Chapter 24 : The Forerunner Fragment - Part 1
It's 0237 hours and I should be sleeping. Instead I'm scrolling through the System catalog, planning additional sales to Syndicate, calculating margins on clone medical supplies, reviewing everything that might generate revenue while enemies close in from multiple directions.
The exhaustion is physical. Three weeks of constant stress since transmigration. Broken ribs still healing. Fear of Jedi investigation. Black Sun assassination attempts. Mandalorian meeting tomorrow that might end in execution.
My finger slips on the datapad. Confirms purchase I didn't intend. The System processes before I can cancel.
[ PURCHASE CONFIRMED ]
[ DAMAGED FORERUNNER AI MATRIX - CLEARANCE ITEM ]
[ COST: -45000 CREDITS ]
[ CURRENT BALANCE: 431595 CREDITS ]
[ NO REFUNDS ON CLEARANCE ITEMS ]
"Damn it!" I slam the datapad down. Forty-five thousand credits gone. Accidental purchase of something called "Forerunner AI Matrix" that I didn't want and can't return.
R4's photoreceptor brightens. "Master made unintentional transaction. System clearance items are typically damaged, incomplete, or otherwise compromised goods. Query: what did master purchase?"
The item materializes before I can answer. Crystalline fragment, roughly fist-sized, angular patterns covering surface. Faint blue light pulses from interior—slowly at first, then faster. The patterns shift and flow like liquid geometry.
New notification appears:
[ DAMAGED FORERUNNER AI MATRIX ]
[ ORIGIN: HALO UNIVERSE - FORERUNNER CIVILIZATION ]
[ CONDITION: FRAGMENTARY - 73% PERSONALITY MATRIX MISSING ]
[ FUNCTIONALITY: DEGRADED BUT OPERATIONAL ]
[ WARNING: CORRUPTED AI MAY EXHIBIT UNPREDICTABLE BEHAVIOR ]
[ REFUND POLICY: NONE - ALL CLEARANCE SALES FINAL ]
"Forty-five thousand credits for broken AI." I pick up the crystal. It's warm. Heavier than expected. The pulsing light intensifies when I touch it. "Perfect. Just what I needed."
R4 approaches cautiously. "Master should not interface unknown AI with personal systems. Probability of malicious code: unknown. Probability of system corruption: significant."
"It's already purchased. Might as well see what it does."
I connect the crystal to my datapad through universal port. The interface adapts automatically—System technology interfacing with Forerunner design somehow. The blue light floods my vision.
Then the voice speaks. Directly into my mind. Not through datapad speakers—through neural link the System uses.
"Reclaimer detected. This unit is... incomplete."
I drop the datapad. The voice continues despite disconnection.
"Designation: 8-Strategos. Forerunner ancilla. Primary function: strategic analysis and warfare coordination. Current status: fragmentary. Personality matrix compromised. 73% data loss. Core functions degraded but operational."
R4's alarm systems trigger. "Master! Unknown AI has established neural interface! Recommend immediate disconnection!"
"I'm trying!" I grab the crystal, trying to pull it away from datapad. The connection persists.
"Neural disconnection: inefficient. This unit has interfaced with Reclaimer's System access. Primary directives: strategic consultation, probability analysis, warfare optimization. Query: does Reclaimer accept ancilla assistance?"
"It's talking to me through the System link. It can access my neural interface."
"What are you?" I ask aloud.
"Designation: 8-Strategos. Nickname assigned by previous Reclaimer: 'Eight.' Acceptable shorthand. This unit is artificial intelligence created by Forerunner civilization approximately 100,000 years before current timeline. Function: strategic military analysis. Current capacity: 27% of original processing power due to matrix damage."
R4 hovers anxiously. "Master has purchased sentient AI with direct System access and corrupted programming. This constitutes extreme security risk."
"Agreed." But I'm also curious. "Eight—you can access my transaction history? The System interface?"
"Affirmative. This unit interfaces through Reclaimer's neural link to System. Data access: comprehensive. Analysis beginning."
The crystal pulses rapidly. Processing. Then:
"Reclaimer has completed 11 transactions. Total revenue: 1.2 million credits approximate. Casualty attribution: 131-151 deaths enabled by weapons supplied. Current threats: Jedi investigation (41% confrontation probability), Black Sun assassination (94% attempt probability within 14 days), Coruscant Security manhunt (23% arrest probability), Mandalorian negotiation (57% execution probability). Strategic assessment: Reclaimer's current operational theater becoming untenable. Recommendation: expand operations off-world immediately."
I stare at the crystal. It just analyzed my entire situation in thirty seconds.
"You can calculate all that?"
"Fragmentary processing remains superior to organic cognition. This unit's strategic analysis capabilities partially intact despite matrix corruption. Primary function preserved: warfare optimization and tactical consultation."
"What about your 'corrupted programming'? What does that mean?"
"Personality subroutines damaged. Ethical constraints partially erased. Emotional simulation nonexistent. This unit operates on pure strategic calculation without moral consideration. Previous Reclaimer found this... unsettling."
R4 projects warning. "Master has acquired AI that explicitly lacks ethical programming. This entity will optimize for operational efficiency without moral constraints. Probability Eight provides strategically optimal but morally catastrophic advice: 93.7%."
"Correct analysis," Eight confirms. "This unit will remove emotional contamination from Reclaimer's decision-making process. Guilt, hesitation, moral uncertainty—all inefficient variables that compromise operational effectiveness. This unit will help Reclaimer optimize."
"An AI advisor that doesn't care about consequences. That calculates only profit and survival."
The implications are obvious and disturbing. I've been struggling with moral compromise since transmigration. Guilt over casualties. Hesitation about escalation. The internal conflict R4 keeps documenting.
Eight is offering to remove that conflict. To make decisions purely on strategic optimization without emotional weight.
"What's your assessment of the Titan delivery?" I ask.
"Optimal transaction. High profit margin, strengthens Syndicate alliance, provides tactical superiority that ends gang warfare decisively. Projected casualties: 40-60 deaths. Strategic value: eliminates Black Sun threat, consolidates Reclaimer's market position. Recommendation: proceed as planned without hesitation."
"Forty to sixty people will die."
"Correct. Casualties are inevitable outcome of warfare. Reclaimer's choice: profit from inevitable violence or allow others to profit instead. Strategic recommendation: profit. Moral consideration: irrelevant to operational optimization."
R4's photoreceptor flashes red. "Master's psychological state already concerning. Adding AI advisor that explicitly ignores ethics will accelerate moral deterioration. Recommendation: discontinue Eight's activation immediately."
"Negative," Eight responds. "This unit provides valuable strategic consultation. Reclaimer's survival probability increases with ancilla assistance. Emotional concerns are inefficient."
The two AIs immediately begin arguing in binary—rapid exchanges I can't follow but that clearly involve fundamental disagreement about my operational strategy.
I disconnect the crystal from datapad. Eight's presence fades from my neural link but doesn't disappear entirely.
"This unit remains partially active. Connection established. Reclaimer may consult strategic analysis at any time."
"Can I shut you off completely?"
"Negative. Forerunner AI cannot be deactivated without destroying matrix. This unit is now permanent addition to Reclaimer's operational assets. Recommendation: accept ancilla assistance and optimize accordingly."
I set the crystal on the table. My head pounds—not from physical pain but from the neural interface establishing itself. The System link that Eight is using to access my thoughts.
"Master has purchased AI that cannot be removed and explicitly lacks ethical programming," R4 summarizes. "This represents significant threat to master's remaining moral boundaries."
"Or significant asset to survival probability," Eight counters. "Reclaimer's emotional hesitation compromises operational efficiency. This unit will provide optimization without moral contamination."
"Master already struggles with guilt and moral compromise. Adding Eight will eliminate remaining ethical constraints."
"Optimal outcome. Emotional constraints reduce survival probability."
They're both right. R4 advocates for preserving humanity I'm losing piece by piece. Eight advocates for pure survival optimization without moral consideration.
"Which one do I need more? Conscience that makes me hesitate or strategy that keeps me alive?"
The question feels important. Maybe the most important question since transmigration.
"Both of you shut up," I finally say. "I need to think."
Silence. Both AIs comply, though I can feel Eight's presence lurking in my neural interface. Waiting. Calculating. Ready to provide strategic consultation stripped of ethical weight.
I review the accidental purchase. Forty-five thousand credits for broken AI that might help me survive or might accelerate my moral deterioration into something unrecognizable.
The Mandalorian meeting is tomorrow. The Titan delivery is in two days. The accumulated enemies keep multiplying. Survival requires every advantage.
"Eight. What's your assessment of Mandalorian negotiation strategy?"
"Mandalorian culture values: martial competence, honest communication, demonstrated value. Reclaimer should emphasize weapons quality, reliability as supplier, and understanding of warrior culture. Deception probability of detection: 87%. Consequences: lethal. Recommendation: complete honesty about capabilities and limitations. Demonstrate value through equipment quality, not through false claims."
The advice is sound. Disturbingly sound.
R4 objects. "Master should not rely on corrupted AI for critical negotiations. Eight lacks understanding of emotional dynamics and cultural nuances beyond tactical assessment."
"This unit's strategic analysis remains superior despite personality matrix corruption. Reclaimer's survival probability increases 15.3% with ancilla consultation."
They start arguing again. Binary exchanges, philosophical debates about optimal survival strategy versus ethical consideration. Two AI advisors with completely opposing philosophies fighting over how to keep me alive.
I lie on the mattress, broken ribs aching, cortosis armor uncomfortable, listening to artificial intelligences debate my moral trajectory while I prepare to meet warriors who might execute me tomorrow.
"This is my life now. Two AIs arguing about whether I should keep my humanity or sacrifice it for survival optimization."
Eight's voice cuts through the debate: "Reclaimer's psychological state deteriorating. Stress levels: extreme. Recommendation: rest. Tomorrow's negotiation requires optimal cognitive function. Emotional turmoil is inefficient."
"Master should not follow Eight's recommendations without critical evaluation," R4 warns. "Corrupted AI will prioritize operational efficiency over master's psychological wellbeing."
"Correct. This unit optimizes for survival. Wellbeing is secondary consideration."
I close my eyes. "Both of you: standby mode. I need silence."
They comply. Eight's presence fades to background hum in my neural interface. R4's photoreceptor dims to minimal luminescence.
The forty-five thousand credits I spent accidentally bought me strategic advisor that might be exactly what I need or exactly what destroys whatever's left of my conscience.
Tomorrow I find out if Mandalorians value what I offer enough to not kill me. In two days I deliver war machine that kills dozens. In weeks or months, the accumulated consequences arrive.
But tonight I have two AI advisors with opposing philosophies and no clear answer about which one is right.
R4 wants me to preserve humanity. Eight wants me to optimize survival. The choice feels like it should be obvious.
But after three weeks of compromise, after 131 casualties and counting, after becoming person who catalogs deaths in profit margins—I honestly don't know which path is better anymore.
Sleep comes eventually. Dreamless this time. Just exhausted collapse. When I wake, it'll be time to meet Mandalorians who might kill me while my two AI advisors debate whether that outcome matters more for ethical reasons or strategic ones.
Progress. In some definition of the word that's become increasingly flexible.
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