I.

Captain Oswald cleared his throat, “Crew, you attention please.”

Issac could hear the words echo through the corridors.

“As many of you have no doubt heard from your comrades, as of thirty minutes ago several ships on an intercept course with the Agent of Chaos were remotely detonated. We don’t know which ships they were, but they were likely from 208th expeditionary given the approach angle and the last known resupply schedule. I know a number of you grew up in batch 29 and others worked under Captain Cherri, so a wake will be held tomorrow at twenty-one hundred hours. That said, keep your heads high and know that we will not let the admiralty get away with this. We will bring them to justice. Carry out your duties, and I will see it through.”

The captain looked at Isaac. “Alright Isaac. It seems our dear Admiral Grey just handed you a prime example of the shit we live under daily on a silver platter. I will remind you that contacting your father will put him in grave danger. However, if you think that he can help I leave it up to you.”

Isaac felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Lieutenant Alistair gesturing to the door.

II.

“Alistair?”

“Hm, yeah?”

“What even is the plan at this point?" Isaac questioned, “I get that we’re headed for Jupiter, but what then?”

After a brief pause, Lieutenant Alistair mused, “Well, that I’m not certain. I suspect the captain plans on attempting to trade military secrets with the Galileans in exchange for safe harbor. Whether or not that’s actually the case, or what happens after, I don’t know. Looking back on it, the hostage taking idea seems poorly thought out. Honestly, more trouble than it was worth, no offense.”

“Yeah no shit.” Pouted Isaac.

“You’re more than welcome to suggest a better plan.” Retorted Alistair

“Hmph. You don’t think my idea will work?” Isaac asked.

Alistair replied, “I guess I share the captain’s skepticism. You’d be putting your family in the crosshairs, and that’s assuming they aren’t already under constant surveillance. It might work, but you will probably get your family killed for the trouble.”

Isaac walked silently, thinking to himself: What if we openly broadcasted – no wait, Johnson mentioned that wouldn’t work, I think. What if… we. Wait, we? We’re not we, I’m me and they’re them!

“Isaac?”

“Hmm?” Isaac realized he was standing before his quarters.

"I need to attend to my duties. Contact me if you need anything, but you’ll have to keep yourself entertained for the immediate future.” Alistair said blankly, gesturing to the now open door.

“Wait, could you bring me some recording equipment?” asked Isaac.

“So, you’re gonna go through with it?” questioned Alistair, “Fine, send me a list and I will have the appropriate equipment printed and sent up to you.”

“…and I don’t suppose I could explore the ship a little bit?” Isaac requested weakly, “I’m not exactly going to escape, now am I?”

“Bold of you to ask, but no, I’m afraid not.” Alistair smirked, “Do keep in mind, as friendly as I and the other officers have been, you are still a hostage. Moreover, I can’t have you accidentally vaporizing yourself by walking into the wrong room at the wrong time.”

“That could happen?!”

“I’ll see you later Isaac. Send me the list when you have it ready.”

III.

Cam-drone? “Check…” Mic-drone? “Check…” Light swarm? “Check…” Neuroprompter program? Good evening, I am Isaac Novak independently reporting from – “STOP!”

The corporal, surprised, asked, “What?”

“Nothing. Sorry. The Neuroprompter went off and I…” Isaac paused, “Its nothing. Thanks for grabbing this.”

“Will that be all?” The corporal asked.

“Uh, yes.” Isaac thought for a second time, “Yes, that should be all.”

“Very well.” As the corporal exited, “You think that has any shot?”

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“I’m hoping so.” Isaac answered defensively.

For what it’s worth, I hope you’re right. Good luck.” The door closed behind the corporal.

Isaac paused for a second, before grabbing and lightly tossing the cam-drone into the air. The drone noiselessly floated in front of Isaac until he made a pushing gesture that the drone retreat to the back of the room. Isaac did the same with the mic-drone. Lastly, he tapped on the box containing the light swarm. A swarm of wasp sized drones quickly buzzed out of the box and swarmed over the ceiling. Some activated small lights with a low and warm glow, others swarmed densely over the ceiling lights in the room, blocking the cold harsh light out.

Isaac stood up straight, thought: I want a simple prompt introducing me and my immediate circumstances, then began to speak, “Hello, I am Isaac Novak, a student at the University of Tranquility, and son of the newscaster Richard Novak. I have been held hostage for nearly a week now on a rogue military voidship, the Agent of Chaos. This started with my kidnapping from the ferry ship…”

Isaac paused, “Cut! Delete all that.”

Breathing in heavily, Isaac thought: I want a simple prompt with a shorter introduction. Make it sound more natural too? More free flowing, less reporter like.

“Hey all, I’m Isaac! I just needed to talk about a very challenging situation I find myself…”

“Ugh, fuck this. Cut! Delete!”

Isaac, took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Thinking, disable Neuroprompter program, he began to speak, “Hi, I am Isaac. You’ve never heard of me, but, please, listen to what I have to say. A few days ago, I, and six others, were kidnapped off of a ferry ship enroute to Luna by some people that had escaped from the expeditionary fleet. Now, these people, the Charlies as they call themselves, did so because they’re all hostages by a different means. Everyone in the expeditionary fleet is held against their will onboard these ships. They, the COE admiralty, do this because they could not find volunteers to go and die in their pointless wars of conquest. This is a lot to take in, and I guess it sounds insane. I guess I feel like I’m going insane here too. But. Let me ask you a simple question. Who would sign up for a one-way trip to mercury for the benefit of some mining company pining over its minerals? No-one. So that’s where the unwilling Charlies come in. But, you know, I almost can’t blame the Charlies for all of this. They’re hostages in a way too, by a different means, and they only want freedom from this horrid navy run by slavers. I do hate them for doing this to me, the Charlies, but I understand why…”

Isaac paused, taking a breath.

“To the naval bastards probably, no, certainly watching this; I’m going to document every aspect of your prized voidship, everything from the weapons systems, the fusion reactor, and oh yes, the history of the Charlies. Things the Martians and Venerians would not be too pleased to learn about. Just as a little taste, I’m appending a lil o’ memory or two of my time here! First, of Captain Oswald, commander of the Agent of Chaos, giving a brief overview of the “Umbrella.” A device used to conceal the existence of incoming voidships from frontal observation. I’m certain that an engineer somewhere aboard the ship knows the exact workings of those things and would be more than happy to explain it all in gross detail. Every. Secret. Detail.

Taking one long last breath, Isaac continued, “Second! I am including a memory of how little the admiralty cares to engage with the Charlies. Specifically, I was to act as a mouthpiece for them to deliver their demands. They immediately shut down the negotiations and ordered a wing to come kill us all. A good example of how callously they disregarded the safety and well-being of me and the other hostages aboard the Agent of Chaos. Uhm, never mind them threatening to throw me out an airlock. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Uh, fuck, should I cut that part? Whatever.”

Isaac concluded exasperatedly, “Lastly, uh, lastly! I will include a memory of the cruel treatment the Charlies experience from the admiralty. How callously their lives are wasted to make a point. In this case, the Agent of Chaos had used its Kessler Cannon to deny common approaches to a stable lunar orbit. Through some wit and luck, they actually predicted where that aforementioned wing sent to kill us was. Rather than let the approaching wing maneuver to safety, the admiralty initiated a self-destruct sequence. Killing everyone, including personal friends of the Charlies aboard this very ship! I uh, don’t know how to end this. Hmm, I will include the memory hashes alongside the memories so that you can verify the legitimacy of what I saw. Oh, and Zeta group sends their regards Commodore Natalia!”

“Stop Recording. Uggggh, that wasn’t great.” Isaac groaned, “Whatever, I guess it gets the point across.”

Isaac looked at his PAD: Append the memories mentioned during the recording into the appropriate locations in the video, include memory hashes.

Video complete

Isaac thought in response: Preview video

After a mere second or two, Isaac had reviewed the video. The sound of his own voice grated him. It sounded wrong. But he knew it was right. The content seemed fine, the memories were properly edited in place, and the recording seemed clear and crisp. Though the monologuing did drag on, it felt… Authentic? Real? Not a soulless script he was rattling off to explain himself. With all its flaws it felt right. Feeling confident now, Isaac sent the video to Lieutenant Alistair.

IV.

“You want to send that to your father?”

“Why yes. Yes, I do, Captain Oswald.” Isaac replied.

“Well, if you’re so gung-ho on putting your family in the ground, go ahead. Lieutenant Alistair will double check the contents for OPSEC reasons.” Oswald sighed, “And I would personally ask you nix the mention of Zeta group and Natalia. Its rather in poor taste.”

“Oh, ok?” Isaac replied, “Yeah I can remove it.”

“Good. Now, because of the circumstances of your being here, I’ve been fairly generous with the bridge crew’s time to entertain you. At this point I can’t keep lending you my or any of the other officers’ attention this often.” Captain Oswald concluded, “Therefore, I will be assigning some of the enlisted to be your handlers from here on out. You will approach them with your immediate problems and concerns. Lieutenant Alistair, as the communications officer, will still work with you on vetting any correspondence you may have. However, he will not be your main point of contact.”

“Oh…” Isaac felt a slight heaviness in his gut. Why do I care? It’s no big deal.

Biometric data indicates that you are likely experiencing sadness and or disappointment. Context clues suggests that you will miss interaction wi –

STOP! PAD, only provide input on questions that are specifically addressed to the PAD.

Acknowledged.

“Isaac?”

“Yes?”

“That will be all.”