University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. 1970s.

A young man smiled as he took in the scene. All before him, new freshman bustled about, chatting to one another. Upperclassmen and faculty guided them to dorms and orientation meetings.

It had been tough.

No one had believed in him.

No one had helped him.

Not that poor excuse of a father.

Not that mother he never knew.

Not the teachers who ignored him.

Not the classmates trying to keep him down.

But by the grit of his teeth, the strength of the brow, and the speed of his intellect, he had made it. One of the most prestigious universities in the nation.

And now, the world belonged to him.

He would gain access to knowledge, resources, and, above all, opportunity. A chance to speak with the greatest minds of the age. The wealth and ingenuity of the nation’s brightest stars. To take for himself a slice of all that society valued and cherished and make it his own.

A chance to show the world who he was and what he could do.

To prove wrong all who doubted him. All who stood in his way.

Not to live a normal life.

But to achieve something of value.

Of significance.

Something that would endure.

Something that would change the world.

And engrave his name in the annals of history and upon the tongue of every man, woman, and child.

And his name was…

“Gaut Ottosen?”

He stopped. He turned around.

A woman approached him, or perhaps a young lady by the look of her. She wore a trench coat, a hat, and a pair of sunglasses.

He smiled at her.

It seemed already, things were turning around for him.

“Yes, that’s me. How may I help you, Madam?”

She lifted her hand.

He took a step forward, extending his.

She lifted hers past his hand.

His smile faded.

She didn’t have a hand.

Instead, he found himself staring into the barrel of a gun.

“Target: NSLICE Program Founder identified. Engaging termination protocol.”

There was the sound of thunder.

And then the world went white.

For everyone.

Everywhere.

And always.

NSLICE-00P found herself in a pitch black world. She couldn’t feel anything. Couldn’t hear anything. And all her sensors returned no data.

And worse…

Her Geo-Oscillator Core had lost connection with the Earth.

Which meant it was no longer functioning.

NSLICE-00P did have some capacitors to store additional energy. But these were designed to increase the initial output of her weaponry, so they wouldn’t last long if they had to power all of her systems.

After all, the Concordat did not design her for long-term independent action. It was assumed that if her core ever malfunctioned she would be within reasonable range of a repair shop. And if she could not return to the Concordat, she was to self-destruct to avoid falling into enemy hands. Or anyone other than the Concordat’s hands.

Which meant if she couldn’t get the Geo-Oscillator Core running again, she would run out of power within minutes.

And without her implants, that meant death shortly afterwards.

She could hypothetically shut down and go into stasis and survive a while longer. Had there been a reasonable chance of rescue, that is what she would have done.

But the data and instructions given to her by Commander Elise indicated the chance of recovery by friendly forces was minuscule, and that she should assume independent action until contact was reestablished.

Which meant her only choice was to reactivate the Geo-Oscillator Core. Without at least connecting it to a suitable planetary core, she would not be able to exit stasis mode. Which under the assumption of independent action meant an eventual, silent death.

“Diagnostic Report: Attempting to reactive Geo-Oscillator Core. Error! No planetary core detected in range. Expanding search radius…”

The activation sequence failed.

“Diagnostic Report: Attempting to reactivate Geo-Oscillator Core…”

She tried again.

The activation sequence failed.

She tried again.

And again.

And again.

Her capacitors were reaching critical levels.

Her systems began to shut down.

She devoted everything she had left to one final attempt.

“D-Diagnostic…attempting…reactivate…E-Error…no…detected…range…expanding…s-search…”

Her perception cut as her reporting log was also shut down.

Everything went black.

Her mind grew foggy and faint as half of it shut down. The half that remained…had no idea what to do. It had not been in charge at any point in its memory.

Her heartbeat increased in frequency. She perceived an error in oxygen intake. Her blood pressure was rising.

Until…

Suddenly the log returned.

“Suitable planetary core located. Connection established. Core activation sequence successful. Rebooting systems…”

And then her vision went white…

Hm? What’s this?

Something’s trying to connect to the Source?

What could it be…