Chapter 463 (2/2)
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Dreams was in her cabin, in the resting pose, watching Mister Rings swing from branch to branch, chasing a Pacific Northwest Buttersquirrel solid light construct that had a core of RealMeat for him to snack on.
She had asked virtually every species aboard the massive Pubvian flagship if they thought the humans were gone forever.
The answered had ranged from ”Yes, but...” to ”No, although...” and had all universally agreed.
Whoever had done the deed would regret it eventually.
Probably when a warsteel coated fist slammed into the last of their species member's skull.
”Operator,” she said softly.
”Yes, Madame Diplomat,” the ship's computer, an eVI, said softly.
”Run a search for retribution with a filter for Terran military operations or theory,” she said softly.
”I have sixty-two trillion search results, please refine your search,” the eVI said.
”Search for retributive military strikes cross referenced with mutually assured destruction,” she tried.
”Working. Diplomatic authority required,” the eVI said.
Dreams of Something More gave her authorization.
”Two point two million results, Madame Diplomat,” the eVI said.
”When was the oldest determined?” she asked.
”Pre-Glassing Terra, the Burger Wars, specifically Jack's War,” the eVI said. ”It is the concept of ensuring beyond mutually assured destruction, that your opponent, indeed, the entire world itself, will be obliterated in order to deny anyone the luxury of victory. Specifically, listed as 'From Hell's Heart' doctrine. The Extinction Agenda Virus was believed to be a stolen bioweapon from this philosophy of military doctrine.”
Dreams sighed.
”Request data for the Nosferatu Initiative,” she tried.
”No records found,” the eVI said.
Dreams frowned. ”No?”
”Zero records found for 'Nosferatu Initiative', Madame Diplomat. Would you like to try another keyword search?” the eVI said.
”No,” she stretched. ”Summon Words Spoken We Fear and engage Diplomatic Privacy Mode, all recordings are to be encrypted and sealed.”
”Executing,” the eVI said. Dreams noticed it sounded a little huffy.
The black mantid arrived fairly quickly. Dreams noted that he looked extremely tired. He settled down on a rock near the stream and reached out to stir the water with the tip of one bladearm.
”I've been thinking,” Dreams started.
”That's your first mistake,” Speaks said. ”Just embrace the horror.”
Dreams frowned. ”Still, you know that our being forced to flee after multiple assassination attempts activated something called the Nosferatu Initiative that's apparently been following diplomats for like five thousand years.”
Speaks nodded, cleaning his antenna slowly. ”Yeah. It's about the only slice of amusement aside from Mister Rings ate an assassin.”
”It's not in the Diplomatic Secure Information Database,” Dreams said.
Speaks shook his head. ”It wouldn't, just in case our databases were taken intact.”
”I've talked to other diplomats that are aboard the vessel,” she said softly. ”We're heading back to Lanaktallan Space to negotiate a peace treaty.”
”But will the Unified Council think we're coming from a position of weakness?” Speaks asked.
Dreams shrugged. ”The Confederacy is more than humans. The Treana'ad have millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of trained soldiers and those soldiers are equipped with Terran quality weaponry, training, tactics and doctrine. Our new allies the Telkan and Leebawian, just to name two, are mobilizing for war.”
”But will the Council see that?” Speaks asked.
Dreams looked up at the starry night above the 'branches' of the glade she was sitting in. She found the North Star and Orion, and stared for a long moment.
”That is a worry for when we arrive,” she said. ”I fear what might have been released by the extinction of the Terrans.”
”Which is why you brought up the Nosferatu Initiative,” Speaks said. He yawned. ”What's wrong?”
Dreams tapped one of the rocks for a long moment. ”I fear, as the Hive Lords and Hive Queens should have, that what we see now, with the extinction of humanity and their perceived defeat,” she took a deep breath and released it. ”Is just the pause before humanity's wrath is unleashed as it was during their war against our people.”
She looked down at the rock in front of her, where she was scraping one bladearm against it, sharpening it.
”I fear the emergence of something far far worse than anything that could be imagined,” Dreams looked up. ”in fact, I fear it has already begun.”
Speaks frowned. ”How so?”
”Fights managed to get a DNA sample from the humans who enabled our rescue,” Dreams said. ”Most of the information I did not understand, but she broke it down for me plain and simple.”
”Broke what down?” Speaks asked.
”Those humans had evidence of genetic engineering. Not the current method, a strange method, with very precise modification,” Dreams said. ”However, they weren't like modern humans.”
”How so?” Speaks asked.
Dreams looked up. ”They were Pre-Glassing, Pre-Diaispora, possibly even pre-superluminal drive Terrans.”
”You mean, real OG humans?” Speaks asked.
”How could she tell?” Speaks asked. ”Was there some way to pin down roughly when? They seemed adapt at weaponry and computer technology. They're obviously fairly recent.”
Dreams shook her head. ”All of them had antibodies in their system for something that should be impossible,” Dreams leaned forward something. ”They had antibodies due to a vaccination regimen for a virulent plague virus with a rather innocent sounding name. One that's been extinct since before humanity created their global information network.”
Speaks frowned. ”Which one?”
”Smallpox.”
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Despite the fact they were still reeling from the unexpected turn of events at the Entry Point, the Atrekna felt a cold satisfaction at what they had accomplished.
Throughout the Feeding Systems, the bright raging spark of feral primitivism had been extinguished.
Sure, there were a few outliers, a few datapoints that had not been subdued, but already the Atrekna had been able to establish themselves on several of the ancient worlds beneath a cool red sun.
The ferals had been eliminated.
The food had no future but enslavement and a return to their proper place. The Mantid would be destroyed, as they should have been before. The Lanaktallan would be re-gentled and return to being consumed.
Hive worlds for the Great Extractor Species would be established.
They would domesticate the remains of the Galactic Stub.
Then would come the domestication of the galaxy, and eventually, the universe itself.
It all belonged to them.
After all, what could stop them?
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Behold.
Humanity.