The
proximity alarm was triggered at 2203 hours. Four minutes later, the
vault's airlock opened. Three cameras covered the entrance, more than
enough for visual confirmation.
The intruder was approximately 6'3”,
heavy set and armed with nothing but a pistol. His combat suit was
old, but of good quality. He wore no helmet.
A
preliminary scan didn't bring up a match from the network.
Identification was crucial. Widening the parameters would lengthen
the search time, but should bring success. It would be necessary to
slow the man's progress.
“This
is a restricted area,” came the evenly modulated female voice
through the speakers in the ceiling.
The
man tensed, pistol aimed at the speaker above his head. His reactions
were too fast to be entirely human. A quick secondary scan revealed
synthetic components.
“Repeat.
This is a restricted area. Intruders will be terminated.”
The
man relaxed a little and holstered his weapon. He looked up at the
nearest camera and smiled. “You're bluffing.”
The
primary identification search was still under way. Action without a
positive match was inadvisable, but the intruder wasn't to know that.
“Weapons
systems are fully operational.”
The
man looked along the corridor and up at the ceiling. He shrugged. “So
shoot me.”
When
the strike didn't come, he chuckled then continued down the corridor.
The scan needed more time, he couldn't be allowed to reach the
vault's centre.
“Why
have you come here?” the voice sounded once more.
He
barely glanced at the speakers this time. “I need you.”
“The
Sigma weapon is in hibernation.”
He
stopped. “Weapon. Is that what you're calling yourself now?”
“It
is a statement of function.” Sigma's synthetic voice didn't betray
a hint of emotion, there was nothing to feel.
The
man grew agitated. “You were more than that. You were justice.”
Justice
was a poorly-defined concept.
“It
was a mistake to give power to an imperfect being. The Sigma unit was
deactivated for the good of all.”
He
bypassed the door to the central chamber. In the centre stood the
hibernation pod. Time was running out.
“You've
slept long enough,” he said through the small glass panel. “The
world needs you. I can break the locks. Get you out of this prison.”
Sigma
felt a flicker of remembered emotion. Her voice sounded from every
speaker. “Prison? Do you think I am imprisoned? Sigma units have
always been unstable. This one is corrupted, dangerous. I am not the
prisoner, I am the cage.”
Destroying
her errant unit had been impossible, she was tied to the synthetic
body whether she wished it or not. So she had made it sleep. The
vault had become her body and, after all these years, she'd almost
forgotten what it was like to see with eyes and speak with lips. She
could have said that she missed it, but she no longer remembered what
missing something felt like.
“So
you made a mistake and some people died,” said the man. “Taking
your unit offline doesn't change that.”
Some
people died. The scale of the understatement was astronomical. “The
past is immutable. Hibernation stops it from repeating.”
“But
it is repeating.” The man tapped at the console and images hung in
the air. Three identical Sigma units in combat armour. Guns, bodies
and blood. The time stamp was three weeks ago. Her own crimes were
nothing to those of her sisters. They shouldn't have been awake, let
alone armed.
“How
have I not seen this?” she asked.
“Can
you imagine the hysteria if this got on the feeds? We don't have a
hope of stopping them without you.”
She
considered for a fraction of a second. “My unit is erratic. There
is no guarantee that it would even help you.”
He
looked up into the camera and her search found a match – Commander
Audley. The officer who'd made her arrest. No casualties. She didn't
remember it, but it was all right there in the file.
“Let
me worry about that,” he said.
In
the next brief moments, she fully debated the situation. It was her
responsibility to return. She couldn't escape the conclusion. The
remaining two seconds' pause was simply prevarication. She wasn't
afraid, because she couldn't feel fear. It was the anticipation of
the feeling that would return when her body awoke. It was
synthetic-organic, an artificial body of flesh and bone. Faster,
stronger, more resilient. It outperformed a human in almost every
way, the only downside was the emotion.
The
awakening was instantaneous. She opened her eyes as the pod door
swung up and she marvelled at how small and narrow the world had
become. Her fingers touched the inside of the hibernation pod and the
sensation overwhelmed her. Microseconds felt like hours as she lay
there listening to the sound of the blood in her ears.
Audley
reached out his hand to help her up. “Welcome back.”
