By David C. Daoust
The level of tech awareness was pretty low throughout the Onion. Technology, for the most part, was so user-friendly that any device could be scooped up and figured out in a matter of moments. Even complex vehicles, like for example a transport ship, could be used by anyone, without any specialized training whatsoever.
A lot of this was largely in thanks to the games that permeated the Hub, people had been using pretty much the same controls to defeat their childhood friends, as they would later in life, just driving to work. Any complex computations, and behind the scenes programming, involved in the launch and propulsion of such vehicles, were taken care of by the AIs.
For the human pilots, it is more like steering a horse, allowing for the animal to deal with the minute details of balance and hoof falls, while the human just commanded direction and acceleration. This created a blindside among humans, they trusted technology as much as they trusted their own heart to keep beating, any failure to perform was as startling as a heart attack.
Ivan had a much greater understanding of technology, largely due to his awareness of just how much control the Arks still held over the humans. The Red Faction limited access to a degree far greater than all others in the Onion. Not only in restricting droid access to their private holdings, but also crippling standards other governments didn’t bat an eye at. The Red Faction had instituted a programming language that did not mesh well with the rest of the Onion. The AIs still had access to do what they needed to, at a machine-language level, the same as they do for all other groups, the language just hampered any communication between foreign devices.
This hampering is, ultimately, what allowed the small spy-bot, to pass through the Otomo Corps defense systems, aboard the stolen Transport Ship, without tripping any alarms. A Spy-bot that was planted aboard the ship moments before it was stolen. Planted by a mechanic-bot Ivan had ‘jumped’ to once his planned assault on the invaders had been routed so quickly.
Ivan had intended to plant one such device in each of the transports, though had proven not to be fast enough. Luckily, they stole the right ship! This quickly formulated plan was why the small group was allowed to leave so easily.
Ivan was beside himself that it had worked. He was not usually called upon to make such decisions. Military issues were handled by the Commandant. The Commissar’s duty was mostly to the people, which was why he was stationed on the small fledgling government’s first moon. His plans for Twin Crown were sweeping and epic.
Ivan was able to take control of the small Spy-bot from his Monolith, which was safely aboard his own ship. The small device sprang to life, four thin cord-like arms whipped out of the small rectangle as it pried itself free from under the computer terminal at the front of the ship. Ivan found himself unsteadily trying to walk through the inside of the transport ship.
One flaw in his plan was that he had never used such a form as this; never had a chance to practice. The Commissar had grown accustomed to using the robed bipedal bot that he was so well known for, and of course the assault-bots he was ordered to train with.
It did not take him long to steady himself though. He was pretty much a giant ‘Daddy Long-legged’, tipping from leg to leg. Four foot legs which were so thin, at a distance, the whole device would be hard to see by any passersby.
Ivan managed to crawl off the transport, to find the innards of the Consortium Cruiser’s hangar. Elated by his own cleverness, he clumsily made his way into nearby corridors.
As he made into the narrower corridors, he darted to the ceiling to hide from any possible passing occupants. Remarkably, he found it much easier to ‘hang’ than to balance on those tiny arms.
He took a moment to think about where he needed to go. Ivan had studied the Cruiser blueprints only briefly before he ‘jumped’ into the spy-bot. He only had to make it to the lower control mainframes, shut down the cloaking device… maybe disable the shields. He wasn’t truly trained for any of this.
The small Wing of Red Fighters were waiting for his signal though. The assault on the Consortium ship would be a glorious Victory for the Red Faction. Their first victory against their hated rivals!
All by Ivan’s own hand, a thought that filled him with a pride that could only hasten his actions as he swung from arm to arm, through the Consortium Cruiser, in search of his objective!
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