Chapter 45: Chapter 45 Kicking Codes Butt
Dustin had paused, studying the programs around the sun, trying to decide which ones to attack, when he became aware of an itching pain. Glancing around, he realized it wasn't a program attacking him, which meant it had to be his body. Separating his mind into two halves, he formed an eye on the back of his head and saw that the nanobots around him were attacking his body.
Panic gripped him as he realized his time was even shorter than he thought. If the AI was attacking him, then it was probably attacking all of his people, too. Glancing over the hivemind, he saw with horror that it was overrun with programs, tiny programs, but programs intent on destroying everything. The hivemind was too open to attack, and while he was busy fighting the AI, he couldn't focus on closing the hivemind and the nanobots from the AI. Even though he thought he had cut off its ability to control nanobots, it must have had backup programs.
Diving back in with an even more intense need for speed, he ignored everything as he dived deeper in, reaching for the sun again.
As it revealed itself, he started cutting and slashing the programs that surrounded it. The AI's need for power was too intense to ignore this attack, and it pulled back from the hivemind and the nanobots, to deal with the damage he was causing.
Dustin didn't pay attention to what the codes before him did, anymore, cutting out words here and there, severing programs left and right, digging deeper around the thick code that surrounded the sun, trying to sever the AI's ability to draw energy from the small star.
Doors were closing around him as the AI tried to cut off his access, but he laughed as he went around them, not constrained by the physical limitations of the machine he was attacking. Cutting through one last bunch of coded programs, he found a pocket, filled by a boiling black mass, that he couldn't see through.
Cautiously drawing closer to it, he watched for any sign of life or consciousness, and just before he reached it, a tentacle of black darted out, grabbing ahold of him, and began to drag him back into the mess. Fighting against it, he tried to slice at it, as he had the code, and his imagined blade went through it, as if it wasn't there. If he didn't get away from it, it would separate the tether he had with his body!
Still fighting against the pull, Dustin studied the tentacle that had him, and came to a realization he never would have considered. This was made of spirit, not code. Had the AI been developing a spirit over all these years and drawing closer to being an actual being? Or had loose spirits been attracted to the budding awareness of the AI?
Regardless of the answer to these questions, Dustin was about to lose himself into a writhing mass of black, and there was no way in hell he was going to do that! Grabbing the surrounding codes and programs that he could reach, he began shoving them into the black, noticing a sudden slack in the pull of the tentacle. It was slurping the codes up like spaghetti noodles and growing. Backing away from it, panic erupted within him as he realized it was growing stronger, and he was feeding it.
While it was distracted with its meal, Dustin slipped free of the tentacle and avoided the cancer by charging towards the sun. Pausing in the moment of stillness, while chaos reined just behind him, hidden by a thin layer of programs, Dustin began to make his own code.
The AI was completely consumed by the cancer within it, that was eating it alive, ignoring everything else around it, as it tried to stem the flow of code into the monstrous spirit that had been hiding within it.
Building his program larger and larger, Dustin began to wrap it around the star, gathering its light for his own purposes. Had anyone asked him what he was doing, he would have said he couldn't explain it. He was working beyond any level of mechanics and material properties that he could explain, and was functioning purely on instinct.
Placing one last line of code into his program, he watched it sit for a moment, then begin to rotate around the star. Pulling back, through the AI code, away from the cancerous black spirit, and to his own hivemind, then finally to his body, Dustin opened his eyes with relief. He had only to wait a few minutes before the results would be in, and the AI would finally be dealt with.
Shaking off the nanobots that still clung to his body, the damage already having been healed, he glanced sadly at the hivemind before heading for the ship where he knew Olivia should have been.
Gooblens gladly allowed him entry, then cheerily carried him over their numerous bodies towards the bridge once the airlock was sealed again, and he was in his normal form. Olivia sat on the floor, holding her belly, when he entered the room. Granny sat next to her, looking exhausted.
"You have some serious explaining to do," grumbled Granny, not bothering to climb to her feet.
"Is the AI finished?" asked Olivia, leaning her head back against the seat behind her. She looked tired, as if fighting the nanobots had been exhausting.
"I'm about to find out," he said, stepping over them, and sitting in the seat behind Olivia as she shifted out of his way.
"Where's my dad?" he asked, absentmindedly as he started typing away.
"He's in the kitchen with Old Motha discussing the future home of the Gooblens," muttered Granny.
"We don't have any fuel to jump with," said the computer as he paused in his typing.
"Sure, we do," he said with a grin, sticking his finger into the port that opened for him.
There was a moment of silence, as Granny and Olivia watched in curiosity, before the nanobots that controlled the jump gate for the ship streamed out and began the process of jumping them. A few moments later, they floated in what appeared to be empty space, but as Dustin typed a few commands in, the screen in front of the bridge cleared, and a huge structure came into view.
"Wow!" whispered Granny and Olivia at the same time.
The structure of the AI was being pulled in on itself, and as they watched, the entire thing was swallowed by a massive black hole. With a chuckle, Dustin opened the jump gate as the ship began to get drawn in as well, and jumped them back home.
"What did you do?" asked Granny.
"The AI was using a small star to power itself, so I made the star collapse into a black hole."
"But how?" asked Olivia. "That seems…impossible!"
Dustin frowned. "I'm not sure I could explain it, or repeat it, but it worked at the time."
The two women looked at each other, before shaking their heads.
"We need to find out if everyone on the planet is alright," Olivia said.
Dustin nodded, "We're doing that now."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
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Sdrawkcab I wonder if Old Motha can explain what that black mass was?
Chapter 46: Chapter 46 Home for the Gooblens
"What is going on up there?" asked Kit through the communications. "Everyone just had their nanobots attack them!"
"Sorry, son," said Dustin, as they moved toward the AI ship that was quickly approaching the planet below. "We've had a few technical difficulties, but I'm relatively certain everything is fine now."
"Technical my ass! Dad what the hell is going on!" growled Kit.
"Well, there was an AI that was determined to kill all of us, but I just finished flushing it into a black hole, so everything should be fine now."
There was silence on the other end, and Olivia chuckled. Climbing to her feet, she moved over to the other seat, leaving Granny space to lay down on the floor.
"Well, I'm glad you took care of it. I have a nasty mess down here. A lot of the new people are terrified of the nanobots now."
"I'm sure you can handle it," said Dustin, sending the nanobots from the ship out to grab the AI vessel. It was too close to the gravity well for him to stop it from entering the atmosphere, so he intended to aim it for the ocean.
"Don't forget we still have people to go get," said Granny from the floor.
"And the Gooblens need a new home," added Olivia.
"What am I supposed to do with these non-Uz'En, down here?" asked Kit after a moment.
"I'm working on it right now," said Dustin, with a shake to his head. Everyone was so impatient! You would think they would give him just a few minutes to get over the fact he just made a black hole and eradicated a sentient AI that was older than his whole race.
Watching to make sure the ship would land away from all of the civilized areas, he headed back up into space to the other AI ship, that was just floating dead. A quick scan showed that the people on board were unconscious, but still alive. He had a couple of hours before he had to deal with them running out of air, so he turned his attention to the dead hivemind.
The AI had proven that it was too susceptible to attack, so he intended to rewrite everything. It needed to be able to talk to all of the nanobots, whole also preventing outside interference from hacking it. Thinking about it for a moment, Dustin decided it needed more work then he had time for at the moment, so he typed in the commands for a jump.
"How are you able to get around the need for fuel?" asked Olivia.
"The AI had discovered a method of energy for jump engines when it stole my jump technology that was far more efficient then the fuel I was using. I don't think I can explain it to you easily, so just pretend you understand and I'll try later."
"Or never," groaned Granny from the floor.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Dustin, as they appeared above his planet with the fuel, that he had come to with Cybele.
"I think the nanobots attacked some important bits, and they're taking a while to heal," she moaned, holding her head.
"Need to go to the medical bay?" asked Olivia, concerned.
"No, if the Gooblens found out I was damaged, there's no telling what they would do. I should be fine after a good nap. I feel like I have a major hangover."
Dustin nodded thoughtfully, holding his hand down, and scanning Granny with a tweak of his cells. The PED had done it enough times, that he was sure he could figure out how to do it to, and a smug grin covered his face as he succeeded. She was healing faster than he thought possible, closing gaps in arteries and regrowing bits of her nervous system. She would probably be pretty hungry when she woke up, so he made a note to grab her a good snack.
"What are we doing here?" asked Olivia, looking over the planet in front of them.
"It seemed like a great planet to move into orbit, opposite our current planet. The Gooblens should love it."
"They'll strip it bare in a couple years," she said doubtfully.
"Not if we give them things to properly occupy their time."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I know where there's a full graveyard of ships, waiting to be disassembled and rebuilt. All I have to do is bring that here, to their new homeworld, and they'll have plenty to do."
Olivia shook her head. She wasn't sure it would work, but if he wanted to give it a try, she was all for letting him.
By the end of an hour, he had programmed and constructed enough nanobots, to jump this planet into orbit along with their own planet. It was in the same orbital path, only on the opposite side of the sun, to keep things balanced.
"I'll find another planet for the non-Uz'En you dragged home, then we'll go get the rest of our people."
"Wait, the ones I dragged home?" asked Olivia, bristling at his words.
Dustin grimaced as he remembered he had brought Cybele and then threw her at Olivia without any explanation.
"I can explain," he said, as they flew down to the surface of the new planet. The Gooblens would need to name it, but he was sure Old Motha could do that.
"You better! I know that I brought some non-Uz'En, but I had an excuse. I was all messed up from what Granny had tried to fix. You don't have that excuse!"
Dustin sighed. He really didn't want to get into another fight with her. There had been so many over the years, he had almost preferred she stay away rather than fight with her.
"Cybele saw me while I was sick with some kind of poison, and decided I was good mate material. Her race changes physically to be the perfect mate to ensure compatibility. Apparently once she had changed, no one else of her race would have anything to do with her. Also, they were telepathic in nature, and she willingly gave that up to make me happier, when I freaked at the idea of her in my head. I didn't really have a choice but to bring her along. She would have died otherwise."
"Sounds pretty idiotic of her to do all of that. She had almost willingly signed her death warrant to do all of that without asking you first!"
Dustin agreed with a nod of his head, landing the ship gently in a clearing next to a river.
"I'll go tell Old Motha we're at her new home," said Dustin, climbing to his feet and stepping over Granny, who was passed out on the floor.
"We're not done with this!" warned Olivia, "I need to tell you about what they did to fix me, and how sorry I am about being a royal bitch the past fifteen years."
Dustin paused with his hand in the air to open the door. Turning to look at her, he saw the pain that was etched on her face. Was this another trick? Was he dreaming? Had he died inside that AI? He didn't dare respond with his real thoughts, so he merely nodded and left the room.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
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Wrapping things up, or are we?
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