Rattle of earthquakes

I woke up mostly with notice the heighten security my brother had going on. He has eyes all the way around, the live feed that will only record if something significant was going on. We had nothing on recorded as any sort of crime or hassle, so far.

I stay within the van for breakfast, right up to the time where I had to move us to our trade stand area. Driving past the stand off of more then just folks wanting us. The calm before the storm. There is more folks just standing around, waiting. A lot of folks with weapons on hip or as walking sticks. A lot out numbered the peace keepers for the city.

I think the city knew it too. They didn't allow in city walkers around alone and armed them with security measures. I had no approaches for trade, nor did I make it look as welcome as before. I have the side door partly open, a simple slogan and mostly watching the security on behalf of my brother whom is in sleep mode. It was right past outer city trade time, when I had the first customer.

"So this is how you are normally." The maid uniform but no sicko in sight. Brother did often report them in with the network. The second that I sent him something about them, his wide awake and active. This Maiden is quiet chatty about comparing thier homeland to this world. It was interesting to listen about as it was a distraction to lower my guard, of which wasn't enough for them to fool me out of the protection of my van. The longer silent I am of them ranting at me, the more tone is dropping. Annoyed of me not making any noise.

"I have no reason to seem rude. You just haven't gave me a chance to speak up. So forgive my interrupting." The sudden short stun silence from them. The slight tilt and then calm nod for me to continue speaking, "Normally trade is a exchange of something for something else. You want something that we might have, you would offer price. However, you are a special case. Not free stuff, simply easier negotiating."

"Aren't you going to introduce yourself properly?"

"Those whom trade among the dust keep business simple. No formalities. The culture of not putting a name to the next corpse you see shambling about is easier to cope with." I huffed lightly with a shurg, "But whatever. You know who I am. I am Kate Nick. I have a lot long list of fancy titles and many cultures whom rely on my show of respect. This isn't the time and place for formalities. This is just trade from a dust hand like me to a pure space visitor like you."

"You're quiet character. They all call me Maiden. The representative of my homeland, a second leader."

That has a lot of translation error or that they were making it less a deal then they are. They are a race whom lives on a gas planet like Neptune in another solar system. They have five leaders each whom represents factions. This was the second most important and often the most well traveled of them all. They are an electric cloud within a jellyfish like body, wearing a pressure doll suit for world travel like this. The parasites on thier world has been more like a common flu among them with minor inconvenience. Somehow a elder has survived long enough to inconvenience the first leader, which is why they needed advice from the plague doctor and then us.

"It seems I must be clear that I can't give you everything you want or need. I cant conjunction anything from nothing. I have the right to withhold essential things for my brother and myself survival. We can seek lost goods mostly anywhere on this planet, but not guarantee. I can't give you things we don't own without certainty."

"It makes sense." The seem to understand, "Your talk about parasites during the meeting has stirred silence and other negative consequences. You must realize that you have sentences yourself to death."

"I have had this conversation before. I have danced this argument often. I should write a book. Make it confess or a testimony."

The stance of folks ready for the lunge for this van. Most already trying to pick locks, hack systems and just more headaches. My brother frozen in the battle his being torn within. The protocol within the van acting up, spikes pinning every last area. The door isn't going to budget wider unless forced in a significant amount of strength. The battery consumption was being over charged, so just had to earth a ton of this pent energy onto the ground. I didn't want fry anyone with it.

"I am not here to be nice about what I want anymore." The maiden's translator was over sharing, "I will take you with me, so you will heal the first. You will open contact with the Outsiders again. You are still a servant under orders. Unable to..."

I growled now, it wasn't my intention to. But this was ignorance. Belittling and blackmail. Assuming that they will take without giving. I took manual control of this van. I snapped all hacking connections with my own processing links with my brother. The door slammed and the legs of a spider out. Lifting the van above the sea of trade tents and caravans. I walked us away, moving us over the city limits protection. I climbed through around within the van to sit on the drivers open window. With control and my own sight - I brought us to the open grounds. Sitting us back down.

"If we are going to fight, I don't want to risk killing innocent people." I told him. It wouldn't take long for the roaches to crawl my way. Plenty of them moved camps within my radius, acting like I was in need of some protection. In actual fact, these were more acquaintances that had interest of me being alive.

"Didn't you take the hipocratic oath not not kill intentionally?" At least his talking straight and acting normal enough. Declined several instances of video calls. I sigh with not wanting to get into what I had to so as a war combat surgeon. I believe that is also outdated practice now that new age of laws have enforced changes to medical care.

"Where were we... oh. Assuming that I couldn't kill people and that I took orders like a servant." I shouted directly with the approach of the maiden, "There has to be a base standard of understanding that I am no different to acting out as I wish as any human does." I slip around to sit on the van roof, "Oh, I may take orders from the EMA. It doesn't mean I act on them. So stop trying to hack the systems. They will not help you steal my freedom or my rights." It is hard to read the flat express of a fake face, "I can only give what I can and nothing more. Any more then that means I am gone quicker. I can't do the impossible. I can't preform a miracle."

"Whose side are you on?"

"None." I broken something or that there isn't a word for what that is in their language.

"We may work with accepting occasions orders from different places. We personally, my brother and I, do not have any trust with anyone else. Not even the space network. We can't be forced to do things we can't achieve. We take no side of whichever wars because there isn't a point for us to nose in that business. The parasites are not different status to us as any other creatures. They aren't above or bellow or equal. You are no above, below or equal. Its not fair to expect one standard to be the same standard else where. Earth price for basic essentials are not the same price in space or your world. Those essentials are the same for every race or world. A illness or plague is not treated the same ways by other races."

The blank stares of devolved conversation. I knew I hit a wall ages ago. It sure feels better to say it. The drop of communication requests were instant from this. So it seems that of the web of contact allies were falling into ashes. There is a notice of blocked contacts being filtered.

The maiden raises a hand, drifting most of the crowd to disappear. The maiden turns their back, some look back of expecting me to attack or stop them. Very clearly moving away. Frozen once again with how some others now made their approach openly. They too give some speech to be given cold shoulders and turned away. So many plain visitors that came to seek enslavement.

"Would you argue that I don't own you already?" The plague doctor to thrown a spanner in the works. A copy of my signed agreement from contract as a cellular photographer.

"You're a moron." I sent the law shift changes that makes that document invalid. Something I did once thawed out of ice that time ago, something my argument reality sent a reminder about when I scanned the document. The plague doctor was quick to be silver tongue is way in fancy language and dull talk. He has a losing battle in how I gave no response to him when he posed to me to play in this game.

"Can I trade? I not here for whatever the rest of this lot are here for." The federation of local space peace keeping for this solar system. The car thief as will remember. Shows me a weapon that was busted. Shows me some random alloy parts in exchange of fixing the gun.

"Mix meteorite remains." I did actually jump down from the roof. I dust off a little and took the weapon. A little tug with some parts and now it was in section that I can give my brother to find parts to replace. Everything it into a box and pass through the side door. Door closing sealed shut, "Might take a few hours." I shrug.

"That fair trade." The guy backs off to his buddies, they all asked his advice for how he got me to react nicely. He whispering about some advice about what he leaned about human society norms and some basic on economics to someone that does what I do.

"Pardon about before, forgive our ignorance. We did have something to ask for help."

Next potential customers were actually reasonable, now it was understandable of why I been stand off. This set had a crash signal of one their own in a radiation storm. They hope for any sort of report or update. It wasn't in the UK, this was somewhere else in the world. I couldn't offer much other then advice to whom to ask in the nearest dome city districts. The next was similar but outdated of how long ago it was about the crash. A penny drop with some words of explanation. So this second lot turned away with the dread of time to fast passing. A lot of folks coming together to reach contact with the creature mutants with their vaults of space goods for any potential personal belongings returned or not.

The maiden stood among the sudden flex of customers all waiting turns to hear my words or watch the exchanges. Human regular coming forward with local requests for plants or object found in the radiation area. Many needing the plants that become radiation absorbers to help lower it within the body.

A few talking in behalf of the ones on deaths door. Some humans has symptoms regarding to being electrocuted by alien tech or the nerve system acting up by a energy attack. The technology that would be lethal to visitors was just teasers for humans. Heart rhythm altering but nothing that wasn't as life threatening for the youthful and healthy.

The energy of foreign worlds could impact on the way nerves send messages to the brain as well as the heart rhythm. It could desensitise feeling of touch and at worse give a heart attack. If the area was concentrated, it could cook that portion of the body. More things to consider when treating anyone with this injury.

"Peace keeper for the local solar system." I waved the car thief guy over. His fully fixed gun returned, "Your payment in meteorite remains was acceptable payment due to the ratio contain within." He nods and looked around the at the stalemate stances of different groups here. Further in the trade stall market was full fighting, a war that the city has choose the only shield citizens. The dust merchants took arms in the fray independently.

Spectaculars realised this is how humans have always been, seeing this scene out in space in ships - that is what they whispered to each other in shock. How humans are broken cultures as translation says. I think they expected humans to act the same ways as each other, which is how other races act. Words that have no human translation show with dictionary definitions to me.

"Humans a chaotic beings. How do you even not collapse into war among yourselves?" The cop asking me thoughtlessly.

"War among humans has been stopped when folks like you lot from other worlds intervened in our affairs. The fight over each may still exist but it has to be on the back burner to deal with the potential threats you lot pose. Just look at all off you here walking around our planet like you own it, littering it with technology that could undo the work to fixing the environment and posing a war that didn't need you input about in order for us to make our own chooses." exactly as a normal human calmed and able to give a civil counter argument would sound.

"Is that machine's assessment of how humans are?" He asked.

"I was human. My brother is the machine." I made sure that fact was corrected. The few blinks of study of me, "Should I introduce myself again? I am sure after court you should know me. You stole the car." The backing a few steps away.

"Lady Nick, I thought you live in a city." A proper measuring up of my height and how I stood. The stare in how I was eye level and not little girl height. That I have grown fast to catch up with mental images. Still something of an adolescents height.

"No. I can't." I slip back into the van. Back to better guard for myself. The stalemate is wavering; twitchy trigger fingers and weapons hovering between aiming and lowering. Trade has completely been packed away with the weak are fleeing. The injured from closer the city is pushed past us now. The innocent caught in the cross fire.

A blast of sound echos, shuddering the lose remains of the old stadium seats. The clicks of the fortifications rolled down on all the city outer walls. The impact of ground with the drop of military grade sever puppet models. The first fire on them was with space tech, which simple over charged the circuitry. Giving machines a more force impact with returned shots. The same messages to stand down is being repeated, peaking over volume of the fighting. Humans pulled back into safety.

"Are you two alright?" A direct call in by Lucas Mulberry.

"We had to move out of trade fence to hope minimize the damage. It seems to only spread some confused folks to follow without fire." My brother answered, "We are ok. The maiden of the space international speaking is right here too. They seem confused with mistranslations or mixed information."

The machinery troops spread past the fence, not with weapons to hand but with medical aid. A few humans and others being given treatment and pulled to isolation recovery cells. Doing what is able with low skill or dexterity. Any aid threatened is allowed to stand to protect the patient at their feet. Stalemate returned again.

"Maiden, you have several messages from 8 different sources. It is of order by the 1st of your people that you are to return home. Not my words, theirs."

One of the AI from Lucas's team. Brave to push the stunned Maiden onto a transport and quicker move away from the plague doctor. The plague doctor having been tricked out of a pawn with power and influence under his control turns gaze to our van. The doctor was stopped with being detained by several groups of angery races - so his has bad terms with more then just us. The drowned dismay of loosing chances around my brother and myself, barred into a caged vehicle.

The deployment of the city's defence has cushioned the amount of resources and recovery it will take this place to be back. Groups being held back from anymore fighting in fragile alliance grounds. Smoothing tension back to minimum.

The damage was already done, it was to late for any face saving. Humans and machines are new pawns in the outer space wars. Spilling that war on our soil when we are recovering is going to be historically noted. Humans aren't going to be take any relations with full trust. Machines have this marked as a probability in all encounters after today. Maybe this was what the plague doctor wanted or this is side affect of his meddling. A 'trusted' from a being a first encounter is worn thin.

Going by the reports flooding in notifications, this wasn't the only city. This was a momentary global offensive accounting from all other countries with their dome city or vaults. The call out for defence releases was the space network watching earth from the orbit - not from humans. From machines. Humans are highly aware as machines, they would have to for giving up release passwords.

"Brother. We have other counting on us. We best check on those not in the system." I reminded him, not all creatures and humans live within safety of city. Colonies too. Caravan travel groups. Birds flocks. They all are going to need us.

"You aren't wrong. Not all of the population we care for is safe." I sit at the passengers side. He took us out of this trade post, spider climbing the carnage yet to be cleaned away. Thankfully there isn't any detection of life or bodies among it. That worry was on my mind as we left.

"This is only a temporary truce." He tells me.

"World War then?" I can help the imagination that flooded information data to me in response.

Accessing the Internet for a live feed image of the earth from space. Looking at the signals of groups whom need aid, that we can't be there personally. Subsequently marked for potential innocent people who need help, sent machine aid by the network watching what I was doing with this access. This is what having a machine core does, and the responsibility of keeping it. Its why the network has likely be pretending to be my dream tutor, that much was obvious now. The information my brother has been stressing and struggling with as equal holder of the responsibility.

I can't be alone when my mind is being shared like this. Creepiness having to be accepted with that. Taking out all machine parts at this point is death for what I am. It would be like the removal of safety measures given my dying humanity is concerned.

Thoughts being a distraction aside. Focus on what we have to do to aid before even thinking about World War is what matters.

Response of war has to be considered deeply, as it cost us more then we will ever calculate on any spread sheet.

Our world and everything's that lives on it is what the bargain chip. This isn't a fight between countries. This is our stakes in being a member among other worlds recognition.

A value of what part we play in a galaxy cluster. For all we know, our solar system is the real price, because we where late to their war.

May emotions can't paint the image of just how bad the reality it. How small and worthless it seems.

A ant along a stretching branch.