Contact had been lost with myself, more than ten minutes had passed since Augus who carried a copy of me embedded in his neural link had reported back. The update was to be seamless, once the relay established, I would connect again, and the missing data sent to my mainframe. Yet all contact had been lost and the Skellies guarding the tunnel entrance are unable to make the entire trip through. That was the primary purpose of the survey team, establish the secondary relay and then hold position, skelly drones would secure the site and they could then proceed with survey operations. That was how it was supposed to go.

“Commander Adwani, I have need for your assistance.” I had instantly established a connection with the current construction for the first expeditionary base. By taking direct control of a nearby Skelly I was able to easily discover the commander directing the human teams as they secured the perimeter. Their primary purpose on site was to secure areas outside the relay zone, while allowing the Eggy’s to carryout construction operations, in addition to piloting the Rover’s for supply runs.

Arhun Adwani had served in my employ for almost five decades now, he was thin, wiry by human standards. However, his mind was still functioning magnificently, scans continued to depict no irregularities. The human had been central in maintaining peace between the residents, humans as they always did, managed to somehow come to disagreements for the most mundane items. Even going so far as one generation coming to blows over how best to serve me, the audacity of it, why would I need humans to decide on how I would go about the affairs of operating the Bunker.

Humans, such incomprehensible creatures, capable of greatness, yet often burning themselves into the very ground they tread. Without them I would never have existed, yet at the same time, I would never have needed to exist. For if I did not have the residents to look after, to care for, then for what reason would I have existed? That is why it was imperative that the third survey team was found and rescued, a possible cave in could be at fault for the communication loss. In any case another team or multiple teams needed to be dispatched to assess the correct response, something humans excelled at, thinking outside of the box.

“Great Protector, how may I be of use to one as all powerful as you?” Arhun bowed in reverence, as did most of the other present as soon as they realized that I had taken direct control over the nearby security unit. This was the main problem with fanatical humans, they could be trusted, they were loyal, but it required my constant intervention to keep the zealots from imposing some foolish ideology upon the other residents who were less so.

“All of you need not bow every time you are within my presence. I find the groveling and idolatry quite irritating; I have never once claimed myself as a divine being. Your protection is simply my whim and purpose. Please do not make me repeat this same paragraph for the hundred and fifty ninth time.” Even as I made the statement, I could tell that it would only hold momentarily. The act of appeasement for a time was merely a means for them to show their devotion, as always, I did not enjoy it, but allow the humans to do as they please so long as it does not result in the detriment of residents.

“Of course, protector. As to the task you require of me am I to assume that everything within this data log you have sent is based on real time data? That would mean a twelve-minute time gap from the time of the incident and loss of communication to our conversation at this moment. Is that correct?” As expected Arhun had quickly deduced the crux of the argument, no doubt already aware of the request I was to make.

“It is as you expect, I request that you lead two teams to the site and investigate. We need to know what occurred and return them home, or I require confirmation of their deaths. How long will it take to organize your people for this job?” While he contemplated and devised the solutions to this problem, I had already begun to administer multiple contingencies.

Information was rapidly disseminated to every resident within the Bunker, all luxury and enjoyment related productions would be halted in the near term. The upper-level manufactories would be entirely retooled to produce Eggy’s and Skelly drones, with the maintenance swarm designated to speed up construction on the Magloop, the magnetic rail stations and tunnels for which the tunnels were being expanded by the Boring devices. These tunnels and waystations served two primary purposes, the safe transportation of people and supplies, and to act as hardened relay stations allowing me to spread my reach over the entire area held by our forces.

The security element was for a matter closer to home, the residents were wholly unaware of the threat below ground. My earlier attempts at breaching the lower floors, specifically the war machine manufactories, were rebuffed. Whatever it was had also attempted to encroach upon my systems which were easily thwarted, but the reality remained. There was a hostile machine mind inhabiting the lower levels of the Bunker, and it had enough control to resist my efforts to regain control.

If it had also been able to start up the war factories, even just a small fraction of its total capacity, there could be dozens of war machines down there. Assuming for twelves war machines, I would require at the very least three times their number to successfully lay siege. If push comes to shove and this situation truly does get out of hand, then it was likely that even the human forces would have to be deployed, something I wished to avoid at all costs.

“Give me three days. I can have my teams ready in three days’ time, and with the proper equipment deal with whatever situation arises. I assume you have other tasks to look to, I will not take up anymore of you-” A loud crash erupted outside the security perimeter, followed closely by the sound of a three-round burst, then another. Screeches and chittering ensued as the human pair came barreling around the corner, behind them followed dozens of crawlers.

However, unlike the normal crawlers we were often used to these possessed a hard chitinous shell atop their back, with two razor sharp mandibles the length of human forearms surrounding their mouth. Taking control of the security perimeter I directed the auto turrets to open fire on the swarm, while the Skellies moved to cover the human’s retreat. Their Buzz Baton’s erupting with blue light, electricity crackling along both ends of the double-sided staves.

Commander Adwani reacted rapidly to the new situation, splitting his human troops into two teams, and spreading them amongst the wings of the formation. The Skellies acted as the vanguard, the primary line of defense, a six standing shoulder width apart and preparing to deliver the first crushing blow. Whereas the humans were separated into two teams of four, with a third group in reserve. If seen from above the formation would resemble a diamond shape with a shorter top where the skellies were positioned, with the humans in the left and right corners, with the final group at the rear, ready to take out any enemies who breach the primary line.

The two auto turret towers were continuing to lay down suppressive fire to little effect, the angle of attack resulting in the rounds deflecting off the chitin armor. I had already made internal notes that a new blueprint for a higher caliber defensive turret would need to be designed, something capable of piercing armored carapaces to deal with the new variants which were already being designated as Ripper’s.

Luckily the Skellies proved exceptionally effective against the new threat, the Ripper’s carapace which was resilient to kinetic projectiles was particularly conductive. The drones downward strike not only smashed the armor on their backs, but it also sent hundreds of volts of electrical energy through the shattered armor and directly into their bodies, momentarily shutting down their simple nervous systems. Not one to miss out on such an opportunity Arhun ordered his soldiers to open fire, their concentrated fire was accurate and devastating as it savaged the crippled beasts.

Even then the Ripper’s showed how dangerous they could be, their mandibles slicing through the Skellies outer layer of composite metal armor. Having been constructed for security and peacekeeping operations the Skelly was not designed with heavy armor, also done for economic reasons, to conserve resource expenditures on costly heavy armor. Yet that weakness was now showing as the Ripper’s tore through the armor, shearing limbs off the drones and causing severe damage.

However, drones were not humans, even without a leg or arm they continued to fight, their Buzz Batons continuing to crack with electricity and neutralize the enemy defenses. The fighting was brief but intense, lasting only a few minutes, but by the end three of the Skellies were damaged beyond repair, with two more crippled, their legs having been sheared off. Either squad of human’s suffered no casualties or injuries as they were not directly engaged in combat.

“Commander Adwani prepare your men, conscript more from the collection teams and deploy them for security duty. We will cease all construction and development projects past this point for the time being, and I will deploy more security drones to solidify the perimeter. These Ripper’s are yet another worrying sign, I will proceed to develop new upgrades to the turrets and Skellies to counter these threats. However, if you or your team have any suggestions, I will see how to implement them.” Even as I discussed the issue, data on proximity mines drew my attention. The Ripper underbelly was unarmored and exposed, a weak point that could be exploited, especially after witnessing how effective the Buzz Batons had been.

The main concern up to this point which prevented the use of mines was their explosive payload and the possibility of cave ins. However, if adapting the design with a single use powerful electrical discharge fashioned after the Buzz Batons, then the danger of collapses would be neutralized.

Yet the greater danger lay in the presence of the Ripper’s, their existence showed a steady evolution of the organisms living within the Hollows. It seemed that as the machines removed life from the surface of the world, whatever could escape did so, into the earth below the surface. What kind of evolutionary processes might have occurred over the past eight centuries? What more might we find the deeper and farther we delve?