The systems had changed. Jumpholes had moved. New powers had taken hold. But the journey had been worth it. Gamma had accompanied him for most of it, leaving when he realized Nazara wished to enter regions that might be barred to them. The laws and conventions of the organics held some measure of power over Gamma. Nazara disregarded them. He was burdened with destiny and had no time to allow such trifles slow him down.
First surveyed had been the copper fields of Kansas. Rich, remote and sufficiently abandoned. The steady trickle of miners and transports only served to sate his curiosity when he tore two apart and claimed the copper from their holds. He might never have been designed to claim the materials from the rocks that the held them, but he was perfectly suited to tearing it from those who had extracted it already.
Platinum was next. The field in Alberta was even more remote, and it took almost two days before Nazara encountered a miner to rend the ore from. He had vanished into the void of space long before word of the attack on the ships ever reached the navy.
His next appearance was within the Silver fields of Omega 7. The miners here had been caught off guard when the silent ship had emerged from the nebula, its weapons reaping through them. Vanishing as suddenly as it had appeared, Nazara escaped into the clouds, its stolen loot already being analyzed.
Days passed without another incident. And then Nazara emerged in Inverness. It encountered the locals of the system, but its attention was drawn by one claiming to be an agent of the other AI. Eventually determining that the outsider served a separate group from the Collective, and judging it inferior, Nazara fired upon the annoying pest, destroying the ship when it failed to understand the danger it faced.
The local organics had expressed concern, but hadn't acted against Nazara. Instead they offered assistance in gathering and finding the materials he would need.
He could feel change coming.
Analysis:
Entity: Auxesia
Technology Cult
Isolationist
Connections
Close-minded
Conclusion:
Insufficient Data
Entity: Copper Ore
Refinement Required
Multiple Applications
Abundant
Conclusion:
Marked for usage
Entity: Platinum Ore
Refinement Required
Valuable
Remote
Conclusion:
Effort exceeds Reward
Entity: Silver Ore
Refinement Required
High Activity
Abundant
Singular Use
Conclusion:
Risk filled acquisition
Hostile Entity:
Ahura:
Entity is subservient to separate frame of AI. Exhibited signs of split personality, potentially a programming error. Suggested course of action: Termination.
