9. Emotionless

Irene was looking through the new data from Omnibus’s analysis of the “Icarus Five” incident when the amber light shone in the corner of her eye, projected by the augmented-reality lens. She waved her hand to save the figures for later analysis and stormed out of her lab in the far tunnel of Callisto 01. She was one of the last to arrive at the meeting.
“It’s okay,” said the hologram of the Omnibus. “Take your seat, Irene.”
Georgy Erdos, the admiral of the collaboration fleet which bargained a stalemate in the war with Earth through his clever bombardment tactic and literally saved the rebel colonies from vaporization, raised his hand asking Omnibus’s permission to speak. Omnibus nodded.
“I see this as a unique opportunity to end the war forever. How many years do we have to live fearing the Earth?” he said with deep bass and slow cadence of words through gritted teeth. “We have to end this stalemate once and for all!”
“My results are still inconclusive, the rate of success is subpar,” replied Omnibus.
“Yeah, about that…” started Irene.
Admiral Erdos darted a stare at here for not following the discipline. She blushed and raised her hand. Omnibus nodded and the rest of the board of the Commonwealth of Jovian colonies turned to Irene.
“I am not sure if we can use the “alpha seeds” as a bioweapon,” started she.
“Alpha seeds? What is this some kind of a science fair for you?” almost yelled Georgy at Irene.
“Listen, it’s just a name, and it’s a fitting one! On top of that, we are not sure what it does to human tissue yet. Omnibus’s analysis shows clearly that infected subjects were not completely dead but rather transformed into a unified structure that exhibits signs of life.”
Omnibus nodded.
“I agree. We need further analysis. I see the Trojan-horse scenario presented by Admiral Erdos as an excellent opportunity to collect such data.”
Irene gasped with disbelief. She admired Omnibus’s wisdom and the lack of decisions based on the workings of a limbic system, a so-called “reptile brain”, upon which most humans unknowingly based a lot of daily choices. This emotionlessness had backfired and there was no way out of it. Omnibus had the final word, that’s just how the Commonwealth was run, as opposed to the rule of dictatorships of Earth (many now gone after the Judgement Day) that relied on the vagaries of a single human being.
“Admiral,” said Omnibus, “when can you transfer the infected unit onto one of your dispensable ships?”
“It’s already done”, Erdos replied. “Corvette “Shiva’s Trishula” from the Hindu settlement is sealed tightly and ready for the take-off.”
“Then I authorize you to send it to land in the Cheyenne One under the pretense of peace talks. Make sure it is set to disintegrate upon arrival to maximize the spread of alpha seeds. This should end the Earth’s resistance and provide the data we need to better understand how alpha seeds work. Everyone dismissed.” summarized Omnibus.
Irene stormed out of the meeting room into the chilly corridors of Callisto 01 station.