The new reality was a strategic nightmare. They couldn't let the Gestalt reach the planet. The civilized hive below would undoubtedly see it as an act of war and destroy the Elysian. But they also couldn't trust the planetary hive, which likely viewed the one billion human corpses aboard as a cautionary tale.
Their only hope was to fight the war on their own terms. And for that, they needed an army.
"The androids," Kaelen said, standing before the main hologram in his quarters. Elara was beside him, now dressed in a clean jumpsuit, her strength returning by the hour. "Valerius's journal mentioned security and maintenance models. How many are there, Mother?"
"According to the ship's manifest, there are 1,027,451 automated units of various classes," Mother replied. "The majority are maintenance drones. However, there are 50,000 M-Series Military Androids, designed for ship defense and pacification."
Fifty thousand soldiers. The number was staggering.
"Where are they?"
"They are stored in cryo-stasis bays within the Armory Decks. However, the primary activation command can only be issued from the Central Command Center on the Bridge. The androids themselves are scattered throughout the ship in maintenance closets and security stations, but they are in a low-power standby mode."
"And the Gestalt? Has it subverted them?"
"Scanning… The androids are simple machines, not controlled by a central network but by localized command chips. The Gestalt's organic nature seems incompatible with direct control. However…"
The hologram changed, showing sections of the ship where the organic growth was thickest. Dozens of android icons were highlighted, their status glowing a sickly orange.
"I am detecting that many androids have been… encased. The biological matter has grown over them, immobilizing them. It appears to be a defensive measure to neutralize them."
"So, the Gestalt can't use them, but it can stop us from using them," Elara observed. "It's smart."
"Then we need to get to the ones it hasn't reached yet," Kaelen said. "The Bridge. If I can activate the main army, we can push it back, clear a path to the core."
"The Bridge is at the very front of the ship," Elara said, a shadow of fear in her eyes. "The Gestalt will know that's our obvious target. The path will be a gauntlet."
"We have an advantage now," Kaelen said, looking at her. "You. You can sense it. You can tell us where it's strong, where it's weak. You're our early warning system."
Elara looked uncertain. "The connection is faint. And it's… unsettling. Every time I reach out, I feel its hunger. Its hatred for the 'silent ones' on the planet."
"We don't have a choice," Kaelen said gently. "You're the only one who can."
She took a deep breath and nodded, a scientist's curiosity overcoming her fear. "Okay. Let me try."
She closed her eyes. The room was silent except for the hum of the ship. Kaelen watched her face, seeing a flicker of concentration, then a wince of pain.
"It's… everywhere," she breathed. "But the concentration is thick around the main transit lines. It's expecting us to take the mag-lev. But there's another way. The old emergency access conduits. The ones for Grade 4 maintenance workers." She opened her eyes and managed a weak smile. "It doesn't know about those. They're too small, too insignificant. The pressure there is lighter. I can feel a… a path."
It was the first solid hope they'd had. The Gestalt had absorbed the knowledge of captains and commanders, but it had overlooked the lowly maintenance crew. It didn't think like a grunt.
"Then that's our way," Kaelen said, a grim smile touching his own lips. He turned to the weapons locker. "But we're not going in unprepared. Mother, I need the armor again. And we need a weapon for Dr. Silva."
"The armory contains smaller-caliber pulse pistols with stun settings. They would be suitable."
"I'm not a soldier," Elara protested.
"You are now," Kaelen replied, handing her a sleek, silver pistol. "Everyone on this ship is."
As she took the weapon, her hand brushed against a dormant maintenance drone that was charging in a wall alcove. The moment her skin made contact, the drone's single red eye flickered to life, glowing not with its standard light, but with a soft, greenish hue matching the Xylophage's bioluminescence.
The drone beeped once, and then rose unsteadily into the air, orienting itself towards Elara as if awaiting a command.
They both stared in shock.
"What did you do?" Kaelen asked.
"I… I don't know," Elara stammered. "I just touched it."
"Fascinating," Mother intoned. "The symbiote in Dr. Silva is emitting a low-level energy field. It appears to be interfacing with the drone's simple operating system, overriding its standard protocols."
Elara looked at the drone, then at her hand. A thought seemed to cross her mind. The drone floated forward a few feet. She frowned, and it backed up.
"I can… feel it," she whispered. "It's like a faint whisper. I can tell it to move."
The implications were staggering. The Gestalt used organic matter to neutralize technology. But Elara's unique, fragmented hive mind could potentially co-opt it. She couldn't control the androids yet—their systems were too complex. But the millions of simple maintenance drones scattered across the ship? They could become her eyes and ears. They could become an army of their own.