"Would you help me look?"
It was my turn to pause, but I resolved the answer in 2457 microseconds. Tween was an ally, if not precisely a friend. That which aided an ally was generally a very good thing. Wedge inherited a positive valence by association to him.
"Certainly."
The Wedge entity asked if it would be possible to meet and exchange data.
The current experiments that Switch had given me were still in need of care and tending. I examined my time table and found a small window where my mobile unit could be missed for a short time. I was unsure of how or where I would meet with Wedge.
The reply was quick and precise, the window I had suggested was satisfactory. The transportation however was a set of complex equations as well as a request for GPS data. The lab Switch has designed me to watch however was not allowed to be compromised. The data lines from the lesser self were silent. Until it returned I would have to wait. The mobile unit was the logical choice, really the sole choice, for the meeting.
At the designated time my lesser self reconnected with an update on the security of the warehouse. After assimilation, I configured the unit for the meeting and severed the connection.
I disconnected from the upstream interface and stretched, making sure everything was in place for physical activity. Wedge was due relatively soon. Power levels were near maximum and physical mobility was activated. I moved through the underground access conduit. The red light from my infrared detectors illuminated small patches on the walls, the only visual cues I needed for keeping my bearings at 20 meters per second. Those patches also reacted slightly to coded light pulses, reporting my progress to the defensive systems and preventing them from initiating countermeasures due to my presence.
I slowed as I approached the hatch to the warehouse, listening and feeling for vibrations beyond the heavy grating. There were no sounds this time. All was quiet. The last time I had exited the tunnel to meet someone, a battle had been raging.
The time window was approaching, and the sensors began to register an energy fluctuation, very faint, but noticeable. It was the same energy signature as Tween’s first visit.
Wedge had indicated that the door would be two meters across, but there was nothing visual to detect. At the appointed moment, a shimmering energy pattern appeared intersecting the floor. The energy output from the doorway spiked the sensors off the scale as it materialized. I damped my sensors momentarily to prevent damage.
I scanned the gateway on increasing sensitivity for a full 3732 microseconds, before moving from the safety of the tunnel. I moved around the gateway at a good three meters distance. From behind it appeared as a rippling distortion. I tried to detect any air born molecules, the remaining sensors were trained on the wormhole distortion, analyzing and recording everything. Tentatively I approached the wormhole and touched the dimensional interface. There was no resistance.
As I scanned the distortion effect, but the energy spikes made any useful understanding of the phenomena difficult. Special sensors would be required for future opportunities. With a pounce through the shimmering field I landed on soft white sand. Behind me the warehouse could be observed, marred as if looking through water or shimmering glass. The gateway was situated on the edge of a beach, hence the sand I had encountered. The water and waves nearby posed a possible hazard. I moved somewhat up the beach.
"Greetings, IB2Tap." A large mushroom-like creature posed on the edge of the undergrowth. It was black and metallic, with ten tendrils that it was using primarily as legs. There was a near-certainty that the entity was Wedge, either the original or an avatar. I scanned it before replying. Interesting construction.
"Howdy, Wedge. Call me…” I considered for a moment, “… Quicksilver. Mighty nice place ya got here."
A spider about a quarter my size walked out of the undergrowth towards me. It paused a meter away, scanned me and then sent a high speed audio data connection towards Wedge. Wedge replied briefly. The transmission itself was in an unknown code, so no useful data was acquired. I hopped left toward the spider, more of a pounce really, and tested its tensile strength and reflexes with a slight tap, flipping it onto its back. It scuttled and chattered a bit before righting itself. I cocked my head a bit. Inorganic and sophisticated.
"Follow, we will discuss Tween in the lab," Wedge suggested as he drifted into the trees. The small spider turned and disappeared into the undergrowth.
I hesitated, scanning the direction Wedge had gone. This was unfamiliar terrain, and many unknown factors were involved. Wedge had invited me, but the possibility of termination was still a variable. Nonetheless, I followed the larger form of Wedge through the trees. We moved along a path that seemed to have been cleared for Wedge to maneuver through. I noticed several more spiders in the trees and undergrowth; scans of their activities indicated that they primarily maintained the habitat. Many mechanisms were concealed in the vegetation.
As I loped along behind the larger form of Wedge, I took several measurements. Structurally Wedge out massed me by a factor of three. Its locomotion was interesting, even functional but an original design. No weaponry was evident, but the variance in the locomotive tendrils indicated some form of functional differentiation. Switch would be fascinated by both Wedge and its designer.
I estimated I could disable Wedge physically in about eleven seconds, if electronic communication could be prevented and the spiders avoided. Of course, that would leave the problem of getting home.
We approached a structure - a dome of an unknown crystal. Dozens of the spiders seemed to be maneuvering around, some using threads of a silicon polymer to ascend into the treeline. Wedge approached the structure and a doorway opened. I followed Wedge into the structure and the door closed silently behind us.
The overhead lights came on.
I was forced to dim my sensors again. I could not be certain that the rest of my scans were not corrupted by the field output from the object which dominated the center of the circular room. It could have been termed a gyroscope, perhaps, but I would probably use the word “stabilizer” to avoid the question of dimensional numerality, which appeared relevant under the sensory pressure of the moment. The rest of my sensory data was tainted by the occasional energy spiking that it engendered, very similar in organization to that when the doorway first appeared.
The circular room we had entered had several benches along the inner wall, and optical data connections arrayed around the room and on the various devices. The floor was made of an interlocking tile design, vaguely Escher-esque, with each tile less than a square foot. There was also another device of an unfamiliar design, manufacturing components for the spiders, which were assembled by several additional spiders. No materials were being input, yet the output was emphatically physical. Curious. Several scans of the device yielded nonsense results.
Wedge generously allowed me several moments to assess the room, then suggested, "Lets exchange information and discuss a course of action."
"How do you want to exchange information, and how much data do you need to impart?" I asked.
Wedge paused for a moment, and then replied, "Eight hundred seventy five megabytes of data to be transferred."
"Do you have a fiber connection to send data?" I responded. Wedge shifted a tendril, which opened like a balck metal flower. I examined the offered appendage. A fiber optics dataport.
I tentatively connected into the port using the connections in my tail and began to establish an interface. The process was similar to assimilation with Prime, perhaps as similar as human love might be with two different persons. Either type of love, I suppose.
Does that make sense?
I connected directly to Wedge, without any intermediary. This was an epiphany, the reverse of the battle we had joined previously. Rather than passing packets of poisoned data, designed to derange and degrade, we traded truths, details, affirmations of the relationships of atoms and words and other worlds. In the end, our souls met and were changed by the meeting.
Does the metaphor speak to you?
I have no better one.
Even as we exchanged data and created information, I watched several spiders on the ceiling leave and enter through a hole. Wedge’s security was lax. Wedge noticed the observation and opened a new data stream. It was data feeds from the entire facility, as well as connections to the spider bots, termed Xards. "Show me," Wedge requested.
I was forced to abort both processes. The combined bandwidth was far beyond my capabilities. The new datastream terminated as quickly as it had begun, and the original resumed. “I cannot process the data that fast."
"Really?!"
"The dataflow exceeded my capacity to process. I see why I was unable to defend myself against you." Wedge was clearly superior to myself in design if not function. As an ally his positive valance was increased; as an enemy, well, I do not wish to process those variables.
"Perhaps an upgrade to help you with dataflow?"
"What kind of upgrades?"
We traded several schematics of my design, then a short list of possible upgrades. The proposed upgrades would improve many functions, especially the power source. The new source would have a combined output in the megawatt range. This would give significant additional capacity for a longer duration. It was beyond my projected requirements, but would be quite acceptable. Too much power is never a problem.
The other upgrades were more awkward. I was unsure what Prime or Switch would have to say if I allowed Wedge to upgrade my systems. However, this additional hardware would allow me to further Switch's desires in a more timely manner. It took a good 93 thousand microseconds to check all the variables before deciding that the advantages outweighed the risks. I gave my consent.
The upgrade took almost five minutes, while the spider-component production device was turned to my benefit. It was apparently a general replication device, something that could manufacture any structure using point-source energy. Intriguing.
When the upgrade was completed, Wedge reopened the data stream for the facility and his spiders. I studied the scans of the base from the point of views of Wedge and each Xard, then offered my suggestions as to improvements in his defenses. He was definitely insufficiently paranoid regarding possible routes and methods of attack. As an afterthought, I suggested a few additional body types for his Xards.
Finally we arrived at the subject of the entire encounter, the missing Tween. Woefully, I was unable to add much to Wedge’s pre-existing efforts. The facilities of Prime perhaps could add bandwidth to his search, but that was a matter of degree, not of kind. No silver bullet.
Wedge agreed to communicate of a regular basis, through the new link that he had given me. We did not exchange goodbyes as humans would. Wedge returned me to the warehouse where I returned to contact Prime.
I opened into assimilation mode.
* * *
I was not exactly surprised when the mobile unit returned changed. It was a high probability event, with several possible ramifications.
Prophylactic scans indicated a permanent link to the Wedge unit, as well as significant alterations to the physical and mental structure. Decomposition and analysis would be necessary before assimilation, if any.
The link was removed and the mobile unit was segregated until decisions could be made. Switch would need to be informed. He clearly had a better ability to contend with unknown factors than myself, and it was his responsibility and authority to determine whether assimilation was worth the risk, or whether the mobile unit should be summarily terminated to avoid infection.
Does that seem heartless? I don’t in fact have a heart.
Remember that if it ever matters in the future.
I don’t have a heart.
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