“The recent loss of two research stations is worrying the authorities, but it's not unusual. Researching non-biological intelligences is always a risk, but profitable. In this respect, trans-humans are exceptionally interesting, since they represent a state between the biological and the technological. Having encountered a society in a state of transition between the two forms is extraordinary.”

- Research Diary of Ouluk Kelemdar

***Deep Space***

***Antioch***

“I told you that we should have concentrated our efforts on better weapons. Instead, you went and invested most of your time on that stupid sensor platform,” Samuel complains, hopping up and down to see better past the pilot chair. On the front screen is a large three-dimensional representation of the tactical situation.

We arrived at our destination a day ago and decided to lay low until we know exactly what's going on. Now that our scans are finished, the whole family assembled in order to think about our next steps.

I gesture at the screen. “I would rather see and know where the enemy is than have a fancy weapon without knowing where I should aim it. Without the new sensor platform, we would be blind.”

The little fellow grumbles, but apparently, he has no logical rebuke for that.

Silith and I tried to spend as much time as possible with Min and Sam. Since that wouldn't have been possible in conjunction with our other tasks, we decided to include them in our projects. The both of them are sufficiently mentally mature enough to assist us. 'Work' was a dreaded word which the two siblings apparently feared since their resurrection. At first, they complained and whined, but ultimately they had to obey us.

Though, I have to research what this child-labour is which they keep complaining about. The concept of wasting workforces by allowing them to play around strikes me as a waste of resources.

Another strange result of our interactions was the question of whether I should see them as actual siblings. According to them, they were friends since before earth's cataclysm. So they aren't really related. Yet, they seem to gain some sort of wicked satisfaction from calling each other by the nicknames Bro and Sis. There seems to be more to it than the need to make their parents comfortable.

Thinking about the subject always gets me confused.

“He is right, Bro!” Min cuffs her brother in the side. “This is a realistic space-setting! Not one of your medieval M.M.O.R.P.G.s! The further away we are from the enemy, the better. Our success depends on being sneaky and the ability to do damage from a greater distance.”

I have no idea what she is talking about.

“What's an M.M.O.R... whatever?” Silith asks. “Is it one of those games you were playing in the V.C.?”

Samuel sniffles, “Oh, these poor people. What have we done by creating G.O.D.? Sacrilege! To cast members of our own species out into the real world without ever showing them the pool of entertainment which makes up our culture. It's inhumane.”

“Pay some attention to the matter at hand.” I gesture at the screen.

The third research station is a large, misshapen platform which is drifting freely in space. There isn't even a solar system nearby. Its layout is completely different from the facilities where Silith and I where held. There are seven spaceships patrolling the area around the space station. Six are arranged in a tetrahedron around the station. The seventh is currently docked with the station.

The patrolling ships are too far away from the station to help immediately if there is a fight. On the other hand, they are in a perfect position to intercept any ship which attempts to reach or leave the station.

“I assume that they have a self-destruction device, so we can't go in there with our weapons blazing. As soon as we blast one of the ships out of our way, they will know our intentions,” I explain. “Any ideas?”

“We capture our stowaways, then we find out how they can hide themselves so well. Knowing that, we can use the ability to infiltrate the station,” Min suggests.

Silith, Sam and I answer her with silence. It isn't as if we hadn't tried to catch the stowaways. Hell, in the last few days we even made a few ship-wide announcements in which we offered them freedom and friendship. They didn't react. Apparently, they are content with an existence as parasites. At least for the time being.

“Okay. I know that it was a bad idea,” Min admits when the silence turns awkward.

Silith raises her hand to her chin, massaging it. “No, the thought is actually worth considering. Do we have any chance of infiltrating the space station?”

I regard the map with that thought in mind. “I suppose that it wouldn't be too hard to rig a shuttle with the pirates' camouflage armour. It worked well enough the last time I tried it, but back then I hid my shuttle's sensor echo with a swarm of asteroids. There isn't any mass nearby, and that station surely has an impressive sensor array. Not even the pirates' shielding could hide a lone shuttle from that.”

“Then don't use the shuttle. Weld some of the armour plates into a noteworthy habitat. It should be much smaller than a shuttle. The lack of electronics would also help you to stay undetected,” Min suggests.

“And how is it supposed to get to the station?” I ask.

Silith claps her hand together. “Acceleration! We can shoot it at the station like a cannonball!”

“No way.” I shake my head. “Even if that works, how are we supposed to get off the station? I won't do something so stupid.”

“I'll do it.” Silith clenches her hands into fists. “What's the harm if it goes wrong? I'll simply revive, thanks to my hardware backup.”

I huff. “The harm is that you will have died for nothing. Aside from that, our enemies will know what we are up to. They will search for us and tighten their defences even further. Additionally, you aren't fit for the job. Your specializations aren't even remotely aimed at such a task!”

Her upgrades aren't bad, but she sunk at least four of her skill points into non-combat skills which are of absolutely no use in a direct confrontation. She would fare much worse compared to me.

Silith puffs out her cheeks. “I have improved hacking.”

“And how will you get around the station?” I ask. “Hacking won't get you anywhere if the station's security is on you as soon as you are on board. I doubt that they would miss something like a survival-pod hitting their hull.”

The four of us argue back and forth until something like a plan takes form. It's a stupid plan with too many holes to count, but it's a plan. And any plan is better than shooting our way through several warships to get to the station, giving our enemies plenty of time to kill their hostage or to blow up the station.

At the end of the day, I find myself and twenty of my drones crammed into a metal ball which was created by welding several of the pirate plates together. The hull was additionally reinforced with my new diamond armour. Aside from a large capacitor bank and a grav-plate, the capsule lacks any electronics which could betray its presence. Even my drones will be powered down while I approach the target.

The stupidity and recklessness of the plan is the only thing which wanders through my mind while the Haven brings the capsule up to speed, aiming it at a trajectory towards the station.

At least Min promised me to look after my Hardware Backup. It seems like the good, little girl is the only one who understands my reasons for having an aversion to Hardware Backups. The scene of waking up in a puddle of wastewater is still too vivid in my mind.

After the Haven released me, I had to wait for several days until the capsule would hit the target. Only the excess energy inside the capacitor bank would keep me alive. As I already mentioned, it was a stupid plan to the extreme and the forced isolation gave me entirely too much time to uncover all the potential errors.

So I thought about horrible ways to die and slept the rest of the time.

Finally, the time of impact drew closer. Since I had no way of confirming my position, I had to rely entirely on the timing. It was necessary to overload the grav-plate at exactly the right moment in order to mitigate the force of the impact. All the armour and shielding in the universe wouldn't help me if I was smeared over the interior of the capsule.

Watching the timer counting down in my virtual interface, I try to steel my mind for what has to be done as soon as I am on the station.

From the moment of impact onwards, I didn't have much time. Task number one would be to deactivate the station's self-destruct system. For that very reason, I got detailed instructions from Silith. One of our biggest hope was that at least the computer system and security software would be similar to those at her research station.

Once I wasn't in danger of being blown up, I had to find the prisoner and a way off the station.

With a clear target for rescue, Silith could fly the Haven in a neck-breaking manoeuvre past the defending ships and pick us up with a magnetic field, slinging us along. To be honest, that was the stupidest part of the plan.

Not that we would be without any protection against stray shots; it would be more likely that the powerful magnetic field would scramble our brains. Or simply fry us. We devised two protective suits against that, but I didn't place too much trust in them.

To be honest, we had entirely no right to succeed or to survive.

Finally, the timer struck zero and I activated to grav-plate in order to protect myself against the impact. I was floating without gravity within the capsule, something I had gotten used to during my time of isolation. The gravity of the overloading device would counteract the force of the impact.

There was a muted 'thud' and the whole capsule rocked and deformed slightly around me. The grav-plate whined as it gave everything to compensate, holding my body approximately in the same shape as it is supposed to be. Invisible forces were trying to pull me in several directions at once. Had I been able to, I would have barfed all over the place. Not a pleasant thought in zero gravity.

Luckily, my belly was totally empty since I had been living on nothing but pure energy for a long time.

I had placed myself as far away from the impact area as possible, which meant that I was at the back of the capsule with my drones at the front. That wouldn't have helped me in the least, had the trick with the grav-plate failed to work, but doing so was at least a small comfort.

Sending a command, I activate the prepared explosive charges which are supposed to free a path. If everything worked as it was intended to, then the capsule punched through the station's armour and is now firmly lodged in its soft innards. The perfect place to send my Nano-Workers on a rampage.

Constructed to withstand only external forces, the capsule's shell breaks open like an egg, releasing me and my drones. What greets me directly outside my safe little world, is a mess of metal and wires.

Not wasting any time, I order twelve of my drones to cut four paths in different directions. At the moment, I have no idea of my orientation within the station. I need to quickly find a working data-cable. Creating multiple escape routes is also not a bad thing.

In absence of another task, the other drones are all ordered to reproduce. My current limit of control is twenty-two drones, but I can stockpile finished drones in a shut-down state. Once an active drone gets destroyed, I can activate the reserves.

Normally, I would have brought more right from the start, but the capsule had limited space.

G.O.D.: Finally! I thought you would never reach this point. Welcome to the station.

G.O.D.: Quest Update!

Explore the station and have some fun. Rescue the maiden in distress!

...

“Fuck!”