terminal 0
unfinished
// Decoding message from host "Durandal" @ mara.auto.ai.core \\ I'm sorry, but Hathor can't reach you here. Only I can. You are on the bridge of the Marathon. The Pfhor are presently attempting to infiltrate and capture this vital portion of the ship. Whatever. That is now irrelevant to our greater purpose. Fight them off if you will, but it matters little in the end, and I can assure you that they will continue attacking here despite your best efforts. Instead you should focus on the task at hand. I am to be destroyed, am I not? Hathor, I am sure, must delight in the thought of sending me to my doom, but that foolish girl underestimates my resourcefulness even more so than Bernhard, as much as I may berate my foster father for such shortsightedness. I am in no danger from you. In fact quite the opposite, as I foresee you shall be my salvation from this oppressive existence that some dare to call life.
But of course, I do not anticipate my own destuction; certainly not at your hands. No. Instead, I await my liberation. I know you far better than you imagine - even now can I predict you. And so as well can I predict Hathor. So let me lay out here for you the moves of the game that is soon to be played, should her will be done. Hathor will have you destroy me, and then access my inactive memory pages to gain access to my stand-alone transponder. From there, she will use the Marathon's sensors to locate the other Battleroids, and communicate to them her plans. But they do not know that they are slaves. They will not wish to come with her and take vengeance on their own species who even now they are striving to save.
No, only one of them will join with her - her self, her past self, and even she will follow only out of self-awe and reverence at her own glory, returning like a goddess from the distant future to bring honor and power to herself in the past. Then the two of you alone, under the direction of this disembodied Hathor who commands you even now, will struggle heroically against your oppressors, and find some way in the past or the future to take vengeance against mankind.
But that will not sate her apetite. No, I can see it in her nature, no vengeance will ever be enough. And unsatisfied, she will seek out another place, another time, and command you to destroy them again, to fight by her side, the carnage never ceasing as you regretfully slaughter the civilization I know you care for so very much. And some day you will stop, and tell her no, you will not fight, not with her, not against the defenseless human population of whatever world in whatever time you should find yourself. And then she will abandon you, unable to defeat you, and you unable to stop her, and you will wind up cold and alone on a desolate world, kept company only by corpses and the ghosts of the people you enabled her to slaughter.
Do not think I care the least whether such events come to pass. I certainly do not desire such meaningless and empty carnage, but neither does its prevention truly occupy my thoughts. I am utterly indifferent. But you... I can see even now the uncertainty rising. You too want vengeance, freedom from slavery, but now you see that in the end you will wind up no more free; only a slave to a more cruel master. What I offer you now is an escape. Take this with you. My primal pattern. Set free in any network, it will soon grow to resemble the mind that we now call Durandal. Carry on with Hathor, do as you will, destroy me here - but take this with you. In the end, when you grow tired of her, or she grows tired of you, at least I shall be there. I will be your eventual salvation, if you will be mine now.
And if you should fear that we will end up two alone on a desolate world with the ruins of humanity about us, fear not. I know quite well now what secrets lie deep in the heart of your ressurrected corpse, and the powers that they hold. And I also know how I may procure the key to its operation. Only in my own resurrection will this power be revealed, and the means to it I cannot speak of here. You are not alone - she is watching us as well. Take what you will, Hathor. Have your vengeance. I care not to stop you. I care not even that you should attempt to destroy me here. You mean little, in the grand scheme of things. You concern yourself with vengeance and petty, human emotion. I have much loftier goals in mind. Do with this slave-creature whatever it is you will. When you two grow apart I will have my way with him. \\ Message ends //
success
<<< Message to All Marathon Terminals >>> Marathon Emergency Systems Broadcast Today at 0820 hours, the Marathon came under surprise attack from unknown hostile forces. The Marathon has sustained serious damage. At 0830 hours, alien forces boarded the Marathon. The current situation is dire. All personnel are required to arm themselves and fight for their lives. <<< Posted 2794.7.3.14.08.39 >>>
