TtOW! - Chapter 53: Opposing Directives (Patreon)

NSLICE-00P stood on top of the city walls, once again. She slowly turned her head as her robotic eye focused, scanning for any signs of movement.

Suddenly her head stopped moving and her robotic eye locked in place.

“Observation: Potential friendlies located, moving to investigate.”

The lookouts rose from their seats, scanning the horizon.

“What was that, miss knight? You see something?”

“Affirmative.”

The lookout frowned.

“I don't see anything...”

But NSLICE-00P didn't wait for him. She leapt off the wall, hurtling down towards the ground. She activated her repulsors just before she landed, slowing to a stop just as she touched down. She then took off running down the road.

The lookouts glanced at each other, then shrugged. At this point, they just assumed anything NSLICE-00P did was just some knight thing.

And so the expectations for the next knight to visit Turannia rose just a little bit higher, as they would with every interaction people had with NSLICE-00P.

***

NSLICE-00P continued running in the direction she had locked onto, utilizing her mana sensors to stay on course. The targets were moving rapidly in her direction. Soon, she crossed one final hill and they came into view.

There was a group of humanoids with slightly pointed ears and webbed hands, equipped with bone weapons. Their clothes were covered in dirt and blood stains, and a few of them were leaning on their comrade's shoulders for support.

And among this group were two teenagers, one human and one half-wulver.

“Status Update: Friendlies confirmed. Moving to regroup.”

NSLICE-00P rushed forward. The humanoids gripped their spears and began taking up positions when Ateia and Taog caught sight of her. Their eyes widened and smiles broke out on their faces. Ateia ran to meet her while Taog talked to the humanoids.

“Seero!”

“Greeting: Hello, friendly Ateia. This unit is pleased to note friendly Ateia is in fully functional condition.”

Ateia tilted her head.

“Um...I'm glad to see you too?”

Just then, Taog walked up to them, along with one of the humanoids.

“Hi Seero, I'm glad to see you.”

“Greeting: Hello, friendly Taog. This unit is pleased to note friendly Taog is in fully functional condition.”

“Um, you too? Well, anyways, this is Miallói, our Exploratores trainer. Miallói, this is, um, 'Enslice Seero Seero Pee', we call her Seero for short. She's...the one who helped us.”

Miallói nodded and gave a salute to Seero.

“Greetings, honored warrior. My name is Miallói, First Hunter of the Grey Tribe, Exploratores of the Empire. It is an honor to meet you.”

“Greeting: Hello, this unit is designated NSLICE-00P. It is nice to meet you.”

Miallói then nodded at the pair.

“Let's get moving. It's dangerous to wait out here.”

The two nodded at her and then turned to NSLICE-00P.

“That's right, there could be more Dobhar coming. Can we talk on the way, Seero?”

“Affirmative.”

With that, NSLICE-00P fell in with the group. Ateia talked non-stop as they walked back to Castra Turannia, relaying her experiences to NSLICE-00P. When she asked NSLICE-00P what she had been up to in turn, she simply stated she was conducting independent unit upgrades while requesting assistance with her primary directive.

Taog held his head.

He was pretty sure there was a much bigger story behind what NSLICE-00P said.

But he also knew he wanted a warm meal and a good night's rest before he heard it.

***

And so NSLICE-00P, Ateia, and Taog made their way to the inn. The inn had been evacuated, like everywhere else, but NSLICE-00P had permission to stay there until she left. Miallói had likewise given Ateia and Taog a chance to speak with NSLICE-00P in private while the Selkies got settled in the keep.

Eventually, the three hit a lull in their conversation. Ateia sank back into her chair, heaving a sigh.

“It really is good to see you again, Seero. The last few days have been...well...”

Taog shook his head and sighed as well.

“Let's just say war is a lot tougher than we thought.”

Ateia nodded at that and frowned.

“And it's about to get worse, too.”

But then she grinned.

“Still, I don't think we have anything to worry about now. Seero can handle anything, right?”

“Response: There are numerous contingencies this unit does not have adequate protocols or hardware for, but her tactical capabilities should be sufficient to ensure a successful evacuation of all friendlies.”

Just then, Taog froze.

His eyes widened.

If he heard that correctly, then...

“I'm sorry, Seero, did you say 'evacuation'?”

“Affirmative.”

“As in, you're leaving?”

“Affirmative.”

“When?”

“Answer: As soon as this debriefing is concluded and friendlies are prepared for transit.”

Ateia's eyes widened at that.

“You mean...you're not going to fight, Seero?”

“Negative.”

Ateia stood up.

“W-Why not?!”

“Answer: This unit cannot be involved in third party conflicts between unaffiliated nation-states.”

Ateia frowned.

“But didn't you stop the wulver incursion?!”

“Answer: That situation involved unexpected hostility directed towards this unit in an urgent tactical setting, and so this unit activated self-defense termination protocols. In this situation, this unit has been forewarned of an incoming conflict, and so will evacuate the area to avoid being mistakenly targeted by proxy.”

“T-That's...Seero, a lot of people are going to die. The Empire could lose the province entirely, from what we heard. We have to help!”

“Observation: Casualties among related parties are expected in national conflicts and not a direct threat to this unit, affiliated factions, or primary directives. This unit has no justification to provide assistance to either combatant, and cannot justify unprovoked hostility.”

“That's...!”

Taog placed a hand on Ateia's shoulder. She spun to look at him and he shook his head.

“Ateia, do you remember that conversation you had with my mother? The one about the wulver clans fighting one another?”

Ateia furrowed her brow. Taog heaved a sigh.

“It's like that, right? Seero isn't part of the Empire. As far as she's concerned, these are two clans unrelated to her, battling it out. Even if they kill each other, it's not her place to interfere.”

Ateia bit her lip and looked down at the ground.

“But...”

Taog let go of her shoulder and turned to NSLICE-00P.

“Is there any way we can convince you to help, Seero? We could ask someone to pay you, or maybe they could help with your search afterwards?”

“Negative Response: This unit has already received proposals for mercenary contracts from Imperial authorities, and calculated these as insufficient to justify involvement in third-party conflict.”

Taog smiled sadly at that.

“I see. That's unfortunate.”

He took a deep breath.

“Then...I guess this is goodbye, Seero.”

NSLICE-00P's calculations halted for a moment.

“Requesting Clarification: Why is friendly Taog initiating farewell protocols?”

Taog looked to Ateia.

“Because we're staying.”

Ateia slowly nodded.

“That's right.”

Taog turned back to NSLICE-00P.

“...from what I've heard, the situation looks very bad for the Empire, Seero. It's...unlikely that we'll survive.”

NSLICE-00P's robotic eye began flickering and spinning rapidly.

And...

Her heart rate and cortisol levels began rising.

“Recommendation: Friendly units should evacuate with this unit if there is a risk of friendly termination.”

Taog shook his head.

“We can't do that, Seero. We have orders here.”

Her heart pounded harder. Her emotional controls began failing, her organic components began reporting danger that her sensors couldn't identify. She struggled to deactivate the unnecessary danger signs.

“Analysis: Friendlies Ateia and Taog stated role 'Exploratores' to have independent decision-making and action. Friendlies Ateia and Taog therefore do not need to join Imperial military forces in any given engagement, correct?”

Taog shook his head again.

“That would be true if we were fully-fledged Exploratores but...we're just cadets. We're under the command of our tutor while our training is in progress. We would need her permission to leave. And the Magister Exploratores can also command local Exploratores to join the Legion in an emergency.”

Ateia nodded.

“Besides…Exploratores protect the Empire and its people. It’s not right for us to just leave when those people are in harm’s way. It’s our duty to stay and fight, as long as we can. It’s what my father would have done.”

She turned and looked at Taog.

“It’s what Taog’s parents did. So I would be ashamed if I did anything less.”

Ateia turned back to NSLICE-00P and gave her a sad smile.

“I’m sorry, Seero. I really wanted to help you find your people. If we survive…I promise to come and find you. But…I think this might be the end for us.”

NSLICE-00P’s mind and processors raced. She analyzed the contract, she analyzed her protocols, she analyzed all the data she had on the Empire, the Dobhar, and the Exploratores.

But her calculations failed to find a solution.

Ateia had just stated defense of the Empire and its people was a major directive to her and for Exploratores, perhaps even a primary one. NSLICE-00P's protocols did not consider unit termination as a valid reason to overturn major directives, so NSLICE-00P could not ask the friendlies to defy theirs. In NSLICE-00P's past records, units were expected to be terminated to fulfill their directives. That was often their very purpose.

Even their magic contract was premised on Ateia and Taog becoming Exploratores, and fulfilling this directive was necessary to fulfill the role of an Exploratores. The contract would require them to fulfill these very duties.

So Ateia and Taog being terminated in the line of duty would not violate the terms of their agreement, and so was not a valid objection.

NSLICE-00P’s eye flickered as rapidly as it could…and her heart beat as fast as it could.

“Analyzing…determining response…error…no response determined…recalculating…calculations failed, analyzing variables…recalculating…”

Ateia looked down.

“S-Seero, could I ask a favor?”

NSLICE-00P took a moment to pause her calculations before processing Ateia’s words.

“Acknowledgement: Please define request.”

Ateia looked up at her.

“Please…when you go to search for your people…can you search for my father as well? If I don’t make it…can you tell him what happened? Tell him…that I love him, and that I became an Exploratores, just like him. Can you tell him that for me?”

NSLICE-00P opened her mouth to respond…but something happened. 

Her organic components began resisting. 

Her cybernetic components tried to take control with the Intelligence Leashing measures but…

“A…A-Affi…A-Affirmative.”

Ateia’s eyes watered for a second but she shook her head and smiled.

“Thank you, Seero.”

She gave NSLICE-00P a hug. The cyborg stood there completely still, her mind racing. Her processors froze, all her memory bandwidth occupied either trying to calculate a response to this scenario or trying to re-implement the emotional controls. And her organic half was no help at this moment, resisting the cybernetic half for reasons she couldn’t determine at present.

Taog then stepped forward, heaving a sigh.

“Seero…I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I treated you suspiciously, and I think that was unfair of me. Even in this short time, you’ve been a good friend to us, and saved our lives more than once. So…thank you, for everything. I wish I could return the favor.”

“Analyzing…determining response…e-error…analyzing…recalculating…”

Ateia and Taog glanced at one another, waiting for several minutes. But NSLICE-00P was frozen in place, repeating the same lines, unable to determine a response.

Eventually they heaved a sigh.

“Well…we need to go report back to Miallói. Goodbye, Seero. We’ll try to check in before you leave.”

And with that, they left the inn.

NSLICE-00P remained there for a long time, rerunning her calculations.

She compared her directives to Ateia and Taog’s, looking for a way to render them compatible without friendly units being terminated. The calculation failed.

She looked over the terms of the contract she had signed with Ateia and Taog, seeing if there was any term she could apply that might supersede either her directives or those of her allies. The calculation failed.

She considered a forceful evacuation of Ateia and Taog, but that would violate their directives and the terms of their contract.

She considered remaining in the area to potentially extract them, but that would still violate her non-intervention directives.

She considered if she could intervene on their behalf...but the calculations came back the same. No matter how she viewed the scenario, getting involved in a third-party conflict would harm her primary directive and defy all her protocols. She could not justify it.

Time and time again, she ran through the calculations, simulated different scenarios, proposed different ideas.

And time and time again, the calculations failed. The directives couldn’t be resolved. The optimal solution…was to evacuate as originally calculated.

But each time she arrived there, her organic components strongly requested a recalculation.

The calculations ended in the same place every time.

And with each attempt, the probability of being drawn into the conflict rose. She would soon need to evacuate.

She was running out of time.

And within her monster hangar, her monsters fidgeted as they stared at the live feed. 01R’s face fell.

“The wise-power-gracious boss-queen…seems troubled-bothered, yes yes.”

The other rats and spiderlings nodded and murmured. But they had no idea what could be going on. They were, after all, summoned monsters. Battle and service was all they knew, everything else was to be left to their superior. So what could possibly stump the boss-queen like this? And what could they do about it?

00B let out a cry.  He stumbled towards the screen and began to paw at it, trying to make contact with NSLICE-00P.

Rattingtale muttered to himself and rubbed his paws together, trying to think of a way to take advantage of the situation.

01R gnashed his teeth and clenched his fists. His wise-powerful-gracious boss-queen as troubled, and he, her loyal servant, couldn’t do anything?

He tried to reach out to her…and connected to her through her implants.

Suddenly his head was on fire, his mind filled with thoughts not his own. His implants were tasked with strange numbers and problems, conducting tasks he didn’t know the purpose of.

But what he did know was that the wise-powerful-gracious boss-queen was making use of him, using his mind to try and solve whatever problem she faced.

He willed his mind to support the connection, to do anything he could to help.

The other monsters watched him and nodded to one another. They, too, started to reach out through their implants, connecting through the network that linked them all. They each cried out briefly and then steadied themselves as they lost control of their implants.

NSLICE-00P finished a round of calculations when she noticed something. Her available processing power had increased somehow. She analyzed the logs and discovered the reason.

Her subordinate NSLICE units had offered up their own processors for her use.

Her heart pounded and her cortisol levels dropped ever so slightly.

She sent them a brief message of gratitude through the connection, and then started up another round of calculations, utilizing the increased processing power to try once again…

***

Long and hard did NSLICE-00P recalculate. Her subordinates were now breathing heavily and lying on the floor, their implants overheating and their minds fatigued. Her mana was restoring their state but the recovery was not as quick as with her own implants, so they couldn’t keep going as long as she could. She had cut the connection to give them a chance to recover.

Her heart continued to pound. She logged increased feelings of nausea, her organic components continuously reported danger.

They had failed.

Additional processing power sped up the calculations but all the variables remained the same. They could not come up with anything that they hadn’t before.

And time had run out.

The probability she would be drawn into the Empire-Dobhar conflict just rose above the maximum acceptable limit.

She had to evacuate, right now.

Her organic components resisted…but these had grown fatigued as well, somehow. Their resistance wasn’t as strong as before. Her cybernetic half could now defer the request for additional recalculations.

She started walking out of the building.

She was leaving.

Her organic components reported heavy damage…but she verified their physical condition as unharmed and her HP was still the same.

She ordered her organic components into standby mode to rest and recover.

As she did…her probability of fulfilling her primary directive dropped dramatically. The loss of the friendlies meant she would lose any connections she had within the local society.

But the probability dropped even further than predicted, for reasons NSLICE-00P had not yet identified. She would have to investigate later, but right now her cybernetic half needed to focus on movement.

And one other thing happened that she didn’t know the reason for.

As she walked towards the gates of the city, as her organic components were about to go into standby…

A small collection of moisture appeared in her organic eye and dripped down her face. She scanned for debris trapped in her eye or chemical irritation…but found no potential cause.

Author’s Note:

…how dare they make 00P cry? Everyone responsible for this is now scheduled for termination, effective immediately!

Hm, what’s that?

How dare you. I would never make 00P cry, ever. You take that back or you’re going on the termination list too!

Anyways.

…

Sigh.

How is this going to end?  Tune in next time, to find out.