RTS System in the Apocalypse: New World

The automated unit stopped.

Matilda halted with it. Both squads followed without needing the order repeated.

Several seconds passed before the machine spoke again.

"Route verification failed."

"Current external-personnel authorization does not permit access beyond this maintenance sector."

A new row of white lights appeared along the floor behind them.

"Please return to the previous checkpoint."

Nobody moved. Kordula came through the nearest speaker almost immediately.

"Supervisory override. Extend temporary maintenance access through the next service sector."

The machine remained still.

"Confirm override."

"Confirmed."

A longer pause followed.

"Supervisory credential verified. Overseer Kordula Weissenberg. Override recorded."

The lights behind the DASFs disappeared. Another line illuminated ahead.

"Temporary route extension approved."

Kordula released an audible breath through the speaker.

"Keep going."

The two squads moved.

The automated unit resumed its position ahead of them while both squads followed the newly marked route deeper into the facility.

The corridor descended under another section of the station. Exposed utility lines ran along the ceiling while reinforced doors divided adjoining areas into separate compartments. Some remained powered but sealed, with warning indicators beside the frames that had not changed despite Kordula’s access.

Several contacts remained behind them on Matilda’s synchronized map.

Kordula gave directions only when necessary.

"Straight."

They crossed another junction.

"Take the stairs."

A reinforced stairwell brought them farther below the service level. The automated escort entered first, its mechanical legs adjusting easily to each step while the DASFs followed several meters behind.

The deeper sections showed fewer signs of ordinary plant traffic.

Maintenance carts sat against the walls where they had been left. A dropped toolbox remained beside one doorway, several tools scattered across the floor. Farther down, a section of corridor had been sealed behind a transparent emergency barrier.

Something dark covered part of the floor on the other side. The two squads saw it, but they kept quiet.

"Left at the bottom," Kordula instructed.

The route continued beneath another building. For several minutes, the automated security said nothing. That made it easier for Matilda and the rest to ignore it.

Kordula opened doors before they reached them, the floor markings updating one section at a time. She no longer explained where they were going, and Matilda did not ask. Whatever discussion they needed could wait until the system around them was no longer listening to every word.

Another security unit appeared at the next junction.

It stood beside a reinforced doorway with its weapon folded against its upper frame. As the escort approached, the second machine activated.

Its lenses swept across the eight DASFs before shifting toward the first unit.

"Temporary external escort detected."

"Authorization verified."

The door opened.

Bar passed it without comment. Matilda entered next.

They were halfway across the adjoining corridor when the speaker above them changed tone.

"Security notice."

The group slowed.

"External personnel route has entered a secondary restricted boundary."

The automated escort stopped again.

"Current access remains inconsistent with initial declared purpose."

Matilda looked toward the nearest camera. Several moments passed before Kordula answered.

"Override access restriction. They’re here for emergency maintenance assistance."

"External personnel are not registered maintenance staff. Personnel capability and equipment remain inconsistent with maintenance classification."

"They’re assisting under my authority."

"Please clarify required assistance."

Kordula took longer to answer this time.

"I need physical access to a system I cannot reach from my current location."

Several lights along the machine’s front changed.

"Request conflicts with standard remote-maintenance procedure."

"I am aware. Override maintenance protocol restriction."

The machine did not respond immediately. The second security unit remained beside the doorway.

"Supervisory override conflicts with established maintenance-access procedure."

"Override anyway."

"Confirm acceptance of security responsibility, Overseer Weissenberg."

The irritation finally entered her voice.

"I will take responsibility."

"Responsibility acknowledged. Procedure restriction suspended. Repeated supervisory override recorded."

"Keep moving," Kordula said.

The doorway ahead opened. This time, both security units followed them through.

The original escort remained several meters ahead while the second took position behind Specter Squad, keeping the eight DASFs between them.

The floor lights continued deeper into the station.

They passed another sealed junction where several corridors disappeared behind heavy containment doors. Warning symbols covered the frames, some faded and others still illuminated by the emergency power running through the facility.

The synchronized map still showed several neutral contacts somewhere around the sealed section, though it could not resolve which compartment held them.

Kordula continued guiding them through the service levels with the same short directions as before.

"Down one level."

"Take the right passage."

"Through the gray door."

The facility became increasingly divided the farther they went. Ordinary maintenance spaces gave way to reinforced access points, redundant doors, and sections separated by thick emergency barriers. Some passages remained brightly lit while others depended entirely on strips of emergency lighting near the floor.

They crossed one corridor where several corpses remained near a sealed doorway.

Most had deteriorated badly. Two wore plant uniforms, while another still had an emergency respirator hanging from one hand.

Several of the DASFs glanced toward the bodies, but nobody stopped.

A security camera tracked them from the ceiling.

The machine behind Specter Squad did the same.

Several minutes later, the route brought them into a broad utility chamber filled with pipework and large electrical cabinets. A narrow maintenance walkway crossed the middle, leading toward another reinforced access door on the opposite side.

Kordula’s voice came from a speaker beside it.

"Across the walkway. The next section is where this becomes difficult."

Matilda moved first. Halfway across, the white route lights disappeared.

Both security units stopped. The one ahead rotated toward them.

"Security review."

The DASFs halted.

"Repeated supervisory overrides have produced access conditions inconsistent with established emergency-containment procedure."

Kordula answered immediately.

"Continue temporary access."

"Review incomplete."

Several lights appeared across the machine’s frontal plating.

"External personnel remain biologically cleared."

"External personnel remain unidentified."

"External personnel remain heavily armed."

"External personnel are approaching restricted security infrastructure."

The second machine unfolded its weapon assembly behind Specter Squad, but did not aim.

Specter glanced toward Matilda. She kept her attention forward.

"Overseer Weissenberg," the ASS continued, "current route materially increases risk to protected systems."

"I understand. Override the restriction."

"Return external personnel to the authorized maintenance sector."

"Negative. I need them for an emergency maintenance task."

There was a brief silence.

"Please confirm."

"I said no."

The machine processed the response.

"State emergency justification."

Kordula hesitated. For the first time since they entered the station, she did not seem to have an answer prepared.

"They are carrying out a task I authorized."

"Task remains undefined."

"I cannot define it through an active security channel."

The silence afterward lasted longer.

Matilda could hear the ventilation system through the low electrical hum filling the chamber.

"Communication restriction acknowledged."

Kordula released a quiet breath.

"Then extend their access."

"Request denied."

The second security unit’s weapon assembly moved another few degrees.

Still not aimed.

Kordula’s voice hardened.

"Supervisory override. Suspend restriction and extend access to the next maintenance sector."

"Override frequency exceeds normal emergency-use parameters."

"Override anyway."

"Overseer Weissenberg has shown repeated suspension of automated safeguards. Successive actions may reduce facility security."

"I am aware."

"Protected personnel remain dependent upon active containment."

"I know that better than you do."

The irritation in her voice disappeared almost as quickly as it came.

"Extend the access."

"Confirm acceptance of increased security risk."

"Confirmed."

"Confirm responsibility for external personnel entering restricted security infrastructure."

"Confirmed!"

Another pause.

"Supervisory override accepted."

The rear security unit folded its weapon back down.

"Access restriction temporarily suspended."

The white lights returned across the walkway.

"Repeated deviation recorded for security review."

Kordula did not respond. The reinforced door ahead opened.

Matilda crossed the remainder of the walkway, and both squads followed her through before either machine could reconsider the decision.

The escorts came with them.

Beyond the door, the facility changed again.

There were almost no ordinary plant markings left.

The corridor was wider, cleaner, and divided by reinforced service panels carrying identification numbers instead of department labels. Thick cable bundles disappeared behind protective housings along the walls, while several access points required separate mechanical locks in addition to the electronic panels beside them.

Matilda checked the synchronized map.

The synchronized map lost detail as they went deeper.

The section continued beneath the station for several hundred meters before spreading into a cluster of larger rooms and service chambers. Some of the structure extended farther underground than the Radar Facility could resolve clearly.

Kordula remained silent until they passed the next camera.

"Keep following the route."

Her voice had changed.

The relief from their first conversation was mostly gone now. Every override seemed to make her more careful about what she said while the ASS remained connected.

The two squads continued.

At the next intersection, they found three more automated security units standing inside recessed positions.

All three activated as the DASFs approached. Their lenses turned toward Matilda. Then toward Specter. Then toward the two machines escorting them.

"External personnel authorization confirmed."

None of the three machines moved from their positions.

The squad continued, but five automated units now watched them from the same corridor.

Bar kept his voice inside the squad channel.

"It’s getting crowded here."

"Keep moving," Matilda replied.

The machines allowed them through. Kordula opened another door ahead. The route descended again.

They were well below the service levels now. Concrete replaced most of the finished wall panels, and thicker structural supports divided the corridor at regular intervals. Several maintenance rails ran along the ceiling toward equipment deeper inside.

A single neutral marker remained somewhere nearby on the synchronized map, though its position had become too rough at this depth to place behind any particular room.

The DASFs ignored it, and Kordula said nothing about it either.

The next checkpoint stood at the bottom of the descent. Unlike the others, there was no security unit waiting beside it. Only a reinforced door and a narrow control panel. The white route lights ended there.

Matilda stopped several meters away.

The two escorts halted with them.

Kordula spoke through the wall speaker.

"This is the last section you need to go through. I hope this works."

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