Log 1 Matter | Antimatter by Selina Brown

capsule to be destroyed.
In the seconds he tried to work out what to do to stop it, the deed
was done. Jamie shook his head and held his stomach. Breathe
slowly. Never in history had three Pure-Gen babies been fabricated
but this was reprehensible.
    Jamie stared at the image of the “Mobile
Unit”. According to that log he had read, her memories had been
blocked. He surmised she must be connected to something outside the
test site and that she had something to do inside. But why would
her memories be blocked and why placed into a baby biosuit? Was her
real form so different? There were too many questions and he forced
himself to focus on his mission. That’s all she was.
    His assignment.
     

Red

    Lacuna
    Iota Test Site
    Assigned Sub-Maya Unit 9, Cardinal Unit 9
    Iota Test Site – Vakar seeded and overlap
    Mobile Unit 1
     
    For Aryan Pure-Gens, the First Race, being
fabricated was light, energy, and efficiency. Ara knew her name
even as the Cardinal Unit deposited her safely into her artificial
womb in the small space station near Perza’s new central planetary
system, Saratoga. She was due for rupture and gently floated in her
liquid pond. And while she felt warm, there was a sense of loss and
grief. “Gah?”
    Ara waved her hands, the feeling gradually
receded as Maya connected with her, driving the sadness away, and
injecting something into her fluidic sac that cut her off from
those feelings. It did not, however, stop the intriguing incandesce
of heat and color visible to her that was gracefully swirling
around her body.
    As Ara floated with sleep beckoning, her mind
opened wide. There was danger outside in soupy space in the form of
a cloaked war ranger. Accessing data from the Cardinal Unit was as
natural to her as breathing. But that danger was only a trifle
compared to the danger that lay tantalizing out of her reach and
she dared not draw attention to herself just yet. Drawing on latent
abilities, she began to weave her own protection and, by reaching
far, she found two who could help.
     
    CARDINAL Unit 9 (CU), sub-Maya 9,
Ara’s Logs
     
    0001
    PING danger: Valan Taka, Kavakar,
Ji’hathlo
    PING help: Kavela Istonia, Planet
Engineer, Kios
    PING help: Korbet/Randall West,
Planet of Law/Lavenia Imperia
    OVERRIDE
    End check
     
    It was not consciously that she chose Aryans
instead of Maya, or Cardinal Unit with killer sentries; it was
that, somehow, the desire to connect to flesh, blood, and bone were
more necessary than relying on energy or machine. Maya allowed the
contact, for how could the entity or machine really understand the
needs of a babe? There was fear close by now, and she identified it
as coming from Maya. Why would Maya fear her? She soothed the
ancient sentient energy waiting for help to arrive.
    “Gah.”
    Robotic arms gently encased her sac and the
capsule began to trundle along smooth rails in a dark tube. Her
time for rupture was close and in the deep recesses of her mind,
she was sure she had broken through a much darker tunnel and been
welcomed into the world. She remembered warm breath, gentle hands,
and overwhelming feelings of love.
    “Welcome to life.” The voice had been low and
deep, loving.
    “Our baby girl.” The voice had been higher
pitched, tender but protective.
    Before the Maya detected those memories, and
the warm feelings associated with them, she bundled the tiny
neurons and pathways and tucked them in a part of her brain Maya
was struggling to access and called it: “Baby Girl”.
    The capsule slowed and Ara heard noises now
even as her body undulated in the viscous fluid. A light appeared
at her feet. Robotic arms positioned the capsule and the
transparent section allowed her to see a bright room. Her cradle
like capsule, which the Cardinal Unit had inserted her into, slid
inside with the small, white triple hatch sealing one after the
other in the long tube to outer space.
     

Sub-Log VII
     
    Iota
    Station: Perza
    Galactic System: Sarato (Spiral