Evolutionary Liberator

Olivia slammed her hand on the release valve to open the door on the ship, while hanging from a makeshift ladder of Gooblens, dangling over a precipice. Saying a prayer of thanks, when the door started to open, she wasted no time in scrambling inside, and rushing to the bridge.

"Computer, disconnect all outside antennae, and disable all forms of communications from outside this ship!" she cried, trying to ignore the fact that there were more Gooblens piling into her ship, then it should be able to hold.

"I have done as you asked, but don't we need to have some way to communicate with the surrounding authority in order to leave?" asked the computer.

With a sigh of relief, she slid into her seat and started typing away.

"No, Dustin released some super-virus, that seems to be killing all electronics that come in contact with a type of video."

"I noticed this video, and immediately quarantined it, before it could begin playing."

"Awesome, is that something Dustin programmed into you?"

"No, it seemed odd that anyone would be sending me a video. I'm not that popular…'

Olivia glanced up at the computer, who had manifested itself with the holographic projector.

"We need to get out of this parking garage," she said, with a shake of her head. She didn't have time for the computer's antics.

"With all of my exterior antennae disconnected, I am afraid you will have to manually fly the ship out of the garage."

"Fine," she growled, powering the engines and trying to lift the ship off the holding platform.

While the electronic magnets had released, the mechanical arms had not.

"I'll send Gooblens," said Old Motha, noticing the problem.

Olivia watched and waited as four Gooblens streamed out of the still open door, and began to eat the arms that held the ship in place. It took a lot of patience and deep breathing, to stay calm, as she watched the garage shake as every moment passed. Nothing had given way yet, as far as she could tell, but there were others who had noticed her posse flee to a ship, and were trying to flee to their own.

As soon as she got confirmation that the Gooblens were back in the ship, she left the platform and started to make her way out of the garage. It wasn't until only clear sky was above their heads, before she let out the breath she was holding. Before they could zoom off into space, leaving the planet to die, they noticed that the shaking that had threatened to collapse the entire planet, had started to slow and suddenly stopped.

Olivia stopped the ship, to see what was going on, and they saw lights flicker back on.

"It seems that those in power, had a way to overcome the damage from the virus," said Granny, in awe.

"Oh, I fully expected them to recover, but it was the only chance we had to escape with all of the Gooblens, without incurring the wrath of the government on us, or the hunters…" explained Old Motha, as if she had planned the whole thing.

Olivia and Granny glanced at each other, before going back to flying the ship.

"I'm receiving odd transmissions, that are not tied to my communications systems," said the computer, thoughtfully.

"What are they?" asked Olivia, dreading a repeat of the super-virus.

"It seems to be a conversation…would you like for me to bring it up for you?"

"Yes," said Olivia, tensely.

<…for the destruction you have caused!>

<If you had agreed to the initial request, such actions could have been avoided!>

<Do not think you can avoid us! You shall be eliminated before we are done with you!>

"That is the end of the conversation…do you want me to try and find the rest of it?" asked the computer.

"Will it put you at risk from the virus?" asked Olivia.

"No, I have had a chance to study it, and have updated my virus protection to include any attacks from it."

"Then by all means, see if you can find out what it's talking about. I'm pretty sure that Dustin is the one behind the virus, but I'm not sure why."

Olivia instructed the ship to remain where it was, and to cloak, so that they wouldn't be targeted by anyone down below, while the computer tried to find out what it could.

"There appears to be some AI that was in contact with the assassin's guild on the planet below. It was attempting to procure a hit on Dustin, but they declined, stating the payment was too small, and the target was insignificant for them."

Old Motha nodded. "The assassin's guild is the best in the galaxy. They only accept targets for kings and such now."

Granny and Olivia both chuckled at that.

"Dustin was king, before he handed over the role to his son," explained Granny.

Old Motha cackled.

"The AI isn't very smart, if it's trying to hire someone to kill him. There's no one that could do that," said Olivia.

"No, its insane, making the Tik its enemies. They have the pinnacle of technology at their fingertips," stated Old Motha.

Olivia chewed on her lip for a moment, and turned to them. "If this much trouble was caused on a planet that is this high tech, how much trouble would his virus have caused on other planets? Or stations? This has the possibility of killing off too many."

"Surely he thought this through?" wondered Granny.

"It is Dustin..." g.r.o.a.n.e.d Olivia.

XxxxX

Dustin wiped his hands after fixing the air scrubbers for the sixth time. The virus was still active in the few electronics it could survive in, and every time he got another part up and running, it would do everything it could to destroy it. On one hand, he was kind of proud for having created such an impressive virus, but his guilt was growing.

This station hadn't been that low class of a station, and if the virus was causing this much trouble, what of the other stations, or sh.i.p.s, or planets, out there? How many people did he just kill?

"I'm going to go to my ship and rest for a bit, before starting on the rest," he said to the head mechanic beside him.

The alien nodded its big blue head, and moved to let him go by. Dustin knew that he had been working straight for the past two days without stopping, so they would fully expect him to need to take a break. He needed to come up with a virus for his virus, and hope that the AI had been dealt with.