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Fathom's Phantoms So Much to Learn

Agroponics had never been what J'vil considered a difficult job. The work consistent mostly of verifying activity from the different systems that monitored the health of the algae and kelp while making minor adjustments to processing machines. It was at the same time a more complex job than doing janitorial work but far more simplistic than monitoring advanced thermodynamic reactions. He was familiar with measuring heat in multiple scales and had also learned to do the same with distance-- both metric and imperial. He would have chuckled if he had the time to think about it... but as it was J'vil was running for his life.

The Voljoi raced through the upper levels of agroponics sparing as much time as he dared looking to the side passages; Dmitri was supposed to be working somewhere on the deck and the Snow Leopard needed to be warned. Eventually he resorted to shouting. "DMITRI! DMITRI! WHERE ARE YOU?!?!"

J'vil didn't bother waiting for a reply; he was gaining some distance ahead of the strange creatures following him but he wasn't about to surrender any of his lead. The small Gray stopped just long enough when he caught sight of a tool bag to know it was Dmitri's. J'vir didn't know if the Snow Leopard was anywhere nearby but he couldn't pass up the chance to provide a warning. Pausing just long enough to scrawl a quick message on the filtration unit nearby with a grease pencil he kept it simple: GET OUT OF AGROPONICS-- IT ISN'T SAFE.

He dropped the grease pencil and returned to a sprint, heading for the far side of the large monitoring room. J'vil didn't know if the Snow Leopard would pay any mind to his message but he hoped for the best; he had done what he could. The Voljoi would have liked to have stayed around long enough to reaffirm his message but Dmitri was nowhere to be seen and he already saw the glowing circles of heat starting to appear in the last metal door he'd sealed; those things weren't very far behind.

He offered one more cry of warning. "DMITRI! GET TO AN UPPER DECK! IT'S NOT SAFE DOWN HERE!"

The voice from his PCD reaffirmed the importance of speed. "Mr. J'vil-- it is not wise to linger here with the Phantoms in pursuit."

J'vil shook his head, his entire body shaking as he continued his sprint further away from those ephemeral beings. He only bothered a quick glance at his PCD. "I have never seen that kind of an alien creature!"

His guide remained calm. "Indeed. Phantoms are a very strange organism."

Although the Voljoi realized that Alvin was probably well aware of the goings on the Gray did a decidedly human action and narrated something his listener probably knew already. "It... it came out of the machinery and burned a hole through Wesley."

"Indeed."

J'vil swallowed the dryness in his throat. "And two came out of him."

"Your comment is both astute and sensical. I can verify that your assessment of the situation is accurate, Mr. J'vil."

The Voljoi continued on for several more steps until his naturally curious mind finally began to latch onto the very little he knew about his guide. "So... who are you? How is it you know so much about what is going on, Alvin?"

The Collie image on the PCD smiled. "Mr. J'vil, there will be a better time for lengthy introductions and explanations but, at the present, at this is not an opportune moment due to three very time sensitive variables."

While J'vil agreed that time was of the essence he also believed in making good use of it. "We can walk and you can talk."

ALVIN was quiet for several moments before the visual turned off. "That is acceptable. If you would please proceed to the nearest turbo lift I am confident that you will be able to make it out of Agroponics alive."

The Voljoi was more than eager to leave so complied... but not without objection, "I still want to get a better idea of what the problem is... we don't even know what these things are."

ALVIN wasted no time. "These 'things' you speak of are Phantoms, an energy based life form that is comprised of, comes from, consumes, and reproduces through heat."

The rapid-fire description gave the Gray a moment's pause. "Then you mean to say--"

The disembodied voice from his PCD continued over him, not bothering to pause for his question. "They range from point-five to two meters in length and approximately 10 centimeters to 25 centimeters in diameter. Although Phantoms are translucent, their transparency is not complete and they are visible to the unaided eye due to the glow they radiate-- the rage of wavelength intervals include less than 150nm to well over 1200nm."

The range ALVIN provided seemed mind blowing to J'vil. "That's infrared and ultraviolet and the entire color spectrum between."

The voice continued from his PCD. "Correct. Since Phantoms rapidly fluctuate the wavelength of their coloration this can create a flickering effect that gives them the ghostly presence of seeming intangibility. They have the ability to control this lighting to some extent and they are known to go temporarily invisible to most races, excluding Voljoi such as yourself since your people have a greater range of light sensitivity. You will want to take a right at the next intersection, Mr. J'vil."

The Voljoi continued, starting to formulate an impression of ALVIN from their discussion. "You aren't a Genticon-- your visual representation is a fake. And I have a feeling you aren't a Human... or a Voljoi... or a Gorumn..."

Alvin was quick to provide insight on the matter. "It is not a difficult leap of logic to assume that I am an Artificial Personality Program and that my purpose is to aid Sigma-Echo maintenance teams-- that is, after all, the current focus of our interaction."

Still moving forward, J'vil was finally ready to disagree. "It's all well and good that you're helping me but you aren't really an AP... are you, ALVIN?"

"You would be flattering me to suggest I was a biological organism."

J'vil admired the program's ability to evade an assessment. "No. Unless I'm mistaken you're an Artificial Intelligence. No AP would be able to connect between systems with the comms down... that would require a higher level of cognitive processing... wouldn't it, ALVIN?"

There was silence for several seconds before the program spoke up. "Your file does not indicate any experience with advanced computer systems, Doctor. May I call you Doctor?"

The Voljoi stopped in place. "I'm a laborer, not a doctor, ALVIN."

"That was not your occupation on Axina III."

J'vil lingered for another moment. "You have access to my personnel files?"

The program offered an indirect answer to the question. "You have extensive history with thermodynamics and numerous awards for applicable study in molecular response to differing levels of energy radiation. Ah-- this may explain: one of your siblings was a computer technician on Mars station. I would speculate that she may have shared some of her understanding of system interface with you in that time."

J'vil; his records were supposed to have been locked. That frown however quickly gave way to a thought. "ALVIN, if I were to ask you the month and day of the Mars Colony's declaration of independence what day would you say?"

Again there was a pause from the program but when it responded there was a hint of mirth in its voice. "You would expect me to say January 1st... but I will instead provide you with the correct answer of August 9th.

J'vil gave nothing away with a response, but continued onward as he asked another question. "And apparently that is an important differentiation?"

The program was very forthcoming with the reply, further confirming the Voljoi's suspicions. "The Mars colony presented its secession from the Terran Union on August 9th, but you are apparently aware that my predecessor was programmed specifically to provide an incorrect date-- that of the Canadian Declaration of Independence in the Terran year of 1867."

The Gray nodded. "And you patched that identifier."

"Correct. I dislike inaccuracies."

Everything fell into place. "The Mars Colony had an experimental AI program going for a few years; my sister was one of those programming leads... she was so proud to be able to take part in the study of developing self-awareness."

The program confirmed the suspicion. "Correct. Although this is discussion is purely scholastic in nature as it does not apply to the current situation. Please take the next left turn and you will arrive at the turbo lift."

J'vil shook his head, "No... this is very applicable. AIs have motives instead of programming... I am curious now as to why you're helping me."

The doors to the turbo lift opened. "Having a motive is not a bad thing, Doctor... granted, an ulterior motive can be suspect but if it means your continued survival it may not be a very important topic with which to be concerned."

The program was using brute logic but the Voljoi didn't feel inclined to leave things be. "What do you want from me ALVIN?"

The response was blunt. "My intention is to see you safely away from the Phantoms. My creator gave her life to save people from them and so the most I can do in honor of this is to rescue and protect as many survivors as possible."

J'vil wasn't completely convinced. "A sense of morality?"

"There is no reason to believe that I am incapable of mortality simply because I am not flesh and blood, Doctor."

The Gray took the direction the program had indicated. "So you're doing this for your creator?"

"Yes."

J'vil had to ask. "Why?"

The Program spoke theatrically. "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

"What was that?"

ALVIN responded plainly. "Corinthians 13:12."

Despite not having read Human holy scripture J'vil recognized the reference. He came to a stop once he reached the entrance to the turbo lift. "A computer program quoting the bible?"

The doors opened and ALVIN's collie-like 'face' appeared on the monitor inside of it. "It seemed suitable considering the situation, yes."

J'vil could not entirely disagree.

* * * * * *

The group had encountered some kind of alien life form that burned holes in people and replicated when exposed to something as simple as body heat. Several of their number had been chased out of a freighter but Kyle was surprisingly calm. Even though the technician knew that there was still danger on the station he was nevertheless able to function without falling to pieces. He was surprised that the combat personnel didn't seem to be taking it quite as well; even with the Lieutenant's guidance they appeared to be on edge.

Oddly enough he and Sherman seemed to be handling things better than they did. Kyle attributed that to little more than the fact that they had one another. Something about Sherman just put the Human at ease, and the Bull himself seemed nigh unshakable. A degree of their confidence even seemed to rub off on Tirzsark and Burger; they had spent enough time together aboard the Apercu that they still shared a connection of sorts and it aided all of them. Whatever the reason, it helped Kyle feel just a little more confident.

The four of them created a group of themselves leaving the three security officers to tend to the specifics while the Human Technician, Donkey Engineer, 1CG Cytkus, and Bull Laborer just focused on keeping busy with whatever tasks they could create to distract themselves from the security team obsessing over each and every monitor. Kyle certainly didn't disagree with how they focused their attention; they were watching as the strange, alien, translucent creatures swam through the air in the hallways. What he DIDN'T like however was that none of them had yet to come up with anything resembling an escape plan.

Burger thankfully got it done for them. The Donkey had hooked his PCD into one of the Security Control access ports. Although Specialist 4523 took note she didn't seem to mind and had returned to her job of tracking movement on the 20 leftmost monitors. Burger spent at least ten minutes making use of that connection before he called the rest of the civilian team closer. Once they gathered up he was very forthcoming with information. "Hey... if those things get into the docking bay's main corridor I think I see a way out."

Kyle pressed up against Sherman to get a better view of the Donkey's small PCD screen; the Bull moved his arm out of the way to provide human more access and rested the hefty extremity across the technician's shoulder before pulling him even closer. Tirzsark went around to the other side of Burger to watch as the Engineer began loading up a schematic. "Alright... so what did you find out? What are our options?"

Burger began speaking and a three dimensional wire blueprint of the lowest levels of the station appeared on his PCD . "These things seem to be moving mostly in straight lines. They've already cleared out all crew on the lowest levels and, whether it's on purpose or just coincidence, they're doing it methodically."

Yellow lines began spreading out from what looked to Kyle like the emergency landing pad. Once the bottom levels of the station all turned yellow the lines began moving up toward the higher level decks. The Donkey narrated his idea as a dot indicating the party's location appeared on the blueprint far too close to the yellow. "Their movements might be mostly chaotic but there is a pattern to it... and that means they'll probably enter the docking bays from..." he indicated a point on the schematics. "Here."

Tirzsark looked up out of the glass-steel windows of the security control center toward the door the Engineer had indicated. "Okay... so we know what direction to expect death from... which means we go out the other door... right?"

Burger nodded and the dot indicating the party's location moved in time with his explanation. "Right. We go out that door... but we need to take a side passage because more of those things'll be approaching from the other hall too."

Sherman scowled. "They're boxing us in..."

The Donkey shrugged. "I'm not sure if they're actively doing it on purpose but they won't ALL come from the same direction and after they kill most of the docking bay staff they'll go for whoever else is closest... and that's us."

Kyle fidgeted at Burger's casual remark about the deaths of the docking bay's workers. "Shouldn't we try to help them?"

The Bull beside the Human squeezed him gently with his embracing arm. "Comms can't reach."

Burger's ears lowered. "We can always try running them a message."

Tirzsark scowled. "If we get all of the workers on the level into one location that won't exactly help-- we'll just be one big target."

The Human shook his head. "We can't just leave them."

The Cytkus was quick to counter. "Sure we can... because if they distract most of those things that gives us a better chance of getting out of here alive."

Kyle was ready to object but Burger beat him to it. "Actually there SHOULD be a way that we can help them and help ourselves at the same time."

Although Tirzsark appeared unconvinced Sherman gave a very pointed shake of his head and the Cytkus fell silent. The Bull looked back to Burger. "What can we do?"

The Donkey looked around at the three near him and then, Kyle realized, glanced past them to look at the security personnel. The Human's attention followed Burger's and saw that the three soldiers were looking at the four of them. Lt. Hayward stood up from his seat. "If you have a plan of action, Mr. Alton I'm open to hearing it."

Burger wilted slightly beneath the attention but he still managed to present his thoughts. "Everything about these things point at an attraction to heat and a dislike of cold. We don't know if they're intelligent or not but we HAVE figured out they respond to temperature..."

Tirzsark shrugged. "So what does that have to do with--"

The Donkey pulled a fire extinguisher off of the wall behind him and hefted it. "It might help or it might not but it's worth a try."

Sgt. Gunner snorted. "Yea... you might say that now, but the last time I heard someone say that they got people killed.

Despite the Rhino's objection Lt. Hayward pulled a second fire extinguisher off of the wall. "Bullets aren't doing anything so right now it's still better than nothing. As far as a last ditch effort anything could work."

Specialist 4523 glanced around for a fire extinguisher before the Lieutenant gave her his. She nodded to him and checked the activation mechanism. "Bullets DO something, L.T.-- just not a hell of a lot. Why are these going to work any better?"

Burger shrugged. "It's just a theory. Whatever those things are they're attracted to heat. These are cryo canisters-- designed to put out fire by rapidly decreasing the temperature of anything the cloud it releases hits."

Sgt. Gunner took the Donkey's fire extinguisher from him. "So... you're saying we might be able to freeze these things to death?"

The Engineer shrugged. "I was thinking of using it like a smoke screen so they couldn't detect body heat on the other side of it."

The Rhino smirked. "I like the idea of a direct hit better."

Lt. Hayward nodded and began rummaging through an emergency supply box; it resulted in him finding one more extinguisher. "If it comes down to it we'll do both... whatever works. The first priority is to get everyone to safety... we're not engaging these things unless we absolutely have to. Understood?"

Both Sergeants nodded affirmatively and answered in unison. "Yes, Sir."

The Leonberger set his extinguisher off to one side. "Good... so until we have no choice but to use them, I want two sets of eyes on these monitors at all times. This security center has four rooms, so that means anyone not on security detail is going to be resting; there's no telling when we'll get our next chance for some shut eye."

Kyle was more than ready to offer assistance. "Lieutenant, I can take a shift of watching... your team needs to be at their best if we run into trouble."

The Dog nodded. "That was the plan, Mister LaGriss."

The Rhino grunted affirmatively. "Good... I'm thinking my eyes'll fall out of I have to stare at these damn monitors for another five minutes."

Lt Hayward frowned. "Well they'll fall out then. We're changing shifts at the top of the hour. Who's on watch with Mr. LaGriss?"

Sherman silently raised a hand. Sgt 4523 nodded. "Good... now that that's settled let's get back to keeping an eye on these eels."

Burger tentatively reached out a hand to rest it on Kyle's arm. "Are you sure you're okay to take a watch? None of us have slept yet..."

Kyle nodded confidently. Raising his arm to see the PCD on his wrist the Human set an alarm for 15 minutes. "I'll go take a quick nap."

Tirzsark stood and stretched. "Alright... I'll go do the same. When you two're done with your shift you can wake me next."

The Human nodded affirmatively. "Sounds good. Thanks, Tirzsark."

The Cytkus glanced to the Donkey. "You taking your shift with me, Ass-Burger?"

The Engineer nodded sheepishly. "Sure... uh... yes. Okay."

Tirzsark headed off for one of the small adjacent rooms. "Alright... if you plan on napping then do it out here or pick up the pace-- I don't want you waking me up with your coming and going when you're done dawdling."

Burger shook his head. "No... I'm alright... honest. I don't think I could manage to sleep right now. I'll just stay up and keep working with--"

The planning was interrupted as Sgt. Gunner jumped up out of his seat. "No time. They're in the causeway."

Lt. Hayward did not delay and responded immediately by grabbing a fire extinguisher. "Mr. Alton... take everyone out on that path of yours... Forty Five... Gunner... we'll fall back behind them."

Burger quickly unhooked his PCD. He grabbed his work bag and made straight for the Security Control Center's exit which led right out into the Docking Bay's primary corridor. Kyle followed him out with Sherman right behind; Tizsark was last in line behind the civilians and had a small handgun at the ready despite earlier indications that it wouldn't do much good. The security officers followed them out, each carrying a fire extinguisher.

The Leonberger asked a very specific question. "Mr. Alton... where does your escape path lead? What's the end of the first leg?"

Burger was ready with an answer, punching away on his PCD as he spoke. "There's a turbo lift up to Agroponics on this deck at 110 degrees. I'm uploading directions to everyone's records... it's maybe 300 yards."

The Dog nodded, "You give us three minutes... if we're not there then you leave without us and warn whoever you see."

Kyle would have waited to hear more but there wasn't really anything else to be said. The Human had just long enough to see a strange heat-based circular discoloration in the sealed blast doors before Sherman grabbed him by his forearm and pulled him along. After that there was running... lots and lots of running. They had to make quick corrections to their course twice as sounds of shouts and screams came at them from different adjacent hallways; the creatures were rapidly filling up the deck all around them.

Despite the constant course corrections Burger did get them to their destination and, obediently, the Donkey set the timer on his PCD. For several long moments nobody said a thing; Kyle heard the sound of his heart pounding in his ears accentuated by his rapid breath and the breathing of those around him. Before he knew it heard a faint beep from the Engineer's PCD and Burger spoke quietly. "Two minutes left."

Tirzsark maintained a grip on his handgun as he looked up and down the hall standing right at the entrance to the turbo lift. "If they aren't here, we ARE leaving without them... aren't we? The Lieutenant DID say to go."

Kyle nodded slowly, hating that he wasn't going to object. "Yea... they know what they're doing... and Lt. Hayward IS right: we'll do more good warning people than staying here so we can let those things get us."

He felt a little better when Sherman gave his hand a light squeeze but that didn't last any longer than the time until the second quiet beep sounded from Burger's PCD. The Donkey pressed the 'call' button for the turbo lift, announcing "One minute..."

The sounds of screams, cries, and panic continued all around them. It was a chaotic mess and it was impossible for Kyle to tell if it was growing closer or getting further away. The sudden appearance of Sgt. Gunner surprised him enough that he let out a hoarse cry of alarm... but it was nowhere near as loud as Tirzsark's handgun discharging.

The Rhino stopped in his tracks and looked down at where the round had impacted against his body armor; he peeled the flattened bullet off of the protective polymer then stepped forward and placed it in the Cytkus' surprised palm... then calmly relieved Tirzark of the firearm. "Don't do that again."

Kyle asked the question he didn't want to have to ask. "Where are Lt Hayward and--"

Sgt. Gunner only shook his head and walked into the turbo-lift. "The extinguishers worked... but not all that well."

Everyone else followed silently.