E1M1: The Black Gate

"It is malfunctioning. The process has been interrupted. What a calamity." A lance of yellow light emitted from The Oculus of "The Monitor."

A blue fac similie of it floated about Badger's head. "Curious. Primitive. With crude implements of war. Your species is Ill equipped to survive what is coming "Interloper." Badger had the distinct feeling he was naked before this automaton. "Feeble for a heavy gravity world specimen and yet..." A yellow light flashed a beam onto McCleod.

McLeod stumbled in surprised involuntarily sighing in relief. Even indirect exposure ellicited a moderate euphoria. McCleod didn't say anything but tilted his head. "I think it just scanned me."

"That is correct Interloper." The address came from the Oculus that was busy orbiting the commander. "This is unfortunate. Your physiology may not possess the robustness or intellect to interface successfully. Though this emanation, like a chitin in your species ancient literature, Ancient Sumer to be precise."

The oculus recalled its holographic counter part and fixed Zand in its stare. "Oh my! That is quite fortunate. Greetings Reclaimer. I am the Monitor of Installation Alpha, you may refer to me as Zero Zero One - Pious Mendicant. With the destruction of the Autodidact, I will lose function within the next few hours. I am The Monitor, Reclaimer, I must teach you. But this anomaly, it is consuming power rapidly, we must find some way to disrupt it." Turning its focus to the Commander and the pink aura he was seemingly trapped in.

It turned to McLeod. "You body is withing acceptable parameters to survive contact with the event Interloper. You may be able to extract the commander by sheer force."

"That thing is Radioactive as hell McCleod, lets get you some iodine before you do anything stupid." Tseng acknowledged but had reservations of the plan. "Radiation isn't that dangerous but it pays to be cautious."

Several lenses within the Oculus contracted, dilated, there was series of clicks within the Automaton. It regarded Zand, and Zand had the feeling that it was vivisecting him.

"Your genetic profile contains a particular gene. You may activate and interact with technologies your forebears left for your education. Hence you are a Reclaimer. It is my purpose to observe and educate, the very definition of "Monitor."

Rochenko had made a comment about how the field resembled a defensive matrix, how he died was not at all dissimilar to how burnout in a firewall would have occurred, though faster and far more violently.

"It was unfortunate, upon my activation my security protocol was also activated. The loss of the interloper was beyond my control. Regrettably this caused a surge within my housing. I too am, for lack of a better word dying." Pious Mendicant responded to Badger who had surmised the interface was specifically designed to reject the interloper.

Zand angled the rope, it was incredibly difficult, like ice fishing only upside down and backwards. Still after steadily easing it into place, Zand and McCleod managed to find a second point of purchase. Together they heaved and with immense effort managed to pull the commander free of the field.

As he exited the field, it collapsed and the Commander fell to the martian surface. As it collapsed, the dust storm began to abate. The AO clearing, radio transmission restored as the Tx Indicator on the HUD showed 3 out of 5 bars.

The Monitor considered deep in thought. "We caculate that the storm is a byproduct of the immense electromagnetic distortion that emanated when the Autodidact detonated. This Unit was not programmed with redundancies, regrettably I see no alternatives to my deactivation. A sufficient power source could not be found with your people's level of energy density. You are primitives compared to your Forebears. Though, their legacy it seems is available to you. This Autodidact, a library, meant to imprint upon your Forebear's mind. We have yet to identify the cause of the malfunction. Perhaps your Commander's brain lacked the processing capability for the volume of knowledge it attempted to grant him. This is problematic. The Coming War must be won in humanities favor."

"The Reclaimer Zand was indeed within the construct, this is however unexpected. The machine was not built for multiple users. Interface is possible, necesary, but your physiological differences will make the coupling hazardous. It might kill you. Given the malfunction it is ill advised to risk more than one."

The Oculus focused on Zand indicating its choice.

"Your commander has already made this journey. This one took the first steps. But the way is open to all."

Tseng was busily checking vitals but kept shaking her head, gasping, it was like she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "This is impossible! He is completely fine. But he's in some sort of trance. Like psychedelics, or nootropics. Both maybe? Its lucky, he could do some serious damage to himself, or any of us if he was conscious."

She ran a CT scan. "Alpha and Beta waves are null, Thetas off, like he is in a deep dream. Delta patterns are several thousand magnitudes greater than baseline as well. It looks like a Grand Mal seizure. But he's perfectly still, like paralysis, maybe he got hit with the defense matrix?"

The Monitor emitted several rapid clicks and whirrs as it processed the command. "Regrettably I cannot wake your Commander. The trauma may break his mind. He is too important to your continued survival. However, your Commander shows signs of recovery, he is within the standard recovery curve in spite of the malfunction." Turning it faced Zand and began to orbit the sphere of evaporating pink energy. "The path is perilous, little remains in the datas integrity. Though what remains should be enough to find the remaining Autodidact on the Jovian moon, Titan moreover this should grant you access to an index that will make your future query of the Creator's machines less hostile."

There was a shift in the Monitor, the lights inside it began to wane. "Regrettably, it seems my original calculations were incorrect, the severity of damage was beyond my initial scope. Allow me to give my last remaining power to shield your interface." The monitor shifted its gaze back and forth between Zand and Badger expectantly.