech into a Tenno dojo?" Jesse demanded.
"Nicholas." Mei, Alicia, Ric and Jimmy all chorused. Hate sounded in all of their voices.
"I need to find out what happened." Jesse said sadly. "May I observe?" She asked Ric.
"If anything, I should be asking you that." Ric said slowly, then tensed as Jesse laid a hand on his shoulder. "Jesse..." He stared from her to the blackened machine.
"Not your fault." Jesse repeated firmly. "My code probably won't do much good with the amount of damage I can see. Your skills will probably gain better results. Please keep me informed." Ric nodded as she retreated a step. "Mei? This scanner was yours, yes?"
"It was." Mei said, her face ashen. "I was... I mean... I set up the medical ward. Cora did that is." She shook her head. "I had no idea."
"I did not sense anything off either." Jesse said with a shiver. "And I should have at such close range. So... it had to be concealing it's presence. But... why?" She bowed her head. "I know I am irrational about this. Many say AIs are not alive. But..."
"Oh yes they are." Ric said firmly. "Maybe not in the same way organic sentiences are, but they are. A sentient being just died. We need to find out why."
Jesse nodded to him and moved to where Mei stood. Alicia followed her, the medic's face worried. Ric and Jimmy started disassembling what was left of the machine.
"Mei?" Jesse asked when she was sure of her voice. "Where did you get the scanner?"
"I do not remember." Mei said after a moment. "That part of my memory is fuzzy. I remember keeping a log. Would it still be here?" She asked Alica who looked thoughtful.
"None of your files were touched." The cyborg medic spoke before Alicia could. "They are in secure partition 3-J." He said to Alicia without turning. Alicia nodded and moved to a terminal.
"Thank you, Jimmy." Mei said softly, but he did not respond and she slumped a bit. Jesse looked at her and Mei shrugged. "I do not blame him for being angry. I do not blame anyone for being angry. Nicholas was insane."
"Mei, you died." Jesse said gently. "You are not who you were."
"Yeah, well..." Whatever else Mei was going to say choked off as the door to Medical opened and three forms hustled in. Two wore warframes, the other a uniform. Karl and Karen had weapons in hand. Miguel held a toolbox, but his other hand hovered near his holstered pistol. Mei focused on the Rhino. "Karl."
"What happened?" Karl demanded, relaxing a little as Draco moved to stand by Jesse.
"I was starting the diagnostic." Ric said with a sigh. "I did not find anything wrong with the systems so I started opening the outer panels. As soon as I did a power surge destroyed the entire system." Miguel laid his tools down beside Ric and waited until Ric nodded to start removing other panels.
"Jesse?" Karl asked quietly. "I thought you were resting." Everything stopped as Jesse snarled.
"I am not going to break, Karl Sensei." Jesse said flatly. "I am not hurt. I am not sick. I am not even tired now. I am sad and sick. But I am not going to let you all wrap me in wool. I am Tenno. I serve."
"Hail Tenno." Draco said into the sudden silence. Karl looked from the bodyguard to Jesse and sighed.
"I know we are a bit much, Jesse." Karl said with a nod as he holstered his shotgun. Karen... did not lower her rifle. It was aimed at Mei. "Karen." Karl said in faint reproof. Karen looked at him and lowered her rifle. She did not holster it. The Rhino shook himself and nodded to Jesse. "It has been a long time since we have had a non-Warrior sister, Jesse. We will worry." He shrugged. "We will try not to be too over protective." He chuckled. "And you keep right on jerking us up short when we do, okay?"
"Oh I will." Jesse promised with a sly grin that faded. "Karl Sensei. It was an AI." Miguel, Karen and Karl all froze. "It did not identify itself. I did not sense it. Not... until..." She bowed her head.
"Ric would not have done anything that could have harmed an AI." Karl said slowly. Jesse shook her head. "So what?"
"I think it committed suicide as soon as it knew it would be discovered." Jesse said softly. "The feelings." She shook her head. "I could hear it crying. Then it was gone. I need to find out what happened and why."
"That is your duty." Karl agreed. "How may we assist?"
"I have never done anything like this before." Jesse hedged a bit. "Is Olim available?"
"He should be a in a bit." Karl reassured her. "Until then, we can-" He broke off as Alicia hissed. "Alicia?"
"Karl, we have a problem." Alicia said slowly, staring at the terminal in shock. At her soft words, everything stopped in the room and everyone was looking at her now.
"What kind of problem?" Karl asked as he and Jesse stepped to the terminal. Draco followed a half pace behind.
"Mei logged receipt of a number of supplies after the dojo was completed." Alicia said quietly. Karen had her rifle up and tracking Mei again. The medic did not move and Alicia snarled at the Mag warframe. "Karen!"
"And?" Karl asked as he moved to block Karen's line of fire to Mei. Karen lowered her rifle. She was angry, not stupid. Jesse stared at the lines of text on the screen and then she jerked as she saw what Alicia had to have.
"Oh my god." Jesse swallowed hard. "He delivered it. Him? Here?"
"What?" Karl demanded, his patience starting to fade.
"Nikis delivered the scanner." Jesse said in a tiny voice that had the entire room suddenly staring at her. "Along with a number of other medical supplies."
"He delivered a bunch of stuff." Karl said with a frown evident even through his closed faceplate. "I remember that. It wasn't every day I got backhanded for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I didn't even give him lip."
"Karl, you don't understand." Jesse said softly. "According to this... It wasn't scanned on arrival. It just appeared here. He cleared it past the scanners. He avoided the detectors which would have detected any AI no matter how well shielded." At her soft, scared words, Karl inhaled sharply. "He had to know."
"Are you saying Nikis put an AI in the dojo?" Karl asked carefully.
"I don't know what I am saying, Karl." Jesse admitted. "But if he did..." She trailed off and slumped.
"Then yeah." Karl said slowly. "We have a problem."
"A big problem."
Far across the Solar System
There were time when everything went according to plan. When it all worked just right and everything happened in the order it should and the enemy never knew what happened.
This was not one of those times.
Olim tried not to sigh as the clunk head who had asked for his held to infiltrate the Corpus depot set off yet another alarm. It was good thing Tenno did not speak in the field, Olim mused as he put a bolto shot through the camera that had detected the other Tenno and set to work on the terminal again.
Can we just leave this idiot? Riana asked snidely in his mind. You know he is doing it on purpose.
His sister was an odd one. She could be kind, gentle and compassionate one minute and then hard and cruel the next. She was not human. She was an AI who had been made from his unborn sister's mind when his mother had died. Through a set of what had to be called misadventures, Olim had wound up partnered with her. He didn't actually regret it. Most of the time.
He wants to see me do something. Olim replied calmly as he finished the hack. 1.2 seconds. Not that good for him. Then again, he was annoyed. Not my fault that most of what I do isn't visible to normal Tenno senses.
On the right! Riana warned
His right hand kama flashed out, taking a Corpus crewman's throat out right through the poor man's helmet. The armor of the helmet was good, but nothing had been made that would stop the razor sharp kama, especially after Olim had refined his preferred weapons to exude a special corrosive mix. Setting the force fields to exude the mix without damaging the metal of the kama had been tricky, but it was worth it. No armor in existence could stand up to repeated strikes from his kama. Which was the whole idea.
The hand that had been hacking the terminal grabbed the dying crewman and threw him into a shadowed spot behind some boxes. It wouldn't hide him long. Just long enough for him to die and his body to begin to disintegrate. Recycling on a Corpus ship was nearly instantaneous. But Olim could and did fuzz the vital scans downlink so the man's death wouldn't show up immediately. The Corpus would send proxies to search when he did not arrive wherever he had been going. Only when the residual energy of his body was found would they sound an alarm. Hopefully by then the small team of Tenno would have accomplished their mission and be gone.
So... Riana asked. What do you think? Hero worship or some kind of ploy to get information?
Don't know. Olim grunted mentally. Don't care. He started off, the Hydroid coming right behind him. Any sign?
No alarms. Riana said with a sigh. You are such a sourpuss, Olim. Come on, lighten up. I can make them dance...
Don't you dare. This was no joke and Riana subsided a bit. You give the Corpus any idea that you exist and all hell will break loose. A mental gulp answered him and he nodded a little as he stalked towards the data repository that was his team's target.
The Corpus were masters of robotics tech. They revered any and every bit of Orokin technology that they managed to find, salvage or steal. It was a tossup which was more important to them at times, their 'Profit' or Orokin tech. Then again, Orokin tech often allowed them make greater profits so the argument might have been moot. If they got the idea that an Orokin AI existed, they would throw every resource they had available into finding and taking said AI. Olim was good, he wasn't invincible. He would fight to protect his sister, but in the end, he would fall. Or worse, he would be stuck behind a desk. He was far better out in the field.
An elevator ahead chimed and the door stared to close. He slid in, the safety systems ignoring him a the doors shut in the Hydroid's face.
Oops. Riana said with artful innocence. Olim bit back a chuckle. But then her voice turned serious. Olim, you are too serious. You cannot do it all alone. And you are not alone. I may be... inexperienced. I may be out of line. But I am trying to help. The worry in her voice came through loud and clear.
I know. Olim said as he spun his kama. When the door clicked open, he was ready. The four Corpus Techs who had been waiting for the elevator had a bare moment to gawk at the dark armored form before he was on them. None lived long enough to sound the alarm. A swish from nearby had Olim turning, a bolto coming to his hand, but it was the Hydroid. The water based warframe had obviously found another way down. He was no happy, but Olim couldn't have cared less.
The Cyberlancer started off, his bolto in hand and... He paused as an alarm started to blare. Not one he knew.
Riana? He asked as he darted for a terminal. But it was dark. No security alert. What the-?
It would seem someone... The irony in the AI's tone was biting. Set off the environmental alerts. Life support systems have reported a water leak in the vents. I have reported it as a false alarm. The alarm cut off. Olim turned to the Hydroid and shook his head before starting off again.
The next room he entered had a single terminal. A quick check showed it was the access to the secure datavault that he had to crack. Olim nodded a little as Riana started to hack into the Corpus system She could do it quickly and cleanly. Then he spun to the Hydroid. He pointed at the Hydroid and then at the floor. The Hydroid shook his head savagely, but froze as the door ahead of them opened and showed laser grids. Lots of laser grids. Any break in the beams would knock whatever broke the beam for a loop and set off the alarms. If the alarms went off? The data would be purged and the mission would fail. Olim crossed his arms and waited. The Hydroid seemed to melt. But instead, it formed a puddle on the floor.
Let's pray he stays smart. Riana said with sigh as Olim turned back to his task.
Quick and quiet, sister mine. Quick and quiet. Olim said as he set himself. He wasn't as quick or as agile as some of his kin, but he was quick and agile enough for this.
The lasers were moving in patterns. True randomness was very hard to achieve in any kind of machinery. It was far more economical to have alternating grids with cameras covering them. Since each camera was on a separate loop, hacking them was impossible. Normally, Olim would just shoot or freeze them as he had the camera before. But in this case, he didn't want to leave any traces. Destroyed cameras were a bit red 'Tenno were here' sign. So... He had to do it the hard way.
Stealth was not always about being invisible. He had seen some Tenno who wore Loki and Ash warframes who were about as subtle as a broadside from a Grineer galleon. Often, stealth was more about timing and speed. Luckily, this was something Olim was good at. And he had help.
Go. Riana spoke and Olim threw himself forward, darting under the lowest of the laser grids and sliding behind the camera. It turned. 4,3,2 Go!
Another laser grid avoided and he was around the corner and to another security terminal. The Corpus were notorious cheapskates. Even the Grineer would have some kind of automated patrol inside their secure datavault. Corpus? Nope.
Crap. Riana's soft expletive had Olim freezing. Olim, two cameras. Both observing the vault. One inside the door, one outside.
All right. Olim sighed. So much for not leaving any traces. He stepped to a door and hacked the console. A quick flip and the camera that had been observing the vault through a window was frozen solid, it's delicate electronics shorting out in the sudden flash freeze.
We might be able to get around the other if- Riana's words broke off and she hissed. Olim, we need to get back to the dojo.
Do we have time to get the data? Olim asked as he started for the vault.
Yeah. Riana sounded subdued and suddenly Olim was worried. A lot.
What happened? Olim asked as he froze the other camera and moved to the large terminal.
Jesse found something. Riana said softly. Olim stilled but continued his hack. Multitasking was second nature. Something bad.
How bad? Olim asked as he finished up and quickly deactivated the extra security of the vault. It would reactivate a few minutes after he left with nothing but two frozen cameras to show that anyone had been here.
I would say. The normally ebullient AI's voice held something now. Olim had never heard it before, but whatever it was he knew he had to move. He hurried his steps.
Really bad.