S&N: The Rule of Logic

My sensors started to pick something up. I thought about it for a few minutes and then it dawned on my M-4 processors. It was Samara's favorite breakfast. It was a jalapenos omelet. She liked clearing out her sinuses in the morning. Not always, but from time to time.


It was strange that I wasn't making it for her, since it was usually my duty to make it. Samara didn't like making it because she preferred my cooking skills. But a lot had happened in three years to have changed that.


Within a nanosecond something hit me. The breathing was different from Samara's. I went into the kitchen and saw Mark. How he would've known about the omelet was easy to guess: Samara had told him.


I watched him make it and grew a little jealous. Though that wasn't really the correct term. I didn't know how to describe it. All I knew was that I didn't like Mark doing something I would normally do.


After a few minutes he turned to me and I met his eyes. My eyes didn't have to blink and so he became uncomfortable very quickly. He turned back to making breakfast. After my outburst he knew I could do damage out of anger.


And having a Machine after you isn't something any human wants. Truth be told, not something a Machine wants either.


My thoughts were diverted when I heard Sam's footsteps and turned to look at her. She had just come back from a morning jog. They had been getting longer as of late. Like she was trying to escape something.


A small smile formed on her face when she saw the omelet.


"You made this for me, Mark?" She asked him.


"Yes he did." I said tonelessly. I was not to be left out of this conversation.


A small blush appeared on Mark's face and then quickly disappeared. I was the only one with the sight to see the remaining blush on his face.


"Thank you." Samara said and then turned to me. "Are you growing tired of cooking too?"


"I didn't know." I paused. "And you didn't ask."


After a few minutes Sam's omelet was ready and Mark brought it to the table. I sat down beside Samara and joined in on the mindless conversation Mark had begun. But while I joined in on the conversation another part of my mind thought something different.


Looking at Samara I noticed her beauty, as always, but something seemed to be missing. Something was lacking in her features now. I would always stand with her but there was only confusion when I tried to figure out what was gone.


I loved her but also cared more for my safety and jealousy was also something that was starting to enter the relationship.


I tried pushing that to the back of my mind and focus on the conversation. But I was too advanced to be content with one topic at a time.

I could tell something was going to happen by Mark's odd heart rate. It seemed like his heart rate was about to go up. The mindless conversation was about to have something added that I wouldn't like.


If I were human, I'd be flexing my muscles at this point. As it was, I stayed still as the conversation continued. I heard the car pull up and the others getting out. Stewart, Rebecca, and Martha were about to come in and hopefully get Samara away from Mark.


While human hearing wasn't as good as mine, Mark also knew that time was running out.


"Samara," Mark said and I could tell he would've used her nickname if I wasn't present. "I'm wondering if you'll do a mission with me."


"What mission?" Samara asked, cutting me off from saying anything.


"Just to check out a Playful Ballet convention."


"If Samara goes, I go." I said since I could guess what breakfast was really about. "It'll be a big area and my abilities will help you out."


"I was just thinking of Samara and myself." Mark said.


"Marky, you aren't taking my girlfriend on a date." I replied to him. I stared at him and saw his heart rate increase even more.


"What Mark probably means is that you'll be too much of a giveaway." Samara said, trying to justify Mark's request. "The Net will notice a rogue M-4 more than two humans."


I nodded only to show a human response for Sam. Looking at her I could see a little fear when looking back at me.


"Are you sure he's not taking you on a date?" I asked and by Sam's response I could tell the idea didn't do anything for her. My inner human smiled.


"Just be calm, Naz, I'm not going to leave you." She told me and I thought about my previous thoughts. Being with her was safety and the other reasons were starting to leave me.


I was going to reply, but at that moment the others came in. I got up quickly and faced Stewart. At the moment our eyes met I could tell something was wrong.


"What is wrong?" I asked in an effort to distract myself from what Samara was planning to do.


"It's about Kered." Stewart replied and looked to Mark. Mark's only response was to wave us off. Stewart nodded and we went into another room.


"You're worried about losing her?" Stewart asked me and the two sisters gathered around us.


"Yes." I said. He didn't need to know my true feelings. "What is it about Kered?"


"He's been captured." He replied and I could sense the things that would be classified as human fear. An Elemental being captured wasn't an every day thing.


"Do you know where?"


"Yes." Rebecca said. "He's not far away."


"You were going to ask Mark what to do?" I asked them.


"Yes." Martha replied.


I turned quickly and burst into the kitchen.


"Mark, stop flirting with Samara and do your job." I said and Mark reached for his gun. He would've took it out and fired it, if not for Sam. "Kered is captured. Permission to rescue him."


Mark let out a sigh of relief of work not affecting his ability to be with Sam.


"Stewart," He said and Stewart came to stand by me. "You're in charge of rescuing Kered."


With a second wave from Mark, we went to another room to start planning. I hoped that Samara would remain true to me on the 'mission'. I would've fought more but the stability of Karma was much more important than lingering feelings of jealousy.

***********
 While my main focus was on the mission, there was still a little that focused on Samara. I ran a few processes to push her further back and then looked out the window. In the car with me were Stewart, Rebecca, and Martha. Stewart, taking the position of team leader for the moment, was driving.


I turned my head so I could focus on Rebecca more. I could tell that she didn't like her part in the plan to rescue Kered. Though she didn't like me, she couldn't deny rescuing Elemental Earth was much more important.


I looked at the two other members of the mission and knew they could do their job. Stewart appeared to be someone who could take control of any given situation. Martha would follow his orders. That was the same obedience that Rebecca would show.


After a few minutes, the hour long journey to where Kered was being held ended. In the distance was a building with subtle markings to show it was owned by Netty. Stewart stopped the car and both Rebecca and myself exited.


Stewart quickly put distance between us and him. Rebecca turned to me and let out a long sigh. She knew what was going to happen as well as I. Not only were we going to rescue Kered, we were going to be working together. Not with a group, but with each other.


"We better hurry." I said and Rebecca nodded. We only had a small window of time to rescue him.


With hardly another moment passing, we started to walk quickly. I wasn't worried that Rebecca's fear would be a hindrance, in the first part of the plan it would be necessary.


I kept all my scanners on full alert and when we got close, at least by Machine standards, I grabbed Rebecca and held a gun to her head. To a Machine this would be seen as useless until human emotions were taken into account. Doing this also increased what Machines read as fear so that I could more easily pass her off as my prisoner.


A little bit of walking later and I came to the entrance of the building. At the entrance were two M-3s and one M-2. Even though the M-2 had skin on it, one could tell that it was clumsily put on.


"She is part of Karma." I said.


"You're an M-4. Unreliable." The M-2 said. "And how did you get her?"


My old self started to rise and I pushed it back. A witty comment wouldn't help the current situation.


"She's human." I replied and, before the M-2 could reply, a small explosion went off. Stewart and Martha were doing their part. Letting go of Rebecca, I got ready to do mine.

 Rebecca was very quick to draw her own gun and aim. I pointed my own gun at the nearest Machine. Luckily the first line of guards weren't anything to worry about due to Stewart and Martha creating such a good distraction.


The two M-3s and one M-2 turned to look where the distraction was. My sensors picked up a signal and I motioned to Rebecca to step to the side of the door. As soon as she got into position, a blur of motion came out. I recognized the M-3s that were exiting but the other model I didn't.


My sensors told me that they were M-4s. But something seemed off about them. Something was missing. I couldn't tell what and I didn't have the time now to run a full analysis. Doing the only thing I could to solve the mystery at the moment, I ran a program to look into the problem. I then ran that program in the background.


Getting back into the moment, I waited until the Machines were out before entering the building. Rebecca followed behind me. I scanned the area and pulled up a map of the building. I signaled to her and we raced down a hallway.


After a few minutes of running we got to the large jail part of the building. I scanned each and every person to find Kered. Some of the prisoners made sense.


There were a lot of M-4s chained up. The chains were made up of harder material than would be used to imprison a human. They were probably chained up due to M-4s being harder to control than normal Machines. I had to turn my head away from looking them in the eyes. The human emotion of guilt was coming back to me. It was illogical and I managed to stop thinking about it.


Some of the prisoners did not make sense.


I scanned them and confirmed that they were human. That wasn't the odd part. The odd part was that they were members of The Net. According to my files on them, they were all extremely loyal to Netty.


I had to force myself to continue to look for Kered. Questions of why The Net was imprisoning their own wasn't important now. Getting the Elemental out of here was.


After a few more seconds I was able to find where Kered was being held. There was an old fashioned lock on his cell door that was easy for me to break. He wasn't a Machine so why would he be held like one?


Rebecca had my back as I rushed into Kered's cell. I scanned the area, decided it was safe, and picked up the damaged Elemental.


"Logic...The Net...logic..." Kered kept on muttering as I took him out of his cell.

What did Kered's ramblings mean? I added that to my list of things to put in the background until Kered was at Sam's house. I turned to Rebecca and we shared a glance. I could tell that she was more than happy for the rescue mission to be half-way done.


I stepped out of the cell and just as my foot exited it, an alarm went off. Rebecca tensed up and then relaxed. It seemed like now that there was a threat she was used to, she could calm down.


"We don't have much time." Rebecca said with a smile starting to form on her face.


"Yes." I replied and followed Rebecca as she started to run. I was worried about the safety of Kered and that the mission would fail because there was only a human protecting me. The other worry at the moment was if I were to be reprogrammed by Netty that I would bring danger to Karma and Samara.


Three M-3s came to investigate us before we got out of the building. While they got out a few shots, Rebecca was able to shoot them down very quickly. This gave me hope that our mission would be successful.


A few seconds after that thought was formed, Rebecca was running through the building and shooting at the Machines that started shooting at us. After minutes of running through the building and nearly getting killed, we exited the building. As anyone could've guessed, there were other Machines out there too.


Yelling out run was illogical since what was to be done was obvious.


"Run!" Rebecca yelled and showed her humanity. I ran after her as shots followed us and she fired back.


I dodged fire and took the hits that I couldn't dodge. I was being very careful not to get Kered hit. Finally the car could be seen in the distance. Stewart was in the driver's seat with Martha riding shotgun.


Rebecca yelled out in joy about seeing the end of the mission, but then the yell of joy turned into a cry of pain. She fell down after being shot in the knee and Martha's mouth opened in anguish.


Finding a fallen comrade to be more important than this particular Elemental, I was about to run to help Rebecca when she waved me to go to the car. I nodded and ran as fast as I could. I turned back to see Rebecca limping at a pretty good pace.


When I reached the car I put Kered in a seat, buckled him up, and took out a gun and shot at the Machines pursuing Rebecca.


"Get in the car, Nazilla." Stewart ordered and I just continued to shoot the Machines trying to kill Rebecca.


As more fire hit me I started to think that protecting a fellow soldier was illogical. Just as I put my gun away Rebecca jumped into the car. I quickly followed her and shut the door as Stewart drove away.


The ride back, after we were away from the Machines, was very quiet. The only sound was the car and Kered's repetition of 'The Net' and 'logic'. Stewart seemed to be staying quiet because he was angry. Rebecca was out of breath and Martha was recovering from nearly losing her sister.


Upon reaching Sam's house we exited the car and entered the home. Mark and Samara had not yet returned. I took Kered up to Samara's room, put him on the bed, cleaned up his wounds, and stayed by his side.

*******************
 The room was of a moderate temperature and somewhat comfortable to humans. However, no one in the room took comfort in the temperature or the furniture. This wasn't surprising as what was to be discussed wouldn't be pleasant.


I turned to my left and looked at Samara. Nothing had seemed to happen when her and Mark had gone to investigate Playful Ballet. Samara was no closer to being Mark's lover than she was before.


Looking around the room I noticed Martha and Rebecca sitting closer than normal. I didn't blame them as they had recently nearly been separated. Mark was looking at both Samara and myself, as if his look would change our relationship. Stewart was looking calm as always. I scanned him and was reassured when it turned out that he was still human.


Elemental Earth Kered was lying on the couch as he had insisted on not holding a meeting in Sam's room. I didn't see the need to carefully move him as Sam's room would've held us all comfortably. But, humans being humans, held importance about a bedroom. I probably would've given the bedroom more importance if I had still been human.


As it was, I waited for Mark to start speaking. If he could get over his fear of speaking in front of an Elemental.


"Earth, Mark and Samara have a plan to deal with the Playful Ballet problem." I said when I felt Mark had spent too long remaining silent. Kered nodded and we all turned to face Mark.


"As you know," Mark said. "My team was called in to help Samara Crichton and Nazilla with Playful Ballet. Recently, Crichton and myself went to a Playful Ballet convention to explore options."


I kept silent and didn't say that him taking Samara was purely for his benefit. He wanted to take her out on a date and the only reason I hadn't stopped him was that Kered had been captured.


"We have found a way to take the front out." Mark continued and a faint smile formed on his lips. The fact that Kered hadn't interrupted him seemed to give him courage.


"The heads of the front will be gathered soon." Samara said. "Martha has already set a plan in motion to make sure the front won't be able to start up again once the leaders are killed."


"I still don't think we need to kill them." Martha said.


Kered sighed and everyone in the room tensed up. "Those who work with The Net aren't really people anymore." He replied. "Even Nazilla is more human than they are. The only sure way to stop them is to kill them."


"Unless they need to be tortured first for information." Samara added and had to hold back a look of revulsion.


Martha's only reaction was to nod.


"How soon will the attack on Playful Ballet be ready to execute?" Kered asked Mark.


"Two weeks." Mark replied and Kered responded with a nod.


"Can't wait to get The Net back for what they did." Rebecca said and pointed to her knee.


"The Net didn't capture me." Kered said and everyone but me looked confused. I felt confused but my body didn't show it. "Logic did."


"Logic?" Stewart asked.


"We have a new enemy." Kered continued. "Logic is a secret organization in The Net made purely up of Machines. Specifically, every Machine besides the M-3s and M-4s."


"Is it possible they are evolving themselves?" I asked. "When we went to rescue you, Kered, some of the Machines I scanned gave me an odd reading."


"What do you mean by odd?" Stewart asked.


"The readings from the scan said they were M-4s but something was off." I replied. "I can't explain it any other way."


"It is possible." Kered said. "Also, your rescue was probably made easier so that Logic could get knowledge of itself out. So that Karma would be in fear of being beaten on two fronts."


"I had heard mention of Logic before." I said, regretting that I hadn't picked up on the information sooner. "Before I escaped from Netty, I had heard a comment about Logic but just brushed it off."


"It wasn't your fault." Samara comforted me. "There were other things on your mind."


"Do you know how many things I can think of at once now?" I asked. "Because I was thinking of other things is no excuse for me to let something like that slip."


"Crichton, you can discuss Nazilla's failure with her later." Kered said and Sam turned her gaze back to Kered quickly.


A few minutes later the meeting ended and dinner was prepared. Since Kered was with us, I stood behind Samara and didn't pretend to actually be interested in food. I also remained silent as the conversation started.


The only piece of conversation I put any thought into was one of Kered's comments, "Never trust a Machine. Those things don't feel or think like we do. They don't care about us. Even if one helps you, don't trust it."
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