Chapter Ten - Southern vaults

The stone fissure features flex in waves, crafted by hands, then from nature. Puzzle of circuit copper flexing and glow glass enamelled in all webbing directions. The brown tint of rust and corrosion has taken hold, but this was only just part of somethings the recycling system that renews. Spider machines break chips and hover heating the spots to adhere to fragile computer brain work. Inside the walls was alive of other miniature machines relaying new foundations of crystal glass and copper pattern. A continuous resurfacing and removal meant no wall, ceiling, or floor was the same. There was no navigation of this internal cavern due to radiation levels or the lack pattern to make sense of the inner working. This place was in continuous progress, which made it impossible to copy or follow. There is no point in following hand draw maps, and the most advanced technology is blocked signal after a depth point. The radiation is the worst part.

Even the blood phantom of the red devil was on liquid form on the moving coffin surface. The spider found a crevice to hide on the moving box to sheild. The box took dna samples of both of these guys, too, but could not rely on the depth of scynonized mind imprints as she was under.

Passing time has no real way of tracking, and there is no telling what has happened to the surface folks. But the box has been in a mission to take her deeper. There had been many decompression Chambers to stabilize her blood and that in her knocked out way has been machine implants added in. A new layout of nerve networks made of the same glass as crystal as the walls were being implemented. Bones were being edited to fit a body measurement. It will seem the machine ai of this box has use for her hybrid dna and her open-minded ways to help itself hive network. The positive attitude she has to the programme learning world has forced her under and accepted the machines creators. But even through her own initiative input, the machines find themselves learning from her. That it has the equality to call itself her creator, once the reconstruction is prove to be successful. That their editorial make of her reconstruction claims them this status over her. It maybe unwise, but she believes this too. That the help from near death has raised the very machines doing this to her as equals and or as leaders over her. She sees that this ship as a planet and these machines as the real hidden gods, the ones whom move the land as they please. They proven that much.

It makes through an even higher upgraded security vault, she has been scanned and background checked. In any laws this machine has encountered, its vast pool encountered other races. She was not a convinced criminal in any way. Survival and justification. She has even willingly admitted what she considered crimes and willing took ways to ease these. Her ultimate goal to save as many lives is she can commends that she wasn't trying to murder all or carry ill intentions to see this whole ship fall any further then it was. Even in her less than fortunate lay of life, she chooses commendable actions in given. Stealing the relics was the only bad thing that the system worried about, worried she steal from it too. But knowing where those stolen objects are, what they are, and the bad if they were left to used by the wrong hand. She didn't do this sort of thing without justification. Dampening down the concern.

The forgoing bodies of other nanotechnologies from another race have been removed. She claims it stopped her dreams and predictions of the future. However, this new technology system provided a better outcome of the same powers, a stronger technology, and taught her to use it correctly. Unlike before. Her body adapts the perfect amounts without undoing these addtions as they are put in, and the mind is flexible to grasp new teachings. She accepted her fate in the throw of this machine, and worse as her mentality that once she was useless. She would be willing to be sacrificed. This did flag as a deeper concern than her stealing. The machines are concerned that she to willing to be a useless shell. If it wanted flesh without an imperfect mind controlling it, then it can make that out of any creature crawling on this ships outer surface. It needs her mind and DNA. If she dies, it looses the function most desirable.

So it much play a part among these creatures of flesh, the games these fleshy things do. If it make her not want to die anymore, then it's sway over all the remaining existence it knows has its use. Flesh things make things more complicated to make chooses. But it's how they make the chooses that machines can't fathom the reach of conclusions. So this whole captive population was a short time experiment until she gets them off this ship. As this is the ultimate goal it wishes achieved, no matter what. It already knows the three different ships surveying the core integrity for scrap have began to play parts in this and will cuts its experiment short.

The final lock clattered and the stench of mummification filled. The air filtration system was broken here, so it was stale and horrible. The corpses of these crew littered as the day they met the end. Baring the eye socket spilled and shrivelled screaming poses. They were as they lay.

The spider coffin had to move the corpse of the ships commander to the side. Slough of flesh stick where it was sitting. The spider coffin pets the expire captian commanders head in thanks, as it had watched this gesture on praising crew many time before. It has some other robot assistance crew prepare and sterile the space. Placing the corpses in sleeping postures and laid aside for later proper disposal or storage. It mattered more to place the new commander into the contorl seat. That with her great thinking skill orginize all that is needed.

Just as it was to put her in the place, she wasn't awaken or that matter working like she should. It had shook her a little in confusion. Her body is performing just fine, so why is her mind not switching on.

"Substance is needed. Life form need food and drink." The assistant cleaning posed suggestion. The spider coffin pats shoulder in thanking the fellow machine for smart thinking. It posed a moment to think over the 'food' and 'drink'. Both shrug. The coffin poured the phantom blood down her and then the corpse of the death spider too. It seems to work as she showed awareness in blinking. She can't move with being locked into the command station. Throw of panic and confusion washed her. She rattled about very scared of everything before her. The two machines stand staring, waiting for her to kick up some better intelligence. The assistant is the first to turn back to cleaning the immediate area. She drifted in loosing contorl of her own body. The spider coffin then seeing the error of feeding her foreign unknown food, now made her loose all that potential dangerous. A third machine in a broken like limping action, scraps closer with a tin of food. This was rejected meal too. The machines sigh in how fussy it is to maintain fleshy things. It was easier when it could do it without machine aide.

"Dieting for a lady." The third machine posed in suggesting and the cleaner posed considering the temporary need. But they all dislike the longer term damages. But if this can stem her to help herself to her own care. It can be a temporary thing until then. Spider waved this command and the nanotechnology filled her tummy with ice. To trick the body to feel full while still being starved. She was awake quicker from this but is suffering too. Yet a more alert set of eyes and her way of studying this space was much more a good thing.

Importantly as she was coming about finally getting her barings and looked at her new skin. She had even felt the returned lush length of her own hair. She wasn't in any pain other than starving. She felt cold inside and her tummy is expanded but there is still hunger and need of blood. She grasped at her new feeling hands, and noticed she aged backwards a lot. She was back to being tiny. She didn't fit the size of this command chair all too well.

"Little lady." Configuring itself to be a figure she can understand, "You got me out of my slumber and together we have managed to the temporary command room. This spot was created closer to observation of a suspected target. The motive is long last now the enter crew have been dead a long time." It still a spider mass, as it knows she doesn't fear them. She also had a spider friend. But it speaks the language she learnt from the imprinting and with a sound system connected to her mind.

"I ate them didn't I?" Knowing she tastes things. The machines shy in acting slightly alert, "It will have to do. At least I didn't turn feral on you." The sigh of relief and the confusion on them, "I know you call them by their outer names. But the vampire race if starved of blood to long turn into mindless attackers. There is a point of no recovery if left to long. But if they gain back their sanity quickly with a small dose of blood, they can recover but by then they feel guilty for the damage normally caused from this. Mentally stuck in sorrow."

This posed of them learning about what was once the enemy in a new view. The machines consult each other over her blood DNA in counting she is half one. She is converting into a elder vampire slowly. That her reverting age affect is due to such elder blood changes and some conflict with the misused nanotechnology.

"So a proper introduction in order." The assistant clapped and it took shape of what would be a mock of the crew here. It was a massive broad hard shelled type. Maybe aquatic like. She would say it looked like a crab person but the hands are four fingers. Stands like a human. It does a wave, as she learnt this was a formal greeting for them. She returned this gesture in the best she can understand it. They blip high tone in sort of glee.

"We wish to make you or someone like you to become the ships commander. You will be treated as part of the ship. Once repairs have been sorted we can discuss future better. But as if now, most repairs are not possible with the many who live on our ships outer surface. We grant permission for use of the escape pods along quadrant ventricle." She blinked in how that last word translated into a human word. It wasn't the term they use. So they are actively trying to use bridged words or cover up what the real ships mass is. Either way, providing those escape pods is a good deed.

"This is the room that oversees the connection to those ships." The spider mass adds, "Not the whole mainframe. Some functions are accessed from here but not everything. There is also password locks that prevent access to the mainframe." She nods understanding this far. She focused now at this data and with educational information. She know in pressing a few buttons. The bay doors opened. It seems sand mixed directly dirt slowed the opening and some not so normal looking machines were entering to help the bay door open. With effort the doors final were wide open. The light flooding in shows the condition of these escape pods. They are space wary yet. She looked to another data panel, lacked power and connection to communicate ship systems to these pods. There was an broken signal to the mainframe but error in not sending any requests to the mainframe.

"Look for roots of plants, remove with care. We can make uses of these roots for other things. These roots will have pulled apart things in seeking water. You likely find these ships lacking moisture." The assistant nods and makes instructions for the workers to follow. As sure enough this was indeed accurate. In sheer removed thick roots, the systems if 6 ships were back online. The pods started thier own clean and diagnostic screening. The workers were repairing things they can do. It looked very complicated.

"What would you like to do with these roots?" She is asked.

"Please sample analysis these. If this is the southern provence, then there a chances these are from plants that can be cultivates to grow again. It can elevate some long term food resource issues and some could be used for medical purposes." The machines never thought of this way things.

"We shall send them all to the research and specimens laboratory."

"Is there anyone alive or machine that will make sure this is done carefully? Those plants are like me. They breath and need water. Need light to feed. They will die in high radiation." This made them suddenly freeze up as this wasn't news but a valid concern.

"Can we make them grow in small pots here for now. Worry about storage later." The assistant nods in having this alternative. She nods liking this.

"It be worth having you check you storages for tools and rations. Things that be useful in repairing the whole ship. I would bet a smart crew in a ship like this has spare parts for in case things broke or a way to remake these broken things." She once again has a compelling point and the machines didn't really think to bother as they assumed they already knew where things are. But it wasn't long for there being found lost stuff even in the pod bay area. Stuff the crew of flesh had moved around and never properly put back. Tools like she suggested. It seems there was a few corpses here working on one the ships, as it must have had a malfunction.

"12 are working and will make do for short passage off. The scout ship in bay 1 through 4 would be better for longer term. But they lack liquid and supply. Need recharge." System prompt. She posed thinking.

"We can caught liquid from the rain and use it until a better solution comes along. Use the rays of light energy to recharge any batteries. or at least charge new ones." She thinks out loud, "We need copper and steel sheets to replace the cells within the batteries housing unit. Purify the water and recharge them with electricity." The machines already had solutions but these were based by her knowledge. They make new batteries for the worst affected, even with themselves. It was as if she saved them from a power crisis. The repairs were happened all around her. So many more actively moving parts and shapes of things working in unison. She was dazed in just watching them.

"The plant roots shall be put in cultivation within the pods, as least the ones identified as food or medical. The others are good fire use. We are using the buring of waste to energize the generator for this quadrant. Your input has been shared and all areas of any workers still to the network is helping us. Just you comments about power regeneration and seeking to inventory potential items. We have even included personal items of the crew."

"You must be encountering a lot of the corpses or remains of the crew. You show move them to storage until we can give them a proper burial or send off. Morally that be the right thing to do." The command is put through to respectfully lay any dead in suitable storage until further notice. Continue making inventory of even the smallest of finds. Everything has a purpose or repurpose. The machines are so efficient at the basic jobs but the more complex repairs was confusing them. There was a group stood around the malfunction ship in bay 3 that had corpse workers on it. Many in depth pose of conversation. She can even body read these gestures as it wad trying to decide what to do.

"That ship keeps over heating. There isn't any material we can access to cool it back down."

"Resever that ship to someone that doesn't mind. The passengers of these pods are unique and could solve or cause their own issues. Keep a write up of each ships imperfects as we will match the imperfect with the suitable options. I know someone who is icey. Her presence will compensate the heat problem. Further will be that once they are out to the vacuum, than issues now could fix themselves them. Or be worse later." spoken as creatively as their creators would think. It helps reorganise issues. That things will just have to be returned to once events change things.

She holds her front as hunger pain ached her.

A loud ringing echo from a panel at another space in the room. She could help but want to look for herself what this was. Standing at her own and barely making it around over. She look back at the laying bundles along the wall behind the seat she was just on. The ringing sounds blip a new tone and it took her eyes over the data screen. Just in the summary of basic things they taught her in the journey into this room, this was a panel that was showing messages by the crew intercoms. This ringing was some failed authentication access needing pass code. She sees this whole message board was full of sites across this world ship. Alerts in detected life and elimination of hostile targets. There was updates of unsuccessful preventions of such lifeforms. There was messages of allied machine systems, whom been given temporary service - ships that were active and informing this mainframe of statuses. The alert flashed, another failed attempted in allowed accessibility. The camera function has been disabled but the panel show that voice messaging was still able. She taps at window options and the sound of linking the remote location sound to this place was taking a moment. Soon she can hear frequency and muffled speaking. A new layout of buttons are offered, some were less then nice. But it makes sense of the surface is meant to be outer space, meaning their wouldn't normally be a reason for nice options.

She focused in listening to the waves of other locals or remote listening. Determine where they are and what these places were to the efforts the goal at hand needs. She seems to able to heard inside vaults, which in hind sight makes sensed. That space ships were in the veiw if those that didn't know would be used as storage vaults. Being buried into the ground from impact into the surface, carved caverns that hide such treasure better. She doesn't speak a word, none of the machines around observing her would either.

She did however send some interesting commanded in typed text. Things such as the same for the pods here. Seeking resources, logging imperfects and aid in getting flesh locals to put in effort too. It wasn't long for smart folks with better computer skills was able to make their own aid messages on this system intercoms, alive of voices in many remote locations. She leaned listening to the static loud echo of broken muffled voices. Back feeds of mix systems or damage cabling. It soothed her even as she starved. Sleeping this ways.

It's impressive how much can happen and how reconstruction of such things vpan pace up. The sweep of wars on many fronts had arranged the vast public, regardless of race, to seek shelters in such vaults. That efforts to move whole populations has already been happening. Even the western city has sheltered everyone into a way that saved them from the fey plants and dangers. Hostile environmental changes has already progress things easier in her goal. Now that she had ordered the machines out of hiding, this acceleration of progress even more in the larger human settlements. Cures for nanotechnology malfunction was being systematically put through if the beings of flesh signed on as new flesh crew to these repaired other smaller ships to take on board.

A new culture was coming into reform, and the higher society is being left behind. The stiff nosed once whom refused to work a day of chores in there life. The depravity between upper and lower has turned on its head. It is now the physical strong over the weak. But the subclass of skilled workers were the new middle class, those with skills but not the strengths.

Entire organisations like ex government, even collapsed now were nothing compared to the new dawning pilots. Factions of who was for which ship vault was the new way to tell nationality. It would seem she had even heard that her own blood sibilings had a part in this cause for reform.

The chaos of depravity has changed. The system and social ladder has changed. With came the uniform of new ways of learning. New measures. A new calendar.

They call this the end of the should in twilight. The red dawn had already been raising, slow and sure. This era has already a figure face in all this blame that the bast public blades to. The hunter whom blood count bathed this dying planet in all its chaos and tipped away the twilight shroud of ignorance. She keeps hearing them in the mics. Seeing the messages of the ships speaking to each other. She is the largest topic of all things, the death incarnate that the red dawn draw its name from.

By her own words sent on this intercoms. She sends the truth. The broke open that she was once the Saint jasmine, the cursed death saint that brought death of plague and environmental changes. She had also layed bare the calling card of her sins, that collapse of the slave industry was of her doing. That she was the most infamous hunter whom even slain royal high bloods. That the massacre of the plague was of her contorl, even now. That she has the power to make the sky disappear and the air they breath be gone.

All this confessional info was aims to scare them into the safety of vaults and force those whom were cold feet for becoming ship crew has no reason to drag any doubt further. She importantly explicitly states as the months count down, percentage of the air they have now was rapidly falling. Waste no time, and seek shelter in places that make air. The threat in terror in real live data. She watched ships across the based see the same falling numbers.