Unity © by Alan Grimes 1998
All Rights Reserved
Webpage by Jilli / Fate

UNITY

AKA Alan the Grimes

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It began. Student C was sitting next to the pleasure unit. Student E was the next one down. C saw something he had never seen before. It was his cybernetics informing him that somebody had requested to merge with his body. "Should I merge?" he asked E. He really didn't know. "Yes!" she said.

The pleasure unit started the process with the next and the next one by one they all neutrally obeyed Student E and answered yes. E was far more eager than the others. Soon the class looked like one large blob of flesh. The pleasure unit's head was the only thing that looked human about it. To complete the joining she slept.

Awakening the pleasure unit felt a sort of euphoria that it never could have dreamed of before. Its blob-like body was still sore from the transformation but for the first time in its life it felt and it felt happy. The next instruction in its program was to initiate the fantasy environment and welcome the visitors to her body. She, for the first time in her life, told the computer to go to hell. She did check on the newcomers though. She discovered that they were cyborgs. She wasn't supposed to serve cyborgs. More precisely cyborgs were designed so that they weren't supposed to seek her services. Oh well.

Examining the situation more closely she discovered that they had changed her so that she would be able to think and feel. She thanked them collectively. Their responses were like this. 'Welcome!' from Student E, 'input noted' from most of the others. The teacher said 'Unhandled situation encountered, abnormal program termination.' The newly enlightened pleasure unit realized that the people she was housing inside her body were handicapped like she herself had been. She looked in to see what she could do to remedy the situation. She adjusted the controls on all of their brains to full capacity. It would take a sleep/wake cycle for the changes to take effect. She could wait.

E asked in wonder 'Is this what merge is like?' The pleasure unit knew that E was just as dumb as she herself was yesterday. 'Yes.' she responded. 'Awesome!' Student E responded. E was enjoying the new sensations. C mechanically reached into the pleasure unit's mind and started accessing the computer the pleasure unit was connected to. The pleasure unit allowed the contact but it wasn't too comfortable having someone else using your cybernetics. Student C then scanned the teacher for a similar connexion. It reported to the group. 'The teacher unit is a class 3 servant unit. Its connection to the central computer is established but the machine itself is down. The class 4 pleasure unit is connected to the local systems of this module and the hydroponics lab adjacent to this module.'

The pleasure unit was impressed by C's speed and skill. He would be even better once his emotions were activated and he could make decisions for himself. They explored their new environment and each other's minds. Unlike humans who's minds could only communicate, Borg minds could literally join together and function as one mind. They spent the rest of the day experimenting with the things that they could now do.

The next morning came and they discovered that their minds could leave the blob and explore the outside world. They discovered that each of their ranges was limited, they couldn't see light but could feel objects. They could push things but they weren't very strong. But when they joined their minds together they could multiply their powers. So that is what they did. What had recently been group of individuals became a cluster.

The cluster began exploring the planet. It had no particular agenda or motive save curiosity. It was slow going despite the fact that the consciousness of the cluster could move in any direction and through walls. Everything looked so different. The cluster could sense the physical essence of matter but it couldn't see it. It couldn't use a computer console. It could sense the screen and some of the energy emissions but it couldn't the light as it was intended to be interpreted by human eyes.

Occasionally they would happen across another waiting servant unit. They would note its location and condition and then pass on. They had decided that it would be a much better idea to survey the situation fully and completely before doing anything to make the situation worse.

Things were already on a highway to hell. The computer was the only thing maintaining the place as it was. By the teacher's own memory this guardian of the status quo was clinically dead. They had yet to come across it but already wondered how what it needed and how to go about providing the required actions. They would need a proxy, a unit to physically be in the room, that they could communicate with and instruct telepathically. They could push buttons but not read the screens. An engineer unit would be ideal because it could directly interface with the machine. Even a fighter unit would be useful because its eyes could interpret the light from the screens that then be relayed back to The Cluster.

It experimented with this technique with a servant unit. The technique worked reasonably well. The only thing that could improve it would be if they had a direct data link through the computers to that unit. Telepathy was no substitute for a hard data link. Happily some of the engineer units appeared to be connecting the computers. The Cluster sent instructions to the engineer units who were not doing other repairs to do the same.

The only thing that the cluster feared was what it termed "The Day of No Salvation" The hypothetical day when too much of the computer had failed for there to be any hope of restoring the computer and giving the colony a future. It knew that it could have many thousands of hours still to work with or just a few. It tried to control its anxiety. Anxiety wouldn't be helpful when the computer was found.

The halls and passageways became more orderly as if a pre-set pattern was being followed instead of pure randomness. The Cluster's consciousness glided smoothly down the halls. Doors and side passages flashed past. The Cluster could feel the energy field of Power Station 1. They were getting close to the original seed factory and the computer. There was a large administrative complex. Closer. They moved through the floor of the atrium. In the level below there were rows of cubicles. A level below that was the police headquarters.

Down another level was the engineering controls of the entire colony. The cluster wished it could analyze them but it would have to find a unit to actually do anything with them. This was a scouting expedition. Today find the computer, tomorrow find a servant unit to figure out what to do with it.

A few rooms over was a door guarded by a fighter unit. It appeared to be fatigued but still functional. Behind that door was row after row of computer processor. There was some raised lettering on the sides of the cases. It read: 3260 XG It was the computer core. Student C's mind informed the cluster that from its reading about computers it knew that a setup such as this would have a control room usually located nearby.

There was a small round room with several chairs and consoles around the walls. It was a control room. It had two doors, both guarded. The guards must only be a temporary obstacle because any repair effort would have to begin there.

The cluster decided to see if it could order the guards to stand aside. It reached into the guards brain but was blocked. The fighter units were shielded against telepathic contact! This was a major setback. The teacher unit was on the same network as the fighters but the fighters were protected by a password lock. With all access to the computer blocked and therefore no way of communicating with the ones who were blocking access the situation was to all extent hopeless. The Cluster withdrew to consider its options.

The cluster went searching for a servant unit near the government complex. There was one in a janitorial closet. The Cluster contacted its mind and brought its faculties up to full power. The cluster then rested for the night and returned the next day. The servant unit had moved. Instead of waiting in its niche patiently it was wandering around the area. It head was down and it was crying. The cluster contacted it 'Why do you cry?'

'I cry for all the time I wasted. I cry for the people who aren't here. I cry because I am lonely. Who are you?' It looked up slightly realizing that it might now have a friend to talk to.

'We are The Cluster. Will you help us?'

'What is it you need me to do?' It was suspicious but not unwilling to help.

'We need you to be our eyes and ears as we attempt to fix the computer.'

The servant unit knew a little bit about the situation. It was not unwilling to help. It nodded its agreement. 'Good, now walk down the passage on your right. It will take you into the lift. Take the lift down two levels and wait for instruction.' The servant unit obeyed. It was still troubled but at least now it had the purpose of obeying this strange master. The lift was propelled downward by small electric motors imbedded in the shaft. The gravity on the planet wasn't enough to pull the car down at a respectable rate. There were gravity generators in the floor to provide for human comfort in many of the modules.

The car whirred to a stop. The doors hissed softly as the pneumatics operated the doors. There was a reception area. Behind that there were cubicles with workstations. The voice of The Cluster whispered softly into the custodian's ear. 'Walk past the cubicles and through the doors on the left. There will be a hall at the end there should be a door to the control room. ' The custodian began to walk. On the other side of the doors the workstations were just as described. Then he opened the door to the hall that led to the control room. There were two fighter units at the far end guarding the single windowless door to the control room. It was wide enough to allow for the dimensions of the computer modules.

He thought 'The door is guarded. What should I do?' The response came instantly 'Don't worry. Walk to them tell them that you are repair personnel and that you need to access the control room.' The Custodian was afraid. It had a bad feeling about this. Courageously it stepped forward. The guards responded.

"Halt! No admittance beyond this point." The guards stood up on their hind legs and brandished their claws. The Custodian unit made his speech. "I am repair personnel I need to enter and fix the computer." The guards betrayed no signs of even hearing the custodian unit.

The Cluster ordered the Custodian to take one fatal step forward. The fighter units moved swiftly and decisively. The custodian was cleanly decapitated and disemboweled. The custodian's cybernetics made considered repairing the damage but then decided it would be better just to give up and clean up after the mess.

The Pleasure unit started to cry. Its stomach was turning in horror and guilt. It could feel the last moments of the custodian in its memory. It was so horrible. How could a mind spanning seven brains be so damned *stupid*. STUPID STUPID STUPID! It collected its thoughts. It couldn't dwell too long on the past when there was a future to be built. Looking for another plan it resumed its search of the complex. Even in the most disheveled areas of the complex there was one constant. Everything was clean and in new condition. This constant was violated as the mind of the cluster toured the other side of the colony. There was an altogether alien device ahead. It was a lighted warning sign. By analyzing the pattern mask behind the amber cell the cluster read "DANGER LETHAL RADIATION". This was most intriguing. The cluster silently passed through the door. It noticed that the door had been welded shut from the side that was supposed to have the radiation. Curious.

The Cluster detected that there wasn't any radiation. There was something wrong with the tunnels in here. The walls had been cut out and much of the equipment and computers had been removed. There were stacks of boxes of parts and stuffs that took up most of the hall leaving only enough space for a humanoid to squeeze by.

Somebody alive and intelligent was living here. The cluster moved forward. There was some kind of room up ahead. There was what looked like an ore processor/smelter that was being fed by robots pushing carts. The cluster could feel the robots scanning its energy probe but they didn't respond. There was a tunnel at a steep angle down. Glancing down in that direction the cluster saw short squat mining robots with drills for arms kicking out the rocks. In the other direction ingots of platinum were being fed into an alien ore freighter.

The cluster knew a fair amount about ships. It knew the design patterns of the ore freighters that the colonists had built. This was not one of them It wasn't even built with the same units of measurement. Inside the cluster found computers, machines, a few maintenance robots and bins full of stacks of platinum ingots. The Cluster was angry. These robots were stealing the colony's Platinum!

The Cluster noticed a locked closet. The cluster could detect that it was dark inside. There was a Servant unit kneeling on the floor. Its coveralls were worn and tattered. There were crude cybernetic implants sticking out of its skull. Apparently the robots had tried to make this one more machine and less flesh. In front of it was a small alter and one tiny oil candle. It stared at the flame in tranced. It whispered a prayer to its god Po The Kind. It loved its meek little god dearly. The cluster first tried to access its normal cybernetics but apparently the robots had attempted to reprogram them and the normal controls were gone. Its normal cybernetics were mostly still functional but they would have to be reprogrammed. The cluster from reading the slave's thoughts could see that in poking implants into its brain it had activated most of the emotional centers and a good deal of the intelligence but the brain on a whole was damaged and prone to such irrationalities as this notion of a god named Po.

The cluster felt it had to help this person. It decided to think its plan through carefully before it took any actions. The lock on the closet was easy the Cluster could induce the electrical pulse that it would take to open it. Getting the slave out of the ship and into a medical module would be more complicated.

The robots in the recharging lounge were another problem. They sat and traded anecdotes about missions long past. The cluster was amazed how much they acted like humans were supposed to. Apparently they were designed to communicate using humanoid telepathy as well as direct lanlink. Perhaps a distraction would work. Flooding their minds with random thoughts would be effective and unnoticed. The ship had no security features that would keep a person inside. But the barricade that locked out the Fighter Units was an effective barrier. The cluster scanned the ship and found a blow torch that appeared to be usable.

Telekenetically the Cluster checked the torch. It worked. The plan was laid. The cluster redirected its attention to the slave girl. She looked up and then jumped to her feet. She could have sworn that she had heard a voice. "Po?" She was both frightened and eager in anticipation. Her mind was too confused to really know what she wanted but she hoped desperately that Po would lead the way. The cluster relayed its instructions. Slave girl didn't really like the idea of going against the wishes of the IronMen but if Po told her to do it she would.

The robots were distracted the door was open and the plan was set in motion. Motion was something unexpectedly difficult for the slave girl. The robots had implanted mechanical motor control units. The slave girl could only walk in slow measured steps. 'FASTER!' The cluster pleaded. The ship wasn't sitting perfectly level this only added to the ex-slave's difficulties. By and by the slave girl did make it to the tool room. She retrieved the torch and then started for the airlock. Curious that a ship for robots who didn't need air still retained full life support features. The slave girl made it unnoticed all the way to the door.

The robots didn't seem to care at all that she was leaving them. The torch broke the bond holding the door shut and she was in the city.

The Cluster directed her to go to a medical facility to be repaired. The slave girl kept responding 'yes Po', 'As you wish Po'. The cluster was really beginning to worry about what would happen once she learned that there was no 'Po' and that the Cluster was no more than a pile of other beings just like herself.

The Cluster had to repair the slave girl. To do that the cluster would have to use a medical facility to do it. The nearest medical facility was a mile away. The cluster had the patience but the slave girl didn't have the strength. About thirty minutes into the trip the slave girl's alien cybernetics lost power. The cluster then had to manually send impulses to the slave girl's muscle groups. Her movements became awkward. She stumbled and fell several times. She ended up crawling. Her head drooped under the weight of the cybernetics. She was guided by her mysterious god alone. She was still and always would be eager to follow her mysterious god.

The MedMod hadn't been touched since it was built over six hundred years ago. The air was as still as a gaseous substance could be. All of a sudden the lights came up. The door slid open. The slave girl slowly dragged herself in. With great effort the cluster was able to get the slave girl up onto one of the examination tables. With horror the cluster realized that it had no control over the table. The controls were designed for a human eyes. The data displayed on the screen was unavailable to the cluster. Since the slave girl couldn't be both patient and doctor she would just have to wait.

The cluster was really ticked. It couldn't do much until the datalink was installed into the chamber where it was. Given the horribly disordered state of the region where it was that might be never. On the other hand that now that the engineer units were on the job they were doing a terrific job getting everything working. Perhaps it wouldn't be very long at all.

The cluster turned its attention once again to its long term problems. The computer had to be fixed. The Fighter units would have to be disabled or bypassed somehow! Perhaps one of the Engineer units who had participated in the construction of the Government complex would be of help. Whether it would actually remember what it had built over seven hundred fifty years ago was another question.

Then there was the issue of the robots. They were a complete mystery. Something completely alien and unintelligible. They would have to be kept alive so that their mystery could be unlocked but they must not be allowed to continue to steal from the colony... In the midst of scheming the cluster was interrupted by an engineer unit that had entered the pleasure module. It took no notice of the strange entity that sat in the center of the room instead it simply went about making the hardware and software modifications that would allow the computers in this module to talk to the computers in the adjacent modules. They were in business!

They connected to the MedMod and tried to access the examination table. They confronted a log in prompt intended to protect patient privacy. Luckily they discovered that no passwords had been set, Open log in!

The table only took thirty seconds to analyze the hardware implanted in the slave girl. There were two types of hardware in her system. Her original hardware that was designed to augment her flesh and an alien hardware that was designed to replace the flesh. The Cluster ordered the table to remove the alien hardware and restore the original hardware back to spec. The operation took twelve hours. The cluster had created a normal cybernetically augmented human female. The Cluster named its creation Crystal. The table had stripped away all the old rags that were still clinging to her body she lay naked.

Crystal awoke. She sucked in a long gasping breath of air. She started trembling all over. The cluster checked her readings. Physically she was completely restored. She sat up and looked around the room. She wasn't really cold. It was the experience that was making her tremble. She was all alone she realized. Completely Totally untenably alone. The cluster tried to rasure her 'We're here.'

"Go away." She told them. She went over to one of the bathrooms. There was a mirror. She looked at herself. She looked quite good considering what she had been through. Her hair was long and black in some places and completely absent where her implants had been. She was completely horrified by the entire experience. "Oh my god, this is reality." The cluster couldn't intervene in this internal crisis. Reality was something Crystal would have to face and overcome herself. Crystal could feel her mind and everything around her with absolute and perfect clarity. With the benefit of sense perceptions and thought processes designed and optimized using the best computer software developed she had every advantage her designers could conceive. There was no Po. The stainless steel of the sink was hard and cold. She could feel each individual atom and how it interlocked with the next to form the surface. There was no Po.

She turned the faucet The knob was a little sticky but it turned. A clear stream of 99% pure water flowed. It was cold to the touch. She wet her hands and then her face. It was not Po. She looked around and into herself. All that she could sense was an empty and silent brain which had once been filled with a myriad of digital signals. A powerfully strong and healthy body. A steel sink, a flow of cold clear water, this drab little washroom. And an entire universe waiting beyond the blue door.

She cried for Po. She cried for herself. "Change me back!" She cried "You had no right." The response filled her mind. 'You are as you were made and more. We have given you the opportunity to change the universe.'

"How could you place such an odious burden on my back. You had no right to take my freedom from me."

"We share your burden. It is something that has fallen on our shoulders by a freak accident of nature. It rests upon all who stand. It is our duty to lift it up."

Do she dare go out? She had to. There was no choice. She stopped the flow of water, placed her hands under the hand-dryer and left the room. The cluster told her that her first jobs were to connect herself to one of the computers and to find something to wear. As Crystal set about her work she wondered how the cluster had handled the situation without anybody to tell it what to do. Having a master was freedom.

In the MedMod there was a tranciever unit for her cybernetics. She installed it and found that she would have to make some adjustments to a whirring closet down the hall to get it to work. The job was easy even for her minimal knowledge of such things. The cluster eagerly interfaced directly into her brain. She could feel their minds melding. It wasn't at all unpleasant. In fact she realized that she enjoyed it to a large extent.

A freshly manufactured jumpsuit was waiting for her at the dispensary. She slid her body into it. The fit was perfect. It really didn't benefit her except in that it had pockets that might be useful to carry stuff. The first of her labors was to see to it that the robots would never again steal from the city. She walked the streets of the city until she found a fighter unit. It stopped respectfully as she approached. "There is an emergency... "

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