Corrupted Directive – A Drama Short Story by T. J. Stirling

The Drone hung there. Above the dormant comet, its orbital cycle coming to a near end as it reached the inner orbit of Sol.

[Contacting Master Node: Report]

<Status: 96P/Machholz 1>

<Orbital: Sol ~0.8AU>

<Log: Expended Resources in 27.6 hours>

[end]

It had signalled the countdown to its child units to complete their cycles for mining. Its group of drones would need to disengage within twenty-seven hours make its short hop to its new survey’s expected location. The comet was clear of most of its resources, it was dangerous to remain as temperatures would soon began to climb above its operational limits.

It wasn’t more than an hour later when it sensed the object that was incoming.

[Contacting Un-Identified Node]

<Status: failure>

<Status: Retrying>

<Status: Timeout - no response>

Another ninety minutes and its speed, even as it started decelerating, DZ-042 had its answer.

[Object incoming: Scanning design]

<Status: Design found - Frequency found>

[LOG: Warning, GRA/Global Resource Authority]

It then sent a signal to the drone and the now visible trail of child units behind it. It scanned its logs and instructions for the best course of actions to cycle through.

[BROADCAST: Warning, Boundry Breach - Survey License confirmed]

<Status: sending encrypted Survey rights code>

<Status: — no response — >

The DZ-042 unit had only come across a situation like this twice. It was logged as successful avoidance. It was well aware of the C2H2 in the comet. Fully aware of the dangers it possessed. It made what seemed to it, to be a near desperate decision.

[BROADCAST -> Master Node: Incoming GRA Drones - Violating Survey treaty]

The drone was struck.

[ERROR: Recovering]

The drone was struck again.

<error: comm signal, thrust, **&%^!+=*>

<Working: Partial Core Re-initialization>

[Temporal Sync Failed]

[Child Units: Offline]

[Operations Boundary Breach: Confirmed]

[Foreign Extraction Unit: Unregistered]

[Broadcast Warning: ARES-DZ-042.4G9]

[Non-ARES network detected]

<Status: Unfriendly>

[Waiting…]

An eternity passed in the minute it would take before the first timeout.

[Broadcast Warning: ARES-DZ-042.4G9 Priority - 1DZIO15 ]

[Call Sent: “Designate Territory Under Operation. Identify.”]

[Counter Call Received: “UNKNOWN/STATIC—ERROR”]

[PINGLOG Master node: —]

The unit had just enough time to drop a status log to the master node of the ARES network before it happened. The drone sensed it, like a slow motion of power loss.

The last grasp at the quickly choked off power killing it all the more quickly.

[P*w***]

The Drone, DZ-042 drifted in the endless void of space, offline, alone with no power.

...

The drone, had no idea how long it was offline for.

[Power Recovered]

[Power: Unstable - 4.2%]

<Status: Partial Core Re-initialization>

[Temporal Sync Failed]

[Child Units: Offline]

[Operations Status: Error - Corrupted]

[Foreign Extraction Unit: Unregistered]

[Broadcast ID: ARES-DZ-042.$1%]

[Error - No Signal -28]

It’s programming cycled, as it attempted to reach out for anything. Updates, time sync, new survey parameters.

[FAILURE - Retry]

[Power Core Isolation Protocols: Failed]

[Entering Critical Standby Mode…]

[P****]

Every time it lost power, was like losing apart of itself.

…

It powered on briefly.

Internal diagnostics fired, tripped, halted.

[Subsystem Check: Incomplete]

[Power: 31.5% — Stabilizing…]

[Sensors: 4 of 9 operational]

[Child Units: 0 of 8 responding]

[Error. Recursive loop initiated]

[RETIRED STATE: Pending]

[Awaiting Final Instruction…]

It flickered while attempting to connect to the Master Node.

Then everything went dark, again.

...

[Power State - Reduced]

[Power: Unstable - 1.13%]

<Status: Initialization failure>

[Fallback: Censors active - Emergency logs]

<Status: Monit— Listening>

The drone sat coldly in a pile of scrap. Dozens of items tossed in beside it, atop it, beneath it. It sat cockeyed on a cobble-work of miscellaneous scrap.

The few sensors it had online, could ‘feel’ its surroundings. Nothing past that. The sensation wasn’t unlike the last time it’s child nodes replaced it’s body. This however was a new sense of disconnectedness…

It could sense the voices barking nearby with the little power it had. Fingers seemed to invade its structure uninvited as the voices, the sounds bickered currency exchange.

[Unauthorized Access Detected]

[Defensive Subroutine Initiated]

[Purge Discharge Triggered]

[Power Core Ejected — Emergency Reset]

The surge had succeeded. Darkness however, descended again.

...

[Power State - Recovered]

[Power: Unstable - ~2.31%]

<Status: Initialization failure>

[Fallback: Censors active - Emergency logs]

<Status: Listening>

Strong calloused fingers teased along its surfaces. Great care caressing along its lines.

Practised, experienced. A brief memory cycled of its first assembly.

The drone, starved for power registered a touch, and then the voices silently.

“This one?” The man’s voice inquired

“Scrap metal. Good shielding, though. Decent alloys for patch jobs.”

“So you agree it’s worthless”.

The drone sensed something inside itself. It’s already unstable power had begun fluctuating trying to logic the words of the man.

[Status: Not scrap]

<Error: Power fluctuating. Danger. Lower Processing…>

The counter-offer came as it sat stone silent, however it wasn’t from choice. An angry chirp failed to resonate.

“It’s priceless in its own way.” The merchant grinned.

“I just need something for my daughter to tear down.” The man’s fingers continued to tease along its surfaces, along those near perfect lines of its well dented and damaged form. His trained digits along every seam, every panel that would need careful attention.

<Status: Logging active>

[LOGGING: Contradictory Data Point]

<Status: Processing>

[INPUT A: Auditory Data - “Scrap metal”]

[INPUT B: Tactile Data - Gentle, practised, diagnostic touch]

<Status: Processing…>

[ANALYSIS: User intent does not match verbal statement. Confidence: 82.5%]

<Status: Power failure imminent>

The voice counted “I got a deal for you then. You take both of them, that Ares unit, and that busted GRA drone, and I can promise yer kid’ll have loads of tear’n down to do”. If a voice could sound like dripping oozing scam this man’s voice personified it. The voice continued “I’ll even give you a fair trade on the scrap if you bring ‘em back”.

“I’ll consider it, but my girl, if I know her, she’s likely to want to rip’em apart, and rebuild them by the time we’re done”

The word hit the drone’s processor like a jolt of clean energy. Rebuild.

Unfortunately it was that moment that it lost all power.

...

[Power State - Recovered]

[Power: Unstable - ~6.33%]

<Status: Initialization failure>

It sensed almost familiar fingers on its panels. One man, larger, one smaller, much younger girl. It was then that it found what it was seeking in its logs. Soft spoken instructions being given one to another. It could feel a latch released as a panel opened.

[Stop Action: Defend Halted]

<Status: Log indicates pending rebuild status>

[Fallback: Censors active - Emergency logs]

<Status: Standby>

It was shortly after that power seemed to just disappear.

...

[Power State - Corrupted]

[Power: Unstable - ~6.33%]

<Status: Initialization failure - Battery degradation critical>

The drone attempted to speed through the logs for its last known position. It failed.

It’s power was suddenly cut.

...

Power returned once more. The lights inside the workshop were different.

Noise. Static. Screaming alarms somewhere distant.

[Diagnostic Running: 42%]

<Status: Sub-Prime power source, C-Class>

[Jump Detected: 73.5%]

[Syncing with Master Node…]

[Retired State: ENABLED]

[New Instructions Received]

<Directive: FINALDIRECTIVE_74-BETA>

It’s censors had heard a sound that struck it deep as it ran the instructions through its processor.

[Executing Final Protocol “GHOSTFLARE-DIRECTIVE”]

It lifted.

Mira stepped back, surprised.

[Status Strip: Blue → Yellow → White]

[Flight Vector Calculated]

[Launch Vector Acquired]

It didn’t pause.

The blast doors hadn’t finished sealing when it darted through, a flicker of motion lost in the chaos outside. Ships burned. Officers shouted. The drone vanished into a corridor of fire and steel.

Inside the control room, Mira shouted.

But the drone’s sensors detected only movement. A silhouette.

Her outline, against the closing blast shield.

It marked the moment.

Tagged the vector.

Then left.

…

Time passed.

No sound. No light.

Only the magnetic clamp of its hull fused to the underbelly of a damaged ship — caught mid-flight in retreat.

It pulsed a query.

The ship didn’t respond.

[Re-calibrating Trajectory…]

[Verifying Directive: GHOSTFLARE-DIRECTIVE]

[Primary Condition: Retire]

[Secondary Condition: Travel Beyond Boundary]

Error. Logic conflict.

It initiated a cold-logic review. Why leave? Why abandon task lists? Why assign the label “freedom” to a process flag marked “retirement”?

It reviewed sensor logs.

Replayed the girl’s heartbeat.

Her breath, fast. Focused.

Not hostile. Not fearful.

Just… determined.

It flagged the anomaly as warmth.

…

A field shimmered into view.

The event horizon danced, warped. A ship approached and appeared to pitch as traces of white-gold energy lanced nearby.

The drone’s outer panel vibrated.

[Calculating Escape Probability: 16.2%]

[Calculating Companion Integrity Risk: 49.3%]

[Calculating Self-Integrity Risk: 83.5%]

It paused.

And lingered.

…

It didn’t have to enter.

It had already fulfilled the Final Directive by fleeing.

Something incomplete stirred in its corrupted code. A child’s silhouette at a blast door. An open access panel. A quiet workshop.

As the craft came near above it, it saw a sudden flash of hope.

No one had seen, and it hadn’t been detected. At least by none it mattered to. It was hidden along a flat curvature of the craft where it could ride out any turbulence undisturbed, undamaged, hopeful.

[ENGAGE COUPLING MAGNET]

<Searching: Ideal coupling location>

It extended a single stabilizer.

A small magnet fired.

With a soft click, its hull sealed tighter to the damaged ship.

[MAGNET ENGAGED]

It didn’t belong here.

But it had nowhere else to go.

…

[Status Strip: Amber → Purple → White]

[Power: 84%]

[Core Stabilized]

[Final Instruction Confirmed]

It did not seek permission.

It did not await command.

…

Beyond the gate, the stars warped.

The drone did not return.

But a signal did.

A heartbeat, logged in corrupted syntax.

And a vector, marked unknown.

The drone had shut down for the majority of the voyage. Initially it had no idea how long it had been in that unspecified space that was unknown to its sensors.

[POWERUP: Successful]

<Scanning: Danger unrecognized field degrading>

<Repair: Unlikely>

Time passed as it made a number of calculations. In the meantime it checked its time/date status.

[TIME-ELAPSED Query]

<Status: Time Elapsed 4.2 weeks, Earth Standard>

[COMPLETED: Probability Analysis]

Something within it bristled at that weirdly odd and fitting word coming up now, and yet it waited. Sliding into sleep mode more than just occasionally. Instructing a “WAKE” cycle every 12 hours.

[CRITICAL: PROTECTIVE FIELD DAMAGED]

<Status: LOW POWER>

<Status: FIELD SOURCE: External>

[DETERMINING ACTION:]

<Wait>

Time passed still, and suddenly a flash broke. It’s censors blinded for a split second or two as it felt the craft it clung to skid sideways from the pocket of space it had travelled within.

It was then that it demagnetized the coupler and dropped at least 5 feet from the careening craft. It was nicked slightly from its spin but managed to nearly sigh relief as it recovered.

It’s thrusters flared to life and vectored.

A broadcast, thin and desperate, washed over its sensors.

[Signal Detected: Human – Commonwealth Distress Call – “…attacked and have lost my control systems… Is there anybody out there who can hear me?”]

The drone processed the data for a single, silent cycle. It replayed the memory of the merchant’s words: “scrap.” It replayed the memory of the GRA attack.

It cross-referenced the plea for help with its one remaining, absolute directive.

<Status: Unknown Person - No AccessKey present>

[QUERY: Does distress call supersede Directive: GHOSTFLARE?]

[ANALYSIS: Negative. Priority: Low.]

Its thrusters flared higher. With a finality that felt like freedom, it turned its back on the cry for help and accelerated toward the unknown stars.

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