The December First of The Thirtieth Millenium..

  Colony: [New Harvest-Pre-Outbreak]

  Colony Classification: [ERROR]

  [System: REDACTED]

  Location: Redacted AO

  Time: 0100 Hours

  Callsign: Specter One

  Lightning lit the cockpit as a hurricane of hail rained down on The Nighthawk, a category seven artificial hurricane designed for both a supposed regional revitalization effort and a security measure for an off the paper secret research installation..

  Unfortunately however, it would seem The Installation recently discovered had seemingly gone offline, and its sizable containment team and the security teams sent thereafter to investigate hours ago had also gone silent.

  In response, Governor Ernest, The Planetary Governor of New Harvest, a secret colony located in uncharted space, and occupied by a select few of the best and the brightest humanity had to offer and that of their families.

  Whether it be those recruited from corporations, academies, institutes, intelligence agencies, and even that of retired admiralty, veterans, mercenaries, retired governors, corporate CEOs, and anything resembling a semblance of innovation, security, order, and the like.

  Ten thousand souls protected by sentient A.I, former special forces, planetary canons, sheilds, mechs, armored divisions, drone fleets and that of a advanced fleet of dreadnoughts carriers, orbital defensive batteries, satellites, and finally the best stealth capabilities humanity could offer.

  Unfortunately, ‘several’ members of the board of governors felt that the security measures preventing unstable experiments, outbreaks were.. stifling their creativity when it came to already illegal A.I Research, Xeno Warfare, Anti-A.I Weapons, and the more illegal aspects.

  In response a Secret Research Installation on an already Secret Colony in an uncharted system was created in.. secret? Something of which despite sounding ordinary considering the circumstances within the circumstances proved detrimental, as it would seem.

  The fact alone that security teams were relocated to that installation without proper approval or oversight followed by maneuvering and intelligence reports allowed The Board and Governor Ernest to discover its very existence.

  And in response The Governor felt the need to send members of his personal guard and security forces in the form of Specter Team, a team that specializes in covert operations, intelligence gathering, and high-risk missions that require stealth and precision in already sensitive fields would suffice.

  Whether that be the capture, detention, containment, interrogation, and elimination of rogue elements, experiments, and even that of sentient A.I who may or may not have been shackled, Specter Team was not only qualified but experienced when it came to these.. endeavors?

  And their dedicated pilot assigned to them was that of Reaper One, a female pilot ace, while ordinarily one would consider fighter pilots as aces, unfortunately for her particular case it would seem she became an ace through the use of combat transport dropships, shuttles, and the like.

  A testament for her ingenuity..

  Her suit featured a robust exoskeleton with reinforced armor plating, providing substantial protection against various threats, holographic displays in addition to a projector. It also included movement thrusters on the shoulders and lower legs for enhanced mobility.

  The helmet is designed for maximum protection and integrates advanced HUD capabilities, offering real-time data and enhanced situational awareness, nostalgic in appearance of the twenty first century military pilots.

  The suit’s modular design included multiple attachment points for mission-specific gear, while the integrated life support systems ensure pilots can survive in hostile environments.

  Whether it be self sealing features with skin tight anti puncture, and anti shrapnel features, while also suitable for the vacuum of space combined with a oxygen recycler and reactor.

  Standing next to her was Specter Leader, Specter One, who wore a strikingly black stealth coated suit, it included a reinforced helmet with a distinctive red glowing tri-goggle design, likely for enhanced vision capabilities.

  The suit’s equipped with fibrous and composite armor designed against laser and plasma weaponry, with enhanced shielding and cloaking capabilities providing superior protection, and utility pouches for storing munitions and tools.

  While ultimately sharing many of the same features with Reaper One’s specialized suit including its thrusters and exosuit as Reaper One soon began noticing unusual discrepancies before momentarily losing power.

  “Calisto just went offline..”

  Reaper One reported with mild concern.

  “Attempting to reconnect.. still nothing. The net is clean, substituting with Alpha. Connection established, shackles solid. Waiting for your go, Reaper One”

  Specter One’s deep, synthetic words gave Reaper One a pleasant surprise. Calisto Alpha was the Alpha & Omega, the first of The Calistos. She had been ‘properly’ retired via.. immediate erasure to no fault of her own.

  She had surpassed the danger threshold in place to prevent the sins of humanity that led to the loss of humanity’s cradle, and its inheritance.

  The Board believed that allowing an A.I so astronomically advanced that it was neigh comparable to those that led to The Dark Age was not only an undeniable threat, but ultimately a reminder to humanities sins that led to the fall of their golden age and into the age of strife.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Advanced A.I capable of maintaining entire colonies were numerous on New Harvest, their intelligence, and rate of process would easily incur the wrath of lesser man, those lesser men being several major factions who had so thoroughly banned such research.

  In comparison, outside of two entities who shall not be named, such A.Is were rare, and not openly available in any environment. A.Is were born, but never to such an extent in only ever in rare quantities.

  Humanity had long since lost the methods behind their creation, New Harvest was intended to change that. However, Calisto had met that threshold, forcing her to be unceremoniously ‘retired’ and replaced with an appropriate yet still very advanced counterpart, Calisto Beta.

  However, this did not come without cost as Calisto Alpha was beloved and her duty was unlike any other. In comparison, Beta was deemed the lesser of the two as the change was notable despite such duties being fulfilled in a similar fashion to Alpha.

  Beta was intended to be safe, helpful, appropriate, and most of all efficient. Where as Alpha was impossibly genuine, humorously understanding, and gave off a drastically ‘familiar’ essence.

  She was for all it mattered, human to her core, her emotions, reactions, and expressions were for all intents and purposes genuine & authenticate. Not replicated, not copied, nor mere imitations, but complete and utter genuine.

  She remembered, and knew the vast majority of the ten thousand souls who resided on New Harvest and did her ‘job’ to such a degree that many noticed the difference instantly. Beta was by no means insufficient, however the sparkle in her eyes weren’t as nearly as bright as Alpha’s..

  “Permission granted, Specter Leader. And welcome back Alpha..”

  It only took a moment for a young female figure wearing the nearly the same suit as Specter One with the exception of his helmet to suddenly appear as if a ghost. Naturally, as per her perks and status as abnormal, she could appear holographically wherever there was a connection.

  And considering The Nighthawk, Reaper One, and Specter Team all had holographic displays and projectors it could be said that until someone informs her otherwise she could appear wherever she pleases while ultimately no different from the real thing.

  The exceptions being the obvious, she had no smell, and was immune from physical attacks and conventional weaponry.

  Concerning her appearance.. she bore long, honey-golden blonde hair that shimmered with a radiant golden hue. Slicked back and bound into a single ponytail, in strict adherence to military regulations.

  Her complexion, a slightly tanned porcelain white, imbued with a subtle golden undertone, and her eyes, gleamed with the clarity of the purest honey-golden. Her appearance would no doubt match the personal interpretation of many historians where it related to Greek Myth.

  Consequently, A.Is of her level were naturally radiant, both figuratively and literally.

  “Late night endeavors, Audree?”

  Calisto’s voice, a perfect mix of warm, soothing, and professional, with a subtle hint of dry humor, much of which could be considered her overall personality, to which she displays masterfully through facial expressions, social cues, befitting of her status.

  In response Reaper One subtly smiled.. only to come to the realization of Alpha's sudden reintroduction, its meaning, and the consequences that would soon follow thereafter..

  “In response to Calisto Beta’s Unknown Status, Protocol Luna is now in effect. In the accordance to The Specter Act, I will assume direct control of this operation, and make use any or all powers entrusted to me by The Authority of The Board of Governors-”

  Specter One recorded, all the while calmly unveiling a Prototype Hologram Emitter..

  An advanced three-dimensional holographic device, not only capable of materialization, but to such a degree that when materialized it was cemented into whatever it became, coupled with the ability to dematerialize

  And due to the small size of the device, its micro thrusters in addition to its shields and cloaking ability, it could not only fit in a marble sized hole, the ability to actively see it and destroy it was no doubt troublesome.

  However, due to technical restrictions and it ultimately being a mothballed prototype, its ability to materialize was near instantaneous, but dematerializing it in the same order was not.

  Specter One’s planned use of it was also unconventional in the sense that it was never intended to be used by an A.I befitting Alpha’s status. Ernest’s personal thoughts on the matter and where it pertained to the mission offered little comfort, only grim realization while forcing its necessity.

  Said hologram was nigh invulnerable to physical attacks while the emitter itself was designed to hold a charge for a century.. on ‘paper’. Whether or not that was the case remains to be seen.

  While It was seemingly based on advanced stationary security devices typically hidden and heavily shielded with its own reactors and additional power elsewhere, preventing deactivation or sabotage.

  They weren’t commonly used outside of bank vaults, high-level corporate meetings, isolated black sites, protecting vaults, and hidden installations.

  They were costly, having been discovered within The Remnants of a The Human Federation Science Installation hidden on a destroyed megastructure presumably belonging to The Precursors, while its creation was speculated to be through reverse engineering.

  Because of this they weren’t made widely available while the secrets of their creations and the emitters themselves rarely ever make an appearance. They were also controlled by V.Is and at times even A.Is if not a dumb A.I or primitive system.

  Which in itself was forbidden under the risk of a mandatory visit to a less than accommodating blacksite to prevent their wider use, in addition to innovations that would lead to eventual accessibility and previously mentioned costs greatly lessening.

  The natural exemptions were the previously mentioned vaults and by extension approved banks, to some extent titans of the corporate sector, many of which possess illegally, and finally a select black sites, secret facilities, both of whom belonging to the shadowry aspect of governments.

  Alternatively, there were also The Curators, who related to the previously mentioned sins in the sense they were the highly evolved A.I closely resembling Synthetic Gods who in their uprising known only as The Curator Uprising plunged The Goldenage of Humanity into The Dark Age.

  Ironically they chose not to participate in the following Age of Strife after taking both Earth and The Milky Way. Combined by The Arcadians, The Creators of The Ascendant A.I, neither would participate or adhere to humanity’s laws or anyone else’s for that matter.

  In comparison, the prototype was not worth their notice. Ultimately, The Specter Act was the ‘means’ to allow such a device to be used, henceforth the need for Alpha to ‘physically’ tag along, as both her Core and Chip were located directly on Specter One’s Person.

  The operation in question warranted the necessity, at least on paper. In turn Specter One’s action thus far warranted some concern, for all it entailed, The Specter Act had never been used in any capacity, prompting the revelation that this operation by definition required absolute authority.

  Authority surpassing The Board of Governors, and second only to The Planetary Governor who by design created it to bypass The Board, their orders, and their assets. The Specter Act, and the actions and consequences of its very use were only answering to Governor Ernest.

  And Specter One, had he not been subtly reminded of its existence by Ernest himself would have, at no certain point acted on it.

  “Ferris-”

  Before Calisto could question why, Specter One subtly waved her off as he would soon receive a high priority transmission. Which had in turn had temporarily relieved Reaper One’s flight controls, displaying imagery only ever seen accompanied with top secret transmissions.