They Answered The Call

Republic Hive World

2175 A.D.

Bandit left the brooding chamber to give Aurora and her new queen daughter privacy, making sure that the guardian androids posted outside the chamber would prevent any drones from entering and disturbing them.

He headed towards the central nexus to file the report on the successful emergence of the new queen with President Lopez, who insisted on being notified immediately when it happened. The president had taken a personal interest in the event, and Bandit would do his duty and inform her.

She was the one who had come up with the name Aurora when the Hive mother expressed a desire and interest in having a name for her dealings with animals. Bandit was there when the Hive mother had asked for one, and he translated between them as President Lopez gifted her the appellation, declaring, “I shall call you Aurora, for you have renewed yourself, and like the ancient goddess, you will bring a new dawn to the Hives when you claim your rightful place one day.”

The Hive mother accepted the name, touched by the meaning and intent of it, even though she did not understand the concept of a goddess or mythology. She erroneously correlated it with being an ancient Hive mother of President Lopez and that the President was honoring her by giving her the name of her favorite ancestor.

Bandit did not correct her thinking, as he thought that it would cause unnecessary confusion, and he did not want to deprive President Lopez of the goodwill the mistaken impression generated in the Hive mother. He entered the central nexus and walked over to the communications panel that was installed when the Hive was first built.

He entered a series of commands and waited for the signal to be routed through the network of null space communication drones that formed a direct relay between the Hive and Earth. He accessed his personal profile and saw that he had received a letter from his friend Diego, and a surge of happiness flowed through his neural pathways. He accessed the file, and a small holographic display appeared in front of him with Republic standard text.

Hey buddy,

I hope this message finds you well. I received the letter you sent two days ago, and I just want to tell you that I am very happy to hear that your friend Aurora is going to become a mom. Congratulations, Uncle Bandit!

As far as my recovery is going, the doctors tell me that I will be able to return to duty in another two weeks. There has been no sign of any regression in the old brain; the nanobots seemed to have finally repaired all the damage from the psychic assault of the queen on the builder world.

Owen was finally discharged, and now he is at home with Emily and baby Ito, putting his new arm to good use by changing diapers. That poor bastard.

I am still struggling with the nightmares, but the shrink tells me that should lessen as I get back to my old routine. I miss you, Bandit. It is not the same without you here, but I understand the importance of what you are doing there at the Hive.

I am just glad that President Lopez was finally able to get the jerks in the R&D division to stop trying to take you apart to find out how you achieved awareness and replicate the process. I always knew you were special, but I didn’t think this would ever happen. I know I have said this before, but thank you for saving my life, old friend. I owe you one, big time. Write me back.

All my love and friendship,

Lucas

P.S. Send me some pictures of the new queen and tell Aurora that I am happy for her and her new daughter.

Bandit closed the message and had the display change to a reflective surface. It turned into a mirror, and he saw his new face appear on it. He was transferred to the newest humaniform android body less than a month ago, and he was still unused to having a face. He made several expressions in rapid succession, wondering how humans were able to do them naturally without trying.

He took a finger and pressed it against his cheek, seeing the indentation he made disappear as the pliable nuskin bounced back just like natural human skin did. He was indistinguishable from a normal human male, except for the telltale yellow iris of the eyes that were mandated for all humaniform android bodies to allow humans and other species to discern that they were dealing with androids.

An alert chimed on the communication panel, and he pressed the blinking icon, the mirror being replaced with a holographic screen. He saw President Lopez sitting in her chair, and she was smiling broadly. He smiled in return as she started speaking.

“Bandit, thank you for contacting me and updating me on the emergence. I am glad that it was successful, and please pass along my congratulations to Aurora. How is she doing?”

Bandit nodded before replying. “She is ecstatic. I left the brooding chamber to allow them time alone to deepen their bond, as appropriate. It was an interesting experience; I wish to be present during the birth of a human and compare the two emergences. Do you think that is possible?”

President Lopez laughed. “Please don’t go around asking to watch a woman give birth, Bandit. It is a very private experience, and I don’t think their husbands would appreciate you being a peeping tom. There are plenty of videos of childbirths on the link for you to watch and compare the differences.”

Bandit nodded. “Thank you for the suggestion, Madam President. Do you have new orders for me?”

President Lopez looked down at her desk for a moment and then looked back up. “Actually, I do, Bandit. I will be coming to the Hive with Admiral Thompson and need to seek advice from Aurora on how to proceed with the ongoing clearing operations that we are doing on the abandoned worlds.”

She paused to press something on her desk, and her face took on a more serious expression as Bandit saw an info graph pop up on the side of the screen showing the confirmed killed and wounded count of Republic ground forces. It was already in the tens of thousands.

“The Hives and drones that were left behind after the withdrawal are fighting to the death, and our casualties are mounting rapidly. Do you think she will be willing to go to these worlds and take control of the Hives and drones? Otherwise, we will be forced to use nuclear bunker busters and kill hundreds of millions of them to limit our own losses.”

Bandit ran billions of calculations as he considered the problem, and he answered her two seconds later. “I am certain Aurora would do everything she could to help, but I do think that the timing of this is an issue. I do not think that she would be willing to depart from her daughter so soon after her emergence.”

President Lopez nodded. “I agree, but we must try to convince her that this is critical. I am hoping that the prospect of expanding her Hive with hundreds of millions of drones will entice her. It would allow her to accelerate her projected timetable to take over the Hives and become the Hive mother of the Insectoid Empire.”

Bandit ran more calculations as he considered the president’s reasoning, finding that he concurred with her assessment. “I agree, Madam President. I will broach the subject with her and inform her that you are coming. When is your expected arrival here?”

President Lopez smiled at him again. “We will be there in two days’ time. I am also bringing a gift for her. We have finally finished studying the Hive ship and the cruiser, and I am returning them to her. She will need them for this mission if she agrees to help.”

Bandit smiled in return. “She will be very happy to have them back. She has been asking if she will ever be allowed to have ships again, and this will assuage her fears of being permanently trapped here. Do you wish to keep this a secret until you arrive, or shall I inform her?”

President Lopez thought for a few moments before answering. “Tell her. I don’t want her to panic and think that it is possibly ships from the Empire coming to take her away.” Bandit didn’t even think of that, and his neural pathways buzzed as he mused over the insightful intuition that humans displayed despite not having the raw processing power available to him and other AIs.

“I will do as you ask, Madam President. I will prepare the Hive for your arrival.”

She nodded and leaned in closer, lowering her voice. “How does it feel to be an uncle, Bandit?”

He paused, thinking of how his friend Diego also referred to him as an uncle to the new queen. The term was not entirely incorrect, and he did derive joy as he watched his efforts ensure that the new queen successfully emerged from the cocoon.

“It feels… good, Madam President.”

President Lopez smiled widely at his statement and winked one eye at him before leaning back in her chair and pressing the panel on the desk, ending the connection.

Bandit remained standing there for some time, accessing the Republic mainframe and checking in on all the parts of the Hive to make sure that everything was functioning correctly. A worker drone scurried up to him and used a tarsal claw to tug at his uniform, getting his attention.

He looked down at it and saw that it had turned around and was facing the brooding chamber, waiting for him to follow it. Aurora must have ordered it to get him, and he tapped the drone on its back, signaling that it was to lead the way. It scurried forward, and he followed it, happy that he would be able to give Aurora the good news about getting her ships back and potentially expanding the size of her Hive with an infusion of hundreds of millions of new worker drones.