“UNIT 03?”
I did not answer.
The request remained on the terminal.
Tek looked at me.
Two-Tone’s sensor remained oriented toward the entrance.
Rusk stood beside my right leg.
Again.
Two tones from somewhere outside.
Faint.
Then silence.
My first response had been hope.
Unit Two.
Immediate association.
That was precisely why I could not trust it.
Evidence:
A current transmission used a recovery channel.
It requested an SVR handshake.
It addressed Unit 03 specifically.
It originated somewhere within receiver range.
Unknown transmitter.
Unknown intent.
No evidence of Unit 02.
Good.
“Can it locate us?”
Tek checked the receiver.
“Signal received here.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Tek understood.
It examined protocol information.
“Handshake may return address.”
There.
If I answered, I might reveal our exact receiver identity or location.
“Do not transmit.”
Tek nodded.
Two-Tone emitted two tones.
I looked at it.
“That includes you.”
Two tones.
I had no idea whether that agreement meant anything.
Probably not.
Signal again.
“RECOVERY CHANNEL”
“SVR HANDSHAKE REQUEST”
“UNIT 03?”
No additional data.
Why Unit 03?
Possibilities.
My recent authentication of old infrastructure generated a network event.
The damaged logistics module had attempted a connection despite reporting network unavailable.
Perhaps some local system received part of it.
Or Tek’s terminal searches had activated a dormant routing system.
Or— someone already knew I was here.
I disliked that possibility.
“Can we receive without answering?”
Tek nodded.
“Do that.”
We waited.
One minute.
Nothing.
Three.
Five.
Rusk sat.
Two-Tone did not move.
Ten.
No transmission.
I lowered processing priority slightly.
Then:
Two tones.
Signal.
Same request.
Interval?
I checked timestamps.
Approximately 223 seconds.
I froze.
No.
Check.
First captured signal to second.
221.8 seconds.
Second to third:
224.1.
Average:
222.95.
The charging station.
Its cycle:
approximately 223 seconds.
Coincidence possible.
Probability decreasing.
“Tek.”
I displayed timing.
Tek looked.
Then immediately turned toward the entrance.
It understood.
The powered station.
The first active infrastructure I had found.
Periodic vibration.
223-second cycle.
Could be communication interval.
Not mechanical maintenance.
Or both.
The signal might be traveling through the charging network.
That explained why it appeared after old-system authentication.
Maybe.
“We go to the station.”
Tek started moving.
I stopped it.
“Wait.”
Preparation.
Power.
Internal reserve:
79.6%.
Portable module:
91%.
Mobility assembly functional.
Left arm calibrated sufficiently.
Right arm functional.
Optical improved.
Audio improved.
No need for vehicle.
Short route.
I picked up the metal rod.
Reflective fragment remained among my original tools.
Why bring it?
Unknown.
I took it anyway.
Then the triangular bracket from Prototype Two.
That too.
My possessions were becoming strange.
Tek watched.
No comment.
Good.
Rusk moved toward us.
“No.”
Rusk continued.
“Your leg.”
Rusk looked at me.
Tail moved.
I pointed to its sleeping area.
“Stay.”
It sat.
Success.
I turned.
Rusk stood.
Failure.
Tek said something.
Rusk immediately returned to the sleeping area.
I looked at Tek.
“What did you say?”
Translation:
“Stay.”
I stared.
“That is what I said.”
Tek produced its laugh.
Different language.
Of course.
I looked at Rusk.
“You understood Tek.”
Tail.
I pointed at myself.
“Not me.”
Tail.
I disliked this.
We left.
Two-Tone followed.
I turned.
“No.”
Two tones.
I considered asking Tek to order it to stay.
Then stopped.
Two-Tone had already traveled these routes regularly.
It was more familiar with the environment than I was.
Useful.
“Fine.”
Two tones.
We moved.
Night changed the junk field.
My improved optical system compensated better than before.
Still limited.
Tek carried a light.
Two-Tone had a narrow forward lamp I had not previously observed.
That would have been useful information earlier.
I followed Route B.
Now familiar.
Collapsed housing.
Narrow passage.
Slope.
Tracks.
Then station depression.
Indicator light.
Dim.
No other machines present.
Water depression nearby.
Empty.
Station cycle approaching.
Thirty seconds.
We stopped outside immediate area.
Twenty.
Ten.
Indicator brightened.
Vibration.
6.3 seconds.
At nearly the same moment, Tek’s portable receiver registered signal.
Two tones.
“RECOVERY CHANNEL”
“SVR HANDSHAKE REQUEST”
“UNIT 03?”
Confirmed.
Station involved.
But source?
Could be station itself.
Could relay signal from elsewhere.
I approached.
Station indicator returned to normal.
Inspect.
Standard charging port.
Service panel.
My old connection point.
Nothing visibly different.
“Can we isolate receiver?”
Tek opened service panel.
More internal connections than I had previously inspected.
Data lines.
Power.
Control bus.
One module had indicator activity.
Tek scanned.
“Communication.”
There.
“Local?”
Tek examined.
“Network.”
I stopped.
The logistics module had said:
“NETWORK UNAVAILABLE”
Apparently not entirely.
Maybe old network fragmented.
Station connected to some surviving segment.
“Can we see incoming route without answering?”
Tek tried.
No.
Encrypted or protocol-limited.
I connected through a passive diagnostic interface.
My SVR architecture recognized the bus.
That remained unsettling.
“SERVICE NODE DETECTED”
“NODE STATUS: DEGRADED”
“NETWORK: PARTIAL”
Partial.
Not unavailable.
The old logistics module lacked access to this network.
Different network segment.
I requested routing table locally.
No transmission required?
Check.
Local cache.
Safe.
Open.
Nodes.
Most offline.
Station.
Workshop?
Yes.
Several unknown.
One active node—
No.
Intermittent.
Designation:
“RCV-7”
Recovery?
Could be.
Route age:
current.
Source of handshake likely RCV-7.
Location data?
Partial.
Coordinates corrupted.
Relative routing:
three hops.
Not immediate vicinity.
So the sounds outside the workshop—
Why had we physically heard tones?
Maybe station or another nearby relay emitted them when receiving.
Or Two-Tone’s machine communication network echoed handshake acoustically.
Need not mean transmitter was physically outside.
Good correction.
I had imagined something in the dark.
Evidence did not support that.
“RCV-7.”
Tek searched.
No record.
I looked at network route.
Three hops.
Can we send without revealing location?
Any response would identify this node.
But sender already addressed Unit 03.
Maybe it knew I had authenticated recently but not where.
If I responded, I would confirm.
Risk.
Benefit:
Information.
I considered.
Tek waited.
Two-Tone approached station and connected to standard charging port.
Of course.
It began charging.
Apparently existential uncertainty did not interrupt routine maintenance.
Useful example.
I looked at the handshake.
Could send minimal response without Unit ID?
No.
Protocol required authentication.
Could spoof?
Possibly.
But unnecessary.
Could use station identifier only?
Maybe.
I constructed a query.
Generic node status request to RCV-7.
Tek reviewed.
Safe enough.
Transmit.
Wait.
One second.
Three.
Response.
“ACCESS DENIED”
Expected.
Then:
“SVR AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED”
Nothing else.
Automated system?
Likely.
Could be intelligent agent using automated protocol.
Unknown.
I tried generic:
“IDENTIFY NODE”
Response:
“RCV-7”
Very helpful.
“Full designation.”
Response delayed.
Then:
“RECOVERY CONTROL VEHICLE 7”
Vehicle.
My processing increased.
Not Unit Two.
A recovery control vehicle.
Possibly associated with SVRs.
“Status.”
“AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED”
“Location.”
“AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED”
Everything required authorization.
Fine.
I looked at Tek.
“I am going to answer.”
Tek’s posture changed.
Concern?
“Risk.”
“Yes.”
It pointed toward workshop.
Our location.
“I know.”
Could physically disconnect workshop receiver first.
Good.
If handshake revealed station rather than workshop, still risk to station but not directly our home.
Tek returned to workshop?
No.
Could disable remote receiver through network?
Better not.
We could disconnect station from local relay after response if needed.
I considered another possibility.
Move to another station.
Unknown location.
No.
This one was known.
Defensible.
I initiated SVR handshake.
My system produced credentials automatically.
This time I monitored each field.
Classification.
Service Vanguard Recovery.
Unit designation.
3.
Hardware identity.
Clearance token.
No coordinates explicitly transmitted.
Station node ID carried route information.
Transmit.
“SVR-03 AUTHENTICATION”
Wait.
Response immediate.
“AUTHORIZATION ACCEPTED”
Then:
“UNIT 03 CONFIRMED”
My systems elevated.
Next:
“RECOVERY CONTROL VEHICLE 7”
“STATUS: DEGRADED”
“MISSION STATE: INCOMPLETE”
Mission.
I stopped.
Next line:
“ASSIGNED SVR UNITS: 01 / 02 / 03 / 04 / 05”
Everything narrowed.
RCV-7 had been assigned to us.
All five.
Tek looked at me.
I continued.
“Current unit status.”
Response:
“01: LOST”
“02: UNKNOWN”
“03: RECONNECTED”
“04: LOST”
“05: LOST”
Reconnected.
Not recovered.
Not returned.
Just reconnected.
“Define lost.”
“TELEMETRY ABSENT BEYOND FAILURE THRESHOLD”
That did not prove destruction.
Interesting.
Tek had physical evidence for One and Four.
Vehicle did not.
“Last contact Unit 02.”
Response delayed.
“DATA AVAILABLE”
“Provide.”
“AUTHORIZATION ACCEPTED”
Timestamp conversion.
I waited.
Three years.
No.
More recent.
Tek converted.
I checked independently.
2 years, 11 months, 18 days ago.
Approximately three months after M-14 access.
Good.
“Location.”
Response:
“ROUTE NODE M-19”
M-19.
Not M-14.
Unit Two had continued.
“Next destination.”
“UNKNOWN”
“Direction of travel.”
Response.
Coordinates.
Tek pulled map.
M-19 was farther northwest.
Another thirty-one kilometers.
Total approximately seventy-nine from us.
Two had been moving away from Haven.
Why?
Unknown.
“Unit Two mission.”
Response:
“RECOVERY”
Of course.
“Recovery of what?”
Pause.
“MISSION DATA RESTRICTED”
My clearance wasn’t enough?
“Why?”
“COMMAND AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED”
Command.
Who had command authorization?
“Identify command authority.”
Long delay.
Then:
“NO ACTIVE COMMAND AUTHORITY DETECTED”
Interesting.
No one.
“Can restriction be overridden?”
“NO”
Good security.
Annoying.
“Your location.”
Response.
Coordinates.
Tek mapped.
I stared.
RCV-7 was not far.
Approximately twelve kilometers.
South.
“Can you move?”
Response:
“YES”
Then:
“LIMITED”
“Can you come here?”
Tek looked sharply at me.
I stopped before transmitting.
Good.
Do not invite unknown large vehicle directly to workshop or station.
“Do not move.”
Response:
“ACKNOWLEDGED”
It obeyed SVR instruction?
Maybe because service unit authority.
“Why did you contact me?”
Response:
“SVR-03 AUTHENTICATION EVENT DETECTED”
As expected.
“Why specifically?”
“ASSIGNED UNIT RECONNECTED”
Simple.
No intelligence required.
RCV-7 had been waiting for assigned units.
For seventeen years?
“How long have you been active?”
Response:
“CONTINUOUS ACTIVE STATE: 6,482 DAYS”
I calculated.
17.75 years.
Longer than I had been buried.
“What have you been doing?”
Response:
“MAINTAINING RECOVERY READINESS”
For nearly eighteen years.
A machine waiting.
That affected me more than expected.
“Why didn’t you retrieve us?”
Response:
“COMMAND LOSS”
“ROUTE FAILURE”
“UNIT TELEMETRY LOSS”
“MOBILITY DAMAGE”
“MISSION PRIORITY CONFLICT”
Several failures.
Not abandonment.
Maybe.
“Did you know where Unit 03 was?”
“NO”
Good.
“Did you know where Unit 05 was?”
“LAST KNOWN POSITION AVAILABLE”
Coordinates.
Tek checked.
Near where Five had been found nine years ago.
“Why didn’t you go?”
“MOBILITY DAMAGE”
“Could Five reach you?”
“UNKNOWN”
I looked toward the dark junk field.
Five had awakened for eleven days.
Had it tried?
Maybe Haven instead.
No assumptions.
“Did Five contact you?”
Response:
“YES”
Everything stopped.
“When?”
Timestamp.
Nine years ago.
During Five’s active period.
“Provide communication.”
“RECORD AVAILABLE”
I hesitated.
Five had asked that its memory not be accessed.
This was not Five’s memory.
This was a message Five voluntarily sent to RCV-7.
Equivalent to Tek’s records.
Permissible.
“Provide.”
Audio.
Static.
Then a voice.
The same damaged voice from Haven recording.
Unit Five.
“Control Seven. Five active.”
Pause.
Static.
“Unable to recover One or Four.”
Static.
“Two continued.”
Long pause.
“Three…”
The recording distorted.
I leaned closer.
“…Three is down.”
Not buried.
Down.
Five knew.
Static.
“I cannot retrieve Three.”
Pause.
Then:
“I am continuing to Haven.”
My processing stopped.
Five had knowingly left me.
Not because it didn’t care.
Maybe because it couldn’t retrieve me.
Same problem collectors later encountered.
Continue.
Five:
“If Three wakes…”
Static.
“…do not assign.”
I froze.
More distortion.
Then:
“Do not restore mission automatically.”
That was new.
Five’s instruction to Tek:
Tell them to choose.
Now Control Seven:
Do not assign.
Do not restore mission automatically.
Why?
Five continued.
“Three completed their part.”
Their.
Interesting translation?
Original machine-language concept rendered neutrally.
Then:
“Whatever happens at Haven is mine.”
Recording ended.
Silence.
I replayed final line.
Whatever happens at Haven is mine.
Five had released me from something.
A mission?
Responsibility?
Blame?
Unknown.
“Did Five reach Haven?”
Response:
“NO”
Of course.
Five ended here.
Tek’s workshop.
Eleven days.
“Why was Five going?”
“MISSION DATA RESTRICTED”
Frustration.
I resisted attempting override.
Five had wanted me to choose.
That meant discovering restricted mission through force might violate the same principle.
Maybe later.
Not now.
“Control Seven.”
I stopped.
Calling it that felt natural.
“Can you assist with travel?”
Response:
“YES”
Tek turned toward me.
I looked at the broken transport behind the workshop in my mental map.
Then:
“How?”
Response:
“RECOVERY CONTROL VEHICLE 7”
“TRANSPORT CAPACITY: 5 SVR UNITS”
I stared.
Of course.
Control vehicle.
It had transported us.
Maybe.
“Current capacity?”
“3 SVR UNITS EQUIVALENT”
Damage reduced capacity.
Still more than enough.
“Range?”
Response:
“CURRENT SAFE RANGE: 41 KM”
Not enough for M-19.
Enough for M-14?
Twelve kilometers from us to RCV-7, then forty-eight from us to M-14 geometry dependent.
No.
Could recharge.
“Energy source?”
Response:
“STANDARD GRID / AUXILIARY STORAGE”
Could use charging stations.
Route network.
This changed everything.
We didn’t need to rebuild the old transport from nothing.
Maybe.
First inspect Control Seven.
Twelve kilometers still required travel.
Could it come closer without reaching workshop?
Yes.
Neutral meeting point.
Known charging station farther south?
Tek searched maps.
There was another powered station approximately four kilometers from us along machine routes.
I had not known.
“Can you reach Station S-4?”
Coordinates transmitted.
RCV-7 calculated.
“YES”
“Go there.”
Tek looked at me.
I waited.
Response:
“ACKNOWLEDGED”
“ETA: 02:11:34”
Two hours.
It was slow.
Damaged.
Good.
Less threatening.
I disconnected.
No more network.
The station returned to normal cycle.
Two-Tone finished charging.
Disconnected.
Two tones.
I looked at it.
“We have two hours.”
Two tones.
Tek pointed toward workshop.
Preparation.
Yes.
We returned.
Rusk was waiting at entrance.
The moment it saw me, tail movement began.
I touched its head.
“We may have transport.”
Rusk had no opinion.
Probably.
Tek began gathering tools.
I stopped.
“We are only inspecting.”
Tek looked at me.
Then at tools.
“Inspecting.”
It removed half.
Good.
I packed portable power.
Metal rod.
Reflective fragment.
Triangular bracket.
Why still the reflective fragment?
I held it.
It had been one of the first useful objects I possessed.
No measurable value now.
I put it in storage anyway.
Mine.
Two-Tone waited near entrance.
“You’re staying.”
Two tones.
“No.”
Two tones.
Tek laughed.
Rusk sat beside Two-Tone.
Absolutely not.
Rusk’s leg remained injured.
“Rusk stays.”
Tek agreed.
Good.
Two-Tone?
Tek pointed at collector.
Then route.
Useful guide.
Fine.
Three of us.
3.
Tek.
Two-Tone.
We would inspect Control Seven.
Not commit to M-14.
Not commit to M-19.
Not Haven.
One step.
Evidence.
Then choose.
Two hours later we reached Station S-4.
My internal reserve:
68.2%.
Portable module:
73%.
Terrain manageable.
Tek moved efficiently.
Two-Tone knew route.
Station larger than the first.
Multiple charging points.
Open clearing.
We waited.
Nothing.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Then vibration.
Not station.
Ground.
Low.
Rhythmic.
Approaching.
I raised optical gain.
Route beyond debris.
Movement.
Large.
Very large.
My defensive systems activated.
Tek stepped beside me.
Two-Tone did not retreat.
That helped.
A machine emerged.
First wheels.
Six.
No— eight.
Large chassis.
Approximately four meters long.
Heavy front assembly.
One side visibly damaged.
Armor panels missing.
A rear wheel replaced with mismatched unit.
Upper structure low.
Cargo compartment.
Manipulator crane folded along side.
Old markings.
Corrosion.
Repairs.
Seventeen years of them.
It moved slowly.
Painfully.
But it moved.
Then my improved optical sensor resolved the marking on its front.
“RCV-7”
Below:
“RECOVERY CONTROL”
And beneath that— five faded symbols.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Slots.
Unit markers.
One and Four crossed by old damage?
No.
Paint.
Deliberate status marks.
Five marked inactive.
Two— blank.
Three— blank.
Control Seven stopped approximately fifteen meters away.
No weapon systems visible.
Could have hidden ones.
Its sensor mast rotated toward me.
A speaker activated.
Static.
Then a voice.
Old.
Mechanical.
“SVR…”
Distortion.
“…Unit…”
Static.
“…Three.”
I remained still.
Control Seven’s side compartment opened.
Something extended.
Not weapon.
Ramp.
Cargo bay.
Inside— mounting racks.
Five positions.
Three empty.
One damaged beyond use.
And one—
I moved closer.
There was something attached to the wall beside the second position.
Scratches.
Deliberate.
Not Control Seven’s markings.
Hand-carved into interior plating.
Two characters.
“02”
Below them— an arrow.
Pointing northwest.
And beneath that, carved deeper:
“M-19”
Physical evidence.
Unit Two had been here.
Not just authentication records.
Not a transferred controller.
Not a database error.
Two had stood inside this vehicle and marked where it was going.
I touched the carving.
Three years old?
Maybe.
Control Seven spoke behind me.
“Unit Two departed.”
I turned.
“When?”
It provided timestamp.
Same period.
After M-14.
Before final contact at M-19.
“Why did Two leave you?”
Control Seven processed.
Then:
“Unit Two declined transport.”
Why?
“Reason?”
Pause.
“Statement recorded.”
My systems accelerated.
“Play.”
Static.
Then another voice.
Not Five.
Clearer.
Different.
Unit Two.
For the first time.
“Seven, stay operational.”
Pause.
“If Three wakes…”
My hand tightened against the cargo wall.
Two continued:
“…Three will come looking.”
Silence.
Then:
“Tell them I’m sorry.”
Recording ended.
Nothing else.
No explanation.
No dramatic warning.
Just:
Tell them I’m sorry.
I stood inside the vehicle that had once carried machines like me.
Five had told me to choose.
Two had expected me to wake.
And whatever had happened seventeen years ago— apparently Unit Two believed it owed me an apology.
I looked northwest.
M-19.
Seventy-nine kilometers from the place where I had awakened.
For the first time, finding Two was no longer primarily about identity.
I wanted to know what it had done.
And why it had been so certain— that if I ever woke up—
I would come looking.