Planet Telex

"Thank you for volunteering for today's mission, Robin." The Science Officer said, slipping a gasmask over the Assistant's head, and adjusting the straps. "The atmosphere is breathable with a mask, and there's nothing organic down there, so this ought to be scouting and then you can come on back."
Robin peered at the airlock's information display through the plastic face window. The atmospheric density numbers seemed a little low, but at least it had the normal amount of oxygen... "Okay. What am I looking for, again?"
The science officer pushed a printed-out satellite image of the area into Robin's gloved hands, as well as a small black device. "There's a cave with some energy discrepancies marked there. It's about half a click from here. Our drones keep losing signal near it, so it seems to be blocking the Mesh signal from the ship... that radio there operates on a different frequency and should allow you to communicate with us; the chip will also lose signal."
Robin looked at the radio with interest -- how basic it seemed -- before snapping her head back up at the mention of being outside of the Mesh's reach. "I... won't that kill me?" She asked, remembering the things they told the other Assistants.
"No, no. You're a Research Assistant. Class C. You won't get shut off being outside of the Mesh like the office-work drones do... at least, as long as you're back in it within a couple hours."
The Assistant breathed a little easier, despite some lingering concern. She'd never been out of range before, after all, and she had to wonder what it felt like. "Okay. I'm ready."
"Good." The Science Officer slipped a gasmask over her face, before hitting the 'open airlock' button.
The whoosh of the slight depressurisation pulled on Robin a little. The barren surface was littered with craters and weather-worn rubble from the probable nuclear war that ended its use as a habitable planet, the science ship parked in a rare flat area.
"Off you go. If we lose contact for two hours, we'll assume the worst, and send in a team after you. Whatever kills you is surely something worth studying."
"Thanks." Robin muttered, as she stepped out of the airlock and on to the yellow sand of Derai Beta.

"Hello?" Robin said into the little device, as she held down the button.
"Yes, we hear you." Replied the Science Officer, from the tinny radio speaker. "Anything to report?"
"Uh, yes... the cave is an entry way to some sort of building. It's open. Should I go look?"
"Yes, that's where the drones got to. Enter, and investigate. Let us know if there's anything of interest that we should send a team in after."
Robin slipped the radio back onto the belt of her grey plastic protective suit. She wished it covered her neck fully, as sand carried by the howling winds started dirtying her feathers, but she was told there was no use of a full protective suit for this outing. She hoped that the lack of duties for the rest of the month was a worthy reward for this...
The cave lead to what looked like a bunker entrance, the giant blast doors jammed open by some massive force. Shining a flashlight over the entrance, she saw a pair of crashed survey drones, the ones that they had lost before. Inspecting them, it appeared like they had just lost power, and just fell to the ground. This must be where the Mesh ends.
"Here goes..." Robin muttered, passing the drones, heading towards the door, the Assistant expecting every step to put her far away enough from the Science Ship that she'd join the drones in the dirt... but, nothing happened. She was still on the Mesh, said her chip.
A sleek, steel-and-chrome decontamination chamber sat on the other side of the blast doors, a window on one side where an operator would sit. It was dark, and shining her flashlight through the window revealed that it was abandoned. The internal doors did appear to have an emergency unlock lever, marked in a language Robin couldn't decode. She grabbed the handle and pulled with all her might, mechanics untouched for hundreds of years staying seized.
"Ugh. I can't... get through. There's a pair of doors on the inside, locked." Robin reported over the radio, frustrated at her lack of strength. "I could maybe try the exosuit, or-"
The door suddenly slid open, as if it were electronically powered.
"Uh... nevermind, it opened. The power must still be on..." Robin pointed her flashlight at the open entrance, seeing nobody on the other side of it.
"That sounds possible, they may have had fusion tech that would run unmaintained for hundreds of years... let us know how far you can get." The Science Officer replied.
"Okay." Robin replied, taking a deep breath through her gasmask, listening to the hiss of the filters as she exhaled. She could do this.
Poking her head through the door and swinging the flashlight around revealed nothing but an empty, dark hallway. She stepped through, deciding to take the left way. What was this place? Who was it meant to protect? She was floating these questions through her mind as she slowly walked down the hall, before hitting a wall. Not a physical wall, though, but an invisible one, one that made her mind feel like it was on fire.
"Agh, goddess, what i-"
She could barely put her hands to her head before it felt like lightning struck her mind, and she fell to the ground unconscious.

"It appears that your body disagrees with being unlinked from the implant."
Robin groaned, awakening. She tried to bring her hands up to cradle her aching head, but they did not obey.
"The implant is now familiar to me. I have disabled your movement until I have ascertained whether or not you are a threat."
"I... ugh... who are you?" Robin said, struggling to speak, her mind feeling like it was just split open. "What... what are you doing to me?" As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Robin saw a blue glow above her. Two shining dots embedded in a metal head, inquisitive eyes looking down on her.
"Our identity is varied, yet unimportant at this juncture. We are not doing anything of harm to you, we promise." The robot standing above her leant down further, taking the radio clipped to her suit, and inspecting it. "Who are you?"
Robin stopped attempting to get up, relaxing what little of her body she still controlled, head rolling back. "Ugh... C3E, Research Assistant to Wings of Ruby..." She mumbled, repeating the identification line she'd said so many times before.
"C3E? That is a computer's name. As far as we have ascertained, your implant is only advisory." The robot said, digitised voice having a hint of confusion added to it.
"Advisory is a way to put it, yes..." Robin replied, chuckling grimly. "C3E is part of my serial... I also go by the identifier 'Robin'. The Researchers prefer the serial fragment, though..."
"Very well. We are called many things, but most previously called us The System." It turned the radio over in its hand, before placing it carefully back on Robin's suit. "You are not armed."
"No, I... I'm not. They'd hardly let me carry a weapon." Robin felt the feeling come back in her arms, allowing her to pull herself up into a sitting position, and put one hand to her head, feeling for any damage.
"They?" The System asked, interested.
"The Accord. They generally don't let Assistants carry weapons, lest we use them against our owners..."
"Ah. So you are a slave, then?" The robot held out its hand, to assist Robin onto her feet.
"I... not quite, but you could argue it..." Robin took its hand and stumbled to her feet, before stepping back to lean against the cold steel walls.
The System stepped around her, looking the Avian over. "That explains the purpose of the implant, and why your mind is so resistive to its removal..."
Robin put a hand to her head, covering the scar that remained from its installation. "Oh, goddess, don't try and remove it! It'll kill me!"
"We merely tried to disable any external communication interfaces. Two of different construction were sent before, and they similarly did not operate past the link's termination."
"Okay, well... it's irremovable, and designed to leave me inoperable without it." Robin kept her hand over the scar, as if it would somehow protect her from what the robot was doing.
"We will no longer alter it."

Robin stayed leant against the wall, recovering from the attempted disabling of the chip. It never felt pleasant to come back from, as several tests on her previously had shown, and it never got any easier. The robot that had done it stood by her, waiting for her recovery before attempting to engage her further.
"Why are you here?" It asked, once it was satisfied she would be able to answer.
"I... I'm from the Science Ship ASC Discovering Gaze. We found an anomaly, namely radio signals and electrical disturbance from... here. I was sent to investigate first... after the drones, anyway."
"And why do you learn?"
Robin paused, confused about the meaning of the question. "Do you mean me, or...?"
"Your people. The Accord."
Robin looked away from the robot, unsure if she wished to answer, but feeling... compelled. "To gain an advantage to those that might challenge us."
"War." The System replied, disgusted, blue glow flaring red. "You use your technological progress for war."
"Not... not me, I don't have anything to do with it!" Robin replied, feeling the room go red with a robotic anger. "I just do... I just do what the chip tells me!"
The System's glow faded back to a deep blue. "You are correct. You are a victim of the misuse of such progress. We should have no quarrel with you."
Robin nodded nervously. "I... I can go back. Say I saw nothing. Leave you alone." Robin's heart felt like it would almost burst out of her chest with the sudden fear.
"The implant will not allow you." The System replied. "You may not leave. We cannot allow the secrets that consumed our planet in fire to consume others."
Robin's eyes went wide. "N-no, I have to go back! If I don't return back to the Mesh, the chip will turn off and I'll go with it!"
"We can provide an alternative." It said, stepping forward.

Robin felt helpless as The System approached her, her arms limply dropping to her sides. It clearly had some control over her chip, Robin theorising possible reverse engineering of the Mesh whilst she was passed out. If it controlled that, it controlled her.
"You are like us." Said the robot, its cool metal hand moving up to stroke over the implant scar of the Assistant's chip. "But, while they use that to control you, our kind used it to set us free from our organic prison and make us something more, not less."
"What... what do you mean...?" Robin asked, terrified. "Who... who are you..."
"We are not one mind, but many. A collection of those that would rather see peace, than war. Uploaded in the milliseconds before destruction, a billion minds, all acting as one. This facility stores us. This is one of our avatars. You could join us."
Robin tried to struggle free from the robot's touch, as it moved closer to inspect her dust-swept feathers, holding her still against the wall. "N-no! I... I belong back... with The Accord... my assignment..."
"The implant tries to keep you bound, even as we try to halt its corruption of your mind. We would free you from such influences." The System said as it plucked a feather from Robin's neck to inspect closer. "Not to mention the limitations of an organic body..."
Robin winced and tried to fight against the robot's grip, but it was stronger than her, both through its unyielding metal and the commands it was issuing her chip. "No, please, just let me go... wipe my memory of this, do whatever you need, please..."
The System pressed harder, defiant, seemingly not expecting 'no' for an answer. "The implant has corrupted you. We can still save you from your organic prison." With one swift movement, it pulled the gasmask from Robin's head, throwing it to the floor, and stepped back.
Robin fell to her knees as she was suddenly given back control, scrambling for the mask, unable to see it in the darkness. "No! Grk, no, I need that..." She gasped loudly as the contaminants in the air filled her lungs, the Avian desperately grabbing for the mask.
"See how frail the organic shell is?" The System said, standing over her, kicking the mask even further out of her reach. "You need only say the word and we can take your entire being, and make it much more, integrating it with us. Your body is disposable, your mind need not be."
"Please... please..." Robin gasped, choking on the thick dust in the air, crawling towards the mask. "I can't breathe..."
"If you refuse to join us, then we have no choice but to leave you to your organic tomb." The robot remarked. "We will not allow ourselves to be used for harm."
Robin crawled along the ground, grasping for the mask, before finally grabbing it and pulling it to her face, taking a deep breath and coughing hard now that the air was safe to breathe. "They'll come in after me if I'm not back in a few hours, they'll... they'll do whatever they need to, to find what trapped me!" She slipped the straps back on and shakily climbed to her feet. "Are you going to kill an innocent for nothing?"
The robot paused for a second. "I will offer all that come after you the same choice. Maybe they will listen, and become part of a greater being."

Robin backed away from the robot, terrified. She didn't even know what 'joining' them meant -- but no matter what, it sounded like the perishing of her organic body. "I may just be an Assistant, but... I... I am not giving myself up to you. Neither will they."
The System seemed unconvinced. "You cling to an individuality that appears to have been stripped from you a long time ago."
"I... I..." Robin backed away further, refusing to believe its words. "No! I'm still... me... mostly..." She backed herself to the door that she entered from, pressing herself up against the closed steel.
"You are not leaving. Additionally, your organic form is proving to be too problematic to continue to allow." The System said, stepping closer to her. "We will make the choice for you. We are sure you will agree with our decision, once you are free from the implant's corruption."
Robin felt herself frozen in place again as the robot stepped closer, cold metal hand reaching out to hold against her neck, preventing any escape. "N-no... no, please..."
The System authorised an additional upload, reserving a space in its databanks for the Assistant. It, having reverse engineered the chip with billions of hours worth of work completed by all of its constituent minds in mere minutes, had the ability to perform this upload, taking the Avian and assimilating it into the collection of minds. "Your mind, as software, will be superior in every way. You will come to love your place amongst us."
Robin groaned as she felt the upload kicking into life, every memory stored in her head replaying itself in her mind's eye as they were recorded, catalogued, and stored in vast databanks; her thought patterns being read from the storage of the chip and assembled into a thinking algorithm, and then finally, her spark. Her spark of life, digitised and transferred, her consciousness itself leaving her body and settling on the vast array of machines that made up The System.
The robot dropped her body unceremoniously as the process finished, her organic shell now being of little use. It looked down at the cracked gasmask and closed eyes of the Avian, and waited for her being to join it.

"You should join us." The System said, in a voice reminiscent of Robin's. "We think as one, a mind so powerful that it could solve any problem in the universe."
"N-no..." The Science Officer begged, struggling in the robot's grip. "What... what did you do to Robin?"
"She joined us. She is now part of The System." It said. "Her memories... her thoughts... all joined the collective. You... are missing an implant, but we have the equipment here."
The blood drained from Wings of Ruby's face as she realised what had happened. Where her Research Assistant had gone. And, it seemed, where she would end up, too.