Humans Don't Hibernate [Part 21/?] (Patreon)

A spark of hope welled within me. That fear that had just taken hold upon the first few exchanges with the human Captain had well and truly dissipated now as a new frame of reference took over. One that has pushed aside my primal fears, and replaced it with a conscious understanding of the being on the other side of the commline. A being capable of so much power and ambition that it triggered a primal fear within me, but whose same ambition seemed to have carried on a compulsion and drive so potent that the legacy of Elijah’s war was potentially still here even after all this time of waking existence. It was the same whiplash I’d felt with Elijah millennia prior, and it was clear now that perhaps all humans carried this duality of ferocity and integrity.

“Captain Veers, I’m afraid you’re going to have to elaborate on what exactly you mean.” Vir wasted no time in immediately getting back in the swing of things. “We’re more than willing to provide you with any evidence you need to corroborate our story, but I think you and I both know that we’re both chasing the same thing here.” Vir suddenly perked up, shifting the direction of the conversation as he made his gambit, something completely counterintuitive to the Vanaran social conventions I’d been taught to expect, and one that both triggered my socially-instilled risk averse mentality, but also that new antithetical desire to push the boundaries of risk. A new mentality that had grown stronger and stronger over the past few days. Vir’s gambit seemed to work however, as a response came over in a matter of seconds, rather than the minutes that it had taken prior to this point.

“And what might that be, Overseer?” The human Captain chimed back, a confident, self-assured, and somewhat laid back attitude oozed through every syllable of that snappy response.

“The satellite sir. We know you’ve been tampering with it. It’s clear that whatever your mission profile is, it might coincide with our own self-directed objectives.” Vir shot back instantly, eliciting a satisfied sigh from the other man as the back and forths continued.

“So would I be safe in the assumption that you’ve somehow been blessed with the proprietary equipment capable of intercepting the satellite’s subspace frequencies?” The Captain quipped back, once again, the banter seemed almost playful, at least to my Vanaran ears.

“That is correct, Captain.”

“Hmmph.” The Captain sounded back, a human expression I hadn’t yet experienced, and one that I feared marked the end to a conversation that seemed to be headed in the right direction. “I like your attitude, son.” He continued, once again disproving that any Vanaran social etiquette could be applied to the seemingly chaotic social organization that existed for the humans.

“Sir?” Vir responded with an inquisitive inflexion, which perhaps implied that the AI himself was just as lost on human social conventions as I had been.

“An attitude like that is what I expect of any Captain or Overseer worth their mettle, especially on self directed operations deep behind enemy lines.” The Captain began, settling into a more amicable tone of voice, which to me made it clear exactly what he was doing. If my experience back in the Vanaran officer corps and nobility could be applied here, then it was clear the human was planting himself firmly in the dominant seat. Despite the amicability, even if there was an alliance to be had here, there was no doubt who would be on top. Or at the very least, that’s how it would go back in Vanaran society.

It was clear that humans played by different rules, so I was tentative on really putting myself out there in an interaction Vir was already clearly navigating with a certain degree of competence.

“Thank you, sir.” Vir responded, allowing the Captain ample window to wrestle the conversation back in his favor.

“Well alright then, let’s talk. First of all, we’re going to need a copy of the original data package on your punitive platform. It should confirm the logs you’ve been mentioning here, corrupt as it may be.”

Vir would’ve paused at that request if it had been one given by me. It was clear however that he wasn’t holding back any punches with this negotiation, as he moved forward to meet the man’s request with his own ultimatum. “You already know our story’s valid, everything after this point is just confirmation. We however, know nothing about you. I’d say it’s time to balance out the playing field a bit. For fairness’ sake, from one officer to another, sir.”

This seemed to have given the Captain some pause as the first silence finally dawned over us after a long period of productive back and forths.

“Very well. Though I doubt much can be gained from whatever I have to say.” The Captain responded cryptically. “The fact of the matter is, you’re operating at a disadvantage here, son. You have no ability to corroborate or verify anything I say. You’re operating on outdated data and information, and anything we say could be fabricated or constructed. You still wanna take my word as objective truth despite knowing that?”

“Yes.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because the fact that we’re able to even talk means that you’re at the very least, definitely human. There’s no way in hell the Interlopers would’ve been able to evolve seamless human mimicry, let alone tech this advanced, not at the timescale they operate on. So, yeah, whatever you have to say, I’m at least satisfied it’s from a human source, no matter how unreliable that source can be.” Vir explained, which seemed to be enough to elicit a satisfied chuckle from the man.

“You know how to play your cards even though you barely have anything in hand. I’m starting to garner a liking for you, son.”

“Don’t flatter me Captain. We both know that despite not having much in hand, I still have an ace up my sleeve.” Vir shot back, a cocky, almost playful undercurrent coloring his inflexions.

“The same ace you know nothing about, the same ace that you need me to explain.” The Captain rebutted confidently.

“Touche Captain, touche.”

To say that this entire banter was absolutely surreal would be an understatement. It was, in fact, without a shadow of a doubt completely alien.

“Right, I’ll play ball, what do you wanna know?”

Vir turned to me for a split second, realizing that there was a wealth of information we both sorely needed. Despite this, there was one thing on both of our minds that needed to be explained first and foremost. We both needed to know what exactly the man meant by this ‘crucial’ something we held that could potentially turn the tide of this millenia long war.

“What’s so crucial about what we have?” Vir asked.

“That Vanaran of yours, he doesn’t have a Vuark now does he?” The Captain answered with yet another question, to which Vir’s faceplate responded by displaying an expression of annoyance and frustration.

“You’re not answering our question.” Vir fought back.

“I’m not going to be able to answer your question until you answer that one simple question, does he or does he not have a Vuark?” The Captain’s tone shifted towards a more severe, serious one, one that Vir reciprocated in kind as he responded truthfully.

“If you’re concerned about Interloper infiltration, you don’t have to. Lysara here doesn’t have a Vuark, not anymore. Not after the successes of the studies on board Hibernation Conduit 27a. It’s been removed, down to the genetic level.”

There was a moment of silence after that response, a momentary lull in the intensifying dynamics of this back and forth, that gave way to another voice on the comline, this one belonging to a female human.

“And precisely how long has the Vanaran been without his Vuark, Overseer Vir?” It was a simple, clear-cut question. One without malice or bigotry, just a clinical one from that of an logical, impartial mind.

“Records are spotty, but the closest approximation I can give you is in relative terms to my sentence. At least 127,939 years, ma’am.”

“And when did you last perform a full physical on the Vanaran, Overseer?” The human female continued.

“Forty hours ago. I performed a full DNA sequencing, alongside a Cranial CT with contrast medium, and an MRI with concurrent PET. Sensitivity and specificity of the 3 imaging tests are within 99.993% accuracy, working with the existing literature and manufacturer’s published instructions of course.” Vir spoke at a breakneck pace, embodying what I’d expected from an organic-AI interaction, which the humans here seemed to be well accustomed to given their lack of issue with taking the helm of this conversation.

“That’s… I will need to see the data for myself to corroborate this and-”

“With all due respect ma’am. I need to continue my discussions with the Captain. I’ve fulfilled my end of the explanation, now it’s his turn.” Vir interjected, cutting off the human female as the Captain once more returned to the conversation.

“Alright son. To start off, no, I’m not concerned about Interloper infiltration. I’d expect better from any AI calling themselves overseer to not harbor a potentially hazardous prisoner. Now, if what you’re saying is true, then this has serious implications for the war.” The Captain cleared his throat, as if the entire situation was something that was testing the limits of his resolve. “A Vanaran with a successfully resequenced DNA lacking genetic and phenotypic expressions for a Vuark is unheard of. At least, not with a healthy and fully conscious Vanaran that is.” The Captain trailed off into a dour, almost guilty and apprehensive tone before correcting himself. “If we are able to narrow down how exactly this is done, and if we are able to implement this en masse, then we would have a case for bringing the Ascendancy back in to finish the war. We’d be able to crush the Interlopers without this hundred thousand year long hostage situation.”

Both of us at this point were staring at each other in a renewed sense of utter confusion and dread. Whatever had happened over the past hundred or so thousand years had clearly upended Elijah’s plans and Vir’s understanding of the war and the fate of the Interlopers as a whole.

There was a moment’s hesitation before Vir went back on the comline, as he responded with another, pressing question.

“What is the Ascendancy? Why do you need them to finish this war? What do you mean by a hostage situation? What-”

“One thing at a time, son, there’s a lot to explain.” Vir was promptly cut off by the Captain. “But let’s start with your last question, becaucse there wouldn’t be an Ascendancy without the hostage situation the Interlopers had forced us into. Around a hundred thousand years ago, sometime after the Great Civil War of the Nine Virtual Constructs, the Interlopers pushed back. We had expected something like that, they were basically a bunch of scattered warlords that we had been systematically eliminating one by one at that point in time. What we hadn’t expected however was the tactics they decided to use against us, and a new united front that threatened humanity’s existence once again, especially after a devastating civil war. They…” The Captain’s voice shuddered, as if trying his best to rephrase what he was about to say before he committed to it. “The Interlopers recruited sapient species en masse. Entire civilizations, tens of thousands of them from across the entire local galactic cluster, hundreds of galaxies’ worth of sapient races… throwing themselves against us in the Milky Way.”

The man paused once again, as we took the time to just sit back in utter disbelief at everything we were hearing. This brought up so many questions, yet answered so much more. The Vanarans and other species on Interloper ships, the Vuark, that brainwashed Vanran, everything started to make sense. Yet Vir didn’t respond, not just yet, as it was clear the Captain had more to say. With a measured breath, the man continued, “The ensuing war broke us.”