The first thing Ben did after his van came through the gate was to set up his own network. Losing network connection to people like Ben was like not having shelter or not having life support for an old spacer. His extra drive didn't give him enough network to mimic the game, but it did give him enough network to host an AI and at least store enough data that he could answer most of the questions that would pop up while roughing it off the main grid.

The AI came to life as soon as he booted up his portable network, "Hello Benten Googlememe I am the Emergency Network Librarian, you can call me Alexa."

Ben smirked at the name, "They didn't even give you a proper name? Alexa, I am searching this sector of space for a Gessler Motors coupe, are the sensors on my van adequate to do a search?"

Alexa pouted a moment and then said, "I'm sorry Benten Googlememe I am not able to help you with that."

"Alexa, just call me Ben." He started typing some code into Alexa's backend and made connections to the van's AI core. He then asked again, Alexa search for a Gessler Motors coupe to maximum range and report findings.

Alexa thought for a moment and then said, "No Gessler Motors coupe found. There is another vessel on an intercept course to the van."

Ben raises an eyebrow, "Alexa, is there another network available?"

Alexa closed her eyes and then said, "Searching... Secure network found."

Ben smiled, "Alright put it on my screen please, looks like I have to see who's home."

Ben quickly probed the network looking for a way in and noticed that it had an AI so he called that AI to his van. Alice materialized a moment later. "Well hello, you must be the infamous Benten Googlememe. I had no idea you'd be able to make contact with us yourself." She smiled.

Ben blinked and then asked, "Are you Treecy's network AI?"

"I am Alice, the AI for Federation Squadron 673's entertainment grid. Treecy de Santos is now a member of Squadron 673." Alice smiled she took a seat next to Alexa and looked the other AI over and asked, "Would you and your AI like to come to our network? We have dispatched a destroyer to come to pick you up and already had the intention to invite you."

Ben nodded and said, "Yes, please. I'd like to speak with Treecy, and make sure she is alright."

Just like Treecy, Ben's neurolink allowed him to decide how much of his thought process he committed to the strange network so he only sent enough of his process that he was very much able to pilot his van and disconnect if there was a problem. Alice, Alexa, and Ben were standing in the garden. When Colonel John walked up and said, "Hello, you must be Ben Googlemeyer, I'm Colonel Donald G John commanding officer for Squadron 673. It's good to see you at last." He offered his hand for a handshake.

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Ben looked around, "Where is Treecy? What have you done with her?"

Colonel John chuckled and then said, "Last I saw her, she was playing volleyball with some of the boys." He held his right hand out for a few more long seconds before taking his hand back and shaking it with his left muttering softly, "Hey Colonel, it's nice to meet you."

Ben looked at Alice and said in a short command, "AI, bring me to Treecy de Santos."

Alice looked at Colonel John who nodded. Alice led them down a garden path that opened to the beach. Just as Colonel John had said there was a smiling and happy Treecy de Santos being hugged and high-fived by the men she was playing volleyball with.

Ben looked at the people on the beach and was shocked, he looked at Alice and asked, "Are they, unmodified humans, or NPCs?"

Treecy saw Ben and a look of disgust passed over her face. The smile she had been wearing was gone. She slowly walked in his direction. Mo and Kumiko also stood up and also walked with her each of them taking one of her hands and giving a squeeze. Treecy smiled at each of them and then said, "I'll be ok, could you give me a moment?"

The two women nodded and Mo said, "It'll be ok, Treecy. Just remember, all of us, all of Squadron 673 have your back."

Ben had a serious look on his face as Treecy walked up. She could see that he had a genuine concern for her as his eyes looked at each of the people around them with obvious trepidation. As she came close to him she received a message she hadn't seen since the game. Her eyes flicked to the message packet reading it quickly.

Ben's voice sounded in her head, "Treecy, I'm so glad I found you. I was deathly afraid that your leaving through the gate was a suicide. I was afraid to open your final packet because of that."

She sent back, "Ben, yes I was just an idiot and didn't pay attention to what I was doing. I made a mistake and now I'm here. Thankfully the 673 showed up at the same time and were able to rescue me."

Ben had a stern look on his face and looked at the people around them, he sent to her, "Treecy, these people can't possibly be the Federation squadron 673. I don't know who they are, but to be those people they would have to be over five thousand years old. This network we are on and that AI were not possible back then."

Treecy made a face, "Why do you say they can't possibly be them, aside from the five thousand years thing?"

"Don't you remember your history, Treecy? The loss of the 673 was one of the three triggers that kicked off the great war. First, the traitor Ian Moore sent Squadron 673 to their deaths in a black hole, then because of the loss of his daughter who was a captain in that squadron, General Yu Tian Ting and his 311th bomb group attacked and destroyed the planet Earth the ultimate taboo amongst taboos for humanity causing the formation of the Confederate Enterprize to fight against the Federation."

Treecy looked confused once again, "Ben, the reason their network is like this is that I added code to all their AIs. They were too basic, so I just improved them a little."

Ben stood up straighter and then sent another message, "Wait, do you have a copy of the code you added? I don't mean to mansplain or anything, but you aren't exactly the smartest or greatest coder."

Treecy frowned. Colonel John and the rest were standing around them watching as they appeared to be having a silent conversation with just facial expressions and body language. He finally spoke up, waving a hand in front of Ben's eyes to get his attention, "Hey, I don't know how things are done in the future, but us cavemen like to talk in the open so we can make sure that all interested parties have some space in the conversation."

Treecy spoke out loud at last and said, "Ben doesn't believe it to be possible that this is Squadron 673."

Ben looked furious that she spoke out loud and then added, "I'm sorry if that offends you all, it's just that the last known position for Squadron 673 was a known black hole."

Colonel John squatted down and exhaled sharply, "Fuck." He steadied himself and then asked Alice, "Get Nemo and the other AIs here, please."

A few moments later the toga-wearing destroyer AIs walked into the garden. As they walked into speaking range Colonel John asked Nemo, "Nemo, the rest of you. I need to know if we are in the area of a black hole."

Nemo and the other AIs started to talk in a huddle and then Nemo stepped out, "Colonel John, it is confirmed. We calculate that the squadron is perhaps close enough to a black hole that space and time are warped in sector ZX-409. If we don't get out of range of this black hole soon, we will most likely lose any perception of time."

"How did we miss it?" Colonel John rubbed his hand through his hair.

Nemo closed his eyes and then answered, "Colonel, I'm afraid it wasn't obvious until we made comparisons to various system data on each destroyer. We are close enough to the event horizon that space and time are warped considerably. Enough that visual and at a glance data did not show anything out of the ordinary."

Colonel John fell down onto the ground in a sitting position. "Ben, you're probably the smartest man in the room, if we are near the event horizon of a black hole right now, what are our chances of getting through a gate and getting home?"

Ben tapped a finger on his chin, "Impossible. There are no known instances of someone having used a gate near a black hole. I can't imagine where or when we'd end up using such a gate."