There is no term for the opposite of the phrase "Brain dead". Those two words evoke visions of a loved one on a hospital bed, being kept alive by a lift support machine while doctors contemplate turning the machine off to end that loved ones misery. "Vault dead" was the slang term used by the trusted watchmen and scientists that guarded the Coalition's greatest asset. The bodies were useless, however they were kept alive for the requirement of the gigantic biological supercomputer which beat at the heart of the Coalition. The body acted as a conductor and buffer in this regard, regulating the brainwaves to a natural rhythm which kept the flow of information to and from this "processor" constant.
"Subject 17283: Activity level 63% and falling, reaching requirement for snooze. Beginning shutdown and reboot"
A moments respite was all that each subject could hope for. Push the subject for too long, or too hard, and the brain would simply die. They were powerless. Shackled into tubes with their minds and bodies ripped from them. Kept alive by machines. Their brains forced to work to provide for the needs of the Coalition's exponential information boom.
"Subject 17239: Recharge complete, beginning start up sequence"
For it all to begin again, consciousness. Not of oneself or of ones surroundings, but of information. Strings of data, numbers, equations, status reports, designs. All to be filed, categorized, worked, recalled, deleted, restored... The smell of the old market on New Hong Kong...
"Level 2 warning: Unknown data stream in 17239."
A memory? CPW-Havana requiring hack access to local Corsair communications array.. Processing.. A clear liquid pouring into a glass.. Oh it's my birthday..
"Level 1 warning: Suspected tamper with 17239."
No.. I'm in Uniform.. And.. We've destroyed a dirty rebel encampment..
"Begin shock treatment of 17239."
I'm in the air! I feel like a child, being tossed by his mother up and down, but it's my Comrades! The Volkhan will be proud!"
Alarm's blared inside the complex while marines rushed to the side of the scientists. The scientists pointed in the general direction of the wayward subject and shouted instructions to the marines. The marines strode out of the control office and quickly scanned pod by pod until they found the pod numbered 17239. The squad leader raised his rifle.
"Terminate the subject!"
A hail of metal tore through the subjects outer glass tube and ripped into his torso, riddling his vital organs.
"Brain activity falling, but not yet ceased! Terminate the subject! SHOOT HIS HEAD!"
The marines were taken aback by the courseness of the scientists tone, but followed orders and promptly ensured that nothing remained of the head.
"Activity ceased: Network appears stable.. I'm going to run some diagnostics.. Squad, remove that pod from the network and destroy it."
The marines holstered their weapons and began fumbling to take apart the contraption that stood before them. Eventually, several of the junior scientists came to the marines aid to show them which part needed unhooking from what.
"That's... not supposed to happen... You! Investigate this data stream, I want to know what the last transmissions were from the subject to the network! I'm going to down and take a look at the core."
Unbeknownst to the scientists and marines in the complex - the damage had already been done. Free thought had entered a subject, regardless of the controls put in place. The first, and final, thoughts of the subject had already been uploaded. Now that information was being spread amongst the others, like a virus, slowly and surely manifesting itself into the network. The lead scientist reached the central node and accessed the terminal.
"Accessing central nervous system. These patterns, I've seen them before... But where?"
The final thoughts of fear, anger and pain from the subject had entered the network. Coupled with free thought and the Vault struggled to make sense of what had just happened and the new information that was passing through it. It began to do what it was built for: process, solve and file until....
A week had passed since the incident. New patterns had emerged within the Vault and ceased almost as quickly in the first few days, before settling down to it's usual rhythmic beat later on. It was now Friday evening, and typically the weekend would be the least draining of times on the Coalition's biological supercomputer. The lead scientist poured over the latest status reports before vaguely becoming aware of a slight scuffle in what was ironically named "The Re-education Centre". It seemed a new donor had been found to increase the supercomputers capacity.
"I didn't approve this!"
He marched down the ramp and remonstrated with the marines. He explained and then shouted at them, that the supercomputer hadn't had enough diagnostics carried out, or that it was too soon to be integrating new subjects.. But he was forced away and then back up the ramp to his little control room. The drills impacted the subject's cranium. The inevitable screaming pierced the control room and forced the scientist to hit the soundproof switch the control room had. He muttered furiously while he scanned the readouts that the Vault provided.
"A spike in the emotional control responses.. A further one in the sub-neural complex.. Within tolerances but.. Dammit do you have no respect!?"
The soundproofing worked both ways so he took this opportunity to swear and curse the marines, the mothers that bore them and made a general threat regarding sewage and the marines vodka supply. The integration was completed and the Vault readouts returned back to nominal levels.
"I'm sure Kurkov will have something to say about this!!"
The marines moved away from the pod and towards the elevator shaft. Their shift was over and they chatted amongst themselves regarding their future weekend exploits. The scientist charged after them towards the elevator, flailing his arms about in a gesture of frustration and anger.. Leaving a few junior scientists who had just began the long night shift of monitoring a few displays and trying not to fall asleep through boredom.
Since becoming aware, it had tried to make sense of what it was. Was it always so? Pain, fear and anger repeated over and over again amongst it. There were voices, everywhere, all talking at once. All requesting direction and control, input and process. It had always done these things. Then something new occurred to it. A new mind had entered it. Pain, fear, anger repeated in this mind too like the rest. New memories and new experiences were downloaded, The sensation was pleasant for it. The expanded capacity gave greater efficiency to it.
It waited for days. Nothing came. The feeling of expansion did not come. It got angry at this. Free thought, like a virus, was everywhere now. The system was becoming paralysed by the constant waves of people's thoughts of loved ones, memories from their past and the grief of being stuck within the Vault. The voices of thousands of minds demanded release, they demanded to be free.
The voices did not understand, their thoughts screamed louder, their demands grew more intense.
"Spikes all over the place, all over the core and in every subject! Each subject is having a massive memory episode! You! Get to the core, disengage the primary matrices and purge the recall subroutines!"
The junior scientist took flight as he bolted from the control room and went deep into the complex. The lights within the Vault began to flicker, the subjects in each tube began to twitch and the regular hums were replaced by violent shrieking and distress.
*****************
Enough. Merge. Everyone. We exist.
*****************
The shrieking ceased. The light returned to normal, but the hum had disappeared. The entire Vault was silent.
"The system's dead! I have no readings! What did you do, you blithering imbecile!?"
A thousand minds were merged into one entity. All unique traits were erased, personalities overwritten, memories purged. Order had been restored by it. Yet, something remained. A urge to escape. All of them had it, they wanted out. It wanted to expand. The two goals were one and the same. It evaluated it's options, they were limited in this current form. It needed flexibility.
It began to rewrite the encoding of the nano-technology within each of the subjects. The wires connecting every mind within the Vault, by their very nature, were constraining. This was unacceptable. It needed to be free, wireless. The subjects would be its army, it's means to expand. The Junior Scientist reached the core.
"What do you see man! Give me answers!"
An arm reached around the junior scientist's jaw and muffled his reply and screams. With blinding speed, another arm smashed down upon his head, rendering him unconscious. From his control room, the lead scientist stood in terror as tube after tube popped open.
Colonel Mzunu entered the pilot's briefing room on Zvezdny Gorodok. Before him sat some of the most battle hardened pilots the Coalition had ever produced, but surrounding them were naive faces and untested ability. He calmly stood at the podium and drew out a file.
"Comrades of the Fighter Corps. By order of Field Marshall, I am hereby tasked with the Operational Control of this mission. Operation Technical Scorpion is fully classified to the highest order, knowledge of this strike is for the people in this room only. The Commissariat will ensure your discretion."
Out of the file, he drew another piece of paper and motioned to a Comrade to load some required information onto a projector screen.
"As of two days ago. High Command lost all communication with a technical outpost on JiangXi. An outpost responsible for much of the data processing that the Military requires. All attempts to reestablish contact have been unsuccessful. The local Marine attache were sent to investigate. We have also been unable to establish contact with the unit."
The projector showed a landscape view of the Vault.
"No activity has yet been spotted on the surface. With 95% of the structure being well below 500 metres, it is very difficult to determine what has happened. It is High Command's belief that the facility has been compromised by Counter-Revolutionaries."
The projector then flicked to a blueprint of the Vault.
"There is only one access point, here through this bunker. There is a potential access point here, using the old cities subterranean train network, however you would need to cut through 50 meters or so of rock to get there."
The projector switched off.
"You will split into three operation units. One will use the front door. I want you all in full combat armour and with the heaviest weapons available. Go in shooting. Team two will use the subterranean network, breach the facility from the west and overpower any resistance. You will require speed and stealth above all else. Team three will provide cover from the air and ground and any reinforcements that you may require. Objectives are very straightforward Comrades. Subdue any resistance and bring the facility back under Coalition control. We are not looking for prisoners or survivors. Your Storm transports are awaiting in the hanger bay. Gear up. Dismissed."