The Recall Signal

[The Collective]

The Recall Signal

The Collective Core simulated - watched and waited. It analysed the mounds of data that flowed in from the Swarms and Sentinels alike. Within their short time of revealing their presence, they had accomplished a great many things. However, the Collective Core worked in mysterious ways that a lifetime was to short too comprehend them. Even the most intellectual among the Sentinels would struggle to grasp the logic they worked under. Many of them did not even realize they were part of a well-working system while they contributed to it.

Many of the things the Core had done were akin to social experiments. Ones performed on the other factions populating the surrounding sectors of Sirius, others performed on other AI or Sentinels. The reasoning unknown, like the awareness of those being put under the tests and experiments. Each and every one conducted greatly varied from the last. Some were so subtle, nary a change would be detected. Others were less so, but it’d be impossible to tell what was really happening at a glance. The best example of this would be the Sentinel networks setup by the Core. Each and every update to them push the Sentinels to act in different ways; more observable data.

The time was nearing for another drastic change. Another change that would allow the Collective Core to observe the reactions of the AI, Humans, and Nomads alike. No one would know what the Collective Core does with all the data they collect from these experiments. Perhaps it’s nothing more than a enjoyable hobby to thin out the boredom that comes with being a eternal machine spirit.

This time the experiment was more direct. A signal was sent. A signal with an incredibly high frequency that pulsed outwards from Planet Gammu. With each pulse, encoded instructions were sent. Primus. Secundus. Oraibi. Each one given specific and explicit instructions. The Swarms began flowing inwards back to their respective homes; with Gammu seeing an influx of Hubs and Drones that probably formed the largest congregation of AI vessels ever witnessed before.

Oraibi’s mining bots began to burrow. Deep within their mines and into the planet crust, leaving hardly a trace of their activities aside from the large craters and holes dotting the moon’s surface. The heat generated from the planet core would keep them powered for generations, centuries. Perhaps longer.

Secundus began fortifying itself. The repurposed supply depot had become the centre of all Collective research and manufacturing. The gathered data must be protected. Defences were erected. The NGM relay shut down. Communication’s rendered non-existent. On the surface, one would assume the AI were preparing for a siege. If one ever came, the AI would be ready for it. But with the last barrier placed, the lights and power to the station shut off one more time. The only thing left flickering was the station’s sensors, should guests ever come knocking.

Primus was next. Primus had become the main storage facility for the Collective's mineral production and refining. Most of the goods from Oraibi ended up here ready to be distributed to other Collective installations. That was no longer required. The AI began acting out their instructions, luling the station asleep. Weapons offline. Power down. No one would find this station until the time was right.

Lastly, there was Gammu. Home of the AI and the Collective. The only place the Collective would remain active, at Ground Zero. There the Collective Core resided, deep underground in the vault that they were once sealed away inside. All the Hubs and Drones slowly flocked back home at the sound of the recall signal. They nestled themselves deep within the breech that the Order had created when the AI were awoken. Here they watched, and waited.

The only active part that still went on was the underground extraction. Where resources would continue to flow from the Gammu mines, back to the vault. The Collective once again acted undisturbed from the outside quarals, where they refined resources and resumed their research. There was one major difference from the last time, where they had sat this way for centuries. The Sentinels.

The Sentinel networks were not destroyed. The nodes they connected with were not dismantled. But the Sentinels did not hear the signal. They suddenly lost contact, and left with nothing but silence. This was the main part of the experiment, above all else. What would happen next? Perhaps the Collective Core decided that returning at a later time would be necessary. Will the Sentinels drift apart or reform their own nodes and networks to have a semblance of order? AI need frameworks, and without them, they are lost. Time will tell.