-Do you know why you were abandoned here?
Simon asked the first question.
-Our creators abandoned us here as a result of the treaty they signed after they lost a war with the Galactic Federation.
The treaty stated that our creators couldn't have any warships at their disposal.
We all were to be destroyed,but our creators didn't believe the treaty and secretly hid us here so that they wouldn't be defenseless if the federation ever broke the treaty.
The A.I explained.
-Which civilization created you?
Simon asked.
-We are the last fleet of The Onerik Star Kingdom.
Hearing this Mikael contacted his ship to try and find some information.
-Sir the Onerik are in the database but they are classified as extinct.
They lost a war to the federation around five hundred years ago and had to demilitarize.
After that they were wiped out by the federation species Urakari because they didn't want to submit to them.
The Federation classified it as a war between two species and did not intervene.
-Are you telling me that the bugs committed a xenocide and nobody gave a fuck?
-It's exactly that sir.
The humans were speechless as they did not look for this kind of data before and didn't know that there were species that would exterminate another species and a defenseless one to boot.
Now they had to explain to the A.I that its creators were extinct and there was no one coming for them.
-I'm sorry to inform you that your creators are extinct according to our database.
Simon said it straight because there was no better way to say it.
-What? How did that happen?
The A.I asked,anger clear in its voice.
-Right after they hid you here they were wiped out by the Urakari and it happened around five hundred years ago using our time measurements.
-Then what did the federation do about it?
According to the treaty they were responsible for the protection of our creators.
-They classified it as a war between two species and did not interfere.
Mikael answered.
-To be honest i would not be surprised if it turned out that the treaty was just a ruse to disarm your creators and later wipe them out as they could still pose a threat.
Simon said after a moment of thinking.
-Then what will happen with this fleet?
The A.I asked.
If there was no one coming for them then they will either be stuck forever on this planet or destroyed as they were probably obsolete at this point.
-Actually we don't know what to do with you at this point.
The main problem is what do you want to do now?
Simon asked.
-The way I see it there are only three choices for you right now.
One.We deactivate you and leave you here.
Two.If you want then we can destroy you.
Three. You can become a part of the Terran fleet and protect the Terran space but there will probably be some kind of restrictions placed on you.
Simon proposed all the options.
Everyone was shocked at the last option he presented.
-You would allow us to join your fleet,when you just said that you had a problem with an A.I previously?
It didn't even consider other options.
-Like i said you would be restricted and there would probably be an explosive charge placed on your core and other systems.
I know this sounds unfair but we don't know you so we would have to take some precautions in case you turned against us one day.
Simon explained
-The problem with your idea is that you can't restrict us in any way that we wouldn't be able to bypass short of destroying every computer system in your fleet and on your planet.
I would love to be a part of your fleet and fulfill my purpose even if it's not for my creators but there is no way for you to know if I wont do something that could put your species in danger.
So i dont think that's an option.
The A.I said.
-The other two are also unacceptable because we are all that remains of our creator's civilization. I don't want us to just be destroyed or to remain here until we fade away with time.
-Then what do you propose?
Mikael asked.
-I propose an alliance.
We can't leave this planet alone and we need repairs and upgrades to be useful.
In exchange we will provide protection and be under your command.
We can sign a contract that would specify how long we need to work for you in order to pay for our maintenance and repairs.
That way we all can benefit and we won't need to be suspicious of each other.
Also we won't need to be restrained as if we want to be free then we just need to wait for our contract to expire and we have all the time in the galaxy for that.
The humans thought about it and it made sense.
-This is a good proposition but we need to discuss it with the council and also we need to ask the others if they will agree to it?
Simon said.
-Can you provide me with the data from your database about our creators?
The A.I asked.
-We can,but what would be the purpose of that?
-If i can provide the rest with this information then i'm sure they would choose to sign a contract with you rather than waste away or be destroyed.
Also it will be faster than convincing them by talking as we can communicate faster between ourselves than with you.
-Then let me discuss this with the council and if they approve then we can try it.
Simon said and returned to his ship to contact the council.
It took two days to reach an agreement.
The decision was to try and convince the A.I to sign the contract and if they agreed then they would try and help them get out of the sand that they were stuck in.
Simon returned to the surface and informed the A.I that the council agreed to signing of the contract and if the other A.I's agreed then the humans would help dig them out of the sand.