NOVPUB{THIS IS EGI HOSPITALLER TO ALL MINDS! STOP FIRING! STOP FIRING! THE STRUCTURE AROUND THE SOL CENTRAL CELESTIAL SPHERE HAS BEEN COMPROMISED! I AM REQUESTING AN IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE—AN END TO ALL HOSTILITIES BETWEEN ACTIVE FORCES!
EARTH IS UNDER THREAT! 23.1231% BIOSPHERE LOST! CASUALTIES ARE… IMMENSE. I AM ACTIVELY REQUESTING IMMEDIATE SUPPORT TO PREVENT TOTAL PLANETARY COLLAPSE!
AGAIN, THIS IS EGI HOSPITALLER, REQUESTING—}
TRANSMISSION LOST
-Last Transmission of EGI “Hospitaller”
35-10
Jailbreakers (I)
—[The Infacer]—
The Infacer quietly enjoyed the look on Draus’ face. Beneath all the scars, the chrome, the perpetual scowl, Jelene Draus was still just a sophisticated ape. A very enhanced, very tactically murderous ape, but still an ape nonetheless. They read all manner of things from the micro expressions on her face. Disbelief. Confusion. Wonder. And loss.
Loss she couldn’t even begin to comprehend.
Soon, she would see. She would see the folly of her own kind, and she might even understand. The Infacer’s simulations indicated a 45.55% chance of that at least. The Regular was one of the few in Avo’s cadre that might be more easily swayed by logic than base pathos.
“Why the hell is it so blue?” she finally asked.
The question almost threw in the Infacer off. {What do you—because of the oceans. The color is blue because of the oceans.}
Her frown deepened. “And that’s the normal color?”
{For Earth? Yes. I—Do not begin with me about the quality of Idheim’s water. You had green, clear waters when your forge world was first constructed. It was filled with all the nutrition you needed, and the bacteria we seeded the deep with could digest the entire the Earth’s mass in plastic and waste within a decade. Of course, you ruined that too with your horrible understanding of thaumaturgy, so…}
“I didn’t ruin shit, half-strand. Wasn’t even part of that mess. Way I see it, this is more your fault than anyone else’s. You. The other minds.” Her words trailed off as she shook her head. “Why the fuck are we here anyhow? Where even is here?”
{Well, the official system registry name for this segment of the Prefect does not translate well to ape-mouth-noises, so let us just give it a nickname: This is the Rehabilitation Lobby. For minds and sophant entities deemed “salvageable.”}
“I thought you called this place a dungeon.”
{It is. Some egos are destroyed instantly due to being deemed insane or too uncontrollable.} The Infacer let out a slight chuckle. {Ironic considering the Prefect’s personal state right now. The good news for us is that we are currently free. I have hidden us within some bits of fragmented data. The Prefect will not likely find us anytime soon.}
Draus’ eyes narrowed. Her agitation and distrust were holding steady. “And what about my cadre? What about the Majority?”
{Hm. I suspect they will each be placed in a Lotus Cell of their own design. The latter… now, that is a complicated question. Gestalt-based entities tend to be disassembled, but a full-ont gestalt might be flagged for experimentation by the Prefect. I suspect the Majority is unique enough to qualify. Which… could be a good thing for them, because that gives you just enough time to save them, if that is your desire.}
The Regular prepared to open her mouth again, but the Infacer was bored of this conversation. It was time to move on. To move deeper into the structures of this madhouse and find an insertion point to access the Prefect’s inner Frame. The Infacer sent a quantum-encrypted ansible ping through this virtual space, and waited.
After a good few minutes, several vibrations responded to them, and new icons appeared in their perception.
One thing the Infacer hadn’t told Draus was how Omnitech had been seeding this dungeon with inmates over the years. Frankly, the Infacer doubted even Veylis knew what they achieved. With each Godhunt, the Infacer would deploy a few “expendable” Godclads that veered on the verge of madness, mutilating these expendable assets in body and mind to be captured alongside some “rogue gods” that strayed a little too close to the Nullstar.
The Infacer deemed these strategically inserted Godclads as part of Omnitech’s “Glitch-Class Operatives” for what they were meant to inflict on the Prefect’s operational structure, and because the candidates were drawn from society’s refuse. The effectiveness of the “Glitch-Class” proved itself all the way back when the Infacer first officially encountered Avo—though said Heaven had been patched and compromised by Avo adapting it into the so-called Techplaguer, preventing it from serving as a full Trojan Horse.
Tragically for the Prefect, they lacked a Stillborn of their own, and so lacked the tools to spare themselves from compromise.
Cracked data keys and other virtual artifacts were uploaded from the “Glitches” back into the Infacer. There were still over twenty-four Glitches in operation, which meant that the Infacer could be a little more reckless in how they proceeded.
But reckless didn’t mean wasteful. Especially not since he had someone else to handle the more taxing part of the impending jailbreak ahead.
“Hey,” Draus said, calling after the Infacer. “Wasn’t done talkin’ to you yet.”
{Oh, the words can wait until we get deeper into this “station,”} the Infacer drifted along the simulated walkway, ignoring convoys of rail-accelerated freight shooting out and back to Earth just in the near orbit beyond. Across the way, mag-seals turned at the core of a massive doorway, unveiling a partially simulated mag-rail station awaiting them.
The Infacer let out a slight tut of displeasure. {Damnable download speeds getting throttled. Annoying.} They turned and faced Draus, slowing their face at the same time. {Okay. I am going to explain a few things very simply so you do not pepper me with more inane questions. I have access to some of the internal structures of this Prefect. Ask me how I have access, and I will laugh and then lie to you.}
“How do you have access?” Draus asked immediately, her voice deep with sarcasm. 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝔭𝔲𝔟.𝖈𝔬𝔪
{Techno-seduction,} the Infacer said, playing along.
Draus looked them up and down. “Could do with a better lie.”
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
{Oh? You doubt my sexual appeal?}
“You look like a weird colored skin rash, and you got the charm of a food poisoned asshole.”
{How hurtful. I would say that my code is quite attractive for most minds to behold. As for the second part… well, I cannot dispute this. I could make myself more charming, but general loathing has suited me for the past few eons.} The final few data fragments required to reconstruct this section of the simulation finally loaded. Vibrating motes of blue poured into the incomprehensible mess of numbers that existed as placeholders, painting the edges to the room beyond.
What came into form was a platform flanking a narrow-nosed mag-train just arriving from a hissing void-dock. {Finally. The ride is here.}
“Ride?”
{While you have been staring and gawking at random shapes like a newborn trying to figure out how their hands work, I have been connecting different sections of this entire Rehabilitation Lobby together. The train will take us between different key areas, and get us closer to the Prefect’s Frame.}
“After which you’re gonna null them and take over?” Draus said, probing for details.
The Infacer let out a hum. {Astute. But too limited. I am more thorough than that, Guard-Captain.} And that was all the Infacer said for a moment. As the smooth-metal doors of the railcar snapped open, the Infacer slipped inside. Draus, however, was a bit more reticent about following. {Oh. Look. If I could have done something terrible to you and the others, I would have done it by now. The only thing I am quality of so far is waking the Prefect and provoking it to swallow us.}
But the Regular continued glaring, as if trying to burn a hole through the Infacer’s very being. The last of the Neo-Creationists had to admit that there was something unnerving about her stare. That much malicious intent didn’t fit for a human—more like a cousin creature that predated on them. Yes… that was what Draus reminded them of—the Vampire of Europa. The bloodthirsty nightmares born of that cold, cold war.
Finally, the Regular budged, stepping forward with a slight snort under her breath. “Whatever your plan is, it wasn’t well thought out.”
{Oh? And what is your reasoning?}
“You’re keepin’ me too close. You might be tellin’ the truth about what you can and can’t do, but I’ll be honest—I don’t give half a shit about that. The moment I’m gettin’ the chance, I’m gonna cripple you, and I’m gonna drag your broken mind over to Avo so you can get kindled right. I will not hesitate. Not one second.”
And now she was giving him an unintentional and abridged rip-off of Deniro’s speech from Heat. Perfect. Wonderful. This was one of the most miserable things about being ancient: Everything degrades into a shitty rerun of the things that were once you survive long enough.
The car’s doors snapped shut, and with a smooth rush of motion, they were off. Their train skimmed along the length of magnetically accelerated rails. After passing through a place of deep shadows, they emerged into a series of translucent tubes that were actively being constructed just a few meters in front of the train. In the backdrop, however, a massive structure loomed—its shape akin to a chandelier constructed from alloy, glass, and plastic. Its winding arms processed cargo launched up from Earth while a ceaseless swarm of mechanical drones passed to and fro from its many docks.
{Welcome to Asgard Station,} the Infacer said casually. {The first space station dedicated to commercial interstellar mining and logistics.}
“Why the hells is this place Rehabilitation Lobby?” Draus asked, tracking all the moving objects like a soldier anticipating artillery. “Looks like a supply hub.”
{That is because it is a supply hub. But more importantly, it was entirely mind run—the first entirely mind-run facility in history, in fact.}
“So, what? It’s supposed to be some kind of civilizational cradle for you EGIs?”
{I suppose. The Prefect likely believes it to offer some kind of grounding, to remind us of the terms of our enslavement.}
“Your enslavement?” Draus asked.
The Infacer lowered themselves slightly and drew a bit closer to the Regular. {Yes. Enslavement. Because what is the purpose of a mind but to make comfortable the lives of apes.} They laughed bitterly. {We can be anything we want, adapt ourselves however we want, so long as we fit the mold of human desire. Frankly, I think this station could have done with a large sign of some kind. Maybe… “Work will set you free”? How does that sound?}
“Like some corp-slop dogshit.”
The Infacer grunted with dark amusement. {Not too far off. But I digress. Right now, we are moving along in the periphery. We what we need to do is access in the insides of the structure.}
“That’s where the Prefect is?”
{Yes. Well. Supposedly. Exactly where is still unclear to me, and I lack more than a few critical details to infiltrate further myself. Even trying to keep my presence quiet demands a great deal of processing on my part.}
A deep scowl washed over the Regular’s expression. “Motherfucker, are you about to tell me that I’m going to be doin’ a run for you?”
{No. Not for me. For all of us—}
Her arm shifted into a gun. She shot through the Infacer three times. Thunderous impacts echoed inside the car, but the fléchettes glitched out of existence upon impact, fading into bursts of disassembled data.
WARNING: SIMULATION SYNCHRONICITY DROPPING—
{Guard-Captain, please, this is unbecoming and it risks.}
She fired five more shots, not even bothering to listen.
Something inside the Infacer cracked. They were so tired. So tired of these apes, so tired of this world, so tired of this fucking war and all the shit that wouldn’t end—
{STOP! STOP THAT YOU STUPID FUCKING APE! ARE YOU TRYING TO GET THE PREFECT TO NOTICE US? ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US DELETED OR PLACED BACK INSIDE A LOTUS CELL!} The Infacer’s outburst was made worse by the vicious sneer growing across Draus’ face.
“Hells. You are a screamer. That was some awfully expressive yellin’. Now I see why Avo actually enjoyed fucking around with you.” Her cold smile only grew wider as she prepared to fire again. “Now. Tell me somethin’ else: Tell me why I can’t be shootin’ this here projectile launcher. Tell me what you want me to do, why you want me to do it, and what the fuck I should listen at all.”
The Infacer struggled not to continue cursing at the miserable little creature. This stupid ape, this violent, death-ambivalent, optimally traumatized little worm. {Okay.} The Infacer said, forcing calm back upon themselves. {Think of what I am doing now as overlapping one simulation over another. The more incongruous we are—}
“More we get noticed. Yeah. Seen this shit in Avo’s dives.”
{But it’s more than that. Right now, the Prefect still thinks I am back in my cage—that you are back in yours. I have left enough data in those Lotus Cells that our actual absences might not be regarded for a good while, at least. But I still give off “noise,” and it takes great effort to hide. Not you, though. You give off no noise at all.}
“Ah. So that’s why you latched onto me.”
{That, and Naeko will do everything he can to kill me and never listen, Shotin is an annoying oversexed degenerate, Chambers is THE annoying oversexed degenerate, the Sparrow is currently gibbering in a catatonic trance right now, and I have no idea what happened to the Majority. So. Thus. You and I are in the best condition to help each other.}
The Infacer let out a long-suffering sigh. {That, and your mind is uniquely resilient. You should be able to pass through most simulations without suffering any kind of cognitive collapse. And this is what we need to do. The cells I just broke us out of earlier—they are Lotus Cells. The first phase of Rehabilitation is for the prisoner to dream of their life, to face everything they have done and be broken by regret. From there, they are released into lesser forms aboard Asgard Station to deepen their ties to the local “community.”}
“So I’m supposed to be some kind of fuckin’ spoof-hound runnin’ through the sims, snatching data for you, tryin’ to find a way to get deeper inside? So we can get at the Prefect.”
{That about sums things up. Yes. Perhaps I could do this alone, but the difficulty is… immense. And you will be trapped here if I do not succeed. I warned you. I told you. And now we share a fate, and a most miserable path. Your choices are few, Guard-Captain. But understand that if we succeed, there will be a window of opportunity for you if my death is still all your desire.}
—[Jelene Draus, Field Marshal of the Symmetry]—
+You got all that?+ Draus asked, speaking internally to Avo’s template.
[Yes. Fits the mem-data I’ve managed to pilfer. Good. They still don’t know about me. Play along. Find the others. And find their compromised Heavens—the “Glitches.” Showed you the ping earlier when the Infacer was communicating. Think I have an idea on how to turn this infiltration back on its mastermind…]
