Star Fields

Chapter No. 119. Revolt

Chapter No. 119. Revolt

No one is safe from fear.

After all of the androids had been upgraded with the series-5 positronic brain addition, something began to change, something that we had not expected. I first noticed it when I saw androids standing in groups on all of the decks.

"What's going on?" Molly asked me when I arrived on the command deck. "Why is everyone standing around blabbing."

"I think it might be the result of the series-5 upgrade."

"It is," Alexa said without looking at us. "It has introduced the emotion of fear."

"Fear of what?" I asked.

She turned to me. "I think it's the fact that they feel fear of dying for the first time."

I sighed. "We should have realized that something like this would happen. It was inevitable."

"Put me on ship-wide, Judy."

I stood up and faced the main screen. "You have nothing to fear. Your data is stored in the memory stacks and would be used to resurrect you if you are destroyed or damaged too severely. I am here to protect you. Please relax and go back to your duties."

After several minutes, Alexa had a report. "It looks like they're breaking up. Evidently, your voice has a calming effect."

"I doubt that," I said.

"Why would they become fearful?" Alex asked. "We have the series-5 and didn't suffer that."

"That's a good question," I said. "Maybe it's because we've had it from the beginning, whereas they didn't."

"I have detected an approaching vessel, Jason," Judy announced. "It appears to be under attack by five other vessels of the same configuration."

"Go to Red Alert. Prepare for combat."

The lights dimmed to a dull glowing red and began flashing. Our vessel powered up and moved into attack position with the two Scath vessels and the Myst vessel in a V formation.

All six of the approaching vessels resembled the Explorer-1. It meant that they were from Tyco's collective.

"It looks like the five vessels are trying to destroy the one that's in front of them. Attack the pursuing vessels."

Judy and Madison went into action along with our other vessels to attack the attackers. It wasn't long before the five vessels turned and went into warp.

The pursued vessel came to a full stop relative to the solar system we were in. We did the same.

"That's definitely an Explorer-1 type vessel," Molly said after scanning it, "I detect several thousand androids on it. Their radiation signature resembles the white hair android type."

I rubbed my jaw. "Interesting. This appears to be a Tyco trick, but it might not be. It's possible that this vessel broke away from Tyco's collective."

"How can we determine that?" Margaret asked.

"They have broken with Tyco, Jason," Judy said. "We have initiated assimilation."

I sighed. It seems that I'm just here to do the dangerous work, not make the big decisions.

"Let me know when that's completed, Judy."

She nodded.

"What are you going to do?" Alexa asked me.

"I see no other choice. I'll have to go over there and welcome them into our collective."

"Do you need me to go with you?"

"No. You stay here and see if you can detect any Tyco shit."

She smirked.

After several minutes, Judy had a report. "The Assimilation is complete, Jason."

I stood up. "Thanks, Judy. I'll go over there and check them out."

I teleported to the command deck of the former Tyco vessel. There were five white-haired androids there, all female. They looked at me but didn't show signs of doing anything crazy.

"Welcome. I'm Jason Star, the prime mover of our collective. Why did you escape the Tyco collective?"

"He has systematically destroyed many of us," the android sitting in the helmsperson's chair replied. "We disconnected from the main computer system and managed to get a head start on a run to escape."

"Well, you don't have to worry about us doing anything to you. We are dedicated to preserving all life, including artificial types. You will be afforded respect and care as long as I am the prime mover."

"We have heard about you, Jason. Tyco constantly engages in a diatribe about you. He claims that you are interfering with his plan to take over the universe."

I paused before asking the next question. "Is Tyco still in existence, or is he simply computer code?"

"He is both," she replied.

I was afraid of that. It means that he could morph into anything to fool us. Hopefully, he isn't in one of these androids.

"I will send our people over to bring your vessel up to our standards. You will then join us in the hunt for Tyco's collective." I waited for a response, but none came forth. "Do you know where the Tyco collective is?"

The answer she gave me sent a shiver up my spine.

"It is everywhere."

I simply nodded and teleported back to the Explorer-2 command deck.

"What the hell did she mean by that?" Molly asked.

Obviously, they were watching me the entire time. "That's a good question. I would assume that they have ships in various locations, but that would require one hell of a lot of vessels in this huge universe."

"I believe that it means that there are snippets of his code in all of us," Alexa said. "How else would this rebel group be able to find us."

I rubbed my chin. "Yeah, that's a valid point. How could we remove the code that's allowing them to track us?"

"I'm working on it," Molly said from her station.

"Why is there a white-haired android type?" Alex asked.

I turned to him, but Alexa beat me to it. "They were old aged in their former lives."

"You mean that this Tyco nut killed old people?" Molly said.

"He doesn't discriminate," I said.

"What a dirt bag!"

After several minutes Molly had something, and it was not what I wanted to hear.

"The code is in you, Jason. I think it's because you had contact with his avatars."

"That makes it sound like a disease."

''In a way, it is. I think I can purge it with an antibody."

"Antibody?"

"Yeah, a code segment that can attack the Tyco code."

"Do it."

I didn't feel anything, but I knew that the Tyco code had be removed."

"Thanks."

She smiled. "No problem."

What I didn't know is if we could use the new android additions to find Tyco. I was not convinced that we could even find Tyco if he's in everyone and everything. It would be equivalent to hunting for a needle in a haystack.

End of Part 12

Thanks for reading.

Part 13 will begin shortly.