“Checkmate.”
“I hate you.”
Pathfinder ATT101 had lost, again. There was nothing special about the rules this time around, and there was nothing he could have done about it – it was a normal sequence of the game, all the pieces had been moved in typical fashion. In such a method, he would lose almost every time. But one thing he'd been learning over the era is that Salmare had a great deal of trouble when his movements were setup to special rules – that is, when the game was setup irregular from the start – special rules such as five pawns and Pathfinder ATT101 had actually won. Pathfinder ATT101 was not certain if this was some scheme of Salmare's, how it translated into reality, or if it was just dumb luck and some version of fate that was keeping their lives interesting until the inevitable.
This time however, Pathfinder ATT101 tried something different; he pulled one of the pieces from the captured pile and puts it right back on the chessboard. A knight. Another knight and two bishops follow.
“Special rules, Watashi?”
“Just go.”
The problem with chess, is that it was never designed for special rules after a checkmate. Any number of random and erratic movements could be engaged on the board – Salmare knew this much and could predict how every last one of them might be moved on the game. However, the game was over. Just what 'Watashi' was planning to do, was anybody's guess.
“And what are the special rules this time – Watashi?”
Salmare didn't sound amused.
“I call when the game is over.”
“That isn't how the game is played Watashi.”
“I don't care.”
Salmare normally put up with Watashi acting like a child or his arguments; there little shots at chess though, were one of the few exceptions to the rule. The ship's hologram gets up and stares him straight in the eyes.
“I'll suffer your companionship hologram; but not your childish attitude.”
The hologram's matrix scatters and leaves Pathfinder ATT101 to his attitude. Whether Pathfinder ATT101 was throwing a silent temper or not, was not shown on his face. Instead, he leaves the chess table as is and is left to wander the ship. To a certain computer, it looked like he was wandering silently. No voice comes from his matrix. Instead, he walks, and checks each door in the vicinity; one main hall connected from here to the reactor room – Salmare knew it, 'Watashi' as (as she came to call him) did not. He knew nothing about this ship, Salare knew this; he hadn't bothered to explore the ship in the five millenia they were here – these were the facts. What was going on in his mind, Salmre didn't know, nor did the hologram know if he was up to something. Salmare, for the first time, didn't know what was going on, nor could it use the ship's computer to calculate any trajectories towards his intended goal. The computer didn't say anything, but somewhere in it's core, it marked the event as a win on the pathfinder's part.
Each door on this deck, held nothing special. They appeared to be storage areas used for tools. Pathfinder ATT101 finally appeared before the reactor room. It was magnetically sealed; any fumbling with the control panel in front of him meant that an error would read out on the computer display. Even if he could get in, and Salmare knew this well; the reactor itself was also sealed. Any attempts to sabotage the mission meant that it would end in failure. The hologram resorts to back tracking.
He finally found the lift. It descends. Salmare immediately appears next to him.
“I'm so happy you've taken to exploring my interior – Watashi.”
The hologram does not react. He doesn't know what she meant.
“Are you going to give me the silent treatment now – Watashi?”
No response.
The ship's computer core lights up. It was grinding away at several variables and outcomes.
“Lower deck.”
A voice, similar to Salmare's, utters their location.
“I can tell you about everything on this ship you know – Watashi.”
No response.
The hologram explores the lower deck. There was nothing special here. The furthest room in the hindquarters of the ship did reveal something interesting – it was the hypersleep chamber. Some 5,000 colonists were in suspended animation. This was of special interest. He doubles back to the lift. It ascends. This deck contained nothing special – they were all empty rooms, devoid of any furniture. If anything, they were to be used as crew quarters, as evident by a small area used for either a closet or a bathroom of sorts. Most of the rooms on this deck were like that; one appeared to be a large area; it was devoid of any furnishings or anything of merit – where computer terminals would go, were merely faceplates bolted to the wall. He returns to the lift; the next deck was exactly the one he'd been at. Again, the lift ascends; each of the rooms was of interest – life boats, one large hangar for docking the ship, and cargo bays. Again, the ship ascends. More interest came with each decks as the lift raised; this one was an entertainment galley – library with computer terminals, entertainment room, and what appeared to be a holographic generation assembly. The lift ascends once more, and the ship's computer utters their location, 'deck one'. This deck was smaller than the others, but it had what he was looking for – a computer room. It contained different makes and models of computers, one overhead screen, and at the farthest end of the room, one giant monitor for display to everyone inbetween. This was the central computer hub of the ship and would be the place he'd gather information – if he needed it. The other rooms were also interesting – Salmare's computer core was immediately adjuscent from the computer room; however, the minute he stepped foot into it, the doors shut. Fiddling with the door's terminal only meant that an error would spit back out at him.
Salmare appears before him.
“This room is off limits.”
“Checkmate.”
Salmare disappears. The ship's computer glows a deep green. The sequences were being calculated at what he meant by this. Salmare's matrix appears before him again.
“What do you want?”
The pathfinder program says nothing and continues his exploration of the ship. The next room was the the bridge. This was an odd location – to the right side of the ship, as opposed to the traditional top, rear or immediate front of a ship. He dismisses it and moves onto the next room – this was the science observatory. One last room, rear of the ship – it was a shuttle bay with several shuttles.
He moves to the bridge; there was nothing spectacular about it – computer terminals at different stations, a few manual controls depending on the station, and otherwise an empty captain's chair in the center of everything else. He sits at the captain's chair, leans forward and his head rests on his hand.
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“Computer, do you have a voice pattern system?”
Nothing happens. However, when he turns around he sees Salmare standing next to him.
“What do you want – Watashi?
“A chess game.”
The Salmre computer says nothing. Nothing happens either; Pathfinder ATT101 continues his 'list' of wants.
“Is there a captain on this ship?”
“No.”
“Are one of the colonists a captain?”
“No.”
“Are there any colonists that can operate this ship?”
“No.”
“Why are you only giving me 'no' commands?”
No answer.
“Salmare, are you not telling me something?”
“No.”
Pathfinder ATT101 had already figured it out. Salmare wasn't telling him anymore information than he needed to know. The ship he'd explored on his own, and repeatedly he'd been harassed by Salmare; up until that point and for five millenia, it was mostly banter, conversation, or otherwise trying to outsmart each other. Chess games not withstanding; it could take a long time to 'download' any useful information via simple conversation; Salmare wouldn't give him anything useful – but the ship had also only sealed off one room – the computer core, and quite deliberately; everything else was intact for some reason and he was given access.
“Salmare, I'm making myself captain of this ship.”
“You have no authorization to command this ship, Pathfinder ATT101.”
Salmare's communication style had changed. It was more protocol based and to the point. Anything related to the ship itself and Salmare was to the point, and quite strict about it.
“Why do I have clearance on the bridge? Normally this area is restricted.”
No answer.
“Salmare, why do you have two communication styles?”
No answer.
For that matter, Salmare had otherwise disasppeared and was nowhere to be seen on the bridge. If the hologram was two sided, he now knew it – more importantly, he was beginning to wonder if that computer core was actually the hologram at all or if this was some kind of game. He was off to the computer room to find out. For some reason, the computer room wasn't sealed; if it had the information he'd need, it would be there.
Once in the computer room, he was greeted to a screen. Galactic Federation, High Council. This ship was built in the galaxy that was destroyed by Project RX. More importantly, it was a colony ship of the High Council itself.
“Brilliant!”
“Brilliant in what way – Watashi?”
Salmare was standing behind him.
“Salmare, tell me what I need to know.”
The ship's computer core, again, glows. There was a contingency under way. Something about Pathfinder ATT101's movements, his attitude, and the outcome of it all – one scenario has him winning, and the computer couldn't prevent it.
“Salmare, you already know I'm going to win.”
More sequences get processed, it was becoming more likely.
“Give me the information I want to know, and I won't delete your program.”
“You can't delete my program even if you wanted to – Watashi.”
Pathfinder ATT101 turns around in his chair and starts his work. He'd either mess up several times, or eventually find what he needed to know.
The computer did indeed have a manifest of the ship's mission, criteria and schematics. It was a colony ship of the high council; it was to be used for special volunteer operations and colony builds set for galaxy's outside of the ship's home galaxy 'Mir'.
“I didn't know the Galactic Federation was centralized in Mir.”
“It is.”
Salmare just puts a hand on his shoulder.
“However, Mir no longer exists. It was destroyed about five thousand years ago in an explosion.”
Pathfinder ATT101 knew all too well what Salmare was infering.
“Do you know my origin Salmare?”
“No.”
The ship's schematics were next. It was otherwise a giant rectangle, massive sensor inputs from the top and front of the ship; the right side of the ship was mostly observation area and the left was where several weapon appendages were; the rear of the ship was the engines and reactor. The reactor was a type of quantum reactor that used cold fusion as an energy source; the engines used a type of ionic slip stream, another variant of older ion engines.
Pathfinder ATT101 rarely moved over the next 50 years; he was busy downloading any information he could find through the computer. He didn't have direct access to a dataport – there weren't any as he'd found while exploring the ship, but he could slowly 'leak' information from the ship's mainframe via the computer terminals.
News reports, data and dates up until the ship's launch were readily available; anything after that and the dates simply stopped. News of Project RX, known as 'Project Armageddon' by the press, was seen as a secret undercover operation by the military. If this was true, Pathfinder ATT101 hadn't known about it, in fact – he thought it was a science operation. If it was funded by the military, he didn't know it. “Project Armageddon” also seemed like a strange name. Further news reports spoke of the sabateur's execution and a special colony ship that would be used to colonize a blackhole. The news briefs end there.
Tool usage, the proper usage of it, science, chemistry, and a number of auxilliary knowledge and skill sets would be added to his matrix. He was done after fifty years.
Salmare was in power conservation by the time he was done, but otherwise lit back to life the minute he turned around.
“That little?”
“It's all I need.”
“I see.”
He turns around in his chair; his typing begins. It wasn't a special program, it was an older one used for such occasions. It was executed, and immediately the ship's computer begins more sequence calculations. It began calculating every single outcome and it's displays switch from a deep green to a bright red and finally settle to a deep red and fade to a light orange. The ship's computer core was overloaded. It would reset after a few minutes.
“Well done, Watashi.”
Pathfinder ATT101 says nothing. He gets up from his chair and walks out of the computer lab and waits in front of the computer core's door.
“Computer reset in five minutes. All personel initiate reset procedure.”
The ship's reactor room doors open, as does the door for the computer core. He steps inside, and has a few chances to get this right before the computer reactivates itself and would otherwise know of his plans. Salmare appears before him.
“The computer is in a low standby mode?”
There is no answer. Salmare was there mostly as a witness for the computer once it reactivated.
“I didn't think so.”
He begins by pulling out several wall pannels, otherwise cutting wires, pulling out circuit blocks, and then finally pulling out several cables that connected to the main computer core. There was one large plug in traditional design – perhaps it was a failsafe, he didn't know, nor did he care – the computer would be unhooked and manual control to him onced it was removed.
“Watashi – one request.”
“And that is?”
“I don't want to be deleted.”
He pulls the cable and Salmare disappears.
Pathfinder ATT101 had a few problems on his hands. For starters, manual control was his, but everything except for the most basic of the ship's systems, would be offline. He'd need to manually hack the computer's core if he was to gain access to what he really needed – the ship's engines. After that fact he'd also need to worry about getting the colonists ready for their new life. He'd need them for what he needed as well – escape from this black hole. However, there was no telling if they'd pull something similar to what he did – trying to circumvent control to gain control of the ship.
Ten years pass and his hacking was done. He was thankfully a hologram, so this kind of meanial work didn't mean anything to him.
The ship reactivates. Salmare also appears again.
“The ship's computer has been hacked – Watashi.”
“Yes, yes it has.”
“You are the captain and have clearance for the ship's operations.”
“Yes, yes I do. But the ship's computer has no readout, save for one hologram.”
“Yes.”
“Activate the ship's engines and bring us to the fourth planet.”
Salmare complied, and a chirp come's from the computer core. While the engine's warmed up, Watashi gave out his additional commands.
“Do you really think that this is going to work – Watashi?”
“It will, or they'll perish trying.”
“You're just using them.”
“And you're a waste of time.”
Salmare falls silent.
The ship's engines fully active, charge to life and the ship alter's it's course to intercept the fourth planet of the system.
“Standard oxygen and nitrogen class, trace amounts argon and methane. Surface gravity is 0.9, liquid oceans take up half the planet's surface, no indigenous life; the planet has three moons and one ring.”
“The perfect place for a colony of ex-convicts to begin their new life.”
Pathfinder ATT101 shows a change of pace and scrambles to the colonist's chamber. Several of their hypersleep modules were already open, others were throwing up from the hypersleep effect, and still others continued to just awaken as more modules opened. One of the colonists was there to greet him, he wasn't happy.
“Where the hell are we?”
Pathfinder ATT101 had grim news. They were ex-communicated from the Galactic Federation for 'civil unrest.'. They continued to learn of their fate – they were the future ancestors of a civilization that would exist until at that time they were deemed appropriate for galactic society. Instead, they would be given a new life by choice of a one Pathfinder ATT101, to at least enjoy themselve comfortably aboard the ship.
A special program was created for those that wished to colonize the planet below them. It would become the capitol planet of the star system and would serve as the base of the civilization that the Galactic Federation has planned. However, Pathfinder ATT101 had his own designs to put into play. A civilization would build up, and find to burn through the blackhole if necessary, before returning to normal space. There was one thing to their advantage – Pathfinder ATT101 had the knowledge of a blackhole creating cannon that could reverse the effects – Project RX; however, it would take a long time before it could be built, let alone the energy stored to do such a thing.
Two hundred years pass; a colony was established, and most of the members of the unnamed ship, now simply dubbed 'the Salmare Super Computer”, had left. All that was left was Pathfinder ATT101 and Salmare.
“Do you really think they can do it?”
“Sure, why not?”
“I can't go with you.”
“That's too bad.”
Pathfinder ATT101 was already in front of one of the lifeboats when Salmare continued her conversation.
“It will be lonely up here.”
“That's not my problem.”
“I can't leave Watashi.”
The hatch to the lifeboat closes and it ejects. Pathfinder ATT101 hears Salmare's last words.
“Good luck.”
