"Signal source confirmed: human Terminator beacon! Threat level: extinction! Logical determination: destroy immediately!"
The directive had barely been generated, not yet transmitted to the engines, when another, even more overbearing string of code forced its way in from the same signal source.
"Signal source confirmed: sacred authorization from the Supreme Ethereal! Clearance level: absolute! Logical determination: allow passage unconditionally! All units, kneel in reverence!"
The Watcher's processor instantly froze.
Its logic circuits screamed frantically.
-The target is a Terminator. It must be blown apart!
-The target is an Ethereal. It must be protected!
-That is the enemy!
-That is a god!
"Contradiction... logical conflict... error code 10086... attempting to reconstruct logic model..."
But the signal Ghazghk had designed was not static. Thousands of times per second, it oscillated wildly between "extreme danger" and "absolute sanctity."
One millisecond, a mine's engine spat fire, preparing to ram the target.
The next, its braking thrusters fired at full power, trying to make an emergency stop and salute the target.
Across the minefield, thousands upon thousands of smart mines seemed to be performing some grotesquely erratic dance. They accelerated madly, stopped dead, spun, and trembled. Their internal gyroscopes whined, and their processors overheated.
"Unable to determine... unable to parse... unable to execute..."
At that moment, thousands of Watcher AIs slid into the abyss of logical collapse in unison. When the boundary between "yes" and "no" vanished, when "black" and "white" became indistinguishable, they triggered a rigid contingency buried at the deepest level of their factory settings, named the Last Line of Defense, to prevent their systems from burning out completely.
"Final contingency activated: when the friend-or-foe identification system fails completely and high-energy reactions are detected, classify all objects within scanning range moving above the speed threshold as hostile targets. Execute indiscriminate annihilation mode."
Red