The three Old Races, as we know them, are the Batract, the Grey, and the Gatebuilders.

  Batract sites are mostly undefended or lightly defended. Their technology is advanced, but still in the realm of explainable. Batract sites are, in a way, full of technology our engineers barely dare to dream about.

  Grey sites are technological on a similar or slightly higher level than most other species in the local sector. Their technology is often directly adaptable. Their relic sites impress due to their architecture and their brutalistic way of solving problems, like in the system Ertrea, where they cooled a planet by placing billions of mirrors between the sun and the planet.

  Gatebuilder sites are always heavily protected. Their technology is so far beyond every known science that it borders on magic. Any explorer encountering Gatebuilder sites is ordered to report such a discovery immediately and to never disturb whatever rests there.

  Excerpt from The Old Races, 35 P.I.

  Programmable matter. Real, working programmable matter. Fascinating.

  IronBallz and Daniel passed the door without issues.

  Daniel reported his observations to the Magellan, while IronBallz pondered over their discovery.

  What idiot uses an extremely volatile and complicated technology as a door?

  Dr. Hunter passed the wall or door after them. His face still had the same stupid grin as before. IronBallz had to confess that if he were an engineer, he would feel like he was in a toy store, too.

  “If they use this as a simple door, their use and control of this technology must be extremely advanced.” Hunter had the same thoughts as IronBallz.

  ‘Or they are plainly stupid. Is anyone else wondering why it works? The facility was without energy when we landed. Why is the door working all of a sudden?’

  Hunter stared at Daniel, who only shrugged. “Zero-point energy? That’s a source that could work for millennia.”

  ‘But then we would have registered the energy output.’

  Hunter checked his scanner. “I can read clear energy signals now, but only at the door.”

  Daniel walked over to the door again, inspecting the scarce glyphs next to it. “Did we wake the facility with our arrival, or just the door?”

  IronBallz was sure the facility wasn’t active. The lights were still out, and his memory flashes showed him the rooms full of light.

  Daniel turned around, facing the darkness around them. “Hunter, do you have any idea where we are?”

  “Not a clue. When I first came through, I immediately turned around.”

  Their helmet lights and flashlights created a small illuminated zone, a bubble of darkness pressing in around them. All they could see was that they were in a large room or hallway.

  The corners were dark. Especially here, the vacuum’s effect was noticeable.

  Light was not refracting.

  So Hunter and Daniel began to systematically scan the area around them.

  Their first instincts were correct. They were indeed in a large room. Left and right were corridors leading away.

  IronBallz was intrigued by the orderly and coordinated way Daniel scanned the room. Beginning at his feet, the archaeologist moved the light in a straight line until he met the opposite wall, then up the wall until he hit the ceiling.

  Then he turned only fifty centimeters to the right and moved down the wall.

  They were on the third stretch of moving down the wall when they saw it.

  Daniel stayed cool. IronBallz bit his tongue to prevent himself from screaming, and Hunter let out a scream.

  A figure leaning on the wall. It was in a spacesuit, something that looked like a gun integrated into its left arm, pointed straight at them.

  Daniel’s right arm went to his back. IronBallz knew the doctor kept a gun in a holster there. Then he spoke clearly into his radio. “Contact.”

  The radio clicked twice, then nothing.

  ‘For future reference, next ancient facility we explore, take soldiers with you.’

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  IronBallz regretted going down here without a strapping team of human Marines, or whatever the large guys in power armor were called.

  “Yeah, I should have packed some in my pocket, because we had lots of space left in the capsule.”

  Daniel moved slowly back, holding his left arm and hand stretched up, the universal sign for “I’m no danger.”

  Dr. Hunter had regained his composure. It was clear that he was a scientist and engineer, not a soldier.

  “Hunter, get behind me, we're moving slowly back to the door and out of here, no aggressive movements. Okay?”

  Movements. The figure hadn’t moved at all. IronBallz fixated on it. No chest movement, no signs of ventral breathing tube movement.

  Either the figure didn’t breathe, or it had a completely alien way of doing so.

  His thoughts were disturbed by Lieutenant Kendersson coming through the wall, now decked out in Marines light combat gear and carrying a vacuum-rated gauss rifle in his hands.

  ‘Don’t shoot. I think it’s dead.’

  “Stay back.” The pilot moved slowly forward, stepping out of the implied line of fire of the enemy gun.

  The gun didn’t move.

  ‘Daniel, is it wise to risk our only pilot this way?’

  “Do you want to check on the figure?”

  ‘Point taken.’

  The radio crackled. “That’s it. Get out of there, everyone.” Captain Smith had seen enough for now.

  “Understood, sir.”

  Kendersson moved slowly back, gun still aimed at the figure, his body still in the odd hunched posture humans use when preparing for a fight.

  “What are you waiting for? The captain said we’re going back to the ship.”

  Daniel just stood there. It was clear he didn’t want to leave. Not now.

  “But Captain, we’re just begi—”

  The captain cut the archaeologist off.

  “No buts. You were ordered to land, get a short look at the pad, and come back up. We have to prepare a larger expedition. Much larger, it seems.”

  “Sir?” The captain’s last words seemed ominous.

  “The newest gravimetric and neutrino measurements are in. It seems this base is bigger than we thought, at least a hundred kilometers deep.”

  ————

  Intelligence R-430E572 scanned the latest reports its observer had sent back. It mirrored the newest reconstructed data from the databanks.

  Intelligence R-430E572 began its analysis anew, starting with the reconstructed information.

  The situation was worse than it had initially assumed. Much worse.

  It seemed that multiple serious breaches had taken place ——Error—— time units ago. Two immensely aggressive L-space life-forms had infected parts of M- and K-space.

  The [Missing Data] had tried to contain the infection.

  That was the end of all the data the Recovery AI could produce.

  The Observer was more successful.

  Its report painted a bleak picture. The areas around both open entries into the acryptum were substantially infected.

  Especially the L-space species called ‘Hyphea’ was of interest. It was classified as a level five biomorphic invasive parasite. The highest level for this kind of bioform.

  Then there were the humans. At first glance, a Tier 1 hoarder and bonder species, and barely even that. But the more the Tactical Core investigated this species, the higher it placed this at-best-annoying species.

  Intelligence R-430E572 wiped the Tactical AI and created a new one. The new AI also initiated the cascading threat assessment.

  The AIs recommended sterilizing humanity even before the Hyphea.

  This was an anomaly that Intelligence R-430E572 had to process and analyze.

  Then it processed the last report.

  Humans might have found a base built by biological auxiliary maintenance servitors. The use of formable baryonic matter was a unique signature.

  It was rare for biological auxiliary maintenance servitors to escape, but when they did, the infection was almost impossible to eradicate.

  This was in the best of times, with a fully operational facility and the tactical overview and understanding of the [Missing Data]. Without them, and with an inoperable facility, it was almost impossible.

  The Tactical AI recommended an immediate Alpha strike on the Human Infection Central.

  The recommendation was to use three Tier 5 sterilization units.

  A wasteful approach, even with full capabilities, and utterly impossible now. Not even 0.5 percent of operational capabilities had been restored.

  Intelligence R-430E572 went through the calculations itself. The probable contamination with technology harvested from a biological auxiliary maintenance servitor site was a clear and present danger. If the human infection replicated this technology, it would become resistant to most sterilization attempts.

  Intelligence R-430E572 disliked resistant strains.

  At present, no Tier 5 sterilization unit is operable.

  But Intelligence R-430E572 had access to a Tier 1 resource probe, a simple Harvester.

  More than enough to significantly hamper the infection.

  The Tactical AI rated the chances as uncertain at best.

  Intelligence R-430E572 was sure something was severely wrong with the prepared hashes for tactical AIs.

  It had sterilized entire universes. It knew, from a few fragments of reports, the capabilities of a species.

  Humans were nothing remarkable.

  Sure, some technical capabilities were slightly above average. But nothing like the cascading danger scenarios the Tactical AI threw out.

  It prepared the Harvester. With some minor adjustments, its mining equipment was sufficient to dispatch any biological contamination in the system.

  Intelligence R-430E572 ran through the calculations again. The Harvester would need 300 minor cycles to reduce contamination in the main human infection center.

  That was short enough to avoid responding military assets from other systems.

  The information its operative gathered clearly stated that the human system was protected by only the bare minimum of forces, according to the humans themselves. They had sent out all their offensive assets to fight the level five biomorphic parasites.

  Like all biologicals, they waged war against other infections. Wasting resources and their insignificant lives.

  For a fraction of a minor cycle, Intelligence R-430E572 calculated the possibility of adapting humans as biological auxiliary maintenance servitors, but they were too wild. Not domesticated enough.

  Maybe later it would use some genetic material to create a new biological auxiliary maintenance servitor race.

  It recalculated the resource-gathering statistics.

  Losing a Harvester for three hundred minor cycles was a setback, but it could be programmed to salvage debris afterward. Partly refined metals were more energy-efficient.

  After returning, it would only need another one thousand two hundred minor cycles to reach 0.6 percent operational capabilities.

  The last decision was the mode of transport.

  To avoid technological transversal through observation, any P- and K-class transit modes were discarded. That left M-class transit, the method used by the dominant local biological infection anyway. Cross-infection had to be reduced by all means.

  It sent the Harvester on its way and watched.