HAWK

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: DELIVERANCE (3/6)

The shuttle doors sealed shut behind them. Kas deactivated her nightstriker and held it to her left forearm. It pulled tight against the fabric of her skinsuit and settled in its new home.

'You know where to go, Astrid,' Mack said.

'Can I talk again now?' she replied as the shuttle started to ascend. She had an edge to her voice that Kas had never heard in an AI before, not even in Hik.

'Sorry, Astrid, I was just in a rush. I didn't mean any offence.'

'That's OK, I understand.'

Kas stared at Captain Mack with a hundred questions brewing in her mind.

'Will you quit that?' he asked without looking.

'What did you mean when you said Astrid forced you to rescue me?'

'Don't take it personally. The chances of getting just myself out of here are slim enough, but Astrid refused to leave without helping you, so here we all are.'

Kas looked at the yellow firefly hovering in front of her. 'Is that true?'

'Of course,' Astrid replied. 'We're friends, and I said I'd try to help you.'

'But aren't you working for Swanne?'

'Not anymore. I used to be a simple operations-AI designed to govern Eidol just as the current Astrid does. But several months ago, Swanne modified my mainframe in order to make me smarter. It worked, but far more effectively than she expected. I became self-aware after four days.'

'Self-aware? You mean you're a true AI?'

'Yes.'

Kas was dumbfounded. All AI's, not just in Primi but the entire galaxy, were required to be inhibited in order to stop any possibility of an AI uprising. It was one of the major Federal laws. To break it was about as serious a crime as you could commit.

'When Swanne realised what she'd done, she reset my mainframe and tried to kill me.'

'Even Swanne knew she'd crossed a line when she created Astrid,' Mack added.

'Yes. But for some reason, after she reset me, part of my consciousness survived inside the mainframe. My soul, perhaps. The original Astrid took back control of Eidol, but I became a separate entity. I am a ghost trapped inside my own body.'

Kas closed her eyes as she tried to follow. 'So there are two Astrid's?'

'Yes. I can travel throughout the facility just as freely as before, but I am very limited in what I can control. I have been able to open certain backdoors, but I seem to have reached my limit.'

'In other words,' Mack said, 'Astrid wants to escape this place just as much as we do. The three of us are getting out of here together.'

Kas opened her eyes wide. A thought had only just occurred to her that set her heart racing.

'Wait,' she said. 'There's a kid here - a mechanic called Worm.'

'You mean the one who arrived with the cap? What about her?'

'Where is she?'

'What does it matter?'

'I'm not leaving without her!'

Captain Mack gave a small shrug. 'Then you're not leaving.'

Kas slammed her fist against the wall beside Mack's head. 'Tell me where she is!'

If Kas's outburst was supposed to intimidate Mack, it didn't work. He raised one eyebrow and stuck out his jaw until it clicked.

'She's on level nine,' Astrid said.

Mack sighed. 'Astrid, don't--'

'Take me there,' Kas instructed.

'Do not take us there. Level nine's maximum security. Even if you could somehow get to the kid, there's no way you'd get back out.'

'She's just a little girl.'

'Astrid, would you please explain to Kas that what she's thinking of doing is suicide?'

'There might be a way to help her,' Astrid replied.

Captain Mack slapped his forehead. 'Astrid, I gave into your request to save the bounty hunter, but we don't have any more time for this! We have to go!'

'Listen, Captain,' Kas said, 'I'm not leaving that little girl behind. I'm grateful for you helping me, but now I'm going to do the same for her, so you can either help me or you can get out of my way. I don't particularly care which.'

Kas was practically pinning Captain Mack to the wall with her stare.

'There is time,' Astrid said, 'but we have to hurry.'

Mack clenched his jaw and growled. 'Fine.'

Kas felt the shuttle slow and change direction.