“Tarux, Fizzouk speaking”

“Tarux answer me.”

Why isn’t the fool answering his com’s?

“Tarux do you copy?”

He knows he’s supposed to keep them on at all times.

“Tarux just please don’t set off any explosions until I get there.”

Oh Captain Orsu why did you have to make a deal with Tarux that allows him complete control of the explosives he’s allowed to use.

“Tarux please respond.”

Even he wouldn’t set off explosions inside the asteroid again right?

A rumble ran through the asteroid just now.

That idiot set off the charges!

“TARUX RESPOND!!!”

Please oh please don’t screw us with this stunt.

“TARUX!”

“Fizzouk, Tarux speaking.”

“YOU IDIOT!”

“Geez Fizzouk can you lower your voice a bit. I haven't done anything warranting a lecture recently.”

“Shut it. I’m on my way to your position now to see how bad the damage is. I’ll be there in thirty.”

“Oh joy. Do you at least have the things stasis cell with you?”

“Of course I do, I’m not like… I wouldn’t forget something so important to the frequency confirmation sight.”

“Good.”

“Now will you please just wait for me before you touch anything else?”

“Sorry movement spotted. I’m preparing to engage.”

“For everything good in this universe please just don’t use your assault cannon in the space around the target.”

“I’ll think about it. Boomer out.”

“TARUX NO!”

“Awwww, that stupid brutes going to be the death of me.”

Why can’t everybody be more like machines? They are so simple.

You give them power and an objective and they do it. No questions asked no whining, and no complaints. They remember perfectly and when a problem come up they seek help or shut down. They are so much easier to fix then flesh beings. You don’t even have to worry about offending others or dealing with messy emotions at all.

But then again that wish doesn't really matter. No matter how great the idea is it would always require a sentient power to rule them. They would either draw more of them to that place until it was purely sentiments again. Or the sentient in control would die and the machines would work themselves until they shut down.

It’s not like the AI we have couldn’t run the majority of the tasks themselves it’s just that there wouldn’t be any progress. And without progress there can only be a path to ruin. We’ve tried to make sentient AI, self-sufficient, with no need for commands but they were always stagnant. There were a few before that had worked but there was always an agenda that someone else had put in place. It just seemed that AI was never meant to have their lives in their own control.

“Fizzouk, Tarux speaking.”

“Haaa”

Back to the chore of dealing with this brute.

“Threat neutralized, scanning area for potential new threats.”

“What was the threat might I ask?”

“You may.”

“So what was it?”

Dumb brute.

“Oh you wanted to know what the threat was. Well it was a class four stone golem. I’ve retrieved its core since it’s a rare core formation that continues to faintly pulse with mana.”

“Hummmm, interesting. May I have the core upon return to the ship?”

“As of now I can make no promises for the core as I have a vague interest in it myself.”

“You're doing this to try and get back at me aren't you?”

“No I’m not. On any other day about any other objective I would. But this core seems different and I’m interested in it for now.”

“Fine, but when you get bored of it please let me know. I would like to see it and see what I could use it for.”

“Sure thing Fizzouk I’ll try and keep that in mind. And how far out are you now? I’m assuming you’re trying to go faster than you usually do since I’m the one on site.”

“I’m twenty out but I think I can cut it down to fifteen.”

“Ok good I’ll see you then. Boomer out.”

“Wait I need to...“

“And he’s off the com channel. Great.”

“Tarux, Fizzouk speaking. I’ll arrive in T minus one. Fizzouk out.”

Well it seems like he didn’t blow anything up since I contacted him. That's reassuring in its own right.

I know that Tarux would relay to me if any threats appeared so I shouldn’t have to arm myself. But you never know what could happen with these sorts of things so I’ll put forty seven percent of my processors on scanning duty and increase my shielding apparatus energy output by twelve percent.

Aww there's Tarux, that brute. His armor seems to be fine and his assault cannon is in its holstered position. That’s a good sign that nothing too important broke. But I have been proven wrong of that line of thought before.

As I enter I notice there were two indentions. One was on the wall the other on the floor next to Tarux. It seems like he had listened to my plea earlier and didn’t use his canon. The room was mostly circular with a large bolder acting as its ceiling and a few other large head sized rocks scattered about. But there was one that stood out. It wasn’t very easy to hide something that glows that much, especially in plain sight.

The siam red gem was shaped like a snub cube. It looked like there were six interconnected rings spinning around what appeared to be its central point, along with thirty two spheres floating aimlessly around inside of itself.

It was breathtaking.

“Hey Fizzouk that's the thing we’re looking for right?”

“Of course it is. How could you mistake it for anything but…”

“FIZZ! Before you say anything get off of long com so we can talk freely again. Ok.”

“Oh yeah sorry…”

I was so excited I almost forgot. System coms switch to LOS com only.

“There we go, I’m all set.”

“Come on Fizz I know you're excited but if the corporate mining probe in the sector catches on to what we're doing we’ll be in something so deep we won't be able to crawl out. That's why we had to come out so far on the edge of the fringe in the first place.”

“I know but I couldn’t help myself. It’s just so amazing.”

“Well no matter how amazing it is I’m going to need you to wail on me for failing to retrieve the newly formed dungeon core to Orsu so that if anyone decides to check this sectors probe for sensitive com chatter they will think we’ve failed. I mean we’re even planning to stick around and keep digging for another month while we pretend to look for something important before we leave the sector as dejected spacers trying to mine a rare substance.”

“Yeah, sorry…”

“Haaaa don’t worry about it. We’ll try to cover it up as best we can. But it will all work out. Do you still remember the code words for letting Orsu know we got the dungeon core?”

“I remember I’ll make sure to relay the message properly.”

“Ok good. Can you set up the dungeons mana stasis cell? The longer we stay off of long com the more likely it will be for them to doubt our “failure”.”

“Yeah it’s been warming up the entire way down the tunnel system. I just need to open it up and do a quick calibration.”

“Ok good. And you should know that when I put the dungeon core into the mana stasis cell its domain will break and that bolder above us will come crashing down. So you might want to step back and be prepared to make that fake emergency call to everybody when it comes down.”

“Got it. I’ll figure something out.”

“Good to know.”

Attention!

Mana levels spiking!

“Hey Tarux…”

“Yeah I see it. Fizz get back, give me the stasis cell, and do any of the last prep remotely. It's time to do this.”

“Roger.”

I run back towards the tunnel I came from. Tarux had already grabbed the stasis cell from me while he gave out his command. As I fall back I see that the ground is forming into spikes before falling back into the ground each time growing longer and forming faster by fractions of a second.

Tarux just charges into the wall of stone spears. Apparently his armor can hold up to that kind of a beating. I’m unsure whether I would hold up too well against that kind of beating. I know for a fact that my armor would stay intact but I’m unsure if my body could withstand the precise pinpoint attacks that have enough force to slow Tarux’s down slightly mid charge. If that attack lasted for a prolonged amount of time it could prove to be truly devastating in battle.

Attention!

Mana levels spiking to unstable levels!

Manaimplosion imminent!

“Tarux secure the core NOW!”

“Rraaaawwww!”

Tarux’s primal scream fills my coms as he rips the dungeon core from the stone. The dungeon core glows brighter and brighter as the mana inside pushes itself against its outer surface. Tarux swiftly puts the core inside the stasis cell which shuts quickly the moment his hand escapes the stasis cells hatch.

And then there's nothing.

“Well Fizz the fact that we’re not dead means that it worked. Right?”

“Well... yes, for the time being anyway. We’ll need to change some things and adjust the setting but we won’t have to release the dungeon core until we’ve completed the generators completion.“

“That's good to know.”

“Tarux you need to get out of there soon, that bolder you mentioned is coming down!”

“Aww crap! Fizz getaway from the entrance and make the call to Orsu!”

“But wha…”

“Just do it now!”

I start to move deeper into the tunnel as Tarux picks up the now full stasis cell and makes a mad dash towards the exit. The boulder that had acted as the ceiling is slowly gaining speed in its decent down. The walls of the cave were falling in on themselves sending shards of rock and dust all around.

“Systems turn long com on!”

“Captain Orsu, Fizzouk speaking.

“I hear you. Give me your report.”

“We weren't able to recover it. Tarux caused a cave in, the fool. The objective is compromised. We’ll need to regroup and do a large search on this area and see if we can find some remains.”

“Wait is Tarux down!”

“No but he’s not in great shape. His armor protected his core body from most of the damage. But we can still get to the ship. So there’s no need to worry about him.”

As I finish the sentence I feel the ground underneath me shake as see a Tarux blow out of the dust at full speed.

“Hey Fizz Catch!!!”

“Wait what!”

He throws the stasis cell to me as he passes by, my back arms spring into action and grab the cell from out of the air, just in time to see him try to slow down before he slams into a wall causing the ground to shake a little more.

“Ahahahahahaha! There’s the thrill I needed!”

“Fizzouk what was that?”

“Just Tarux captain. He seems to seem pleased with himself after the second disaster he caused.”

“Haaa ok. We’ll deal with it back on the ship so hurry up so we can get it over with. Captain Orsu out.”

Good now captain know the

“Tarux look what you’ve done.”

“I know wasn’t that awesome.”

“No it was not you buffoon!”

“Well I had a blast. And I know my nerves aren't as frayed anymore.”

“Whatever. Let's get back to the ship and get you checked up.”

“Yeah yeah I’m fine. So let's keep digging.”

“Nope Captain said we’re regrouping back at the ship. So it’s time to go.”

“Fine Fizzouk be a killjoy.”

Man I can’t wait to stop this act and get back to working on my lovely lady Kalna again.