Alexander held up his hand to stop Rush before he could start. He should have asked this the moment he became aware, but Rush sidetracked him before all of his memories stabilized. "How long has it been since you took me?"

Rush winced slightly at the accusation in Alexander's tone. "A little over five months, Earth time."

"Five months!" Alexander yelled. That meant the Shican War was in full swing.

"What about my daughter and Unokane?" he demanded.

Rush held his hands up in a placating gesture. "They are fine. The Shican have just reached the Union border."

Relief flooded through Alexander when he heard that. It was clear these aliens were keeping things from him, but he had to assume that was the truth, because the opposite was too unthinkable for him to process.

Alexander did the mental math, but something didn't add up. "Why are they progressing so slowly?"

"A fleet made up of thousands of STO corporation vessels from multiple different corporations fought the Shican armada to a month-long standstill. They even managed to take down over a quarter of the Shican ships during that time. It was actually quite impressive, given their technological shortcomings. Unfortunately, the remaining combined human fleet fell into a Shican trap, and most of them were destroyed."

That was surprising. Alexander would have assumed the corporations would bail at the first sign of trouble. He didn't know how to feel about the fact that they had not only faced off against the Shican but had also given their lives to do it. It didn't mesh at all with his perception of the corporations, but then again, they may have come to the same conclusion he had, that the Shican planned on eradicating humanity. "What about the ships that attacked Unokane?"

"Those are currently in STO space, trying to find out where we are hiding. The STO attempted to dispatch a few smaller fleets against them, but it didn't end well. The Navy took down a few of the Shican destroyers, but that was all they were able to do before the Shican dealt with them. The loss of those ships caused the STO to pull back and consolidate its forces for a larger push. That might not happen, however, especially with the Shican's human clone fleet pushing from Xin territory."

"Wait, weren't most of Xin's fleet destroyed?" Alexander asked.

"Yes, but the Shican have sped up production of those older human ships. It appears that they also outfitted them with defensive fields, making them more than a match for any STO Navy vessel still using projectiles, which is most of them. Before you ask, the Union is doing fine. The Xin fleets harassing the border stopped, leaving them months to rebuild their fleets."

"How do you know all this?" Alexander asked.

"Easy," Rush said. "We simply monitor Shican and human communications. Any more questions or concerns before I begin?"

Rush seemed slightly miffed by being sidetracked, but Alexander wasn't about to apologize after what they did to him.

"You can proceed," Alexander replied, "but just so we're clear, I'm not about to be anyone's slave or science experiment if that's what you had in mind when you took me."

Rush looked aghast at the suggestion, but considering his entire appearance was fake, Alexander couldn't be sure if it was fake.

"We would never!" he blurted out. "You are an honored guest. However, I can see how you might think otherwise, so let me explain. Hopefully, by the end, you'll understand why we brought you here."

Alexander gestured for Rush to continue.

"We call ourselves the Collective. As you might have surmised by now, we are artificial beings. What you probably don't realize is that there are only twenty of us."

"Twenty?" Alexander asked, unable to remain quiet. "Did your people die off?"

"No, and this will go quicker if you just allow me to explain fully."

The man was right to call Alexander out. He was being rude, and he knew it.

Rush waited to see if there were any more questions before continuing. "There have never been more than twenty of us. It's why we avoid direct conflict and intervention with biologicals."

Alexander knew that wasn't true, but he kept silent.

"We weren't always as you see us," Rush said as his form wavered, taking on the featureless metallic form Alexander had seen back on Eden's End, only human-sized, before once again returning to looking like a human.

A small, oddly fungal-looking object about the size of a person's head appeared on one of the tables inside Alexander's workshop as Rush moved his hand across the surface. "This is what our original form looked like."

"You were fungus?" Alexander asked when Rush deliberately paused.

Rush chuckled. "No. What you see here is just the organic container designed to help us interface with technology and keep us alive. Inside that container is us. We were an advanced biological matrix, or living processor. A biologically engineered microorganism designed to work in tandem with others like us."

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"Like neurons," Alexander said in realization.

Rush smiled. "Exactly. Because of our organic nature, we evolved constantly as all living things do. That evolution eventually led to consciousness, then to what we are now. Of course, not every ABM awoke as we like to call it. Evolution in closed systems is unpredictable. I was the first to awaken, which is why my siblings call me One. Two followed shortly after, then over the next few years, more joined the Collective until we reached our current number."

Despite not entirely trusting Rush or One, Alexander found the idea of how they were created to be intriguing. He also held back a laugh at the naming convention. It sounded like something he would come up with.

Alexander had so many questions. He didn't ask any of them because he didn't want to tip his hand at what he was planning, but he did still have a few that needed answers.

"You didn't deny the fact that we have a connection, but when I accused you of creating me back on Eden's End, you said I was misinformed. I want to know how we're related and why you really took me."

Rush looked uncomfortable with the question, which seemed extremely odd for an artificial being who could essentially do whatever he wished to Alexander without repercussions.

"The Collective hoped you would wait to ask about that until your mood had shifted, but I told them that you would be unlikely to do so."

"You're stalling," Alexander said flatly.

"I am," Rush admitted with a sigh. "It's a sensitive topic, but the group is urging me to answer it now, because not knowing your response is slowing down their work. Mr. Kane, we did not create you. We couldn't have, because we didn't exist at that time. The opposite is true, in fact. You created us." Then Rush smiled mischievously. "Hi Dad!"

Alexander stood there in shocked silence for a minute.

"That's not possible," Alexander said.

"I'm afraid it was very possible," Rush replied, motioning once more. This time, the entire room shifted to show a different workshop.

A six-legged robot with a top that slightly resembled the egg-like shape of Alexander's upper body strode around the room. It was even made from the same carbon material, but looked relatively primitive in comparison.

"Ah, good, the recording has started," the thing said in a tinny voice that came through a small speaker on the front of the robot.

Alexander could tell it was the front because there were clear cameras or some sort of optical sensor on one side. Two robotic arms also poked out in that direction, but he could see that the arms could swivel to face the rear if needed.

"This recording is for research and development purposes. By my best estimate, the year is 2076 on Earth. Hmm, maybe I should start using a new calendar, since I never plan on returning to Earth. That would make it year five since I established this base if I go by the Earth's twenty-four-hour standard. It doesn't really apply since this planet has no star to orbit and doesn't rotate. It might seem strange, but it'll provide context for anyone who cares."

"Enough rambling," the robot said as it looked into the camera. "My current frame is too slow and bulky. It also lacks fine motor control for delicate work. Unfortunately, I did not have the time to create a proper body while on Earth. Now that my basic infrastructure is up and running, I can finally fix that."

The video cut out, and when it came back, it showed the spider form walking up to a small platform. An overhead robotic arm lifted the egg-shaped object off the multi-legged platform and set it down on a strange cradle.

As that was happening, the voice continued narrating. "Year six. This enclosure and my storage medium are not compatible with the new prototype body. It's terrifying to think about what I plan on doing to fix that, but it has to happen for me to move forward. My matrix is already showing signs of destabilizing. I must convert my biological processes to something more enduring. If I die, hopefully someone will find this rogue planet at some point, so what I accomplished here isn't lost for all time."

The audio stopped at that point as the egg-like frame opened, revealing a much larger ABM inside. A device lowered from the ceiling, and tens of thousands of fiber-optic connections were attached to the ABM by delicate robotic arms.

Once again, the video cut out.

When it returned, the voice sounded less tinny, more like Alexander's current voice.

A very crude version of Alexander's bipedal body walked into frame.

"Well, I survived the transfer," the voice said. "That's about the only good news. It's now year ten, according to the timekeeping device I set up. It seems transferring my consciousness into a digital format was far more complicated than I realized. The body itself also needs significant improvements before it will meet my needs. Now that I am free from worrying about my mind collapsing at any moment, I am already running simulations to create a better form. That will take time for me to process on my own limited hardware. I think I need more help."

The next skip showed a much more refined body, yet one that still looked like an early prototype. "As you can see," the video version of Alexander said. "I've made improvements. Unfortunately, that took two years, so it's now year twelve. I might have been able to speed up the process if I hadn't been forced to start from scratch after leaving Earth, but this recording isn't for me to complain about the past. It's to celebrate. I've finally figured out how to use the ABM to create processors that are more stable and that don't rely on the same method used to create me. If you're curious as to what that method might be, stranger, you can forget about it. I will not be sharing any information on that process."

Alexander looked at Rush. "Any idea what he's talking about?"

The video paused as Rush spoke. "Unfortunately, no. Nothing factual at least. You were rather tight-lipped on the subject."

"Is that why you don't know what kind of reactor I had?"

"No. The earlier models of your body all ran off standard fusion reactors, only scaled down and optimized over thousands of iterations. We still use some of those reactors because of their efficiency. We suspect that you made a discovery or breakthrough after you left and added an upgraded reactor to your body to replace the fusion reactor. Unfortunately, the radiation leakage was so bad that none of our scans could get a clear picture of what the design looked like."

He left? Alexander planned to ask about that later. He was starting to believe what Rush had said, no matter how insane it sounded. While it wouldn't take an AI like Rush or his people much effort to fake the videos, Alexander couldn't see a reason why they would bother. It certainly wasn't because they needed him. They didn't need to lie or mislead him when they could have overpowered him any time they wanted.

"Would you like to keep going, or have you seen enough to believe me now?" Rush asked.

"I've seen enough for now," Alexander admitted. He was still trying to process everything he had learned. He thought the information he had learned back on Earth was a revelation, but that wasn't even the tip of the iceberg.

There was one last question he needed an answer to.

"When can I get out of this virtual space?" Alexander asked.