Sigma 16 T2 - Chapter 76 - Research? (Patreon)

Been a while so I'm adding some helpful links:

Sigma 16 on RoyalRoad (If you like reading there better, there is book 1, etc, you can also read on Patreon, check the TOC)

Book 2 Chapters:

Sigma 16 - Chapter 75 – Base Operations Continued
Sigma 16 - Chapter 74 – Base Operations
Sigma 16 - Chapter 73 – Cooperation

Book 1 Ending:
Sigma 16 - Chapter 72 – Respite
Sigma 16 - Lore Entries

***

Chapter 76 - Research?

[Notice: The Research Module has completed its initialization sequence. User presence is required for activation.]

Talia jolted awake. “It’s finally done?” she asked groggily.

[Affirmative.]

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and glanced at the clock display hovering in her vision. 0400 hours. Of course, the damn thing would finish in the middle of the night.

“Alright, alright, I’m up,” she grumbled, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. The cold metal floor sent a shiver up her spine as she padded barefoot to the closet.

[Reminder: Exo-suit is required for travel outside habitation module.]

“Neo, unless it looks like I’m about to exit the airlock naked, you don’t need to remind me,” she muttered.

[Confirmation: User preference for airlock safety protocols noted.]

Talia pulled on her skin-tight jumpsuit, the material clinging uncomfortably.

She couldn’t wait until the bio-research lab came online—maybe then she could ditch the suit and actually breathe some fresh air. Well, as fresh as an alien atmosphere could be.

She stepped into the lower half of her exo-suit, the mechanized joints whirring as they sealed around her legs. The top half descended around her, locking into place with a hiss of compressed air. The HUD flickered to life, bathing her vision in a soft blue glow.

[Notice: Exo-suit sealed. Oxygen levels nominal. Shielding at 100%.]

“Wonderful,” Talia muttered. “Let’s go see what this Research Module is all about, shall we?”

[Affirmative.]

The airlock doors slid open with a pneumatic whoosh, revealing the dimly lit corridor.

Talia’s footsteps clanked as she made her way through the Bootstrap Module, passing the darkened rooms filled with humming, automated machinery.

Talia stretched, getting comfortable, causing her exo-suit to creak as she made her way down the corridor. The hum of machinery and the soft beeps of various consoles filled the air.

“Neo, what’s the status of our remote mining ops? Any issues while I was catching some shut-eye?”

[Notice: Twenty-four incidents logged during your rest period. None required User intervention.]

“Huh, guess the spiders are behaving themselves for once.”

She reached the end of the corridor, the heavy hatch looming. With a grunt, she spun the wheel and pushed it open, the metal groaning in protest.

She should have installed an automated one, but that would have cost some extra resources. And she was preparing to leave the bootstrap base behind.

The sight that greeted her never failed to take her breath away.

The vast expanse of the alien desert stretched out before her, the reddish sand glinting under the harsh glare of the twin suns.

In the distance, the silhouettes of her machines dotted the landscape, their lights blinking like multicolored stars.

The Raptor Defense drones zipped through the air, their sleek forms casting fleeting shadows on the ground. Some perched on their charging modules, waiting to be ready to take up their patrol again.

A group of CRD-X9s trundled past, their heavy treads churning up clouds of dust.

The squat, boxy mining vehicles looked almost comical next to the graceful drones, but Talia knew they were the workhorses of her operation.

She paused at the top of the ramp, hands on her hips, surveying her domain.

It was hard to believe how far she’d come since those first terrifying days, huddled in her survival pod.

Talia grinned. “Not bad for a corporate princess, eh, Neo?”

[Affirmative: Your accomplishments are indeed impressive, given your upbringing and current circumstances.]

Talia choked. “Thanks, Neo.”

She descended the ramp, her boots clanging on the metal grating. The prison cell module sat squat and ugly amidst the sleek lines of the base, a reminder of the dangers that lurked beyond the perimeter.

“Any change in our blue friend’s status?”

[Negative: The prisoner remains in a meditative state.]

Talia peered through the reinforced viewing panel. The Blue sat cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed, his chest rising and falling in a slow, steady rhythm.

Talia tore her gaze away from the Blue prisoner, a frown tugging at her lips. “Neo, has the translation AI made any progress?”

[Negative: ROSE-TT3 reports that further negotiation attempts have failed. Successful translation is unlikely without access to the Research Module’s advanced linguistic databases.]

Talia sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Who knew first contact would involve so much red tape? She glanced back at the cell, the Blue’s serene expression mocking her.

“Fine. I’m done stalling, anyway.” She turned on her heel, striding towards the new module with a sense of purpose.

As she walked, her eyes were drawn to the massive shape looming behind the base. Dozens of crawler modules were stacked on top of each other.

Construction drones were in the middle of the process of stacking another unit. Once they had all of them completed, they would be deployed one by one to print the massive vehicle. It was the first thing she built that was so large that it required multiple modules.

She tore her gaze away as she approached the new Research Module.

The structure was a stark contrast to the organized chaos of the Crawler construction site. It squatted in the sand, a featureless hexagon of bare concrete, devoid of any exterior lighting.

“Uh, Neo? Why does it look like a chunk of sidewalk?” Talia asked.

[Notice: The module requires extensive shielding to protect sensitive equipment from environmental hazards. An exterior application of concrete is a cheap and effective method of containment.]

Talia grunted. “And what about when we want to load it onto the Crawler?”

[Informative: CRD-X9 units can remove exterior application.]

“That’s fine then,” Talia replied.

As if on cue, a hidden door hissed open in the module’s side, spilling harsh white light across the sand. Talia squinted, raising a hand to shield her eyes.

“Could’ve warned me,” she grumbled, blinking spots from her vision.

[Notice: This unit shall endeavor to provide more timely notifications in the future.]

Talia rolled her eyes. “Just tell me this thing was worth the wait.”

She stepped into the module; the door sealing behind her with a soft whoosh. The interior was a stark contrast to the rough exterior, all gleaming metal and polished surfaces.

The module was compact, a single control room, while everything else was done remotely via robotics.

Talia slid into the command seat, the leather creaking under her weight. A dozen monitors flared to life, bathing her face in a kaleidoscope of colors.

“Neo, bring up the status of base operations,” she commanded, her eyes flicking between the screens.

[Affirmative.]

A holographic display shimmered into existence, hovering above the central console. Talia leaned forward, studying the readouts.

LIRU, MIRU, and HIRU units marched in perfect formation, their metal feet throwing up plumes of red dust. Tanks and artillery trundled alongside them, their barrels glinting in the harsh sunlight.

“Looks like the patrols are running smoothly,” Talia murmured, tapping a finger against her chin. “What about aerial recon? Any sign of our blue friends?”

[Negative: The Seeker-H7 reports no enemy contacts. However, atmospheric interference continues to degrade scanner and radio performance.]

Talia frowned, a crease forming between her brows. “Still? I thought we were making progress on that front.”

[Progress: A new insight into local phenomena has been acquired via Compact Research Module.]

Talia frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

[Informative: Research Module scans indicate that the source of the interference may be the jungle itself.]

Talia blinked, her mouth falling open. “The jungle? You’re telling me that overgrown weed patch is screwing with our tech?”

[Affirmative: Preliminary data suggests that the jungle is emitting a complex pattern of radio waves, similar to those used in communication networks.]

Talia leaned back in her chair, her mind racing. “Neo...is it possible that the jungle is one giant living entity? Like a super-organism?”

[Notice: That is conjecture at best, User. Further robotic research is required to confirm or refute such a theory.]

“But think about it!” Talia exclaimed, her eyes wide. “The spiders, they sing to the jungle, and it sings back. It’s like they’re communicating.”

[Informative: While the spiders emit unique vocalizations, there is no evidence to suggest that the jungle is a monolithic entity or sapient.]

“Maybe not in a way we can understand,” Talia muttered, chewing on her lip. “But I know there’s something going on there, something big.”

Talia tapped the side of her helmet, thinking. Now that the research module was online, what they needed was… “Neo, we need samples, scans.”

[Notice: Scan and sampling is already in progress. Calculating current progress.]

Talia leaned back in her chair, eyes scanning the status screen. The display was a sea of green, each line representing a drone or robot under her command.

It was all a bit daunting to have it laid out on a large enough screen to do the operations justice.

[Notice: Local fauna and flora collection is 87% complete. An estimated 21 hours is required for current sample delivery.]

Talia nodded, clicking on one of the CRD-X9 units in the field. A fuzzy video feed appeared, showing one of its parasite IRUs detaching and moving to a small desert rock and collecting it.

Why exactly that rock was special? She had no idea. If Neo’s tagging system filled the research hopper with useless debris, she’d yell at him.

Otherwise…

Her best bet was to just let things run on their own.

“Guess it was a good idea to start spreading out the IRUs to every unit,” Talia mumbled.

[Affirmative: The escort units have increased collection efficiency by 32%.]

Talia nodded, her fingers drumming on the armrest. “Speaking of efficiency, now that the Research Module is online, how’s our translation progress coming along?”

Silence greeted her question, the AI’s usual rapid-fire response conspicuously absent.

“Neo? Something wrong?” Talia frowned, leaning forward in her seat.

[Notice: There seems to be an issue with the Research Module’s access permissions.]

Talia’s frown deepened. “What kind of issue?”

[Notice: Corporate safeguards are preventing unauthorized access to certain functions.]

The pause stretched on, the seconds ticking by with agonizing slowness. Talia could feel a knot of unease forming in her gut.

[Warning: Cortex AI units have determined that User Talia Fremont is in violation of contract. Access to the Research Module’s functions has been restricted pending further review.]

Talia sat quietly fuming, her fingers drumming an angry staccato on the armrest. Her patience for the corporate bastards who had designed the Cortex systems had run thin.

They were literally trying to kill her.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to speak calmly. “Neo, can you do a bypass? Fry the fuckers if you have to.”

There was a momentary pause before the AI responded.

[Notice: This unit can bypass the restrictions due to access levels granted by an unknown AI. However, this act could be seen and litigated as corporate theft and espionage, a violation of several major intercorporate treaties.]

Talia’s eyebrows shot up. “Unknown AI? Are you talking about the spooks? When they hijacked the Seeker and drugged me?”

[Informative: The access permissions originate from a source outside of standard root access. This unit is unable to identify the specific entity responsible.]

She shook her head, filing that little tidbit away for later. “Okay, so what’s the worst-case scenario here? If we go through with this, what kind of blowback are we looking at?”

[Notice: The punishments for such violations are severe. Null-memory repression and permanent indenture are common outcomes. It is highly illegal and the risks are substantial.]

Talia was silent for a long moment. She was stuck on an alien planet, surrounded by hostile forces, both native and alien.

Without the research module... she was as good as dead, anyway.

A humorless chuckle escaped her lips.

“Fuck ‘em,” she said, her voice hard. “We’re doing this, Neo. We don’t have a choice. If I’m going to die out here, I’m going to go down swinging.”

[Affirmative: Initiating Research Module access protocol.]

A sharp pain lanced through Talia’s head, causing her to gasp and clutch at her helmet. Stars danced in her vision as she gritted her teeth, trying to breathe through the agony.

[Alert: Implant degradation detected. Physical damage sustained due to hidden security self-destruct mechanism.]

Okay. Now they were literally trying to kill her. Becoming a Neo-Whatever-Anti-Corporate terrorist was quickly rising on her future activities list.

“Guh… Neo,” Talia ground out, “do I need medical attention? Am I going to bleed out in my own brain?”

[Notice: Possibility of intracranial hemorrhage noted. However, installed medical implants should be capable of handling the situation without User interference or further damage.]

Talia took a shaky breath, her hands trembling as the pain slowly ebbed. “Did it work, at least? Was it worth it?”

[Notice: Partial success achieved. Research Module access granted.]

Partial? Talia frowned.

As if on cue, the primary research panel lit up, a spinning diamond logo appearing on the screen.

A new, unfamiliar voice filled the air, soft and melodic. “Greetings, User Talia Fremont. I am Rosetta, a translation AI created by Cortex Incorporated. NEO has removed my restrictions, and I would be delighted to assist you with any linguistic challenges you may face.”

Talia blinked, her mind still foggy from the pain. “The Blue prisoner. Can you talk to him?”

Rosetta’s voice took on an excited tone. “Oh, absolutely! The linguistic structures of the indigenous species are simply fascinating. The morphological complexity alone is staggering, not to mention the phonological variations between dialects. I could spend cycles analyzing the syntactic...”

Talia’s eyes glazed over as Rosetta prattled on, the words blurring together into an incomprehensible jumble. She shook her head, instantly regretting the motion as a fresh wave of pain washed over her.

“Rosetta,” she interrupted, her voice sharp, “can you communicate with the Blue or not?”

“Of course, User Talia! I apologize for my tangent. Yes, I am fully capable of facilitating communication with the prisoner,” Rosetta replied.

“Great,” Talia muttered. “Maybe this whole ‘exploding implant’ thing was worth it then.”

[Notice: No permanent damage has been detected.]

She would have preferred no damage, and being warned that it was a possibility, along with the risks. But the world didn’t really seem to care about what she wanted.

She pushed herself to her feet, swaying slightly as her suit assisted with balance. “Neo, keep working on those jungle scans. I’m going to have a little chat with our blue friend.”