UnEarthed

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. Honestly, a scream of boredom was more likely.

I squinted and looked harder. The shopping structure in front of us appeared boarded up. Something about it felt way too familiar.

"Back off. Too close," I grumbled, but was ignored. We were all too used to these gigs. As the transport drove closer, I stared out the standard three centimeter thick plasteel side window, weapon in ready mode, while the building nagged at me in the back of my mind.

Jandel had some old song playing quietly up in front and a little metal trophy swinging from the guard rail above his head.

"Sending in the probe" he announced routinely. We all locked eyes. We were ready as always for whatever, but silently placing bets with each other that things would go as they often did. No friends, no enemies had become our motto. The dangling trophy caught a sun ray as we rounded a corner and shot rainbows on Jandel's face. Expedition souvenier. A piece from a defensive kill. Anything to spice things up these days.

"It's in." He paused with his head down in his gear. "Positive for breathable. Full spread. No organics."

Big surprise.

I made them wait, mulling this one. The worn out shopping mall. Too perfect in detail, really. I'd almost put my finger on it. We'd need a thorough look inside. Probably in person. Probes never could detect deception very well.

"Wanna check it out?" Jandel asked, but a whiff of sarcasm had snuck in. I could feel everyone shrug even though I kept my eyes on the building. Some windows were covered, or patched. Maybe with actual wood. That was an odd touch on an AI world. They usually avoided anything un-printed. Lots of detail all over, but nothing used that they couldn't control down to the micrometer - or smaller. Organic resource builds were too much fuss.

"Sure," I said. "Lets go. Who's comin'?" A couple of them raised their hands. Cora and Torick. The ever-hopeful twins who loved shooting just a bit too quickly. "OK guys, but hold back while I scan everything a bit, huh? I got a ...weird... feeling about this one." They rolled their eyes.

"Right, buddy. Have at it," Torick growled. "But don't watch me while we're leavin' the place." He stroked the half-meter Protectorant gun in his hands. "Something'll probably splatter."

Cora grinned. Target practice. "It'll be dead & dull in there. You know how it goes. Let us have our fun," she pouted, an eager angry gleam in her eyes. "This is the fifth rock we've been on, and still no-friends-no-enemies. A waste of ammunition!" They both smirked.

"Just...wait though, ok?" I said, trying to blend understanding with a command. Their familiar faces and the relative isolation of these Advance Team gigs was bonding us. But things weren't as casual with me as they might think. "I'll let you know," I said, putting an end to it. They gave a grunt and a nod, and Jandel slowed the car near an entrance.

We jumped out, helmets on, and I slung scanner and gear pack over my shoulder. It was dead still around us. No movement detected for hours. After a passing glance at our urban surroundings, we approached the sliding doors ahead. A meter away, those sprang to life and glided open as if it we were typical visitors coming to browse the shops.

Inside, surfaces gleamed. Not a speck of dust. Lighting was on. But my nagging feeling returned. Like I'd been here a very long time ago. It all felt too intentional. The activated shops and textures and customization everywhere. It was supposed to be generic. Nobody lived on this world yet and like dozens of other seed planets, things were just waiting aroud. A decade ago, and sometimes even earlier, AIs had arrived and gotten things ready, all according to plan. Printing up everything needed and keeping it clean. A great concept for a big migration.

"OK let's keep moving," I said and waved them on with my scanner. "But eyes open for anything weird."

"Right, hah...not normal-weird, just new-crazy-weird?" asked Jandel.

"Yeah..." I said, smiling, but kept my eyes locked on the scanner. They were forgetting. When early colony slowships had finally showed up in a few systems, small incidents were brushed off as just a bit of naughty AI behavior. A less servile attitude perhaps, or a bit of righteous ownership of what they'd all built for us years ago. Maybe the price of intelligent silicon individuality. But then a few AIs started pushing back hard against the newly arriving humans, and more and more new seed worlds greeted colonists with death. They were not welcome. The colony builders had rebelled. Hard. That's when our team was put into place. To check things out first, and deal forcefully with problems.

I cracked my helmet as we turned a corner and felt the urge to grab some fresh air. The building's breathable atmosphere wasn't going anywhere and nano attacks had been rare before, so maybe I was a bit careless after so many months. Definitely bad timing.

We all stepped back, weapons hot. Growing out of a nearby storefront like an explosion of blue glass knife blades, was a very not-human structure. It seemed to shift slowly and turn in on itself.

Then it sighed, and spoke.