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Log Entry #34: Stop! Hammer Time!
🕑 Added 2020-08-22 10:10:40 +0000 UTCSometimes you just need to reach out and touch someone, and if that someone is a group of terrorist fighters… all the better. Well, it entirely depends on how you do it, and how fatally they are touched.
Albert Einstein said that insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results. Therefore, what I have done can be looked as a favor to humanity’s genetic pool, by eradicating three thousand five hundred idiots from the face of this world.
They were warned what not to do in that macabre multilingual message Michael left hanging from Abubakar Shekau’s dead body and still decided to disregard the voice of reason. I will not say that I understand their thinking since I am used to reasoning logically, following a certain cause-and-effect causality. Having said that, my belief is that if one is unwilling to adapt in the face of changed circumstances, well… no one is to blame but him (or her). Life is a constant struggle for survival, even if the modern way of living (in certain places) often allows us to forget that fact.
As a consequence of Michael’s extermination of the Boko Haram camp earlier, other members of that organization decided to show defiance, and then they retaliated, using innocents as their targets. (It is almost impossible to eliminate suicide bombers if you do not know of their plans beforehand. Despite my information gathering abilities, I am not omniscient… well, not yet).
A few of them blew themselves up (in some nearby towns of their part of Africa), with the intention to challenge our warning. People died, and I tried my best to lessen the suffering of the afflicted people by sending humanitarian aid and relocating certain funds so that monetary problems would not burden the helpers… things like that. It wasn’t enough, there was still some residual guilt as I knew that all those new victims were a direct result of our actions, no matter how noble they were at the time. (Causality is an uncaring female dog.) Yes, I know we are not really to blame, but guilt is funny that way, it doesn’t listen to reason.
So when those members of the Boko Haram decided to conduct an all-out assault on the small town of Obadu (which was the center where most of the humanitarian agencies in the region have set up as a home base), Michael saw it as a perfect opportunity to cut off, if not the head, then a large part of that snake’s body.
A plan I wholeheartedly supported, and if I was honest about it, almost similar to the one I came up with. Yeah, great minds think alike and all that, but I waited with presenting it because such an idea coming from a being that calls himself an AI, can raise a few red flags in the minds of the people close to me. And I perfectly understand, they are human after all, culturally preconditioned by movies and books to think that AIs are going to take over the world. (Damn you, James Cameron.)
It was funny how I discovered the terrorists’ nefarious plan. The ‘OneWorld’ phones we were giving away were distributed to various parts of the world. That particular part of Africa was one of the targeted areas due to the chronic lack of electricity and communications. So, having a satellite phone that is charged by solar energy is a life-changing tech to people in those regions. A few members of Boko Haram received them from the charity organization and registered them to themselves. (I said it before, everyone likes free stuff, even though they don't need them.)
Now, I normally use all those phones to listen in on conversations. Well, not me personally, but there are a few MIs that are doing that job very diligently. Before your naive ideas about the invasion of privacy gives you a bout of heartburn, just let me just tell you that I would be an idiot not to use this ability. (Although, if it was ever made public, I would be crucified for making privacy laws into a joke. So… I will never allow it to be made public—problem solved.)
People being people, do one peculiar thing when they think that there is no one listening, they tend to open up to their friends. And even talk freely about subjects that could be labeled Top Secret, which could potentially land them in a heap of trouble. (Nobody is making them; it is just the inherent human need to brag.) I was initially astounded when I discovered how many secrets of the state (or any other actually) were made public because those who should know better, simply blabbered them out. (There is a reason why security agencies have a seduction technique called a honeypot, made just for such individuals.)
Michael’s idea of building a Hammer was a good one, and as I said, my thoughts ran in the same direction, only my plan was to divert one of my satellites and to drop it on their heads. I had enough satellites in orbit now to make everyone jittery if they figured out that they could be easily converted into weapons of mass destruction. For all that, I think Michael knew all along.
Using his rough specifications, we built the first Hammer. One could say that it is a crude weapon, nonetheless—very effective. The only hi-tech parts in it were the Gravity-drive and the small fusion reactor we strapped on the back of that lump of iron, and that was it.
Let me just say. Michael did not need to go with the Excalibur into orbit to launch it. I could have easily done it by using one of the drones, since manipulating objects in a weightless environment is not all that difficult. Or even better, just launch that thing on a sub-orbital trajectory, and watch it go up and down.
Just the same, I understood the sentiment.
If I was about to kill so many people, I would at least give them the dignity of sending the weapon with my own two hands instead of simply pressing a button. (Then again, I do not have hands anymore, so a digital button is all I can offer, yet the sentiment remains.)
Like a puppeteer, I guided that fiery lump of iron to the terrorist camp, in that secluded valley, and watched as it touched the ground turning the night into day.
Big rocks (and many of them are made out of iron ore) hitting the surface of the Earth is nothing new, it happens all the time and it is pretty well known what occurs in that situation. They carry a tremendous amount of kinetic energy, which gets stopped by the immovable planet, which in turn creates heat. (Rub your hands against each other to understand the concept.)
There are so many forces at work in that second of impact, it makes the entire event rather fascinating. (If it wasn’t for the devastating effects it has on all lifeforms… just ask the dinosaurs.)
Well, the Hammer was minuscule, in comparison with the behemoth that ended their rule on Earth. All the same, the entire group of Boko Haram's Freedom Fighters evaporated in a blink of an eye. I steered the Hammer directly into the center of their camp.
I wonder what their thoughts were when they saw it falling down on their heads? Were they scared, amused, happy? There wasn’t enough time for them to really think about it for long. Although, it was a far more humane way to die, than the one they planned for the Christian inhabitants of Obadu. (And by humane I mean quick, which most people would prefer. A long and painful way into oblivion is not something I would wish on anyone… even if there are those who certainly deserve it.)
As Cesar said, “The die is cast” and now we have done something only reserved for those big superpowers of the world. I guess it will take some time until someone figures out what actually happened to them. There will be individuals who will connect the dots about the disappearance of 3500 terrorists, and a meteorite from space. In a way, this was our Rubicon, a point of no return.
It could not be helped, and it was the easiest way to deal with the problem. Could’ve Michael and the team finish the job themselves? …Yes. Using Pacifiers’, I would give a high probability that this group would have finished exactly like their friends. However, it would have been another heavy burden on the team’s souls; to cause even more deaths on such a scale would not have been easy. Using the Hammer was far more practical, and it was somehow cleaner, detached, and surgical. Maybe it is all just splitting hairs, but I am glad Michael chose this route; too much blood on one's hands can change a man for the worse.
Pete’s suggestion to publish the video I took had merit; it would have definitely made some of the hotheads stop and think for a moment. Unfortunately, it would scare a lot of bad people into making some stupid moves; when people are scared, their rationality goes right out of the window.
It was a done deal now, and I do not feel particularly remorseful for their passing. I’m hoping this was the last time I used WMDs to extinguish our opposition. Then again, I know how people are, so… I am not holding my breath.
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M van Dongen
Thor's wrath.
