69 Book 4 - Chapter 127

Y: 2143 - M2 Prelude

2142 Results

Inter-Academy Round 11 Fortescue Points: 1531, Rank: 2, PR: 0.794

Daedalus Financial Position: +14,340,000 bitcreds

End of 2142

(AN Axelzero will now be shown as Axel-Zero: pronounced the same in your head.)

Their world had changed.

Vannier, Picard, Axel-Zero and Kang were running in their exos in the desert miles above their underground base. For the first twenty minutes there was little talk, it wasn't needed to communicate direction their HUD set down waypoints for them.

Until Kang disturbed the silence, "I'm hot, what's your temp set at?" She asked no one in particular.

Picard replied, "Eighteen when I'm running." (18C 64F)

Kang breathed a reply through the audio comms, "Oh." And adjusted her settings down five degrees.

The exos bounded across the terrain; from afar they looked like a video of astronauts running across the moon. These units were bulkier than the competition variety, with the comprehensive life support systems and protection for said systems adding an extra twenty percent mass.

"What are we going to do?" Axel-Zero blurted now the silence had been broken.

There was no answer, they kept running until they hit the perimeter of their surveillance net.

Vannier stopped, and they gathered around her.

She finally replied to Axel-Zero's question. "There's nothing that can be done, not unless we cloned the original Daedo, but even then, he'd be an empty shell of the boy we knew."

Cloning was possible, it just wasn't useful. Conscience transfer was in the realm of science fiction and the planet already had fifteen billion people it could barely feed, what was the point of cloning more.

But the rich did. The rich did anything and everything. It wasn't common to meet a clone and even if you did, how would you know?

There was the famous story of the Tsinghua chairman who cloned himself and raised his clone like a son. It was a cautionary tale. The clone killed its so-called father.

"We need to watch him," Kang said, "who knows what he is capable of now."

"He could easily know everything we say, including here and now," Picard added.

Vannier nodded, "But he would expect it and not take anything personally. It's as if he has one directive and that's defending the planet. I worry for anyone who opposes his mission."

Axel-Zero asked worriedly, "What if we disagree on a strategy or his way of doing something?"

Vannier kicked the sand, "We can make submissions, he will review but ultimately we have to follow his orders or remove him as Commander." They heard her sniffle, it seemed she was crying again, "He said something."

There was silence while they waited for Vannier to continue.

"… the organisation can only be saved by good people. If good people do nothing, evil will prevail."

They were in what would be classed as medium to heavy exos, but they were still able to hold hands even if hugging was almost impossible. Axel-Zero and Picard each took one of Vannier's hands and then did the same with Kang. They now stood in a circle.

"If he was scary insightful before…" Picard let her thought trail off.

Vannier agreed, "He gave me that mission to pass on. I didn't realise until now." The others could hear her crying, sobbing into the comms. "If we think he has turned evil, we must stop him. We must not do nothing."

Axel-Zero was first to reply, "We are with you Vannier. You don't need to feel alone."

Picard simply said, "Yes."

After an awkward silence Kang replied, "I'm sure glad I didn't sign up." She referred to the Private Military, neither her nor Axel-Zero had signed.

Axel-Zero gasped, "You're not going to leave, are you?"

Kang chuckled, "And miss this shit show? Not on my life."

"So, you're staying?" Picard asked.

Kang laughed and the other three were infected. In a moment all four were laughing to some degree.

"You're so dense Picard. Yes, I'm staying. I want to see what robo-boy wonder does next." Kang clarified after her laughter died down.

"So, what's next?" Axel-Zero asked.

"We get ready for next year," Vannier said, "Let's get back."

The four girls, each strong and talented in their own way, ran back to the base where the commander waited.

He was no longer the boy they had grown to respect and even love, he was in there, but he was changed. The question was, was he forever changed?

Reports and submissions from Daedalus personal, for 2143 operations, were submitted and Daedo only took a minute to review them all. But analysing possible outcomes from new ideas and concepts took him a full day.

The following day the scheduled general meeting was beginning, and all current Daedalus members were present. These ranged from the Private Military to the Academy and Civilian Experts.

The Daedalus Private Military Members and Ranks were as follows. (Includes Academy ranks which suspended PM Ranks while on Academy activities)

Daedalus Private Military, Rank PM, Rank Academy

Daedo, Commander, O6, Officer Cadet, C4

Vannier, Captain, O3, Squad Leader, C3

Mace, First Lieutenant, O2, Squad Leader, C3

Barran, First Lieutenant, O2, Squad Leader, C3

Picard, First Lieutenant, O2, Squad Leader, C3

Name, Rank, Designation

Master Picard, Specialist-MA, E5

Gabe Mace, Specialist-Op, E5

Adele Mace, Specialist-Op, E5

Daedalus Academy, Rank Academy,

Master Haddad, Academy Head, O5

Master Picard, Master, O5

Chief Austin, Chief, O4

Everyone was able to make an in-person appearance excluding Mister Lee Kang who was officially an outside Agent and not a Daedalus member despite appearing on the list.

Daedalus Civilians

Axel-Zero, Pascal Axel, CE1, C1

Kang, CE1, C1

Ikaros, Ikaros Daedo, CE4

Cisse, Cisse Reyas, CE5

Lee Kang, Agent

Daedalus AI,

AI-Aemo, CPU AI, CE1

Ai-Dex, CPU AI, CE1

While the AIs possessed by humans were not listed including the merged AI human entity Myrmidon. The AIs serving Daedalus, were listed. Much to everyone's surprise they were listed under the civilian department and given a Civilian Expert rank of CE1. Everyone's surprise except Daedo.

As Gabe Mace took his place amongst the children and arguably world experts like Cisse, Ikaros and the Masters from the new Academy - the AIs were also present at the meeting. He wasn't afraid, he felt like he was entering a brave new world. One where independent AIs were acknowledged as entities worth recognition. Ones who had rights just like he did. Rights to not be deleted just as he had a right not to be murdered.

Daedo stood and acknowledged each person in turn, announcing their rank which was displayed on opposite walls, the images changing seamlessly as he spoke.

The Daedalus Private Military encompassed the Academy, only the civilian department was out of the command structure. Where it became interesting was with the Cadets themselves. They held one rank if they were to enter combat, but another while on Academy operations.

Master Haddad who was the Head of the Academy held seniority over Daedo as did all the academy masters and chiefs. Daedo like he his friends was still a cadet.

Once Daedo began showing and talking about the shareholdings Gabe paid attention again.

"The current shareholding summary you can see on the display, this information is available at all times and will update overtime as there are roles which accumulate shares per your individual contracts. For clarification; these shares only affect the Daedalus Civilian Department, which is run as a subsidiary and hold no value as voting stock. We are a military organisation, not a civilian one."

Summary of current shareholdings

Entity, Shares, Percentage, Allocation/Yr

Daedo, 54017, 46.5%, 700

Barran, 20545, 17.7%, 700

Mace, 10577, 9.1%, 700

Axel-Zero, 10577, 9.1%, 1000

Vannier, 10577, 9.1%, 700

Ikaros, 2192, 1.9%, 1000

Cisse, 2192, 1.9%, 1000

Picard, 2192, 1.9%, 700

Kang, 2192, 1.9%, 1000

Master Haddad, 996, 0.9%, 1000

Master Picard, 112, 0.1%, 700

Chief Austin, 0, 0.0%, 900

Total Shares: 116169

Gabe found it interested that Daedo had only allocated a share issue of 700 per annum in line with his fellow military counterparts. Where the civilian experts who were not in the military had slightly higher allocations.

Gabe pondered the value of Daedalus if it were on the market like Svarski, it would be in the billions on potential alone. He sighed, as he had no shares. But he took solace that at least his daughter was worth a few hundred million bitcreds.

It was moot, the shares had no voting stocks and they lived on a base that provided for everything, they were merely there to indicate what would happen if the civilian department left the military. Which was not going to happen, aside from the leadership's wishes, what was the point in being a millionaire if the human population of the planet became extinct in a few years.

And this is when it became interesting the 2143 meeting so far was merely what was. Daedo began to dictate what was going to be based on the reports, ideas and data he had on hand.

It wasn't a discussion. This was a military organisation. You put in your report, it was assessed and that was it. If you didn't like it, too bad. You could always leave, well some could, and some couldn't even do that.

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"If this was a strategy game," Daedo began, and it clearly wasn't, "we would begin by building a strong foundation."

He walked past Vannier, Barran, while tapping them on the shoulders, "This is our foundation." He tapped Master Haddad and Master Picard. "And it is strong."

Gabe felt a lump in his throat. He was moved.

This thirteen-year-old kid, who was now part machine, struck him in the heart. He meant every word he uttered, and Gabe knew it was true.

Hell, who on this planet would go hand to hand with Master Picard and expect to win.

They had one the worlds brightest researchers, in Cisse, the most talented educators in Master Haddad, most of all; The best of the world had to offer in the cadets who started the thing. Which included his daughter, whom he was already proud of, but even she surpassed his wildest expectations.

He talked slowly, and the images kept changing showing submissions and imagery which matched his words. It was like they could see his thoughts.

"Our next step appeared in multiple submissions. In this we are in one mind."

"We must start slowly." An image of a small bud appeared.

"We will create an Academy like no other and we will find them." Its roots went into the earth while its trunk reached for the sky.

"Not from the elite, from the forgotten." It was a redwood. Tall and straight. The tallest tree on earth. And then the image pulled back showing a forest of redwoods. Their number abundant, too many for Gabe to count. Thousands, hundreds of thousands.

"From the cast aside, from the Ubis." The universal basic income recipients. They numbered in the billions.

"We will take the talented." A series of games appeared on the screen. The first was tactical strategy.

Then a high-speed virtual game appeared, and the player had to use their bodysuit to play.

Then a puzzle game appeared. The shapes shifted as the puzzles became more difficult.

"And we will accept the determined." The game ran, as Gabe watched.

The player was told that this game was impossible, but if they failed to gain entry into the Daedalus Academy through the other games, this was the only path available to them. It did not test intelligence, it did not test dexterity, it tested your will.

Your will to survive.

Your will to win.

Images of the game played, he saw disorientating walls and floors, devious traps and nightmares which jumped out of the dark. The player died and began from the start multiple times in a minute.

Gabe didn't want to play that game, it looked horrifying and frustrating.

"The first year's intake will begin immediately; the number is fluid and will be based on factors which include Master Haddad's assessment in current delivery capability and the potential of the individuals that apply."

"Most of you are wondering how the people will know about these games, how they will be launched, and will they want to apply."

Gabe looked around the long table in the Daedalus conference room one, anyone who was just thinking that was now ill at ease that Daedo knew it. But it was an obvious human reaction Gabe thought, it wasn't that special a prediction.

"Vannier will capitalise on the current media interest and I will accept an interview in order to get the word out. The games themselves have been designed and coded over the last few weeks."

Now Gabe felt like that was not normal. Not at all.

"Yes, we did it." Daedo answered what they were all thinking.

Gabe looked towards Ikaros, Daedo's father, his eyes were red, and the talented mechanic looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. His physical reaction to his sons' words was what drew Gabe's eye. And he felt for the man, he really did. His son wasn't dead. But he was lost. And was there much of a distinction?

If it was Ameline, he would have been devastated. He would have been in mourning also.

Daedo then went on to report on the completion of the first stage of construction a topic that didn't interest Gabe much. The base was impressive, if they didn't have enemies like Svarski and DaVinci he would have thought it was impregnable.

The base could now feed thousands, it was self-sustaining with water, food, air and most supplies. Which was amazing given it was on the western side of the worlds largest desert. The ground water here was plentiful, however, and Gabe wondered if that factored into Daedo's plans.

The base was almost perfect, it was spacious, there was no restriction on building activity. In a city like Paris this sort of construction would have been impossible. The only downside of the remote base were the topside walks were not that enjoyable.

In his stage two plans an underground mag tunnel was being built towards one of the cities on the Atlantic. Dakar. Gabe found the choice unfathomable until he realised the mag tunnel split with one underground mag road diverting off into the ocean and the other surfacing near Bogue just out of Senegal.

"Once these roads are in place, local surface access will be restricted to the military operations. The old access point and shaft will be closed and filled. The two military grade access shafts will support out local needs. The third and only other access is the human sized tunnel that surfaces in the well of our neighbours in Ouadane. Once we begin the academy intake, this access point will be restricted information."

When Daedo finished his report on the base, the meeting had run for over three hours.

Vannier stood.

"It's time to go," she simply said. Daedo nodded and Master Haddad stood as well.

"Where are you going?" Barran asked what everyone was wondering.

"To meet with the Federation of International Academies," Vannier replied.