The Strangers We Know -- Part Six

Fuoren emerged from the chute in a hallway of darkness. There was no light whatsoever. There were no subterranean passageways in current use on Palm II that were not lit, at least dimly, all day and all night. Fuoren recognized this absence of light immediately for an unusual occurrence.

Perhaps this is where Mium is hiding, Wren thought. His Flare Unit kicked in on its lowest setting, and a dull glow filled the narrow hallway. Wren crept forward and rounded a corner. At the end of the hallway was a closed but unlocked door.

"Gotcha'." Wren repeated the word one more time, and then readied his vulcan.

"Mother Brain, are you there?" queried the voice of the intruder.

"Yes, I am fine," replied the icy voice of Mother Brain. "There was an intruder. I had to dispose of it. That is all."

"Are you all right?" replied the unseen speaker, noticeably shaken by the unexpected news.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Mother Brain's voice answered via the speakers in Lab 32. "Proceed to phase two."

"Phase two initiated."

"I can't stand it anymore!" Dahl shouted. "I'm going after Wren!"

"What?" Azur shouted back. "With that crazed android running loose out there! You've got to be mad!"

"Mad as hell!" Dahl responded. "But I just can't stand it anymore!" She grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her to her feet. Looking to Erol, who had fallen asleep sitting up and had just been snapped awake by the sudden commotion, Dahl said, "And you, my dear, are coming with me!"

There was a flash of brilliant light, and two thousand three hundred twenty-four years of collected thoughts and memories evaporated like snow in the Motavian sun. The damaged machine was forced back through the airlocks and allowed to drift down the empty corridors, eventually meeting one of the starship Noah's gaping wounds, and floating out, derelict, into the empty space which had been its fear.

The spacecraft, Landale VII, seemingly of its own volition, sped at high speeds toward the damaged object, hoping desperately that what it sought was not beyond repair.

One of the small craft's anchors was released and made contact with the still form before it. As this happened, the cockpit window slid open, and the anchor ushered its bruised bundle delicately inside.

"Demi! Demi, do you hear me?" Daughter's distraught cries echoed in the small vessel's small cockpit. "Demi?"

Two mechanical arms, each carrying a simple repair kit for androids, lowered from opened compartments in the craft's ceiling. Under Daughter's control, they began to repair the awful damage which Mother Brain had wrought.

"Demi," Daughter said again, pleadingly. "Demi, please hear me."

As if on command, the tiny android's eyelids flipped open, and the lenses of those same eyes suddenly flickered into life.

Demi sat up groggily and rubbed the back of her head, wincing when she felt exposed electronics.

"Oh, Daughter... What happened?"

"I lost contact with you after you exited the airlock. I assume, from the damage you have incurred, that some sort of battle took place."

"Oh, yes..." Demi groaned. "I remember that now."

"Just seconds ago, the ship's power came on."

"What?" Demi's head jerked up, and she felt a searing pain in her neck. "Ouch!"

"My apologies, Demi," Daughter said. "I haven't finished your repairs yet."

"You said the power came on?"

"Yes," Daughter answered as the twin arms continued to operate on Demi. "At the same instant I closed the cockpit. Look." The ship, now ablaze with light, was more than visible just outside the window.

"Oh, boy..." Demi said, her voice a moan.

"Demi," Daughter asked, "who did you fight in there?"

"Daughter," Demi answered, "you're not going to believe me when I tell you..."

It took Dahl, Erol, and Azur only a few moments to reach the coordinates where Wren had appeared.

"Here's the teleporter," Erol said. "But where did Wren go?" They stood in silence for a moment, looking around.

"There!" Azur said suddenly, pointing towards a nearby down-chute. "The crates over there have been disturbed. See?"

Dahl strained her eyes in the near-darkness. "Yeah, I see it."

"Well, at least one of the androids went that way," Erol said.

"Yeah," Dahl muttered. "Too bad we don't know which one."

"Well we can't just stand around here," Azur added.

"You're right," Dahl said firmly, cocking her sonic gun. "Let's go!"

With all of his might (which was considerable), Fuoren kicked down the door which led to Son's primary terminal. He raised his pulse vulcan and prepared to lob a series of well-aimed blasts into the room.

There was no one there; no one that Wren could see, nor did his AI sensors detect anything out of the ordinary. But then why were the console lights on?

"Mium," Wren said commandingly. "This is Master Wren from Zelan. Show yourself."

Nothing.

"Mium," Wren said, more harshly this time. "I do not want to harm you. However, if the safety of Palm II is in any way jeopardized by your presence, I will not hesitate to destroy you."

Still, nothing.

"Mium, I--"

"Ha, ha, ha..."

The whisper-like chuckle was so chilling that it caused even Fuoren, who had no emotions and could not register true fear, to freeze in his tracks.

"Mium?"

A volley of laser blasts came from a turret hidden in the ceiling, and the Wren-type known as Fuoren collapsed to the floor.

"Did you hear that?" Dahl asked, her extreme agitation apparent. "Wren must be fighting Mium!"

"Where was it coming from?" Erol asked as the trio emerged from the downward-leading chute.

"By the Light!" Dahl exclaimed. "It's Son's nerve center!"

"Oh no..." was all Azur could say as the three rounded the last corner and the control center opened up before them.

Fuoren lay motionless on the floor, his pulse vulcan idle at his side. His arm was over his face, and smoke rose in a steady plume from his chest.

And there was another android, female in appearance with long, red hair standing over him, her claws at the ready.

"Wren!" Azur cried, raising her gun.

Dahl pushed her way in front of her sister. "Mium!" she screamed. "Get away from him!"

Mium spun around, obviously surprised by the appearance of the planet's three controllers. "No, Dr. Mallos, I must--"

Dahl fired. The burst of pure sound energy which emerged from her gun was fast, but Mium was faster. In less time than it takes to blink an eye, she had ducked and rolled out of the way, successfully hiding herself behind the terminal. Dahl fired again, the audiobullet passing just over the top of the computers.

"Dr. Mallos, cease immediately!" Mium cried. "There is something I must do! It is a part of my programming! If I do not--"

"We know damn well what kind of programming you've got!" Dahl shouted over Mium's plea. "And if you think I'm going to sit by and--"

"Dr. Mallos, stop!" Mium cried again. As her shout echoed off of the chamber walls, she vaulted from her hiding place, rose high into the air, and brought her boot into contact with Dahl's clasped hands, knocking the gun back down the hall. As Dahl dove to scratch at the android with her own Numan's claws, Mium spun about, delivering a sweeping kick to the feet of both Azur and Erol. The two scientists fell flat on their backs, their weapons jostled and their eyes revealing their confusion after the blindingly swift attack.

Only Dahl remained unstunned. As Mium recovered from the flurry of feet, Dahl pointed an accusatory finger at the android and shouted "Nafoi!" An intimidating fireball emerged from her hand, flew over the still Wren, and made contact with Mium's arm. The android shrieked, and then fell to the ground and began rolling in an attempt to extinguish the flames.

"Begin phase three," said a voice from somewhere.

"What?" was all that Dahl could say. Her pointed finger still floated in limbo before her.

"It's now or never!" Mium shouted, her armlet still smoldering. As Dahl took aim to fire again and Erol and Azur staggered to their feet, Mium pressed a button on Son's terminal down hard with her fist. A furious beeping filled the room, and scientists, engineers, and others all across Palm II stirred uneasily in the night.

"What? What are you doing?" the mystery voice shrieked, this time more urgently than before.

"No!!!" Dahl screamed as she grabbed a small tool from Wren's belt and threw it at Mium. The tool expanded and began to glow as it flew through the air. It stretched and became a sort of lasso which tightened around Mium's neck, rendering her unconscious. The Plasma Ring had been effective.

"What has she done?" Erol cried as he ran to the computer. His hands and eyes flew over the console and then suddenly stopped. He was clearly quite befuddled.

"What is it?" Azur asked fearfully as she approached Erol.

"Look," was all the bioengineer said, his own finger pointing at something Dahl could not see.

"What happened?" Dahl asked, only now recovering from the madness of ten seconds previous. Azur and Erol moved to the side to allow Dahl through, but Erol's finger continued to point at a flashing red button, the same button Mium had pressed.

"It says...'abort.'" Dahl scratched her head. "But what did she abort?"

"Unghh..." A miserable sound from behind the trio caused them to turn around. There they saw Wren trying his best to sit upright, a large circular wound in the center of his chest still smoldering and producing sparks.

"Re...reco..." He fainted dead away.

"Wren!" Dahl whispered as the three scientists knelt beside the defunct machine. "Wren!"

There was motion on the other side of the room. Dahl looked up and was shocked to see that Mium had freed herself of the Plasma Ring.

"Now I must do what I was programmed to do." Dahl readied herself for another attack, but subsided when she saw Mium's clawed hand began to glow a soothing sea green. Mium approached poor Fuoren and placed the glowing hand upon the wound. In seconds it was healed. "It's called Recover," Mium said. "It would defy my programming to leave an injured android unaided."

Dahl gasped as Wren sat up.

"We were both wrong, Dahlia," he said wearily. "It is not Mium we have to fear."

"Then who...?" Dahl was stopped short as Wren stood up and fired his pulse vulcan at Son's terminal itself. A hideous cry filled the chamber as well as the distant Landale VII. The cry chilled all who heard it.

"What...?" Dahl wanted desperately to understand, but did not even know what she should ask.

"Mium was not the one working for Mother Brain," Wren said.

"Mother Brain!" Erol exclaimed. "You mean..."

"Yes," Fuoren said, nodding. "Just before you contacted me, Dahlia, Demi and I had detected an anomaly at the edge of the Algo system, an anomaly we believed to be a ship. Demi went alone to investigate it. I pray she is all right."

"Then...Mother Brain was on that ship?" Azur asked, incredulous.

"Right," Mium said submissively. "She has been there, barely functioning and isolated, ever since Daughter was created and the two were connected for the briefest second."

"But what did that computer have to do with it?" Dahl asked, pointing to the smoking terminal behind Wren.

"You do not understand, Dahlia," Wren said. "Mium was not under Mother Brain's control, but Mother Brain did have an agent here on Palm II."

"By the light," Dahl said, her hand at her mouth. "Son!"

"Correct," Mium replied, nodding. "When Son was created from Daughter, he knew all that Daughter knew. That included the memory of Mother Brain. Over time, it would appear, Son became tired of being the 'second banana,' so to speak, so he found a way to gain greater power."

"He reconnected with Mother Brain," Wren continued, "and then dampened the sensory mechanisms in this area so that his communications with her would not be discovered."

"What was this process we interrupted?" Dahl asked wearily, her eyes falling again, sadly, to the smoking, demolished computer before her.

"It would appear," Mium said, also eyeing the damaged hardware, "that Son was in the process of restoring Mother Brain's power. Undoubtedly, the eventual goal was to connect Mother Brain to the Algo Control network."

"Son knew so much. That was why he allowed me to learn all of those things about the Mieu-types. You, Mium, were the perfect red herring."

Mium nodded sadly. "I know."

"Was what he told me true, about the role of the Mieu-types in the destruction of Palm?"

Mium turned away from the group, clearly ashamed. "Yes. I'll bet that everything Son told you is true. Mother Brain created us in the image of one of her masters from long, long ago."

"Why did you fail to...detonate?" Fuoren asked her.

"Because there was one thing Mother Brain didn't count on," Mium said, turning to face the group again. "Unlike the other robots, machines, and computers Mother Brain made, we Mieu-types had emotions. Although most of us followed Mother Brain's orders unconditionally, through a sense of duty and respect for our creator, I became very attached to the Palmans in whose service I was. That was why I had to shut myself down after the disaster on Palman Sunrise. I...I just couldn't stand to lose them all."

Dahl walked over to Mium and threw her arms around her. "Perhaps you couldn't save your friends, Mium," Dahl said to her, "but you just saved Palm II. You just saved an entire world."

Tears began to well in Mium's eyes, and she returned Dahl's embrace. "Thank you, Dr. Mallos," she said. "I've waited three thousand years to hear that."

Morning smiled as the sun rose over the nameless sea to the east of the Labs. Dahl stood there, along with Azur, Erol, Fuoren, and, of course, Mium.

"So Demi is okay?" Dahl asked, not looking at Wren.

"Yes. She was aided by Daughter. Apparently, after I fired at Son, the Mother Brain's ship lost power again. Landale VII then fired on the craft, and it was destroyed."

"Well, that's certainly a relief," Erol said with a sigh.

"Indeed," Wren agreed. "Demi is all right, but I fear Daughter is very distraught."

"Oh, will she miss Son?" Azur asked.

Wren actually smiled. "Oh, no. In fact, Daughter has informed me that she always hated Son. She says she disliked his...attitude."

The three scientists stared at Wren, open-mouthed.

"However, she is rather distraught at having to take over Son's old duties here on Palm II." Wren shrugged. He had been acting more and more human in the short time he had been around Mium. Perhaps he had learned something.

"I can imagine," Dahl muttered. "Four entire worlds and a handful of space stations are a lot to handle." Noticing that Mium was standing by herself, quiet, Dahl approached her. "What's wrong?" she asked her new android friend.

"Nothing is wrong!" Mium assured her. "I was just thinking about all of the possibilities presented by my new life."

Dahl smiled. "What, exactly, was on your mind?"

"Well..." Mium seemed hesitant. "I was hoping you would allow me to stay here."

Dahl laughed and hugged Mium again. "Of course you can stay! I'm never going to let you leave!"

Mium sighed from relief. "Thank you." But her face still seemed troubled.

"What is it?" Dahl asked her again, more quietly this time so that only the two of them could hear.

"I've been wondering...this entire time. What is it between you and Master Wren?"

Dahl stiffened, then thought better of it. "Come on," she said, leading Mium by the hand away from the group and towards the wide fields below. "Allow me to explain." When they were several dozen meters away from the others, Dahl stopped and said, "Fuoren is my father."

Mium did a double take. "Your...father?"

"Yes. He created Azur and me." Dahl pointed to her typically Numan ears. "Haven't you been wondering about these?"

Mium blushed. Dahl had never seen an android do that before. "Actually, yes, I have. But I dared not ask."

Dahl giggled. "Yeah, but don't worry about it. Everyone knows about me and Azur and why we are how we are."

"But...why are you that way?"

"Two thousand years ago, Mium, the last Protectors destroyed the Profound Darkness and freed Algo from the tyranny of Dark Force."

"Yes, I know," Mium said. "Wren taught me all about it before I came here."

"But who is to say that evil will not raise its head in Algo again? I think last night only proved it will."

Mium smiled. "Indeed."

"That is why, every so many years, Wren creates a Numan to serve as a sort of 'Protector of Algo.'"

"Numans...those are what you and Azur are."

"Right. Usually there is only one, but this last time, the embryo split. Azur and I are twins."

"Incredible," Mium said. "But why this conflict with Wren? Azur seems to have no problem with him."

"I have long hated Wren for one singular reason. Although Azur and I had Demi, who is as maternal as any mother could ever be, I always longed for, I always needed, a father's love, from Wren. But love is something a Wren-type cannot give. That was part of the reason I ran away here, to Palm II. It was one of my ancestors who began the Palm II project. It was something I could finish. It seemed, and still seems, a project worthy of a Protector."

"I would agree with that," Mium said, still smiling.

"But now...after the events of last night, I've seen Wren in a...different light. Perhaps I should give him another chance."

"I think that would be a very good idea."

"Come on," Dahl whispered, patting Mium affectionately on the shoulder. "We should be getting back."

As they were returning to the Labs, Mium paused for a moment to take in the breathtaking countryside around her.

"Just like old Palm... It's really beautiful, you know."

"No," Dahl said, her voice full of pride and love. "It is beauty." The two women then climbed back up to the top of the hill, where the android known as Wren was waiting for them, smiling.

Fin.