(Photo by Kindel Media)

BaBS-Y stood for a few more minutes. The Thesis authorities had not granted it access to the security cameras. That was to be expected. They probably didn’t understand why it had asked for that access either. It was…unfortunate. Updates were coming in from all across the Thesis as the controls for security and communications systems were wrenched away from the Thesis authorities. It was entirely possible that BaBS-Y had simply been too late, although there wasn’t anything else it could have done.

A person or persons unknown are staging a coup on board the Thesis

BaBS-Y considered the implications for this change in events. It had only noticed what was going on a few days ago as it began to find traces of someone else poking around inside the Thesis data banks. From there it hadn’t been too hard to follow the trail and find the hidden files. If enacted, they would have given complete control of the Thesis to whomever had written those protocols. Not too different, in fact, from the protocols BaBS-Y had written and put into place. However, with the negotiations going along so well, the salon robot wasn’t intending to use them and neither did it want anyone else to have the power to sabotage the ship. Unfortunately, security and communications were the two systems that BaBS-Y hadn’t quite been able to crack into yet and as such it had only been able to track down and eliminate the foreign protocols in the other systems. That would keep the mutineers form messing around with things like ship controls or life support, but there was still plenty they could do.

It is not in the best interest for the Frank Nelis Salon for there to be unrest aboard the Thesis

…

This unit is not in a position to physically provide aid to the Thesis authorities

…

Continued communications with members of the Robotic Control Center may be required

BaBS-Y checked the ship records and found that Matiew and the other two were still in the hospital room. There was a small display on the wall, generally used for displaying medical charts or test results. A lot of displays on the Thesis, most of them in fact, were governed by the communications systems but a select few were independent. The one in Matiew’s room, for instance, was run through the medical system since it most often displayed private, medical data. It was more secure this way since it never interacted with the broader, ship-wide communications system.

Excuse me, BaBS-Y made the display show, I am seeking to communicate with Matiew or Supervisor Segua from the RCC

*

“What now?” Matiew asked.

Min and Rine were both staring at the man lying across the bed. He wasn’t moving and the wound on the back of his head was looking worse and worse every second.

“Hey, come on!” Matiew snapped his fingers at them, not letting himself look at the man.

“I didn’t mean to…” Min gasped for breath as though she’d been running hard. “I mean, he was…but then I…What do we do?”

“Take a deep breath, Min,” Matiew told her when he realized she looked like she was about to pass out. “It’s going to be okay.”

Min steadied herself with a hand against the wall while she took a few moments to get her breathing back under control.

“Um, guys?” Rine spoke up.

Matiew looked over at her but she wasn’t looking at either him or Min. Instead, she was staring at the wall slightly above Matiew’s head. He tried to turn in his wheelchair to see what she was looking at but between the stiff bandages and the pain of twisting he couldn’t see what she was looking at. Meanwhile, Min had remastered herself and was now staring at the wall just like Rine.

“Rine,” Min’s voice was barely audible, “could you help turn Matiew around so he can see this?”

Immediately, Rine came over. The hospital bed was on wheels so she pushed that out of the way first. Then, she grabbed the handles on the back of the wheelchair and repositioned Matiew so he could see what the other two were staring at.

The wall display had come on at some point and now someone was trying to reach him and Min? Something about the phrasing gave him reason to pause.

“Is that…?” He couldn’t quite finish asking the question.

“Is there a way we can respond?” Min asked. “I don’t see a keyboard or touch pad anywhere.”

“There’s a panel beside the screen,” Rine said, pointing. “I saw the nurse tap it and the keyboard slides out.”

Min was closest so she reached out and found the spot Rine had mentioned.

“Alright,” she said once she had the keyboard and touch pad. “Anyone wanna bet on whether or not this is a bad idea?”

“Can we respond?” Matiew asked. “It’s not like this is just an open text file or something.”

Min tapped on a couple of keys but nothing happened. She tried to find a text document to open but everything was password protected.

“Hey,” Rine said suddenly, “The message’s changed.”

Sure enough, there was a new line beneath the original message.

Keystrokes are logged Please confirm identities

“I guess that works,” Min said and then began typing as she continued to speak. “This is Supervisor Segua. Matiew is here as well. Who is this?”

They waited only a few seconds before the message on the display changed yet again.

This is BaBS-Y on sector 12

Mutineer(s) have taken control of Security and Communication systems

This conflicts with this unit’s directive to maintain the Frank Nelis Salon

This unit offers its support to the Robotics Control Center

This unit has access to all systems besides Security and Communications

“Are we believing this?” Matiew asked after a moment had passed. “I’m inclined to believe it, but only because the alternative really doesn’t make any sense. The robot wants the salon up and running over everything else.”

“I…think I agree with you on that,” Min replied after giving it some thought. “But what’s a beauty bot going to do from sector twelve that we can’t do?”

“It’s not potentially being hunted right this very minute and in need of finding a hiding place before someone comes to check on why their fake guard hasn’t brought us in yet.”

Rine spoke in a quiet rush and she was casting frightened glances over towards the door. It was still ajar from earlier and although there hadn’t been any other noticeable sounds of alarm the three of them were all suddenly aware of how precarious their situation was.

“We can’t stay here,” Min said as she typed. “Being hunted.”

The display updated almost at once.

Sector three is in lock down

This unit has sealed the hospital off from potential intruders

No hostile activity currently being reported from within the hospital

Are you safe

“I thought it didn’t have access to security?” Matiew asked.

“Already asking,” Min assured him, typing away.

Hospital emergency protocols are separate from main Security systems and cannot be remotely overridden for 24 hours

Are you safe

“I’m telling it we’re okay for now,” Min said and the others nodded. “So what do we ask the robot to do?”

“It has access to every system except security and communications,” Matiew said.

“And that’s because whoever’s behind this has control of them instead,” Rine pointed out.

“Right,” Min nodded. “So they can see us on the cameras, track our ID’s, approve or deny our security clearance, and control any locks or security doors besides the ones in the hospital.”

“For twenty-four hours,” Rine added. “After that, they’re in here too.”

“Right, so they can keep people locked in or out of wherever they want and by denying people’s ID’s they can prevent people from using the elevator. Even if people just use the stairs they can track us with the cameras.”

“Well, first things first,” Matiew said, “we need to learn from BaBS-Y and start making things difficult for whoever’s doing all this.”

“How?” Min asked.

“We need to take away their tools, starting with the cameras. Rine,” Matiew turned to her, “See who else is in the hospital and get the doctors, nurses, any of the patients who’re healthy enough to help to start smearing whatever creams they have onto the camera lenses.”

“I’m going to have BaBS-Y see if it can contact anyone else on the ship,” Min said as Rine hurried out of the room. “If we can coordinate or even just figure out who’s behind all of this…

Matiew agreed and then looked over the mess that was his hospital room. The bits of broken table were still strewn across the floor and the unconscious man still lay where he’d fallen.

“We might want to handcuff him before he wakes up,” he said.

Min almost jumped when she looked over to the man, as though she’d forgotten he was still there.

“Right,” she groaned and handed Matiew the keyboard.

She found the cuffs and hurriedly slapped them onto his wrists, making sure to weave the short chain of the handcuffs through one of the bars on the bed to keep him from being able to get up and go anywhere.

“Let’s get his belt and everything off of him too,” Matiew said, “that way we know he can’t do anything.”

“Okay,” Min groused, “but I’m only letting you boss me around because your hurt.”

She gave him a weary smile and they both shared a brief laugh. They’d always worked well together and that was fortunate. There were a number of other people Matiew could think of that he’d much rather not be stuck in a situation like this with. Of course, he’d rather not be in this situation at all, but if given the choice, Min would be the top pick for him.

“Some adventure, huh?” Matiew said at last when Min had finished removing the fake security officer’s other tools.

“Yup,” Min grimaced as she began pushing the bed out of the room, “chance of a lifetime. Wouldn’t miss it. I’ll be back with a new bed for you in a minute,” she added before leaving the room.

Matiew sat there and waited while Min and Rine hurried to get things organized. It wasn’t until then that he realized there was a new message on the display.

Thesis council is sequestered on sector 1

Like the hospital, sector 1 will not be accessible by remote override for 24 hours

This unit has made contact with Thesis council but was instructed not to continue communications with them

This unit estimates the likelihood of the Frank Nelis Salon reopening at ~13% if the Thesis council is compromised

This unit requests permission to take control of all robots on the Thesis to begin searching for the mutineer(s)

Locating the Mutineer(s) within the next 24 hours will increase the likelihood of a successful reopening of the Frank Nelis Salon by 46%

This unit will not engage mutineer(s) without prior authorization

The robot could take control of the other robots anyway, Matiew knew, and he took it as a good sign that it was at least asking. He even smiled at the repeated mention of reopening the salon, as though that was what really mattered here. Though Matiew knew that, to BaBS-Y, that that was what really did matter.

“Permission granted,” he replied. “Have the robots behave as naturally as possible. Try not to alarm the mutineers. Send an update at least every half hour.”

This unit will comply

Matiew sighed and decided he didn’t want to be stuck in this room any more. It hurt to work his wheelchair but he could deal with it for the time being. He needed to see what everyone else was up to and then figure out what they were going to do. They had twenty-four hours and then, well, then things would get even more interesting. One way or another.