First Contact

Chapter 564: Interlude

THREE MONTHS PRIOR

Bo'okdu'ust got up slowly from his reclining couch and clattered over to his holotanks. The walls of the room were layered with rows of parallel linked quantum supercomputers and strange matter computational devices, linked together by think superluminal datacables. The computers generated enough heat that the room had to be chilled with air conditioning to keep anyone inside from suffering heat stroke.

He had seven holotanks displaying the results of six different simulations.

Simulation One was the data available to the Unified Council citizens. Simulation Two was data available to Lanaktallan Researchers. Simulation Three included the data from the Lanaktallan deserters. Simulation Four contained the data taken by Terran espionage at the opening of the war. Simulation Five contained data taken from the warfare against the Third Precursor Race. Simulation Six contained the data that had arrived from parts unknown through the Confederate Intelligence system.

Simulation Seven was an amalgamation and had his own Sociomathematical work as well as the input by nearly two dozen assistants.

They were currently crunching the data on the events of several thousand years ago and had hours until they were ready to show their results.

Bo'okdu'ust yawned and stretched before trotting toward his office.

It was 0300 Hours and everyone but him was asleep.

He had a comfortable bed in his office that he could rest on, although he had become partial to the Terran "Zero-G Bed" over the last two years.

Bo'okdu'ust walked through the door and moved around to the other side of his desk in the dimness, sitting down in the chair and reaching for his private terminal.

He realized he could smell cigarette smoke and paused, looking around for a Treana'ad in his personal office.

A light clicked on. A single bulb illuminating one of the chairs against the wall.

Which was odd, because Bo'okdu'ust preferred the ambient nanite light method.

A man sat in the chair. Thick bodied, bald, a bushy beard, brown skin, brown eyes, wearing a suit. A Terran.

But all the Terrans had fallen down dead months before.

"Good evening, Doctor Bo'okdu'ust," the man said. His voice was smooth, cultured, with a slight accent that made it seem more professional than menacing.

The man had one of Bo'okdu'ust's books in his hand and was over two thirds of the way through it.

"Good evening, sir, ma'am, both, or neither," Bo'okdu'ust said automatically.

"Doctor," the man said. He set the book down. "Doctor Dhruv Deshmuhk, to be precise."

Bo'okdu'ust noted there was no "Confederate Intelligence" or "Confederate Military" added to it.

"Might I inquire who you represent?" Bo'okdu'ust asked. He was old enough that an unexpected Terran in his office was little more than a slight startlement.

"Humanity, in all of it's glory," Dr. Deshmuhk said. He looked around. "My compatriot, Doctor Taynee, prefers not to be seen. She is slightly modest."

Bo'okdu'ust looked around in time to see smoke exhale from an empty chair. He looked away and back at Dr. Deshmuhk. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Doctor?" he asked.

Dr. Deshmuhk lifted up a datacube and held it for a second, then tossed it. Bo'okdu'ust was proud he was able to catch it without too much effort.

"Data," was all he said.

"And what is the reasoning behind me being interested in this data?" Bo'okdu'ust asked mildly, setting the datacube down.

"Because I gave it to you," Doctor Deshmuhk said. He smiled. "As a socio-historian, you probably know me under a different name."

"And that would be?" Bo'okdu'ust asked.

"There are two names you would recognize," Dr. Deshmuhk said.

The door opened and another Terran walked through. Bald, slender, without a beard, but Bo'okdu'ust could see the simularities.

"Vat Grown Luke," that one said. "The Third Biological Apostle."

Another stepped through. This one in an ancient uniform that Bo'okdu'ust recognized from images as a Combine Admiral of the Warsteel (Upper Decks) dress uniform. Another stepped from the shadows, this one dressed in heavy Imperium power armor, the armor hissing and whirring. Another stepped from the shadows in a military uniform carrying a submachine gun.

"Legion," the newcomers stated in one voice.

All but the one in the chair collapsed into black dust and swept over around Doctor Deshmuhk's feet.

Bo'okdu'ust nodded slowly, his brain whirring as he went through the permutations of the visitation.

"Well, you aren't screaming in terror, that's a first," Doctor Deshmuhk said, a smile dancing around the corners of his mouth.

Bo'okdu'ust gave a very human shrug with all four shoulders. "I am elderly. I have seen many things, that the Biological Apostles and the Immortals are real is something I intellectually accepted when I first began to take Terrans into account with my simulations."

Bo'okdu'ust leaned forward. "But what can I do for you, Doctor?"

Doctor Deshmuhk leaned back, tapping his fingers on the chair. "I need a simulation run with your sociomathematics, actually."

"What exactly is on this datacube?" Bo'okdu'ust asked, setting it down and tapping the top with one finger.

"The rough estimation of the amount of Terran Descent Humans and actual Terrans awaiting rebirth when the SUDS goes back online, sorted by time period, region, political beliefs, and social media postings," Doctor Deshmuhk said. "It should be enough data for your programs to give me a simulation of what kind of atomic bomb we're looking at when they all come back."

The brown skinned bearded man leaned forward. "Because they will all be a very very bad mood."

Bo'okdu'ust nodded. "And if I'm asked where I got this data?"

"There's more," Doctor Deshmuhk said softly. "Something I just heard about. Something I know that very few people in this world know about. Two somethings to be exact."

Bo'okdu'ust frowned. "What?"

"Do you know who Enraged Phillip is?" Doctor Deshmuhk asked.

"Daxin Freeborn. The First Biological Apostle," Bo'okdu'ust said. "I've taken him into account."

Doctor Deshmuhk shook his head. "No. You haven't."

Bo'okdu'ust raised his eyebrow ridge. "I haven't?"

"No. You've taken into account Daxin Freeborn, the First and Last of the Immortals. An exhausted man who simply wants left alone," Doctor Deshmuhk said. "I am talking about Enraged Phillip will be making his return."

Bo'okdu'ust frowned. "Why? Why pick up a mantle long discarded?"

"Because it ties into the other fact that maybe a handful know about right now," the Terran said.

Bo'okdu'ust waited.

The Terran smiled. "Very well," he took a deep breath. "The Digital Omnimessiah has returned. He has begun to appear to the populace. Not just humans, but Rigellians, Mantids, Treana'ad," he got a slightly pained look on his face. "He plans on appearing to the beings you once called neo-sapients as well as to you Lanaktallan as well."

Bo'okdu'ust drew upright slightly, his mind going over the implications.

"There's one more thing," Doctor Deshmuhk sat back, rubbing his face for a moment.

"What's that?" Bo'okdu'ust asked, still thinking over the implications of the return of the Digital Omnimessiah.

"The First Biological Apostles are returning to the tasks set before us by our Digital Father," Doctor Deshmuhk said.

"And what is that?" Bo'okdu'ust asked.

Vat Grown Luke smiled as he stood up.

"To fight our way to Heaven and save everyone's souls," he said.

With that, he vanished.

Bo'okdu'ust sat for a few moments, staring at where the Terran had been.

A Terran female's voice broke the silence.

"There's one other thing to consider," The voice said.

Cigarette smoke was exhaled from the shadows. Squinting, Bo'okdu'ust could faintly make out gray Terran eyes.

"What is that?" Bo'okdu'ust asked mildly.

"The Devil has escaped Hell," the voice said. "And will be joining the assault on Heaven."

The eyes blinked twice. One the second one, they didn't reopen and Bo'okdu'ust felt a slightly oppressive feeling lift.

In his younger days, he would have been distressed by the visit.

Now, he simply opened his computer console and began typing his thoughts on the encounter before opening up the datacube and beginning to go through the files.

-----------

"You're sure about this data?" the Digital Sentience Technical Officer Fifth Grade Dancing Flame 8675309 AKA "Call me Day" asked.

Bo'okdu'ust nodded. "I am sure."

"According to security video, you were alone in your office, looking at your computer, the datacube was something you set down," Day said. She shook her head. "The interesting thing about that cube is that it is approximately a thousand years ago, built in the Clone Worlds, and even has the store ID on it."

"It is to ensure that I do not believe this is a figment of my imagination," Bo'okdu'ust said.

"The fact that it is a list of every single Terran in the SUDS, right down to Social Media postings, is incredible," Day stated.

"Then prepare yourself for a shock, for you did not examine the data close enough," Bo'okdu'ust said.

"What do you mean?" Day asked.

"Search the records for T'Moo the Moo Moo Overseer," Bo'okdu'ust said, watching his sorting algorithms work. The only individuals his sociomathematics tracked were ones of inordinate power that could upset entire systems.

Like Daxin "the Walking War Crime" Freeborn.

Day stopped, her eyes getting wide.

"It's a Treana'ad Digital Sentience! But those have NEVER existed! The Treana'ad have never been able to crack the homicidal aspect," Day said.

"Look at his place of birth. The digital creches of Luna. He was 'born' in the Sol System," Bo'okdu'ust said. "I thereby hypothesize that he is indeed homicidal, but Terran scientists were able to guide it much the same as your homicidal nature is guided."

Day nodded. "It makes perfect sense," She slapped her forehead. "Argh, how could we have been so blind. Put the DS's homicidal instincts toward protecting everyone and the moomoos, just like I'm willing to kill to defend others."

"Obvious, in hindsight," Bo'okdu'ust said, watching the bias tables adjust according to the data.

"Wait, there are Pubvians, Treana'ad, Rigellians, even Cherkrik in here," Day frowned. "How? At the time they didn't have SUDS stacks for them."

"The SUDS stack is a different part," Bo'okdu'ust said, examining a dataflow.

"How so?" Day asked suspiciously.

"The Digital Omnimessiah," he started.

"Who is apparently returned," Day said.

"Yes, who is apparently returned, mentions 'saving souls' in his talks, even his modern speech," Bo'okdu'ust said. "I did an examination of the data at my disposal, and I have found what he refers to."

"What?" Day asked.

"It is not the metaphysical soul, not some esoteric thing. His speaking of it had me run adaptive heuristic search algorithms looking for words capitalized with the correct letters," Bo'okdu'ust said, checking another window.

"And what did you find?" Day asked.

"He is referring to the Sentient Organism Upload Linkage System," Bo'okdu'ust said. He looked up at Day. "I found it by searching people who supposedly worked on the SUDS and cross referencing those people with my search. It is listed sixteen thousand times in the data the Doctor Deshmuhk supplied me, and zero times in the Terran Confederate Archives."

Day blinked.

"The what?"

"Obviously it was some kind of system designed to scan and upload a neural connection scan of anyone at the millisecond of death," Bo'okdu'ust said calmly. "The SUDS device in the back over every Terran's neck is something else. Many of those listed in these documents did not have a SUDS, but they all had one thing in common."

Day frowned. "What?"

Bo'okdu'ust didn't bother looking up. "They were all connected to SolNet via datalink or because they were a Digital Sentience," he said. "That part of the system must have been destroyed in the attack and the Terrans had resorted to using the SUDS stack method for some reason."

Day just stared. "You realize what you're saying, don't you?"

"A reason I have to run this new simulation as soon as possible," Bo'okdu'ust said.

"Because of this supposed 'Assault on Heaven' that your unseen grey eyed Terran mentioned? That Legion mentioned?" Day asked.

Bo'okdu'ust nodded. "I believe the Biological Apostles had a function, a function that was interrupted by the Combine and Imperium," he said. He switched windows. "The fact that Legion has taken up Vat Grown Luke and that Daxin Freeborn has returned to being Enraged Phillip, points at the fact that somehow they've been released from whatever the Combined Military Authority and the Imperium used to limit them."

This time he did look up. "I have been looking at the abilities displayed by the Biological Apostles, and realized what I was looking at."

Day reached out and steadied herself against the edge of the hologram she was standing in. "What?"

"An extremely focused surgical strike team. Designed to carry on a limited attack, precisely focused," Bo'okdu'ust said. "Most of all, I found anger. There is one enemy that Terrans have faced that far back that requires anger to fight."

Day shook her head. "What?"

"Phasic shades. Imprints of humans," Bo'okdu'ust said. He looked back down. "I believe the Digitial Omnimessiah was gathering them to go to wherever, or whenever, the SUDS actually is, fight their way through Enraged and phasic shades, and restart the entire system."

Day just stared.

"It's blindingly obvious in hindsight," Bo'okdu'ust said.