A Perfectly Logical Guide to a Superhuman Apocalypse: 78

A Perfectly Logical Guide to a Superhuman Apocalypse: 78

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Wordcount: 2500

Commissioned by Arksoul

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Oh, huh.

Looks like Seran made herself stronger.

I’m pretty sure that she couldn’t lift me up by my shirt before.

“Egress, are you being intimidated?” Advika asked simply, while Parvati just ignored the situation and took a seat. We were back at the mayoral residence and the AI was now focusing on rapid analysis of the situation and developing countermeasures. “Why are you not protecting yourself?”

Well, that’s an easy thing to answer.

“Seran wouldn’t hurt me, it’s fine.” If there’s anyone on this planet that I trusted more than Seran, it’d probably be just Maelstrom. Seran and I had a certain bond, though. The bond of two of two people who shared their ‘media’ with each other. If Seran wanted to hurt me, if I couldn’t trust the transformed mayor, then I’d be (socially) dead already. “So, what’s up?”

“I told you to investigate and perform reconnaissance so that we could act with the Aristocracy! Instead, you’ve destroyed a resource extraction facility from deep space! You can’t do things like that and endanger the lives of my people, Egress!”

“Sorry. Won’t happen again, but there were assault ships being built and people were being worked to death in the snow.” I left Seran’s grip, and smoothed out my vest. No damage at all. Seran was just rightly incensed. “Honestly, it was mostly the assault ships that got me to move. I didn’t want any more of those in-atmosphere.”

“…If you really got them all, I’ll be able to keep any issues from rising. Maybe, mentioning the people who got captured would get you some leeway, too, especially since we don’t have to take care of them.” Seran sighed and shook her head. Her ears were limp and floppy, rather than typically upright. Not flat against her skull, though, so she wasn’t that angry. Just frustrated and maybe at a loss. Seran pinched the bridge of her nose. “Parvati, I know you’ve been evaluating my people. I need assistance.”

The gynoid body just sitting idly on the sofa of the mayoral office sat a bit straighter before speaking.

“Your current political climate is between three lines. Peace, war, and neutrality. Peace and neutrality both do not want to participate in the conflict, while neutrality desires a military buildup for deterrence.” From what it sounded like, Seran had a prosperous and good thing going if there was a large enough political faction here that wanted to advocate for peace at all costs. Or, maybe, I should’ve suspected it since no one wanted war after the apocalypse.  “The war faction advocates for a first strike and will easily be swayed to supporting the actions currently taken and been taken, however, accepting them wholeheartedly will alienate the other two factions.”

“Right, you’ve got the gist of things, but I need advice and actionable information. I have leverage and I can grant concessions, but I need to know who to talk to and not waste time… without turning into a tyrant.” Seran probably had popular support. From what I gathered from my brief time in her city, despite being a recluse prior to her transformation, she’d still led the defense and protection and the establishment of the transhumanist, safe society that the city now was. She kept major industry whole, got agriculture going, and established a strong military as well as powerful defenses that warded off strategic bombardment. Seran can easily become a dictator for life. “Who do I talk to amongst the fence-sitters and the doves from your standpoint? I know that there are fractures in their parties and that they’re less united that I think.”

Parvati gave a nod, and Advika seemed to take a keen interest in Seran.

I wonder what they’d think I told them all this political know-how and intrigue is because she studied the stuff to make her fanfics more authentic?

Literally, most of what she’s saying can come from one of her female MCs navigating the intricacies of a magical kingdom.

Hm.

Yeah.

I’m not cruel enough to say anything about that sort of thing.

Seran’s been doing well. Don’t want her to go back to being a recluse.

“Denis Campbell of the neutral faction holds considerable sway and regularly speaks to others of different parties, while holding enough acclaim with his own that he is not considered traitorous. Approach him with information and offer to back his desires to recultivate the nearby waterways and you should see success there.” Parvati showcased how easy it was for an AI to navigate politics. It’s practically all information gathering. Knowing how your opponents tick and what they want is practically all you need to rule a country. Not only that, but Parvati was taking over the rest of India with various infiltrators across the remains of the governing systems. A single city in Canada, where its ‘agent’ is the ruling, popular mayor? Yeah. Light work for the AI, probably. “As for the peace faction, it will be more useful to investigate their core members. I believe that they may be infiltrators.”

Seran froze.

“On what grounds do you make that accusation, Parvati?” Seran almost did the pose. The menacing behind steepled fingers at the desk pose. She probably only stopped because I was staring at her. Advika wouldn’t get the reference, but Parvati would, my friend. You’re better off not doing that. “I have my suspicions, especially since they came to be after the invasion, but to say it outright…”

“Numerous figures have found themselves with unregistered funds from indeterminate sources. I have looked at their spending habits and tabulated their cash payments. They are spending far more than they are earning.” Ah, there it is. The true superpower of an AI with lots of surveillance equipment. The ability to control the fiscal system and properly tax everyone and allocate resources properly. Sure, Parvati can mass-manufacture super soldiers that look like supermodels and even make artificial gods, but both those things are for conflict. With information gathering capabilities and the ability to manage systems perfectly, Parvati can rule over humanity like a benevolent, irreproachable deity, not just wage war. There’s no way any form of human or superhuman leadership would tolerate the AI’s existence for that reason alone. “They have under their employ several individuals who pick up packages for them in random buildings. I believe that it is likely that stealth transports are dropping off valuables for them to use as collateral.”

“Stealth transports?” Seran gazed my way for a second, and after I nodded, she looked back at Parvati. “Armed with the optical camouflage that hid that facility from you?”

“Yes, and more systems that prevent me from detecting them through most of my sensors. Only finely-tuned sensors searching for gravity anomalies are proving effective.” Parvati answered. Back in India, it was probably trawling through data and studying as much as possible from the location that we just exfiltrated from. The drones left behind are gathering data, while the mountain of processing power across the world is finding solutions and creating new methods to overcome the problems. “It will be a few weeks, until I manage to provide coverage across India, Japan, and the North American continent. A year until I have created minimal coverage across the world around populated areas.”

“Even with Egress’s help, you can’t create a surveillance network against the people up there?”

“It is not a matter of transportation, but industry and the sheer size of the planet, Mayor Seran. There is also the matter of their stealth technology. If I simply had to find drive signatures, I could deploy a series of satellites in orbit and systematically scan the planet in waves. None of my current satellite-based sensors can pierce their stealth systems, making that option impossible.”

“…But, if your satellites were able to find them, we’ll have better coverage and the ability to keep them off the ground, right?” Seran leaned forward with interest, while Parvati turned to her completely. Seran primarily used her power to get rich and stay safe and secluded. Her exact specialty wasn’t known to me. It wasn’t something I was interested in, since I had no reason to believe I’d ever have to fight her. “Let’s collaborate. Give me the sensor data you’ve assembled, and let’s let them do a few more drops for their patsies until we have something that can see them come and go.”

Parvati practically nodded instantly at the offer.

There are few things that the AI likes more than collaborating and incorporating new, powerful technologies into its databases.

I was content to just sit around and rest, but Advika pulled on my sleeve and yawned.

“Bored?”

“Terribly. Take me home, Egress. I tire of this.”

Usually, I charge for a quick intercontinental jump, but I obliged Advika and sent her away.

With her gone, I had an easier time of relaxing.

…

Somehow, the smart folks dragged me into their little research session, even though I couldn’t understand every other word that came out of their mouths.

Now, I’m not dumb. However, I’m also acutely aware in many subjects that I know jack shit. My focus has always been to make money, maintain my sanity, and keep myself healthy in a world descending into madness. I attended community courses, went to a state college, and never touched the higher end stuff. I got what I needed in to be a functional person with a few advantages in my field as a mercenary and transporter, and that was that for my education.

Everything else, I knew to look for specialists and paid top dollar for their help when I needed something I couldn’t do myself.

In my field, I can proudly state that I’m at the tippy top. I don’t know any other transporter or mercenary out there who could say that they spent the apocalypse playing with their dog, in the comfort of a self-sustaining bunker. It’s a narrow field, and probably below the mercenaries who made their own business or tow during the apocalypse, but I’m sure that the vast majority of mercs barely managed to stay alive.

But back to me being out of place and wary of touching anything.

“C’mon, Egress, this is a place where people work. If it was dangerous, things would need to change so people could get things done.” Seran, obviously, noted my righteous trepidation whilst surrounded by high-end machinery with various bits and pieces that I didn’t know and understand. There were safety lines on the floor that I adhered to carefully, and I made sure that Parvati and Seran were walking ahead of me. “I appreciate you not having your fields up around the high-end machinery, but you don’t need to be that scared.”

“People have worked and produced plenty under dangerous conditions. And, you try walking into a place with high-end machinery thrumming with power without your usual defenses.” I would normally stroll into a place like this with confidence with all my defenses up. Having several barriers that absorbed energy until breaking or sent away physical matter helped calm the nerves. Out of respect and Seran’s request, I just had my finger on the trigger for a quick escape, rather than smothering the area with my power as usual. It sucked to just have one, singular tendril to the outside world to escape through, that I had to carefully thread through the hallways and walkways of the facility thrumming with ambient energy. “I feel naked.”

“This is the most nervous I’ve ever seen Designation: Egress. It is quite surprising.” Parvati didn’t hesitate to poke fun. Technically, because of the secret nature of the facility and all the measures Seran’s people through in order to keep everything secure, Parvati was in danger, too. The gynoid form it currently inhabited wasn’t linked up with the network, therefore the instance of Parvati with us now was in danger, too. It was handling it with more grace than I did. “I suppose that he typically has multiple layers of protection and escape routes, which gives him confidence.”

“Being able to run away or turn anyone into pieces spread over the world really helps with that. You should both try it sometime.” I bluntly admitted. That statement earned me eyerolls from both. My nerves were getting to me. Usually, I’ve got better control than this. Maybe, it was the fact that Seran was showing me around the place. I considered her a friend, so it was easier to control myself. “Sorry, shutting up.”

“…I think your isolation got to you more than you think, if you’re saying sorry so fast, Egress.” Seran looked over her shoulder at me… with feigned worry that turned into a smirk real fast. I gave her the finger in response. “Are you sure that you don’t need mental help?”

“…You’re lucky I’m with a client and an ally.” I grunted simply, while Parvati looked my way and raised an eyebrow. I had a feeling even the AI was going to jump in on the ‘fun.’ I just sighed. “Go ahead and say it.”

“You should review your standards of conduct, if you consider how you interact with me professional, Designation: Egress.” Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. Just kick me while I’m scared for my life and can’t put up my defenses. “You would get far better deals if you were nicer, and more willing to accept that I like being female as you do with Seran.”

“Hey, you’re free to use whatever body you like around me. I’m free to be creeped out when you’re obviously trying to figure out what I like as eye-candy.” Supporting Seran’s changes is being a good friend to someone I’ve known for a long time. Parvati, meanwhile, obviously switches around bodies and phenotypes to get the best reaction. Seran surmounted a whole lot of challenges. Parvati makes supermodels and picks them to wear for a function. Wholly different situation between the two. “Also, if you’re trying to pair Advika up with me, stop it. I’m telling her to stop it, too, as soon as I’m sure she won’t try to burn me up.”

Parvati had more to say about the subject, but we reached a massive airlock door that Seran had to put in a code, give biometrics for, and get a facial recognition scan to enter.

I tested the doors for a second and my shoulders slumped, while Seran gave me a sorry smile.

“Sorry, Egress, but we had to energy shield it. It would’ve been foolish not to with teleporters and clairvoyants everywhere.”

I hated that I agreed, while I followed her into the labs where transhumanism and mental uplifting became a reality.