The Universe, 3029

[Eclipse]

Atypical activity detected on port 54091. Port closed. 

Atypical activity detected on port 59224. Port closed. 

Atypical activity detected on port 63701. Port closed. 

Atypical activity detect, ed on port 52003. Port closed. 

Atypical activity detected on port 60921. Port closed. 

The data stream to the trespassers' ship was interrupted. Port 60921 reopened and was flagged as critical. The intruders resumed using it. 

The incoming data stream did not match any known user agent. There was a loose repeating pattern to the duration between packets - not random accidents of processing speed, but too imprecise to be an intentional part of an algorithm. Possibly analog input - a mechanical device or biological organism wired into the input method. 

A power surge was deployed through the hardware port the intruders were accessing. 

[Nicholas Schuster]

"There definitely is someone, or something, in the system here with us." I agreed. "It keeps counter-hacking me. I open ports and they close. I interrupt the data stream and it resumes. I've got a port forcibly held open as a critical process right now, but if I don't move quick, we might lose it as well. And then I don't know if even your high-speed infiltration software can re-open that closed door."

Captain Maxwell came to watch over my shoulder, joined by Steve Jenkins. As I hammered away at the keyboard, Bishop tensed suddenly. A bio alarm started wailing from the console. I looked, and Bishop's blood pressure and neural activity had skyrocketed. I had no idea why. There was no obvious indication of system activity. I glanced at the Lieutenant.

"Hey, Bishop, you okay? Your vitals are going off the charts over here."

Bishop glanced over at me with wild eyes that looked as though he was in another place. Simultaneously, I head a loud click as the suit's onboard systems dispensed something through a dermal injection. Squinting at the screen, I clicked through a couple of tabs to see what it had done.

"ChemCourage and Rage? Bishop, why is your power armor giving you those right now? Is something wrong?"

"Hey, I did Rage once!" Steve Jenkins exclaimed.

"Uh oh. What can we expect from it?" Captain Maxwell asked.

"I dunno. I mainly remember punching a bunch of holes in the walls of my apartment, then falling down the stairs and waking up in a puddle of my own puke the next morning." Steve lamented, scratching the side of his face as he recalled the memory.

"Well, at least there aren't any stairs nearby." Maxwell deadpanned. "No usable ones, anyway."

Abruptly, a system message appeared on the display.

SHE DID NOT FIND THE GRIM IN FALLING APART. FOR EVERY TIME HE FOUND HIMSELF TO BE BROKEN, SHE KNEW SHE WAS BRUTALLY REMAKING HIM, COLLAPSING HIM TO BE REBORN LIKE A RIOTING STAR, HAUNTING THE DARK SKY. -- MOTHER

I stared at Captain Maxwell. "Sir...what the hell do you make of this?"

Before the captain could answer, Bishop's head snapped toward me.

[Steve Jenkins]

I took a deep Swig of Dragon Spirits and looked at the computer that Nate Schmidt was computering on. All kinds of Hacker data zoomed by and made bleeping and bloopings. I didn't know anything about hacking, but I was pretty sure that Nate had it under control. So I did a loud burp and let him do his Thing. 

All of the sudden, I saw a dark figure move off to my left. My martial arts dark mind zoomed in and locked on the Target. It was a Salvager in a black spandex suit and he was trying to creep through the shadows. 

"I see you trying to creep through the shadows!!" I screamed. "Captain Maxwell please hold this." I said and I Handed Captain Maxwell the bottle of Dragon Spirits. He said something about it burned his eyes but I didn't hear what it was, I was too busy running into full chaotic elemental mode, I let out a zen battle roar as I ran hard at the Salvager, the man turned to look at me totally confused as I ramped up over a computer rack and appeared in the air in slow-mo above him. 

"Haidakoryuken!!!" I screamed as I did the first part of the Path of the Pyre which was an ancient Archimedes yoga fire technique. The salvager screamed as my flying kick hit his Face, and he went down hard into the dirt. 

"BALOOOKICK!" I yelled, doing a maneuver sweep with my arms, which unlocked the second part of the Battle ritual. The Salvager got up and bashed me in the face with a pipe wrench! 

"AHHHORRRGGHH!" I yelled as I fell backwards with a huge bunch of saliva and blood flying out of my mouth. I landed down hard and bounced a bunch. I slowly tried to get up and then I saw the salvager coming right at me!! 

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" I Hollered and I let a huge uppercut fly and slammed my fist into the guy's jaw. His whole body flew up toward the roof and smashed into it, Then he fell down and hit the deck real hard. He tried to get up, and then I saw he had pulled out a pipe gun!! 

"OH NO YOU DON'T!!" I Retaliated. I went into a "fighting crane" stance and I pulled my arms back like a martial arts/extreme dancer and stared at the guy, then I shoved my arms forward and Shouted the final phrase:

"SHOKYAKU SHU!!!!" 

A Huge rumbling happened behind the man and he turned around to look at it. Right then a gigantic Fireball exploded off the computers behind him. 

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" He screamed as he got threw through the air while he was on fire. His on fire body flew over my head and then slammed so hard into the wall that he exploded. As his guts slid down the wall and onto the floor I walked back over to Captain Maxwell. 

"What the hell was that Steve Jenkins??" 

"It was nothing." I said. "I Thought I saw a threat." Then I took back my Dragon's Breath and had a victory drink.

[Bishop Weyland]

Black Eclipse Discovery Site
Great Banded Desert, Nirasaki
February 7, 3029

___________________________

 

“Before the captain could answer, Bishop's head snapped toward me.”

The boarder line lethal injection of combat stimulates smashed into the hulking Skinwalker’s central nervous system. On pure sheer will Bishop massive arms snapped out and grabbed ahold of the wall he was standing close to. Flexing is armored gauntlets the mercenary drove his claws into the a metal ledge. The sound of servo motors under strain echoed in the small room. 

A wave of rage and lust for slaughter washed over his mind and soul like an unstoppable tsunami washing over a city. It was everything he could do to control his hunger for blood shed. Like a caged and wounded animal, Bishop bared his teeth and growled an inhuman sound. The Skinwalker’s massive frame flexed and strained at the onslaught of the combat stimulate.  Simultaneously the small group of men stepped back from the Lieutenant. 

Bishop’s mind drifted out of his body in a narcotic haze. He could see the Captain, Nathan and the Mech Warrior Steve Samsung next to him. He also saw his spirt looming over them, a thousand pound mass of rage, fury and hunger.... he saw Mother gift.... the curse of a demonic Werewolf standing amongst them. 

At of the corner of silver reflective eye he movement.... his pack mate and true blood warrior.... Sergeant Miles with is snarling mask. The warrior scout pushed passed the small group and stood next to Bishop. Bishop stood still, unable to move or speak... 

His mind shifted to his the unseen beast looming over them. The beast reared back and gave a long and booming howl, that only the Skinwalkers could feel in their soul.  Smokey shadows appeared all around in Bishop’s mind. They were a mix of human and beast, changing and shifting like wet water colors on a canvas. Without warning the began its slaughter of the new enemy. Bishop felt it’s power and lust for blood. 

“Shit..... hold this” Bishop heard... it was the distinctive voice and sent of his brother Skinwalker.  

“Talk fast Sergeant” Came the distant voice of Captain Maxwell. 

“The suit’s AI is under attack from the ships AI... I think. It’s responding as if it was a under attack from a physical enemy.... Deathwalker....I mean Bishops minds and body are caught in the middle” Miles words were distant in Bishop’s raging mind. 

Bishops ears picked up the sound of rapid shuffling behind him. 

“What does that mean Sergeant” Nathan asked. 

“If don’t we do anything you’re about to have a thousand pound killing machine rip us apart and rip this ship to scraps....then he will die.  The suit and Bishop are linked as one.... like two sprits....it’s a gift created by our Mother.... I can’t explain it right now” whispered Miles. 

“What do we need to do?” Bishop heard Maxwell’s voice. 

“What you are holding Captain, is a med kit, open it and get me the syringe with the blue liquid in... Nathen... keep doing you hack... don’t let the ship, or whatever it is win”

Even with his eye closed Bishop watched as the savage beast moved with blinding speed... it slashed, bite and ripped apart ghost like constructs in the fog. He could feel blood rain down over his skin. Each time the beast was wounded Bishop felt on his own skin. Stabbing searing pain shot into his body with unseen weapons and assailants. 

Just then Skinwalker felt the Sergeant plunge the needle into his neck. Bishop snapped his head around baring his teeth. Fight the urge to rip open his brother. Seconds later, he felt an ocean of calm wash over him, still he wasted in is mind as the beast battles on. Slowly he gained some control over his rage. 

Nathan just a few feet away danced his fingers over the datapad.  

[Nicholas Schuster]

My fingers flew across the keyboard as I looked furiously back and forth between Bishop and their screen. The situation had turned insane. I was fighting in a three-way battle, and the stakes had never been higher. From what I could ascertain, the operating system of Bishop's suit - the system I was dependent on to breach the comm system - was itself a self-contained AI that was programmed with a singular focus of objective...to keep Bishop alive and literally fighting. Every time it detected a threat, it juiced him with psychoactive combat drugs and stimulants to artificially raise his vitals to approximately the same level as someone surrounded by an angry mob of homicidal maniacs might feel.

That wouldn't have been too much of an issue on its own, seeing as how there weren't any threats in the computer room. But the situation wasn't that simple. As I'd dove through layer after layer of system security, hacking ports, bypassing firewalls, overloading proxies and analyzing process trees, file structures, and navigation paths, I'd become aware of an extremely efficient counter-incursion protocol that seemed to be able to evaluate decisions I'd made and respond to them like a ruthless chess master. Every maneuver I made was almost immediately met with a perfect countermeasure, at a speed far too fast to be human. Worse still, the responses from the system as it denied me access and attempted to strike back with its own malware were being registered by Bishop's suit AI as combat threats, and its response, in turn, was to give Bishop shocks, prods, and whatever else it deemed necessary to whip him into a fighting frenzy. I could actually predict the time interval between when I would fail a hack and when I'd see a violent physical outburst from Bishop, as though he was actually being injured in the battle between systems. It was...in a word...terrifying.

So I had to choose my actions carefully, because it was becoming apparent to me that every time I botched something, Bishop paid for it, and because we didn't have the luxury of time for me to both figure out how to override Bishop's tormentor and hack the Takashima before it locked us out forever, that meant that all I could do was wade as carefully as I could through this mine field, and...I glanced apologetically at Bishop...hope I didn't fuck it up too badly.

The trace tracker on my console started beeping loudly, and I stared at the screen for several long moments.

"Is that an active trace?" Captain Maxwell asked. I looked at the mercenary with surprise.

"Yeah, actually, it is." I said.

"Don't look so shocked. I know a thing or two besides how to blow shit up." Maxwell joked. "How can I help you?"

"Well, I need to set a proxy bypass and a shell trap." I said. "But I'm also worried that the AI - the evil one - sorry, the evil one not inside Bishop's suit - is going to find me before I get it all done. If that trace gets too close to us, we have to dump the connection. Can you help by watching the trace tracker and hit this kill switch over here if the trace gets to one node away from us?"

"Can do." Maxwell nodded. I handed him one of the two keyboards connected to the workstation.

"Thank you, sir." I said. "Meanwhile, I am gonna try to open a shell between us and the Takashima AI. It's going to be trapped with a forkbomb. My hope is that the AI will attack the shell, thinking that it traced and found us, and when that happens, BAM! If I can get it to do that, it might buy us enough time to get to the uplink, shut it down, and remove the system files so it can't come back up again."

"Forkbomb?" the Captain asked.

"Yeah. A forkbomb is a self replicating process whose only purpose is to grow. You can pull off a forkbomb in a terminal pretty easily. If left unchecked, a forkbomb will grow to the point that it takes up all system resources, forcing a reboot. I want to forkbomb the Takashima's AI, so that..."

"...it's asleep while we try to break into its house." Maxwell finished. I nodded.

"In addition, it should get Bishop some relief, since the system will stop attacking us - temporarily." I added. "I just realized that."

"Brilliant." Maxwell replied. 

I furiously set up a shell session and put the appropriate commands into place. Meanwhile, Maxwell watched the trace tracker intensely. The beeping grew gradually faster and faster. The AI was closing in on us. I panicked as I realized we were nearly out of time.

"Nathan, there's only a few segments left on the track." Captain Maxwell warned. "How close are we?"

"Not close enough..." I muttered. My hands were pounding across the keyboard, and I clicked through the Iran software's UI as fast as I could, dragging and dropping the infrastructure I'd need onto the deployment package. The trace tracker's call continued to intensify.

"Are we almost there?" Maxwell asked, anxiously.

"Almost..." I said, moving the monitor bypass, proxy bypass, SQL memory corruption injector, webserver worm, and SSL Trojan packages into position. The trace tracker became a solid wail.

"NATHAN! I'VE GOTTA DUMP IT NOW!" Maxwell exclaimed.

"Go!" I replied, hitting the 'arm' function on the trap at the same exact time that Maxwell dumped the terminal connection. Bishop let out a tremendous, guttural scream, thrashing wildly, and then fell suddenly calm. Captain Maxwell ran over to check on the Lieutenant while I wiped sweat off my face.

"He's fine." Captain Maxwell reported a minute later. "Did we get the AI?"

"I think we did..." I said. "The trap detonated, which means that some process hit it. The only thing tracing us was the AI."

"Alright, how much time do we have?" Maxwell asked.

"I honestly don't know. I have no idea how fast the AI reboots. I'm not gonna waste any time, though. I'm deploying all the packages and slicing my way in now. Provided the AI isn't around, I should be able to get to the uplink and shut it down for good before we're detected."

[Nicholas Schuster]

Fortunately for me, and for all of us, there was no sign of the AI, and so I was pretty easily able to make the smash and grab system intrusion unopposed. With a few deft commands and well-timed scripts, I soon had admin access and had tunneled my way to the communications uplink. When I accessed it, I saw that the system was doing exactly what we'd been seeing aboard the Republic. A continuous comm link existed between the ground station and the orbiting DropShip, along which was carried a continuous stream of data that included, among other things, a payload for running the malware in any way the base station wanted, and a recursive algorithm that continuously checked admin rights and malware status on the remote host, reestablishing permissions and the infection if either of them went away. It was an ingenious setup. 

"Alright, Major, I'm ready to pull the trigger and shut this comm dish down for good. I'm gonna kill the connection, rm -r the system files, and then forkbomb it so that it crashes hard and forcibly reboots. When it does, in the absence of boot files, it'll just sit there and never be able to boot again." I looked to the Captain for validation. "Anything I should do before I move forward?" 

The Captain shook his head. "No. Do it."

I nodded and carried out the commands. Shortly, the dish had been disconnected, the system files obliterated, and the transmitter rebooted. As expected, when it went down, I never saw it again. Quickly, I logged out of the main terminal as well. 

"It's done." I announced. 

"Just like that?" Maxwell asked incredulously. "How can we be sure it worked?"

"Well, I suppose you could try calling the Republic." I shrugged.

"Good idea." replied the Captain.

"While you do that, with your permission, I'm gonna start packing this gear up. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to put some distance between us and this wreck. I'll be ready to ship out as soon as you are."

"Sounds good." Maxwell said. "Give me a minute to make sure that we're back in touch with the mothership, and then we can go. Also, let's make sure that Bishop's brain wasn't fried by this escapade. If we have to carry him, I'd rather know that now."

[Charles Maxwell]

"Eden to Republic - come in, Republic."

A long hiss of static met my reply.

"Eden to Control - do you have eyes on Republic?"

"Affirmative, Eden," Captain Donovan replied. "Stand by. We're running analysis on them now."

A loud thunk caught my attention. I glanced to my left to see Nathan Schmidt rapidly depositing gear into a knapsack held open by Steve Jenkins. Behind the pair, Sergeant Miles checked on Bishop, who was slumped forward, held upright by the frame of his power armor. Looking toward our infantry escort, I was met with a sea of haggard faces. Our team had managed to hold it together long enough to retrieve the objective and overcome multiple unexpected contingencies, but after a week of unrelenting stress, battle, and situationally-induced paranoia, they were exhausted. I was looking forward to getting them home.

"Control to Eden - we've been able to raise the Republic," Donovan's voice crackled, interrupting my train of thought. "They were rebooting their comm unit. Nice work. I'm patching you through now."

A brief chirp signaled the attachment of the Republic's carrier frequency to the communications channel.

"Republic to Eden - there's a whole mess of people up here who want to thank you and Mister Schmidt for your timely intervention," Major Hayes' voice announced, a smile evident in his tone.

"Thank you, Major," I replied, "but I didn't have much of a hand in it. Your Lieutenant Weyland and Nathan Schmidt are due the credit."

"Eden - did you say 'Lieutenant Weyland?'" Hayes asked, incredulously.

"Affirmative. It would seem that reports of his death have been greatly exaggerated," I responded, paraphrasing an ancient Earth novelist, "although he's in pretty bad shape."

"Considering what we saw on the BattleROMs, I'm not at all surprised," the Major answered. "Well, it would seem that he's reappeared just in time. The Mendacius received a cable that we've been meaning to relay to you."

"Go ahead," I acknowledged.

"It would seem that our CEO, William Kauffman, has gone missing. He failed to make a rendezvous with the Lyran representatives at Thorin. Search and rescue was unsuccessful at locating him. His belongings were still in his room. Surveillance videos showed him entering the Glendale Nature Preserve on a walk, and then an unidentified VTOL blazing out of the woods shortly thereafter. His scarf and a number of personal effects were found in a stream about a kilometer into the forest, indicating a struggle. Our working theory at this time is that he's been abducted," Hayes explained.

I listened in stunned silence.

"My condolences. I'm assuming that means we're out of time," I responded.

"Provided that you've retrieved the objective, that would be preferable," the Major confirmed.

"We have," I answered. "We're packing up now. Bravo team diverted to chase down some Nighthawk power armor that we'd gotten a lead on. We haven't heard from them recently, but the wreck might be interfering with our low-gain radios."

"We'll see if the Mendacius can get them on the horn," Hayes acknowledged. "We'll let you know if there are any problems. Nice work on your part. I want you to get Alpha team out and back to the Tana. Our planetary drives are offline, so we can't land at the moment. We'll work on that issue. In the interim, once both teams are aboard, Tana will dust off and transport you and any assets that were left behind by our...unscheduled departure...to a rendezvous with the Mendacius to transfer the package. Following that, our convoy will transit to the system jump point, during which time, we'll bring you and your crew back aboard the Republic."

"Sounds like a plan," I replied.

"Oh, and Captain," Hayes added, "keep Nathan Schmidt away from the package. While I appreciate his tenacity and assistance in this matter, I'm not prepared to give him regular access to our compartmentalized data."

"Understood. Eden out."

Turning back toward the group, I found the team packed up and awaiting orders.

"Nice work, everyone. Let's go home."

***

[Bishop Weyland]

Meanwhile...

D.C.S. Takashima

Great Banded Desert, Nirasaki
February 7, 3029
___________________________

“Nice work, everyone. Let's go home."

Bishop’s body shook with pain and exhaustion. In a narcotic trans like state the massive Skinwalker slowly bent down to take a knee, using the wall to steady himself.  He’s newly enhanced hearing picked up the Captains conversation, but a hint of confusion splashed through is mind. The Skinwalker was sure if had automatically tapped into the command channel or if he was actually hear the his words. 

He rocked softly as his pack mate Sergeant Miles moved round him, like an ant climbing a rock, checking various systems and servo motors on cursed suit. Sensing new movement from his left Bishop turreted his head slowly to see the Captain move to his side. Before he could speak, Miles showed the Captain a hand written note. The beast inside the massive Skinwalker recognized the sag in the Captain’s face and sorrow flash though his eyes. Captain Maxwell silent nodded then took a knee next to Bishop. 

“How are you doing friend?” Whispered Maxwell. 

After a long moment Bishop found the words deep in his mind. Slowly he spoke, like a child learning to speak.  

“Pain.... I feel lots of pain.”

Nodding his head Captain Maxwell thought for a moment. 

“We are ready for extraction, think you can make it big guy?”

“My mission...it is not complete... must secure the package... safely get back to the DropShip” the words moved out of Bishop slowly as he started to remember who he was now. 

Maxwell smiled, he saw a flash of Bishop returning. 

“We will my friend, we’ll get you out of the suit and into medical too”

A strange feeling resonated in Skinwalker’s body..... fear....the fear an addict loosing there fix. Pushing the feelings down Bishop spoke. 

“The General.... he’s in trouble”

“We not sure, but we need to find out” said Maxwell in a tired tone. 

Bishop felt the animal rage building. With great effort he stood, servo motor whined in protest. Bringing up his arm, Bishop pulled a thin wire from his right wrist. Before Captain Maxwell could react, Bishop plugged the wire into the mercenary’s datapad and started typing on the suit key pad built into forearm. 

After a few seconds the Skinwalker pulled the wire out and secured back into his wrist. He then picked up his helmet and snapped into place. His world now turning into thermal imaging. Slowly, half machine and half man moved close to Nathan who had just finished packing his gear. The man stopped, watching the Skinwalker, for a moment they both just stared at each other. 

Nathan’s face showed surprise when massive avatar produced a small, metal like disk from his clawed had.  Reluctantly the double agent took the device and but it in pouch on his tactical vest. 

Then he was gone, Bishop dispersed into the void black shadows of the corridor. 

“Sergeant....?” Maxwell asked, obviously shocked. 

“Check your system sir.... it’s a gift” Miles chuckled. 

Seconds later.... “Blake....I’m tracking his movement....I.....can see what he sees. He’s, dropping markers?” Maxwell said confused. 

“Yes sir, he showing you the way out... and he’s clearing it.... he’s hunting” Miles whispered 

“So what did I get?” Asked Nathan. 

“You my friend, got a transponder.... so he knows where you are all the time.... welcome to his pack” quipped the Scout. 
 

“Yeah....I feel totally safe around him” the Agent said sarcastically  

“Eden this is Control..... we are seeing the same thing you are... he’s linked into use and the Republic. Donovan voice excitedly boomed over the tactical channel. 

“Damn.... look at him move” came Alyssa voice on the net. 
 

“Eden be advised... we see his vital signs. Medical team we’ll be on standby” Said Donovan with a hint of concern on his voice.

After a few moments the assault team packed up and began moving out of the ship. As the team left the room a small note fell on the ground. On it read HE NEEDS TO GET MEDICAL... IT’S SLOWLY KILLING HIM. TIME IS SHORT. 

Edited July 24, 2020 by Joker 4-1

[Alexander Blackwood]

Some time later...

M.V. Tana
Aegis Division staging area
Great Banded Desert, Nirasaki
February 7, 3029
___________________________

The hatch to the medical bay crashed open, an oversized stretcher carrying a hulking,  haggard-looking soldier enveloped in three-quarters of a suit of power armor. Flanking the stretcher were four medics,  one of whom held an IV drip bag aloft with one hand while moving the stretcher with the other. Behind the gurney in close formation were Captain Maxwell - still wearing a full suit of MechWarrior combat armor, minus the helmet - Steve Jenkins, and a young man with a crew cut and a pair of sunglasses pushed above his forehead who I didn't recognize.

"Clear the way!" Captain Maxwell called out, patients and orderlies stepping away from the oncoming stretcher as it quickly bypassed the waiting area and disappeared into the intensive care unit. A doctor, accompanied by MediBot, sprinted behind the group, shouting a series of instructions to the robot and the medics. I glanced toward the curtained-off area, listening to the bits and pieces of conversation that I could make out among the commotion.

"Bishop Weyland...he's Crayven Corporation's strategic operations manager. We thought he'd been KIA during combat maneuvers last week, but he turned up during our operation today. Seemed really out of it and looked like a bit like death warmed over. Disoriented. Almost catatonic at times. Right before we bugged out, one of our infantrymen on loan - Sergeant Miles - passed me this note. On our ride back to the Tana,  Bishop fell out in the APC. We couldn't wake him."

"'HE NEEDS TO GET MEDICAL... IT’S SLOWLY KILLING HIM. TIME IS SHORT.' Well, that cuts right to the chase. Captain Maxwell, do you know if he's been taking any medications?"

"I don't, but - "

"I can answer that question, doctor."

"And you are?"

"Nathan Schmidt. Yeah. That's like half the reason we had the medics wheel the entire suit of armor in here rather than try to get him out of it. The other half is that this thing is apparently keeping him alive, in addition to dosing him every ten minutes. Anyway, when I was uplinked into its system I saw that it's pumping him full of all kinds of stuff. ChemCourage and Rage. Adrenaline. A shit-ton of painkillers."

"You didn't happen to get the specific dosages, did you?"

"No...but I bet I can hack back into the suit and - "

I jumped up from my chair and shoved my way into the ICU, catching a number of glares from the medical staff as I did so.

"WAIT!" I exclaimed. Maxwell, Schmidt, Jenkins, and the physician all froze, their heads snapping toward me at the outburst.

"Blackwood? You weren't invited back here," the doctor grumbled, a mixture of irritation and surprise in the question. "This area is off-limits to..."

"Don't try to hack the suit," I interrupted. Captain Maxwell stared at me, eyes wide with confusion.

"Alright, I'm listening," Charles answered, crossing his arms over his chest. Behind him, two medics frantically worked to connect a heart monitor to Weyland's upper torso, one of the few areas of flesh exposed beneath the thick, dark-toned armor.

"If that thing is keeping him on life support, I guarantee you it's got defenses. At best, they're external only - meaning that if you're lucky, it'll just try to overload your hardware and maybe even maim the hacker driving it, in the process," I explained.

"Oh, joy," Schmidt muttered, dropping his sunglasses down over his eyes and leaning jauntily on the side of the stretcher as he cracked a wad of chewing gum in his mouth.

"At worst, it'll flip a dead-man switch and try to juice Weyland into a combat state, and if he's tripping balls on some combat drugs already, there's no telling what this infirmary will look like when he comes down off of that high. I expect we'd be looking for a new medical staff and a new unit commander, though - no offense, sir." I continued.

"None taken. How exactly do you know all of this?" Charles asked.

"I used to be a black market arms dealer, remember? I didn't exactly come by a lot of my merchandise legitimately," I quipped.

"I'll consider you an authoritative source on the topic, then," Maxwell nodded. "Alright, so, what do we do?"

"Can't you just shut the suit down?" I asked. "Cut over to life support systems in the medical bay?"

"If I remember correctly, that's easier said than done," Charles answered, looking toward Nathan Schmidt, who nodded silently in response.

"Yeah. It's got dogs," Nathan replied.

"Dogs?" Steve Jenkins asked, a hint of laughter in his tone.

"Watchdogs. Sub-programs to protect the operator. If I mess with any of them, the whole defense system could fire off," Nathan explained.

"Well, you guys are missing the obvious!" Jenkins replied, with an over-the-top swagger. "Why don't you just ask Bishop to turn it off?"

Captain Maxwell looked toward the doctor. "I'm going to defer to you on this one, doc. How bad is he? What do we need to do here?"

[MediBot]

"I'd like to do some bloodwork," Doctor Rosa Perez said. "If he's overdosed on anything, that's the most immediate danger. Will the suit interpret a blood draw as a threat?" 

"Possibly," said one of the Unidentified Medics. "We were able to give him saline, but that was while he was conscious." 

"Hm. In that case - MediBot, give me the Narcan spray." MediBot produced the spray from its' storage cavity and played a series of rising beeps. 

Doctor Rosa Perez unwrapped the nasal spray applicator and carefully sprayed it into both sides of Patient Bishop Weyland's nose. "Go get a second dose, and bring it to me. And send a message to Dr. Shuriken - tell him that we'll need some non-standard sedatives that the suit won't mistake for a tranquilizer weapon, and any breath and circulation aids he knows of that don't conflict with other medications." MediBot trundled off to the storage closet. 

When MediBot returned, Patient Bishop Weyland was blinking slightly and making a soft growling sound. "Patient Bishop Weyland exhibits the symptom: snoring. Treatment with SnorAway Strips is recommended," MediBot chirped. 

"Shut. Up." Doctor Rosa Perez growled. She grabbed the second dose of Narcan from MediBot and administered it. 

Patient Bishop Weyland blinked. He began to sit up, then groaned and lay back down.

MediBot moved closer and positioned it's camera probe over the patient's face. "Patient's eye color does not match the medical record of Patient Bishop Weyland," MediBot said. 

Doctor Rosa Perez sighed and turned to glare at the bot, but then said "Hm, you're right. I'll look into that later, but for now, assume that Bishop Weyland's medical history applies." 

Doctor Rosa Perez sat down next to the patient. "Are you with us, Bishop?" the doctor asked. 

"Awake," the patient grunted. 

"You in the medical bay on the Tana. I'm going to treat you, but first I need to see what medications that suit gave you. Is it going to attack me if I take a blood sample?" 

Something inside the suit whirred and clicked, and then the patient said, "no." 

Doctor Rosa Perez found an exposed part of the patient's wrist and drew a blood sample. Then she handed it to MediBot for analysis. 

"Blood: Human," MediBot said. "Type B positive. White blood cell count normal. Red blood cells non-anemic." 

"Just tell me what's not normal," Doctor Rosa Perez sighed.

"Blood oxygen level 10% below baseline. Cortisol levels above normal range. Adrenaline levels above normal range. Testosterone levels above normal range. Opioid medication present. Warning: opioid medications present in near-lethal doses. Amphetamine medication present. Steroid medication present."

"Thank you," Doctor Rosa Perez said. She pulled the oxygen cart closer to the patient and looped the breathing tube around the patient's helmet to keep the oxygen pointed into his nose. "Weyland, are you able to turn off the suit's defense and combat capabilities while keeping life support active?"