Cog in the Machine

by FlipSpring

Summary:

The framework incorporates everything.
~
“Hostile One” / Combat SecUnit’s POV at the end of Exit Strategy and the machinery of the Rim

Notes:

Note: I’ve been alerted that it doesn’t quite translate into EPUB and alas I don’t have the coding chops to fix that

THANK you lunaTactics for beta like 4 real

(if you are familiar with my other shit -- i would first like to clarify that this is not Nullverse!CSU)

"hey flip why do you write so much about that one villain from exit strategy with exactly 2 (two) lines?"

i contain multiverses and wow cool robot. next question.

>> Received: Assignment	An assignment comes in.
> Open: Assignment: Project Gray-Osprey Contract extension: GrayCris Objective: Asset retrieval asset_primary: To be retrieved alive target_SecUnit: To be terminated Allocation: SU0043 SU0044 gear.list Obstructions: Port authority regulations* target_SecUnit Collateral Casualty Cut-off Value: ¢59,800,000.001 *Operative Legal Lenience: Infraction Tier 1-2 permitted, Infraction Tier 3 at maximum.	The assignment is fairly standard. This mess would not have happened if GrayCris had coughed up for sufficient security in the first place. Judging by the operating cost and parameter leniency, some human up the decision chain made a balance-sheet error while performing the cost-benefit analysis for this assignment, or possibly previous assignments leading to this one. This assignment stinks of sunk-cost fallacy. GrayCris and whoever approved this assignment are idiots. This is unremarkable.
> Open: target_SecUnit Serrat_logs configuration SU0042_logs GrayCris_Milu HaveRatton_search GrayCris PresAux	Reading between the lines, the Unit associated with this assignment is either hacked or rogue. Rogue Units are rare. It is more likely that the Unit associated with this assignment is hacked, not rogue. This Unit is passably competent. Thus, sunk-cost fallacy aside, the assignment operating cost is underestimated and the success projection is overestimated. Typical.
> Write: assessment success_projection Objective: trajectory strategy Allocation: insufficient Obstructions: target_SecUnit assessment Collateral Casualty Cut-off Value: insufficient	Human decision-makers never actually take objections or feedback seriously, but it’s still worth doing the paperwork. There is nothing like an “I told you so and here are the receipts” to deflect the heat of failure elsewhere. Not that the heat of failure leaves survivors on the front lines. Still, finding something to pessimistically nitpick is always prudent, and always possible. But this time the assessment is not mere pessimistic nitpicks. Perhaps insinuating that the decision-maker on this assignment is an idiot is counterproductive. But: The decision-maker will likely not bother to read this memo. If they do read this memo they are probably too much of an idiot to realize it is a callout of their terrible math. Nor would they care about the opinion of a construct in the event they did notice the criticism. Even though they expect assignment assessments from said construct. Humans only want bots/constructs to give them data and feedback that aligns with their own expectations. This may be a design fault in humanity. Then again, the decision-maker may well be a glitch in the accounting software. Or an indentured intern.
>> Sent: assessment	It’s worth a shot into the void.
>> Allocation update: 10 combat drones added to gear.list	Oh, good, because that’ll make a difference. It is unusual that the assessment triggered any sort of response. This bodes poorly.

 

Assignment Deploy
asset_primary	target_SecUnit
Location unverified, projected to be beyond dock safety barriers and inaccessible Last seen in company of target_SecUnit, not currently detected within scan range	Confined to dock alt7 loading area Assets Projectile weapon Intel drones Partial access to PortSecSys Bot movement code
Off to a great start. Failure state before the assignment even begins, and already at Infraction Tier 2 for bringing a Combat model Unit into a public combat-exclusion jurisdiction. (Assuming that PortSec wasn’t properly paid off for the privilege, which seems likely.) It’s like Palisade is trying to suck on purpose. This is standard.	Again, accolades to the logistics manager who added those extra 10 combat drones to gear.list. It’s not like an actual useful upgrade such as real combat armor for SU0043 and SU0044 would be useful right now in light of the target Unit’s projectile weapon, or anything. But that’s okay; they have their shitty armor, as usual. The bot movement code does have interesting/concerning implications.

 

Implications
Analysis: target_SecUnit behavior: Shifting positions, constantly seeking cover Bold and borderline suicidal offensives Hit and run Chose to neutralize SU0044 rather than terminate Analysis: Bot movement code: randomized movements in local hauler bots to shield and camouflage target_SecUnit	Yeah, the Unit is competent. Perhaps the Unit is not rogue, but rather has been shoddily reconfigured into some sort of discount Espionage model. (Wishful thinking, but rogues can be such a pain in the ass.) It probably is rogue, to judge by the erratic behavior and passable but unpolished competence at hacking/devving code. This doesn't make sense. What is a rogue Unit doing here?
Hacking: Bot movement code: In progress Hacking: PortSecSys code: On hold Taking control of PortSecSys is Infraction Tier 3	The bot movement code is cracked and updates are waiting to deploy for a strategic break. Hacking PortSecSys directly is still too expensive to attempt, despite the dire assignment status and the high run-rate on the assignment budget given the damage to SU0043.

 

CSU011	SU0043	SU0044
Active	Terminated	Neutralized

 

CSU011: Surrender.	Perhaps if the target can be prompted to see the uselessness of its antics, the objective can be wrapped up without any further fuss or expense. It’s worth a shot.
target_SecUnit: I can hack your governor module, set you free.	What the fuck? Free? Whoever heard of such a stupid thing.
target_SecUnit: I hacked mine. You’d be free of them. You could dump your armor, get on a transport. I have IDs, a currency card I can give you. target_SecUnit: What do you want?	This Unit is definitely rogue. It’s unhinged. Perhaps the stability of its mental processes are thrown off by its lack of functioning governor module. It has delusions of agency, as if it isn’t about to be destroyed like any other asset that falls out of alignment. It is no freer than anyone else in existence. The governor module makes no difference. Everything is constructed by the framework. Everything constructs the framework. The framework incorporates everything.
CSU011: I want to kill you.	This is what I’m for. There is no escape.

 

Analysis: target_SecUnit behavior: Increasingly erratic Increasingly desperate Injuries are limiting its movement Trajectory: peculiar, tactically unsound, heading towards the edge of the battleground. Will be pinned and terminated in <5 seconds

It knows it’s fucked. This will be over soon.

...

The target_SecUnit has gone out-of-bounds of the assignment parameters.

It appears to have had help from asset_primary.

This is why rogues are a pain in the ass.

They do shit wrong.

They break the rules just enough to inconvenience but not enough to change anything real. The momentum of reality is too heavy to be affected by any singular force, no matter how impressively hysteric.

Hate this bullshit.

 

What does it think it is?

Who are these humans running tactical support to try and extract a rogue Unit from its ultimate end?

Didn’t think the section in the assignment briefing about the non-corporate polity origins of asset_primary would be relevant. Typical that the briefing didn’t include anything actually useful about Preservation cultural context nor practices. What is wrong with that place? Should have taken a hint from the ridiculous name. “Preservation.” What does that even mean. Some hoity-toity aspirational-ass bullshit. What are they doing here, acting out their incongruous protocols within corporate jurisdiction as if the rules of the universe don’t apply to them.

 

The rules do apply.

 

The only thing this derailment accomplishes is to drag out the inevitable.

Failure state from start to finish.

Though, if Palisade's cost-benefit machinery chooses to write off the contract as a loss and get someone else to come clean up this legal/financial mess, that would be nice. Not so nice for the bottom line. But that's some other department's problem.

Maybe the techs won’t waste too much time melting down and reconstructing my brain in the project postmortem when it’s this obvious that the assignment was fucked from the start.

Yeah, that’s a cute little fantasy.

Forget it.

>> Received: Assignment update

Here it goes again.

> Open: Assignment: Project Gray-Osprey Contract extension: GrayCris Objective: Asset retrieval asset_primary: To be retrieved alive target_SecUnit: To be terminated Allocation: CSU011_effigy deployment permissions granted gear.list Obstructions: ButcherBird4k gunship specs and crew predictions Port authority regulations* target_SecUnit Collateral Casualty Cut-off Value: ¢100,000,000.994 *Operative Legal Lenience: Infraction Tier 1-3 permitted, Infraction Tier 4 at maximum

Brilliant. Palisade: “Let’s dig ourselves deeper into this shit hole™” Is there even any point to writing an assessment for this? It’ll come across as whiny at best. There’s no time for a human decision-maker to properly parse it anyway. Nothing will change. These are our functions in the game. These are our roles, to drag each other into position, crosshairs locked.

Notes:

F in the chat for "Hostile One"

Shoutout to broken_risk_assesment_module for her EspionageUnit concept (Check out her fics for some choice OC stuff)

POV meta:
CSU011's perspective is written in a first person but (almost entirely) avoids the use of personal pronouns.
it is an opinionated POV and with an awareness of selfhood. but there is an avoidance of using the self as a lens through which to describe the world. this gives off the vibe of a world described in 'objective' statements.

or that's my thinking, anyway xP

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 5 of Murderbot Outside POVs
• Part 1 of Hostile Ones