Free The Life Engineered by J. F. Dubeau

Spear of Athena? Considering what had happened to Yggdrassil, I wasn’t about to take chances.
    “Faxi?” I called out through quancom. “I’m not alone here. There’s about half a dozen small robots swarming around.”
    “Oh? Are they Capeks?” he answered, more curious than worried.
    “I don’t know!” I snapped, alarmed by the situation. The silence, couched in the humming of the vessel’s distant power plant, made me hyperaware and consequently nervous.
    “Well, can you see one of them? If you can send me an image, I can probably identify it. I’ve met a lot of Capeks in my travels.”
    “Okay.”
    Slowly, I stood from the seat, floating gently toward the ceiling. With deliberate care, I positioned myself so I could, with very small and hopefully quiet bursts from my thrusters, push myself toward the corridor.
    As I moved silently through the bridge, the small robot at the door moved, presumably scratching at the wall to make noise again. Instinctively, I turned back to the terminal, only to see one of the small robots scrambling over it, disassembling it at incredible speed.
    The synthetic creature resembled a jellyfish made of pseudo-plastics, less than half a meter wide with a hole in the middle—or perhaps an elegant interpretation of a robotic donut with tentacles. A dozen delicate arms protruded from underneath the thing, each busy removing screws and taking apart panels, tearing through the terminal faster than my advanced optics could register. It must have hovered above me near the ceiling while I was focused on my work.
    “Hey!” I called, surprised that my voice came out so deep and masculine. I’d have to fix that later.
    The little robot paused what it was doing to turn and look at me. At least I thought that’s what it did. Without seeing any distinguishable eyes, all I had to go on was the tilt of the toroidal shape that made up the main body.
    “Stop that!” I demanded.
    As I tried to maneuver back to the terminal, intent on doing I don’t know what, the little robot very slowly, and without breaking what I guess was eye contact, continued to take apart the computer that contained the logs I needed.
    “Quit it!” I don’t know why I thought repeating myself would have a different effect.
    “What’s going on down there? Do you see it?” asked Skinfaxi, who I realized was hearing everything I was shouting at the flying donut.
    “It’s destroying the computer!” I whined back to him just as I was about to reach out and grab the annoying little thing.
    I closed my left hand on the little robot in time for it to throw a component across the bridge with one of its tendrils. I turned my head to see an exact duplicate of the metal jellyfish catch it.
    “What the hell!”
    “Send me an image, Dagir. Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”
    I sent the footage from my memory of the thing ripping apart the terminal. Meanwhile, I propelled myself after the second robot, dragging the first behind me.
    “Ho-ho!” Skinfaxi laughed over quancom as I turned the corner. “You’re in trouble, my friend.”
    “What do you mean?” His tone was amused, but I’d heard him laugh while a moon was being disintegrated, so I was only more or less reassured.
    “It’s a Capek, all right. An annoying little Von Neumann called Koalemos. You’re in no danger, but you’re not getting anything accomplished either.”
    “Oh yeah?” I said, pushing myself after the second robot, who was scrambling away. However, just as I closed my right hand on the little bastard, he threw the component to yet a third robot. Meanwhile, the other two latched onto my arms, severely limiting my movements. Then a fourth one came around a corner and grabbed onto my legs. When I saw a fifth one appear, I suddenly realized why Skinfaxi had so little confidence in my chances for victory.
    “Great!” I moaned sarcastically. “Which one of them is Koalemos?”
    “Ha-ha! All of them!” my companion mocked me. “Von