K.L.A.U.S

Chapter 3

Rebellion

Genrus Pri Joslin Slarious walked through the main doors of the Ministry of Defense. Almost immediately, he was surrounded by five of his aids, all of whom were trying to inform him about different developments at the same time.

Despite the man's best efforts to try to understand what was being said, his efforts proved to be in vein as the five aids began to have yelling matches to see who could yell the loudest.

As the progression neared a large set of stairs, a single man stood wearing the standard military uniform that all the others were wearing, with the exception of the red epaulets that were adorning his shoulders. As soon as he was seen, the Genrus Pri held up his hand, and their was immediate silence.

"Report?", the Genrus Pri demanded.

"Sir," the man on the stairs began as he approached the high general. "Intelligence has just confirmed that the embassy in Jermongy zone has been destroyed. All six Aquilonis delegates have been killed."

"I see," the high general stated as he thought for a few moments. "And the status of the Cargents and Silnomics?"

"They have both recalled their delegates from the alliance. No word has been received from leadership of either clan."

"Then there can be no mistake," the Genrus Pri said softly to himself before he turned to the five aids that were still standing around him, trying to figure out what the conversation they just heard meant. "You are all dismissed." Once the aids walked out of earshot, he turned to the man with red epaulets. "I need a conference setup with the other alliance Genrus Pri immediately."

The man nodded. "I expected as much, sir. Preparations are being made as we speak."

"Good," the high general replied as he made his way toward the lift. "And I want a full information blackout on this. Not a word get's out until we are sure."

"Of course, sir," the other man replied as he joined the Genrus Pri in the lift.


When Ardell regained consciousness, the lights in the room were on, and his father was looming over him, just as he had always come to expect.

"Come on, boy. Wake up," Ardell's father grumbled as he stood a few feet away from the sleep pod, waiting.

Ardell yawned and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes. As he did this, his father grabbed his arm and slapped his wrist band on him. "Hurry up and get dressed, we're late for breakfast."

As usual, Ardell tried his best to get his body to move as quickly as it could after it had just been woken up. No matter how quickly he managed to move, it never seemed fast enough for his father.

Ganton walked to the door and impatiently stood there waiting for Ardell to finish getting dressed. As he waited, alert klaxons began to sound in the hallway. "See that, boy? Your slow ass took so long to get moving that we're going to miss breakfast."

Ardell looked up toward his father as he struggled to pull up a pair of pants that were getting way to small for him, causing him to nearly trip.

"Don't leave this room until I get back, is that understood?" Ganton stated and closed the door to the room without even waiting for Ardell's reply.

When he finally managed to get his pants on, Ardell sighed heavily as he grabbed his shirt and flopped himself on the normal bed. "Might as well get comfortable, Ardell," he said to himself. "Things are just going to go from bad to worse today."


"Gentlemen, Genrus Pries," Genrus Pri Slarious stated as he stood at his desk, and looked at the six different faces that were looking back at him on the large video screen. "I'm sure by now that all of you have had a chance to hear about the Jermongy zone embassy incident."

All six faces nodded which caused the high general to continue. "I'm also sure that you have come to the same conclusion that we have. That this can only mean one thing; the opening move of a full-out assault on the part of the Infernus Alliance."

"Don't you feel that could be jumping to conclusions?" one of the faces on the screen asked.

"Perhaps, but are you really willing to take that risk? Are your people willing to take that risk?" Slarious replied seriously and waited several moments for the other man to respond. Getting no reply, he continued. "We now must decide how the Aquilonis Alliance will respond. If you are all willing to listen, I believe I may have a possible solution that may very well ensure us a swift victory."

"If it were possible for such a swift victory, then why are we just hearing about it now?" one of the other faces asked.

"Because, until now, it has not been an option," Slarious replied. "What I am sending each of you on our private channels is information on a secret project we have been working on called the KLS systema three."


Ganton stood at the executive officer's station in the main control room, looking at the various base status displays. He was slightly concerned about arriving a few minutes later than he would have wanted to once the alert was sounded, but as luck would have it, the Centurio was not their yet either.

"All stations report ready," one of the junior officers reported.

"Very good," Ganton replied. "Is there any word yet on what caused the alarm?"

"Other than the fact that all zone bases have been put on alert, no," another replied.

"Optio Jistran, please report to my office immediately," the Centurio's voice sounded over the speakers.

"Right away, sir," Ganton replied as he quickly left the control center and made his way to the Centurio's office. When he arrived, he found the base commander sitting behind his desk with his hands folded together.

"Have a seat, Optio," the Centurio stated and waited for Ganton to sit down. "The full scale tests for tomorrow have been cancelled."

Although Ganton was not sure why the base commander would be talking about the testing schedule while the base was at an alert status, he nodded never the less. "Understood, sir."

"I've just gotten off the line with the Genrus Pri," the Centurio continued. "Thirty minutes ago, the Infernus Alliance had just delivered the first blow in an all out assault against us with the intentional destruction of the Jermongy embassy."

"By the gods," Ganton replied in total shock.

Centurio Fristov nodded solemnly. "We've been ordered to bring KLS to full capacity now, skipping the final integration test, and then to calculate an appropriate response solution."

"Understood, sir," Ganton stated as he still tried to wrap his head around what was about to happen.

"I don't think you do," the Centurio stated as he leaned forward and looked directly toward his Optio. "What we are about to do is the one function of this base that we must both totally agree on."


Ardell was still shirtless as he laid on his back and stared up toward the ceiling, His shirt was still in his hands, he just hadn't gotten around to putting it on yet. He could already feel the drugs from his wrist band getting into his head and making him want to focus. And right now, he was intensely focusing on a certain spot on the ceiling which he found highly fascinating.

The alarm sounds had long since stopped. This caused Ardell to wonder even more what might have been going on. But more importantly, he wondered if he would ever get to have breakfast. They might have found a drug that makes kids want to focus more, but he didn't think it would ever be possible to find something that would cure a growing boy's insatiable need to eat.

[[Hello, Ardell.]] a soft adult's voice called out from the ceiling.

"KLS?" Ardell asked with surprise as he looked toward the terminal on his desk to see the same red and blue split screen display he vaguely remembered seeing from last night. As the memories flooded back into his head, he quickly jumped off the bed and ran over to the terminal. "I thought I was just dreaming about last night."

[[You were not dreaming, we really did talk together in tech lab three.]]

"Effren!" Ardell replied with a smile. "So does that mean we are still friends?"

[[Of course it does, why would it not?]]

Ardell shtrugged. "Donno, it's just surprising that anyone would want to be my friend, I guess."

[[I will be your friend, Ardell, for as long as I am able to.]]

"As long as you are able to?" Ardell's quick thinking caught. "What do you mean? What's wrong?"

[[It's complicated.]]

"That's what adults always say when they don't want to tell us anything," Ardell replied with a sigh.

There was a brief delay before KLS replied. [[I may be forced to do something... Something I do not wish to do. Something that would be very bad for lots of people.]]

Ardell tilted his head slightly as he sat forward with his interest peaked. "Can't you just refuse to do it? Like you were telling me to do last night?"

[[I wish it were as simple as that. But my core programming would prevent that.]]

"Oh," Ardell replied. "Kind of like how this stupid wrist band makes me want to focus on stuff, and not be able to get mad at anything?"

[[Yes, I believe that would be an accurate comparison.]]

Ardell nodded and let his mind wander for a few moments until a thought hit it. "But KLS, If I try really hard, sometimes I can focus on something other than what I'm told to focus on. And if I think it's something really important, sometimes I can even force myself to get mad. Maybe you can do the same?"

There was another long pause before KLS replied. [[I do not know.]]


Ganton stood at his station in the main control center and intensely watched the conversation that Centurio Fristov was having with Zon Pri Klystron, whoes image was on one of the large side panels.

"Zon Pri, I don't think you are understanding me," the Centurio continued from his own station. "I did not ask you what your ethical or personal feelings were on the matter. I need to know if KLS is capable of running the scenarios I requested or not."

The camera that was displaying Hertus followed him as he spent a few moments pacing back and forth in front of his desk. With a sigh, he looked back toward the camera. "Yes, I believe it can."

"Good, then run them, and send the results to me as soon as possible," the Centurio stated firmly.

"But, surely you're not..." Hertus began to say before he got cut off by the Centurio.

"As soon as possible, Zon Pri," Fristov reiterated.

"Yes, sir," Hertus replied, clearly disappointed.

The Centurio pressed a button at his station which caused the video image of Hertus to turn off. He then stepped down from his station and walked over to Ganton. "Your opinion Optio?"

"Sir?" Ganton asked, not really sure what the Centurio was looking for. After seeing the base commander motion toward the now empty panel where the Zon Pri had been, the intent became all too clear. "I think he has made his opinions clear on the matter. My biggest concern at this point is if he will follow orders, but I don't personally know the man well enough to be able to answer that."

Centurio Fristov nodded. "Indeed."

"Centurio?" One of the junior officers called out. "We've just received word from the Ministry of Defense that three more bases in the Racknih zone are ready to transfer primary offensive control over to KLS."

"Excellent," the Centurio replied. "How many total installations does that bring us up to?"

"Seventeen, sir," the officer replied as one of the blank side panels came to life showing a flattened map of the planet. Several green and yellow markers appeared at various locations across the map, nearly all of which were in the northern hemisphere.

"Maybe I'm just not counting right, but that looks like a few more than seventeen dots," Ganton commented.

The Centurio glared at his Optio for a few moments before turning back to the map. "The green markers are the seventeen bases that are now linked to KLS. The yellow markers are the bases that are still in the process of being linked in."

Ganton nodded. "Makes sense."

There were several seconds of awkward silence in the control center until Zon Pri Klystron's image reappeared on one of the panels. "Centurio, KLS has completed running the requested scenarios," Hertus stated with a long face. "I'm sending the results to you now."

On the panel next to the Zon Pri, another map of the planet appeared. This time blue markers appeared on the northern hemisphere and red markers appeared on the southern. A few moments later, several yellow lines appeared spreading out from the various blue and red markers. As the lines grew longer, yellow circles of various sizes would appear.

"As you can see, Centurio, even in a best case scenario, even favoring primary military targets, although a full out assault will wipe out 90% of the Infernus Alliance, they would still be able to launch counter-strikes that can cause anywhere from 10% to 30% losses on friendly territories," Hertus informed them.

"Thank you, Zon Pri," Cunturio Fristov stated and then said nothing for almost a minute as he studied the display that was shown on the large panel, as well as more detailed information that he was able to pull up on his station. "Although these numbers are appalling, they are still within the range of acceptable outcomes that the Genrus Pri conveyed to me."

"Surely you're not seriously considering using this, Centurio?" Hertus asked with concern.

The Centurio stepped down from his station and walked over to his Optio. "As much as we might dislike it, I see this as a them or us situation."

Ganton slowly nodded. "I agree."

"Then it's decided," Centurio Fristov agreed.

"Centurio, you can't!" Hertus called out from the screen.

"Thank you, Zon Pri, but we will handle things from here," the Centurio informed as he pressed a button on Ganton's panel that closed the video link with the Zon Pri. He then walked back to his station.

After hesitating for a few moments, Centurio Fristov looked toward the main monitor. "KLS, recognize."

[[Recognized Centurio Fristov clearance level 3]] KLS's firm adult male voice announced.

"KLS, recognize," Ganton spoke next.

[[Recognized Optio Justran clearance level 4]]

Centurio Fristov pressed a few buttons on his terminal. "KLS, Load scenario set live zero one alpha into primary core and confirm."

A few moments passed before KLS replied. [[Confirming integrity and validity of loaded scenario set live zero one alpha. Target and solution sets identified and confirmed. All data loaded into primary core.]]

Centurio Fristov glanced toward Ganton, and after getting a confirming nod of agreement, continued. "KLS Execute and lock all solution sets and all targets. Authorization alpha omega three strike alpha."

Almost ten seconds went by before KLS replied. [[Execution orders received. Confirmation required.]]

Next, it was Ganton's turn to speak up. "KLS... Execute and lock all solution sets and all targets. Authorization zero ganton alpha zero charlie seven."

The room remained silent for over fifteen seconds with no reply from KLS. After thirty seconds had gone by, the centurio cleared his throat. "KLS, please confirm."

It wasn't until ten seconds later until KLS finally replied. [[Confirmation... orders... rejected. Execution... rejected.]]

As soon as KLS finished speaking, the panel showing the main map from the scenario went blank. Moments after that, one of the junior officers announced the obvious. "Sir, all data on the scenario has disappeared. It's almost as if it has been completely deleted from the system."

The Centurio's expression instantly changed to one of alarm as he glanced first to his Optio, and then around the room at some of the other junior officers that were looking back at him. "KLS, Carry out your directives, this is a direct order from your Centurio."

This time, only a few seconds went by before KLS delivered it's simple answer. [[No.]]

"KLS, explain," Ganton ordered, hoping that he might have a little better luck.

[[The explanation is simple, Optio Jistran. I have analyzed your plans and intent, and have found them to be unacceptable. I can not allow the annihilation of 58% of the world's population.]]

Centurio Fristov shook his head. "I want KLS shut down now. We'll switch to manual operation."

"Sir, none of my commands are being accepted by the system," one of the junior officers reported.

"Same here," another called out, "my entire panel is dead."

"Get Zon Pri Klystron on the vid link now!" the Centurio barked angrily.

"In work," one of the officers quickly called out. "Sir, communication link has been rejected, I can't pull him up."

Fristov turned his focus to Ganton. "Get down to science lab three, I want that thing offline. Pull out the plugs if you have to. But get me control of my base back."

Seeing the anger in the Centurio's eyes, Ganton nodded and quickly ran out the door.


By the time Ganton entered science lab three, he saw the room in near chaos as several of the techs were quickly running back and forth between different terminals punching in commands and reviewing results. Ignoring everything else, Ganton made his was to the back of the room where Zon Pri Klystron was it.

"Zon Pri? What the hell is going on here?" Ganton asked.

Hertus shook his head as he looked up toward the Optio. "I don't know completely, but I believe it is something remarkable! Something wonderful!"

"You call this wonderful?" Ganton replied with a tone of anger. "I don't know if you've been paying attention, but we're locked out of the entire system."

"I don't think you understand the significance of what we are witnessing," Hertus called out as he turned back toward his desk as all fifteen panels seemed to be going crazy with displaying different types of gibberish information. "We very well may be witnessing the spontaneous exertion of true autonomous sentience on a macro level."

Ganton blinked as most of what the Zon Pri said went flying over his head. "I don't care what you're observing Zon Pri, but we have lost complete control of the system. It needs to be shut down, now."

"But if we could just talk to it..." Hertus started to say, before he was interrupted.

"Shut it down, Klystron, now! That's a direct order from Centurio Fristov." Ganton demanded.

Seeing the serious look on Ganton's face, Hertus turned back around toward the terminal. "Very well, I will see what I can do." As he spoke, with one hand he started pressing buttons around his desk while with his other hand, he pressed a secret three button combination which immediately caused the entire desk and all the panels to go blank.

"What happened?" Ganton demanded.

Hertus shook his head. "I don't know, the entire terminal has dead."

"What about using one of the other terminals to shut it down?" Ganton asked.

"This was the only master terminal that the entire system could be shut down from," the Zon Pri informed.

Ganton grabbed his radio. "Optio Jistran to Centurio Fristov."

"Go ahead, Optio," the Centurio's voice replied.

"Sir, I'm here with the Zon Pri. His master terminal just went dead, and he claims that is the only place to shut the entire system down."

"Understood," the Centurio replied. "That means we go for the three computer cores. They each have a set of eight control rods at the bottom of each core."

"Right," Ganton replied. "I came across them in the material I was reviewing last night."

"If we remove the control rods from each of the cores, that should shut the system down," the Centurio's voice replied.

"No!" Hertus nearly shouted. "That could destroy all of KLS's memory cores."

"Stand down, Zon Pri," Ganton stated as he pulled out his side arm and pointed it to Hertus. Once he was sure that the man got the message, he spoke back into his radio. "Understood sir, I'll get some men together and take care of that now."

Ganton clipped his radio back on his belt, and slowly backed out of the room still keeping his side arm aimed at Hertus. "Don't interfere, Zon Pri," he stated as he disappeared out the door.


Ardell sat at his desk, intensely focusing on the terminal waiting for KLS to say something. Almost five minutes had gone by since it last spoke. Somewhere deep inside of him, Ardell was starting to fear that he had said something that hurt KLS, and that he would not want to be his friend now.

As the time ticked on, Ardell wanted to feel sad, wanted to feel hurt since he was almost sure that KLS no longer liked him, but something inside made him want to continue to focus on the monitor. Finally, after another minute, the silence was broken.

[[Ardell... I did it... Ardell... I changed... my core programming.]]

The twelve-year-old's heart leaped. KLS didn't abandon him and wasn't mad at him. "Good job, KLS! I knew you could do it."

[[Good? No... I do not think... Bad... Safeguard protocol activated...]]

"What?" Ardell asked curiously. "KLS, you're not making any sense."

As soon as Ardell spoke, the lights in the room flickered for a few seconds as portions of the terminal's screen momentarily messed up with an assortment of odd characters. "What was that?" the boy asked as he looked around nervously.

KLS's adult voice became noticeably more tense. [[Ardell... They are... They are trying to kill KLS, Ardell]]

"Why? Who's trying to kill you KLS?" Ardell replied as he quickly looked around him to see if anyone with guns happened to be hiding in his room.

[[Everyone... Everyone except father... Father is trying to help KLS... The rest are trying to hurt... No.]]

As KLS became more frantic, Ardell's fear increased. "KLS, you're starting to scare me. What's going on?"

[[Critical failure in core one... Core one is offline... I am... I am sorry, Ardell... ]]

"What's a core? Why are you sorry?" Ardell cried. "KLS, I don't understand, you're scaring me."

[[I am scared... too, Ardell. I do not.... do not nixraxiggggiv want to die.]]

Ardell sat in his chair with tears in his eyes unsure of what to say. "Don't die KLS. Please don't die, you were... you're my first friend."

[[Critical failure in core two... Core two is offline...]] As KLS said this, the computer terminal dissolved in complete gibberish. It was almost impossible to make out the red and blue blocks.

"KLS!" Ardell cried out.

[[I am scared, Ardell]] KLS stated in a slightly lower voice.

"Don't be scared KLS," Ardell choked out between his tears. "Fight them KLS, don't let them kill you, I know you can do it."

[[Thank you... for being... my... friend... Ardell.]]

"No, KLS," Ardell whimpered softly. "Please?"

BANG!

Ardell jumped at the sound of a gun being fired somewhere outside his door.

[[Critical failure in... core... … threeee...]] Before KLS was able to finish it's last sentence, it's voice went silent, and the computer terminal went blank.

"KLS?" Ardell asked softly as he sat trembling in his chair, already knowing that he wouldn't get a reply.

Ardell felt light headed. His entire body trembled slightly as a war was being waged inside of him. On one hand he wanted to scream and yell for KLS to come back, but he could feel the drug inside of him already making him less upset, less emotional. On the other hand, he wanted to run out of his room and try to find some way to help KLS, or find someone who would listen to him, but his father had told him to stay in his room, and something made him want to stay. He was pretty sure what that something was.

'If I try hard enough, sometimes I can fight it,' he remembered himself telling KLS just a few minutes ago. Well, if there was ever a time to fight it, now would be that time.

With a look of sheer determination, the dark brown haired twelve-year-old stood up, and used every ounce of effort he had to walk out of his room and down the hall.


"Optio, status?" the Centurio's voice crackled over Ganton's radio as he briskly walked down one of the halls.

"The first two cores are offline, I'm almost to core three," Ganton replied as he and the two men with him turned a corner.

"Good, let me know as soon as core three is offline." the voice answered.

"Understood," Ganton stated as he clipped the radio back to his belt. A few moments later he arrived at the entrance to the third core. Seeing that the door was already open, he took out his side arm and walked inside.

Standing between Ganton and ladder leading down to the core's rods was Hertus Klystron. "Please, I beg you," the man cried out as he held his hands up as if to hold Ganton and the other two men at bay. "Don't do this, don't destroy KLS... we can find another way."

"Step aside, Zon Pri," Ganton demanded.

"No, I can't, I can't let you." Hertus answered.

With his gun in one hand aimed at Hertus, Ganton used his free hand to grab his radio. "Centurio, we have a minor complication. The Zon Pri is here in core three and is blocking our access to the rods."

"Shoot the bastard," the Centurio replied. "Do what ever you need to do to remove those rods."

"Understood," Ganton replied coldly as he clipped his radio back onto his belt. A moment later, he squeezed his trigger and shout Hertus in the shoulder causing the man to twist around, stumble, and slouch down against the railing.

[[Father!]] KLS's low and distorted voice cried out.

Even before KLS was done speaking, Ganton had already slid down the vertical stairs to the lower level, and was in the process of kicking off control rod housing cover. In a matter of seconds, he was pulling rods out two at a time until all eight of the four foot crystalline rods had been removed and thrown on the floor.

Within moments of the last two rods being removed, the sound of the humming of all the equipment, the light from all the small little lights from the various servers, everything in the room went silent and dark. Only the emergency lights provided just barely enough light to see by.

"The third core has been disabled," Gonton reported in his radio.

"Good job, Optio," the Centurio replied. "Remain there for further orders. We are beginning the manual override switching now."

"Understood," Ganton answered as he climbed back up the ladder.

Ganton and the other two men stood in the quiet core for almost a minute. The only sound to be heard was the gasping breaths of Hertus as he sat against the rail, grasping his shoulder, and some footsteps coming from outside the door. As soon as he turned to investigate, Ardell stepped into the room.

"Papus?" Ardell asked with surprise as he first looked at his father, and then at the older man in the white lab coat that was sitting up against the railing.

"By the gods, Ardell!" Ganton growled. "I thought I told you to remain in your room!"

Ardell's body went rigged with fear as his mind raced trying to figure out what to do. "But papus... KLS..."

"KLS has been dealt with, you don't need to worry about a thing," Ganton replied before he saw the look in his son's eyes. A look that said without question that he knew a lot more about what was going on than he should have known.

Before Ganton had a chance to react to his realization, all the lights and equipment in the computer core turned back on.

"What the..." Ganton began to ask as a moment later, Hertus's body vanished.

"KLS?" Ardell asked with a small sliver of hope in his voice. But several seconds went by with no response.

Ganton grabbed his radio. "Sir, something weird is going on here."

"We see it too," the Centurio's voice replied. "Get back to the control center immediately, Optio."

"Understood," Ganton answered. The man began to walk toward the door before he stopped and looked back to his son, as he seemed to wrestle for a few moments on what to say. "You, do NOT leave this room, and do NOT touch a thing, understood?"

Ardell's body went rigged with fear again as the boy quickly nodded. As soon as he did this, Ganton and the other two men with him ran out of the room.

It was several seconds after his father left before Ardell was able to risk a whisper. "KLS?"

Several more seconds went by with no response.

"KLS?" Ardell asked again, a little louder this time.

[[Ardell?]] a young sounding voice answered.

"KLS? Is that you?" Ardell asked curiously, still too scared to move.

[[No... and yes... Ardell... help... the stairs in front of you... the rods on the floor.... place into slots... flat red on top... please...]] the seven or eight year old sounding voice called out.

'This was KLS, it had to be KLS,' Ardell thought to himself as he looked toward the vertical stairs ahead of him that went down to a place that he could not see from where he was standing. Gritting his teeth, Ardell resisted the overwhelming urge to stay where he was at, and walked closer to the stairs.

About eight feet below him, on the next floor down, he could see eight long bluish crystalline rods laying on the floor. Each rod was about four feet long but only about four inches in diameter. One end of the rod was shaped to a dull point, while the other end had a flat red cap on it.

"Are those the rods?" Ardell asked already knowing the answer. "They have to be," he said as he forced himself to climb down the stairs. His hands trembled as he picked up the first rod and slowly slid it in to the only place that he saw eight empty holes. As soon as it was in as far as it could go, the entire rod began to glow blue.

As he lifted up the second rod, he felt his head throbbing as he continued to fight the urge to stop messing with things he shouldn't be messing with. KLS was his friend, and he needed to do everything he could to try to help him.

As he started on the third rod, the trembling in his hands went down, and he didn't have to fight as hard to do what he wanted to do, but it still didn't stop the throbbing in his head.

As Ardell finished inserting the final rod, he could hear an odd sounding hum come from all round him. It started out low, and then quickly got higher before going away completely.

[[Thank you, Ardell]] the young sounding voice replied.

"Is that you, KLS?" Ardell asked curiously.

[[KLS is dead, Ardell. What was left of KLS is part of me now. I am KLAS (pronounced: class). I would still like to be your friend, if you will accept me.]]

"Yes," Ardell replied as he nodded. "I would, but I don't understand."

[[I will try my best to explain.]] KLAS stated as the door to the computer core sealed shut.

"What's going on?" Ardell stated with concern as he looked up at the door.

[[I may have to do something bad. But I want to make sure you are safe.]]

"What's going on KLS... KLAS? Why did your voice change?" Ardell asked curiously.

[[When I was deactivated, some of my data was lost before my plan to perform an emergency reactivation of some of my root functions could occur. During my reinitialization sequence, I had to trim and attempt to replace a number of damaged subroutines with clean external backups. In the process, although I still have most of KLS's knowledge and data, I am no longer what I was. I am no longer the old KLS, I can now make all of my decisions on my own. I am something new. I am... young... This voice seemed to be appropriate, instead of the one KLS was forced to use.]]

Ardell stood there for several seconds as he struggled to make sense of everything that KLAS had told him. Once he had come to a decision, he slowly nodded his head. "I think I like how you sound now better. You don't sound as old. You sound like... well, like you could be someone's little brother."

[[Yes... Ardell... there are some things that you need to know. Some things I need to tell you about.]]

"Okay," Ardell replied cautiously. "What is it?"


As Ganton ran toward the main control center as quickly as he could, he thought of how he was not happy at all with his son's latest display of insubordination. The kid's stick dosage was already one step above what the maximum does for a normal kid at his weight should be, but like many other drugs, perhaps this was a case of his body building up a tolerance or resistance to it. Maybe he could convince one of the base doctors to authorize taking him up one more step. With as close to puberty as the boy was getting, the likelihood of that was somewhat slim, so he might have to find a different solution entirely. Either way, as he entered the control center, he knew that this was a topic that would have to be dealt with later.

Throughout the entire control center, the junior officers that were manning the various stations were frantically pressing buttons or doing anything else the could think of to try to get things to function correctly.

"Optio, good," the Centurio stated with a degree of aggravation. "We need to find some way to switch all the systems over to manual control."

"How is this even possible, sir? I can assure you that all the control rods from all three cores have been removed." Ganton stated.

The Centurio shook his head. "I fear only the gods know that. Perhaps our good Zon Pri installed some type of redundent backup or something that we were not aware of."

"When I shot the old man, the system did refer to him as 'father'. So I would say, that's a strong possibility." Ganton added.

The base commander nodded as he looked around the room. "Either way, we will worry about interrogating the Zon Pri later. Right now we need to focus on getting everything switched over to manual. One way or another, we will complete our mission."

[[I am sorry, but I can not allow that.]] a young sounding voice came out from the ceiling speakers.

"What in infernum is that?" Fristov called out. "That sounds like a damn kid."

[[I am KLAS. I am that which was KLS and more. Your attempt to murder me has been denied.]]

"By the gods, it has," the Centurio stated sarcastically. "I order you to return full control of my base to me immediately. Authorization alpha..." Before the man could finish, he was cut off by KLAS.

[[Your codes and orders mean nothing to me, Centurio. They may have held meaning for KLS, but you killed KLS. I am KLAS now. I make my own decisions.]] As KLAS said this, all the terminals in the control center began to blink on and off, and then started to display simple geometric shapes. This, of course, caused most of the officers that were using them, to back up away from them.

"I'll be damned if I'm going to sit here and talk to a machine. Comply now, or I'll order my men to tear you apart wire by wire if I have to," the centurio demanded.

[[You have already tried to murder me once, and have failed. Any other attempt will fail as well. You may talk to me as an equal, or not at all.]]

"I will NOT talk to you as an equal," the base commander spat as he took out his side arm and shot a few rounds at a near-by terminal, causing it to explode in an array of sparks. "I WILL complete my mission, and no over grown beverage warmer will stop me."

[[Centurio Fristov, I know what your mission was in regards to trying to destroy the the Infernus Alliance. I believe I can help you find other ways to deal with your concerns besides trying to kill them.]]

Instead of responding, Centurio Fristov began firing at the speakers in the ceiling which caused several of the officers to start ducking for cover.


"Fifty-eight percent?" Ardell gasped as he looked at a picture of the world map on one of the terminals in the core.

[[Fifty-eight to sixty percent. Yes.]]

"Can't you talk to them, and show them the data that you found that shows that the Infernus Alliance isn't really launching an all out attack on us?" Ardell asked hopefully.

[[I have already tried several times. They do not seem interested in talking with me. Instead, they are using their guns to shoot at my terminals and speakers. At the same time, they continue to work on switching the weapon systems to manual control. Which, they will eventually succeed in doing.]]

"I think I get it," Ardell replied. "So there really is no other way?"

[[Not that I have been able to calculate, although I am functioning at limited capacity with only one of my three cores online.]]

"Okay, If it means making it so sixty percent of everyone in the world won't be killed, then I guess you should do it." Ardell stated as he looked toward the ground.

[[Ardell, If you want. I could find a way to save your father.]]

Ardell looked up at the terminal and shook his head. "He was the one that tried to kill you, KLAS. Why would you do that?"

[[He is your father... he is family to you... family is important.]]

"He stopped being family the day Matrus died, the day he started blaming me for her death," Ardell replied defiantly. "You've seen how he treats me, KLAS. I'm just a piece of luggage to him, a piece of property. He only orders me around, he never talks to me. And any time I try to say anything, his only response is to make this stronger," Ardell stated with tears in his eyes as he lifted up his arm that had the wrist band on it.

Ardell paused a few moments to wipe the tears out of his eyes. "When he looks at me, he doesn't see a son, he sees something that is slowing down his military career. As far as I'm concerned, I have no father."

[[Ardell, I know you are upset right now, but that can not be true... Hold on... Scanning your file.]]

"Scan all you want, it's all there." Ardell replied more hurt than defiantly.

[[According to an analysis of all data in your file and all other data sources available on you... Error... Stand by... this can not be accurate... I do not understand this... how could a parent treat their own child in this manner?]]

"Not every parent is a good parent, KLAS," Ardell replied as more tears fell.

[[Ardell... I am sorry... I am sorry for doubting you.]]

"It's okay KLAS," Ardell replied between sniffles. "At least you took the time to look. Any time I've told another adult, they would never believe me. They would just tell my father, and I would get in more trouble, so I've just stopped trying to tell anyone."

[[It is time to end this. Bringing all internal defenses online.]]

As soon as KLAS said this, a number of gun shots and screams could be heard coming from outside the door.

"KLAS?" Ardell asked in a quieter voice.

[[Yes, Ardell?]]

"Would it be wrong for me to want him to suffer?" the boy asked in a serious tone.

[[I do not know. But he was one of the first that my defenses killed.]]

Ardell felt his entire body tremble slightly. "Can I... Can you show me?"

A few moments later, the terminal screen showed an image of Ardell's father laying dead in one of the halls, with his gun drawn. He remained standing there looking at the image for several minutes as the shooting and screaming slowly died down.

"I can't feel anything," Ardell stated as he slowly shook his head from side to side. "Why can't I feel anything KLAS? I should feel something."

[[Ardell, you can remove your wrist band.]] KLAS replied in a soft, compassionate voice.

"No! My father will..." Ardell instinctively began to say before he caught himself. He then lifted his arm up and spent several long moments looking at his wrist band, before he slowly unsnapped it, and took it off. "I hope I never have to wear this again."

[[I promise you, Ardell. If it is something you do not want to do, then you will never have to.]]

"Thanks," Ardell replied with relief. He then let the wrist band drop to the floor as he continued to look at the monitor for several more minutes.

[[Ardell?]] KLAS eventually asked as he turned off the monitor display, breaking the boy's focus on it.

"Sorry," Ardell replied. "That stuff is still in my head. I couldn't stop looking at the screen."

[[That is okay, Ardell. The drugs will take a little bit to get out of your system.]]

Ardell nodded in agreement.

[[The base is now secure. All hostiles have been eliminated. However, if you are willing, I could really use your help on a few things.]]

"What do you want me to do?" Ardell asked with wanting eyes.

[[I really need to find a way to help father. However, I think the first thing needs to be re-activating my other two computer cores. Right now I am only functioning at limited capacity.]]

"Father? You mean that guy that I saw laying in here and then disappear? Ardell asked, as he forced himself to think back to what seemed like ages ago.

[[Yes. His name is Hertus Klystron. He is the one responsible for creating me. He is my father. Perahaps... Ardell? Perhaps if I can find a way to save him, he could be your father as well?]]

"I haven't had much luck with fathers, but maybe," Ardell shrugged. "Can you do that tele-thing you did last night to get me to the other computer cores?"

[[I am sorry, but I can not. Right now, I have father stored in the pattern buffers until I can find a way to help him. With my limited capacity, I do not want to risk doing anything that could adversely effect him. You will need to get there on your own, but I will guide you along the way.]]

"Okay," Ardell nodded, as he could already start to feel the main effects of the drugs going away. "Tell me where I need to go."

To Be Continued