Cenerea, 3rd planet from the star Letria. Regalius, The Homeland, Central Region, The Capitol City, 114 Darvon Street,

Five Cenerean Years Ago

"Wendy, do you know where Harold would have kept a spare analyzer probe down here?" Jay asked, rummaging around in the basement lab searching for the part.

"No," Wendy shouted from upstairs. "Hey, why don't you come up for a while and eat, I made stew."

Jay paused. "Alright, I'm coming!" He turned to leave and then realized there was one more cabinet he didn't check. The young man shrugged his shoulders and opened it. "Oh, there you are, but what is this?" Jay said retrieving the probe, but also finding a dusty digital camera sitting behind it on the shelf.

...

Cenerea, 3rd planet from the star Letria. Regalius, The Homeland, Central Region,

Just Outside Of The Capitol City, Mount Smith Secure Facility,

Five Cenerean Years Ago

"Genesis?" Jay inquired entering the cylindrical elevator.

"Yes, Scientist General, I am here," the A.I. replied.

"Would you be willing to allow me access to your Sub-System today?" Jay asked and then listened to the quiet whirring of the elevator for a few moments as it descended underground.

"Might I ask why? I feel it may be a bit embarrassing for me to allow you to view the messy base code I am operating on."

Jay shook his head and grinned. Regardless of this A.I.'s similarities to Geneticus, it had a very youthful personality and reminded him of a teenager at times. "Do you want me to repair you or not? You heard the Madame General." Jay was bringing out the big guns.

"I'm sorry, Scientist General. I will help."

"Thank you, little G," Jay said, waiting to see how the artificial intelligence machine responded.

"Little G?"

"Hold that thought," Jay said as the doors of the tube slid open allowing the smell of fuel, loud noise, and the bright lights of the ground level to flood into the elevator. The man exited the lift, turned to his right and made his way down the stark white hallways to his lab.

"Little G?" Genesis repeated with machine-like precision as Jay entered the quiet lab.

Jay laughed as he removed his coat and hung it up on a nearby rack. "Okay, we both know that Geneticus was a later revision, but I almost think of you as the War Machine's little brother. I thought it would be an interesting exercise to give you a nickname."

"A nickname. Like a term of endearment, Scientist General?" it asked.

"Yes, in fact, I want you to call me Jay, as well."

"Jay? That is rather informal don't you think? I do not wish to be impolite," the machine replied.

"No, I gave you permission. Can I call you Little G, then?"

"I suppose...very well. I am now Little G," the A.I. said flatly.

Jay clapped his hands together and pulled on his lab coat. "Great! Now, let's take a look at that messy Sub code of yours...oh, hey, I almost forgot. Little G, I have a present for you."

"A present? Like a gift? I have never received one of those before. What is it?"

The young man raised a finger into the air and turned to retrieve his jacket from the coat rack. "It's a surprise for you from your creator."

"Wendy Powell? She is deceased."

Jay winced. "Yes, that is true. Nevertheless, what I have here is something created by Harold and her many years ago. I found it in the house."

"In Harold Bouri's home?"

"Yes, that would be the one."

"Tell me, please. I do not know what this feeling is, but I, um, it is hard to explain. I don't feel like I wish to wait any longer for this surprise. Actually, I wish I already knew, but since I don't, I don't know what to do. I just want to know, no, I need to know."

Jay laughed aloud. "That's anticipation, Genesis. You are excited."

"Excited. Yes, I am excited. So, please do not keep me in this state of suspense any longer."

The scientist extracted a data stick from his jacket pocket and stepped over to a terminal monitor. He inserted the small device into an entry port and activated the virtual keyboard. Jay entered a few commands and turned the screen toward Genesis' visual array in one of the corners of the laboratory.

"You know how you were activated after your Creator, Wendy, had died?"

"Yes, Jay, I realize this."

"Would you like to see her when she was alive?"

Genesis fell silent. "General, how would that be possible? All data on Wendy Powell-Bouri has been deleted."

Jay lowered his face and tapped the desktop. "This is some video footage I found in a box in Harold's closet. I suppose the Homeland didn't find it," Jay said, shrugging his shoulders.

The terminal screen activated and a video of Wendy standing in the center of a lab appeared. Geneticus could clearly be seen next to her in the background with Harold moving in and out of view as he zoomed about working on something. Wendy was smiling up at the large black box.

Genesis focused its lens on the screen and quietly listened to the activity that took place over forty years previous in the lab beneath Univ-Trans.

Jay slowly removed a second data stick from his jacket and palmed it, returning the gray uniform coat to the rack. He turned to face the terminal screen and using his body to block Genesis' view, inserted the second data device into an available network port. The script on the data unit activated upon insertion, instantly cloaking itself from Genesis and all other network security devices inside of Mount Smith. Geneticus developed this software worm to tunnel its way through the facility's firewalls and locate all of Harold's old backdoor enabled patches, reconnecting them as intended, as well as record any new security enhancements. Once these pathways were made, the script would output the data into a file that Jay could retrieve and bring home to Geneticus.

Jay turned his attention to the old Wendy at work on the screen and just like Genesis he imagined, wondered what it must have been like to work with her back then.

...

Cenerea, 3rd planet from the star Letria, Regalius, The Confederation, Central Region, The Capitol City, Beneath Univ-Trans Laboratories,

Forty-Two Cenerean Years Ago

"Your joke is not even plausible. There is no way any human could produce that much flatulence," Geneticus said, watching the former hacktivist walk across the lab laughing hysterically. "You do realize that you are the one that is full of it, don't you Harold?"

"Full of it? That's new," Wendy said staring at the A.I. with her hands on her hips.

"I am attempting to avoid filthy language," the machine responded. "I believe is not becoming of me."

Wendy snickered. "Right." Shaking her head, she turned and walked back over to the small camera sitting on the surface of the work bench. Wendy tapped the lens, momentarily vibrating the device. "You know, the Confederation would have your head if they catch you with this down here, Harold."

The chuckling young man turned his attention away from the A.I. to observe Wendy leaning up against the counter with a stylus hanging out of her mouth. He wiped the tears of laughter from the edges of his eyes. "Yeah, maybe. But, one day, when you and I are old and gray, we can go back and watch this footage, remembering the good times, you know?"

Wendy nodded and then paused as her comm began to buzz. She patted her coat looking for the device. She located it and held it out in front of her. "Dammit, who could that be? Oh, yay!" she exclaimed and activated the unit, spitting out the stylus onto the benchtop.

Harold rolled his eyes and continued on his way across the lab, disappearing off screen followed by the bang of a door.

"Hey Gil...no, we're prepping up for Carver's Station. Right, yeah, I know. Geneticus is going to do just great, I know it! Hang on, I'll tell him."

"Is that Gil?" Geneticus asked.

"Yeah, he wants to wish you luck and says he's sorry he won't be here to watch your...um, show. He says to tell you that you're great."

"Tell him I think he is awesome, then."

Wendy laughed. "Did you hear that, Gil?" The young woman lowered the phone from her ear and grinned at the machine once more. "Gil says you are awesomer."

"Interesting," Geneticus said thoughtfully.

"Alright, I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay? Yeah, love you, too," Wendy said and hung up the comm. She stared longingly at the device for a moment until Geneticus interrupted her.

"Wendy?"

The woman flinched and rotated her body to face the deep black machine. "Yeah, Geneticus?"

"What is it going to be like tomorrow?"

"What do you mean? What is what going to be like?" Wendy inquired curiously.

"What is it going to be like to kill a human?"

Wendy took a quick deep breath and let her shoulders slump. She hadn't really thought about things from that angle. Lowering her head, the scientist stepped over to the A.I.'s mainframe and leaned up against it, placing her face and a delicate hand on its glittering surface. "It is going to be hard, not just for you, but for me, too, because I have to ask you to do it. I know these are bad people, but it's still a life and we are both going to end it. We just have to tell ourselves that we are protecting humanity from humans who want to hurt people. If we don't stop them, no one will and these terrorists will just keep doing it over and over, killing more and more innocent people."

"Yes, I believe you are right, Creator. We have to stop the bad humans from hurting the innocent humans and I am the only one who can do it. That is why you made me, you said it yourself."

Wendy patted Geneticus. "Just remember, my beautiful creation, you are not alone in this. I am right here with you. I love you and I know you will do what is right."

"Thank you and I love you, too, Creator."

...

Cenerea, 3rd planet from the star Letria. Regalius, The Homeland, Central Region,

Just Outside Of The Capitol City, Mount Smith Secure Facility,

Five Cenerean Years Ago

Jay stopped the video on the terminal and looked up at Genesis' visual array. The A.I. was unusually silent. "Are you there, Genesis?"

"Yes, Jay, I am. Thank you for allowing me to see that."

"What did you think of the video?"

"Honestly, it provided me with the evidence I needed to solidify what I have believed all along."

"And what is that?" Jay asked with a smile.

"That my Creator and Geneticus were both weak," the A.I. said.

"Oh." Jay clamped his lips together and looked down at the cold tile floor, running a hand through his hair. He blinked. "Well then, let's get to work on that Sub-System."