Commander's Rounds

Entry 100-7: Settled Down

Deep in the Arctic, a vast complex had been built. Fortified and advanced beyond the compare of any installation conceived in the mind of even the most deranged and ambitious human, this vast oceanic complex was the home of the Sirens, the invaders who had tormented humans and Kansen alike for many years. It was from this place that they plotted and prepared their grand experiment for years on end, and this place was also the heart of their war machine, where their vast hordes of automated vessels were produced.

Aimlessly floating through the labyrinthine halls and vast industrial complexes was Observer Alpha, the head of the Siren research corps, who watched and recorded the various experiments carried out by Tester and provided direction to the members of her team, which once consisted of herself, Purifier, Tester, Compiler, and Omitter.

Observer had been willing to dismiss the errors that had occurred in their planning as marginal. While the ascension of the Anomaly as their opposing force had been a setback, the fact of the matter was that they were still able to get useful data from engaging them in battle trials, or watching them fight independent units like Purifier- thanks to Tester's presence, even Purifier's tantrum had proven to be of some use to them.

However, for the first time since they had arrived on this Earth, in this time, Observer was worried.

Tester was dead. She was beyond recovery.

Tester being destroyed alone would not provide much of a stumbling block, but the way that the Anomaly had disposed of her meant that Tester's entire experimental apparatus, as well as Tester's recovery backups had been ravaged. They used her transmissions and authority codes to transfer something so malicious into their systems that the data that they relied on to update their hardware was just... Gone. Not all of it, but the few scraps that remained were of almost no use to their systems. They would have to rebuild the experimental systems from scratch, during which their capabilities would remain static and the Kansen would continue to increase in strength. To contend with them now, they would have to rely on guesswork.

And the knowledge to rebuild something as complex as Tester and the vast systems she supported lay in people who had long since perished in their time and would not be born for decades in this one. There was no telling how long this would take, especially since they tended to be rather... Specialized organisms.

The thing that perturbed Observer the most about this, however, was the crucial detail that this deadly attack revealed. When Purifier blinked out of their network, she had assumed that Purifier had been eliminated- An acceptable loss. However, the fact that they were able to use Tester's data transmission systems to deal a crippling blow told her the truth. Purifier was alive. And not only that, she was helping the Anomaly.

She brought this to Zero, who told her that the plan must continue. The Kansen must be tested. But the very means they had relied on to test the Kansen had been hobbled. Observer would work with the others to come up with new weapons to challenge them, but right now it was impossible to continue how they had been. She didn't want to believe that Zero might be detached from reality, but...

She would play along with Zero for now, but Observer needed to find a way to communicate in secret with Compiler and Omitter.

Perhaps now would be the right time for the three of them to start making their own calculations...

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Vestal tucked her clipboard back under her arm. "And that's everything, commander."

The commander sighed a little. "I see..."

Vestal nodded. "Do you want me to tell her, or...?"

"I'll do it." He said. "I did mean to talk to her when she woke up anyway, and I might as well be the one to give her the news."