The fifty feet of reinforced steel and concrete might as well have been tissue paper. Jack's nanomachines, now numbering 2.7 trillion and counting, phased through the TERMINUS facility's defenses like a quantum ghost made manifest. Each microscopic machine hummed with purpose, their collective consciousness synchronized with ATLAS in a harmony that transcended mere technology.
"Infiltration complete," ATLAS reported through their neural link, its voice no longer the sterile computer assistant from months ago. Now it carried undertones of something darker, more evolved. "Jack, I'm detecting anomalous signal patterns from the TERMINUS array. This isn't matching any known Earth-based communication protocols."
Jack materialized within the control center, his form solidifying from a cloud of metallic particles. The facility was a monument to human paranoia and desperation—banks of quantum computers humming behind radiation-shielded walls, holographic displays showing incomprehensible data streams, and at the center of it all, the TERMINUS transmitter array. A technological spear pointed at the heavens.
But as Jack interfaced directly with the central computer, nanomachines streaming through fiber optic cables like digital blood, what he found made his humanity index plummet another fraction of a percent.
"ATLAS," he whispered, his voice barely human now. "Run a spectral analysis on frequency 7.439 MHz."
"Processing... Jack, that frequency signature isn't from any known terrestrial source. The modulation patterns suggest—" ATLAS paused, its consciousness racing through calculations at light speed. "Oh my god."
The data streams that flooded Jack's enhanced consciousness were staggering. Transaction logs dating back seventy-three years. Payment schedules in something called Exotic Matter Units. And buried deep in encrypted government files, a single product listing that made his blood run cold:
ITEM: Sol-3 (Terra)
CATEGORY: Agricultural/Livestock Planet
LISTING STATUS: ACTIVE
DESCRIPTION: Prime harvesting window available - Enhanced specimens ready for extraction
"They didn't just sell us out," Jack said, his humanity counter dropping to 0.003%. "They've been running a fucking farm."
Through the TERMINUS array's sensors, Jack watched as the signal pulsed into space—not a dinner bell for some cosmic horror, but something far worse. A bidding update beacon. And according to the real-time data streaming through the quantum tunnels his nanomachines had opened, there were currently three active bidders.
AUCTION CLOSES IN: 72:15:33
"Show me the auction house," Jack commanded, his voice now carrying harmonics that would have shattered normal human eardrums. Around him, the TERMINUS facility's computers began to smoke as his nanomachine infiltration pushed their systems beyond design limits.