Despite her conviction to see “Vicky” and her chop shop put out of business, Juliet knew she had to take it easy for twenty-four hours or so. Despite feeling good, thanks to her nanites, some of her new implants wouldn’t be fully effective for a while, most especially the bone-hardening nanites. With that in mind, she relaxed around the hangar for a couple of hours, and then, with Aya as an enthusiastic passenger on the back of her bike, the two of them rode to the spaceport to meet the others for dinner.
Juliet had eaten at the restaurant once before, but she knew the crew often made it a habit to go there after a long salvage job. In this case, they were in the middle of a long operation and just happened to be close enough to make pitstops down at the port. When Juliet parked the bike and pulled her helmet off, securing it on the cradle behind her seat, Aya frowned, looking around for a spot to stow hers.
“Hang on,” Juliet said, opening the seat and pulling out a shrink-cord. She’d stashed a few essentials in there while killing time earlier. She took Aya’s helmet, ran the cord through the chin-strap buckle, and then through a gap in the bike’s handlebars. She pinched the activation tab, and the cord sucked the helmet tight. “At least now, someone will have to cut it if they want to steal it.”
“Looks good to me.” Aya nodded, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her puffy, baby-blue jacket. Juliet, of course, wore her motorcycle jacket and carried her Texan and the very sharp sword that Tanaka had loaned her—it wasn’t the monoblade, but she felt a lot better walking around the port with it than the fake, practice one.
The two hustled through the port, riding the complimentary trams to the shopping and dining section, and soon, they were working their way through the crowd inside Moon Pit BBQ. “I see them!” Aya yelled, trying to be heard above the loud music emanating from the bar section. She pointed to a booth in the far corner, and Juliet nodded as she saw Alice, Shiro, Bennet, and, surprisingly, Bradbury.
“Oh, cool! Bradbury came!” she said, following Aya, weaving between tables.
“Yeah!” Aya looked back at Juliet, and something about her smile told her she was missing something. “It must be a special occasion!”
Juliet frowned, suddenly nervous. What had she missed? Was it someone’s birthday? Anniversary? She looked down at Aya, trying to ensure she wasn’t hiding a gift or card or something under her jacket. Her stress partially melted away when they got to the table, and Aya shrugged out of her coat, tucking it beside her as she scooted into the booth beside Bennet. She definitely wasn’t hiding anything, and Juliet didn’t see any presents around the table.
She sat down beside Aya and scooted in. “Hey, everyone!” She looked at Bradbury’s plastic face and added, “Long time no see, Brad!”
“It has been a while, hasn’t it?” he asked, his LED eyes blinking with simulated emotion.
“We’re glad you could make it, Lucky. Aya and Bennet said you’ve been busy with a side job the last few days—staying up all night, making folks worry.” Alice winked at her, ensuring the light-heartedness of the statement was conveyed.
“Yeah, that job’s mostly wrapped up. Just a few loose ends to tie up.” Juliet grinned, enjoying the idea of being the one to use the turn of phrase ominously for a change.
“Well, good. Some of us were a little nervous about leaving you alone down here.” Alice nodded at Aya with another wink.
Aya grabbed the opportunity to say, “You should come up with us, Lucky!”
“Ah, I don’t think that’s a great idea right now. I’ve got too much going on. Besides, someone’s gotta keep an eye on the gunship.”
“That’s why you hired those goons, I thought,” Bennet chimed in.
“Is that what this dinner’s about? You all trying to bully me into coming up to orbit?” Juliet chuckled and flicked through the drink menu Angel had pulled up on her AUI.
Shiro hadn’t spoken yet, and he still wasn’t making any move to open his mouth, so Alice elbowed him in the ribs. “Oof,” he grunted, almost spilling his beer. Then he set it down and cleared his throat, “Ahem. No, this meeting isn’t about bullying you. It’s about celebrating you. We wanted to thank . . .”
Juliet’s eyes widened in alarm, and she held up her hands, shaking her head. “No, no, no! What’s going on, you guys? It’s not my birthday or any . . .”
“We don’t even know when your birthday is!” Aya cried, grabbing one of her arms and pulling it down beside her, hugging it close. Juliet opened her mouth to object again but saw Shiro was still trying to speak, so she held her tongue.
“Hai. We want to thank you for joining us and sharing your good fortune and wealth. Before we met you, we struggled to pay our monthly loan payments, and now we’re talking about paying off old debts early.” Shiro wasn’t a great public speaker, and Juliet could see the strain on his face as he finished each sentence. Alice took pity on him and took over.
“As Aya said, we don’t know your birthday. We don’t know a whole lot about you, but we know we care about you, and we’re glad you’re one of us. So, we’re having this dinner tonight in your honor.” She shifted to the left, separating from Shiro a little, and lifted a big sack off the floor. “We have a few things to give you!”
“Oh, gosh, you guys!” Juliet felt her cheeks getting hot and held her hands over her eyes. Tears pooled in them, and she was sure she was about to start crying. “I wish,” she tried to say but shook her head, her throat getting too tight. “I wish you didn’t do this!”
“Oh, stop it!” Alice chuckled.
“C’mon, you deserve a hell of a lot more!” Bennet added, reaching past Aya to grip her shoulder. “It’s not like any of us broke the bank. It’s just little things.”
Juliet sighed and took a deep, shaky breath, pushing the wave of emotion down. “This is so sweet! I really don’t deserve it, but I’ll shut up and try to enjoy it. Do you know what this means, though? I’m just going to get you all back.” Before anyone could reply, her beer arrived, along with a few drinks the others had ordered. As she picked it up and took a long pull of the bitter, ice-cold beverage, Alice lifted a small package wrapped in brown packing paper out of the bag. She pushed it toward her, and Juliet read the blocky print on the paper.
“To Lucky, from Bennet.” She smiled at the big engineer and picked the package up, squeezing and shaking it. “Feels squishy, and it’s not too big. I bet it’s a T-shirt!”
He grinned and shrugged. “Open it.” Juliet nodded and ripped the paper, pulling it away from a black, knit ski cap. Juliet held it up, turning it, until she saw the stitched skull and crossbones on the front.
“Oh, cool!” Juliet laughed, pulling it on over her—currently—slightly curly, shoulder-length auburn hair. “I love it!”
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Bennet nodded, grinning. “I mean, it’s a little warm in here, so don’t feel like you have to wear it. I just thought you’d like the skull—reminded me of those morbid smiley faces you wear.”
Juliet reached behind Aya to gently squeeze the back of Bennet’s neck. “Thank you, Benny. I’m gonna give you a hug later.” He turned red and looked down, nodding.
“Okay, next!” Alice pushed an even smaller package toward her, this one also wrapped in brown paper but with a pink ribbon taped to the front.
“That’s from me!” Aya announced, squeezing Juliet’s arm again. Juliet took the package, laughing because she knew exactly what it was; it was shaped like a paperback and felt like one, too.
“I wonder what this could be.” She pinched up her face, pretending to contemplate the possibilities, while she bent and sniffed at the package.
“You think you’re so smart, but you don’t know!” Aya said, and Juliet could see she meant it.
“Oh, really? Hmm, all right.” Juliet carefully removed the ribbon, folding it and tucking it into her pocket, then tore the paper away, revealing a thin book with a pale-blue paper cover and a hand-drawn title and image—it looked like Juliet’s face in a space helmet, and the title was Lucky’s Adventures on the Kowashi. Of course, tears instantly sprang into her eyes, and Juliet carefully thumbed through the pages, reading chapter titles like “The Daring Rescue of Bennet” and further back, “Ship Invasion!” There were hundreds of pages.
“I had the book printed at a local shop. They did the binding and everything!”
Juliet had no words, and tears were freely streaming down her cheeks. She took a deep, slow breath, hugged the book to her chest, and said, “Aya, how did you find time to write all this?”
“I just did a little bit each night. It’s not like telling stories about you is hard—my PAI did all the formatting.”
“Oh, brother,” Bennet laughed, “Glad I went first. Sucks to have to follow that one up!”
“Stuff it, Bennet!” Alice said, pulling another present from the bag. As she pushed it over the table, Juliet crushed Aya into a hug and kissed the top of her head.
“I love it,” she said into the smaller woman’s hair. Wiping her cheeks and laughing at herself, Juliet took the next gift. “Oh! From Bradbury? You shouldn’t have, sir!”
“It wasn’t any trouble. I’ve been tinkering in my spare time and have built up quite a little foundry in the engineering compartment . . .”
“Yeah, about that . . .” Bennet started to say, but Shiro hushed him as Juliet began tearing the paper away from the package. Inside was a small wooden box, and she turned it over, admiring the fact that the top and bottom halves seemed to be carved from a single piece of wood. She could hardly see the seam where they met.
“Did you make this box?”
“I did—carved from a single piece of poplar.”
“It’s very pretty.” Juliet lifted the top away, revealing a red felt lining and, within, a shiny, stainless knife with a three-inch blade and a beautiful, polished cherry wood hilt. “You made this?” Juliet asked, eyes wide, as she lifted the knife from the box.
“I did. Do you like it? It’s weighted for throwing.” Bradbury’s eyes flashed as he spoke, and his voice made it clear he was pleased with himself.
“It’s beautiful!” Juliet tested the edge with her thumb, finding it very sharp. “Bradbury, this is so nice. Thank you.” With her hand open, she reached over the table, and Bradbury tentatively rested his chrome fingers on her palm. She gave his hand a squeeze, then pulled her hand back, beaming. “Someday, this is going to be worth a lot.” She gently put the little knife back in the box and closed it, setting it atop her precious book.
“Okay, the last present is from me and Shiro and, well, everyone. Sorry, but we’re bad at getting gifts.” Alice nudged Shiro with her elbow, and he nearly spit out the drink of beer he’d just taken.
“Hai,” he coughed.
“So, your PAI has been conspiring with Aya,” Alice said, and Juliet could see she was fighting to contain her smile. Before she could ask how Angel had been conspiring, she felt a wave of emotion that felt strange, out of place, and a little confusing. After a moment, though, she realized she was feeling something from Angel—happiness and excitement.
“What is going on?” she muttered, and everyone interpreted the question their own way.
Alice nodded, her smile broadening, “Indeed! What is going on? So, Aya wanted to do this in the hangar, but we figured you could look at things in person later. Honestly, the timing for our work on the Red Betty threw that plan out the window; it’s going to take a week to get the panels back on the gunship, and we don’t want to delay this any longer. We wanted to leave you here on a happy note. Does that make sense?”
“Um, it might if I had any clue what you’re talking about.” Juliet looked at Aya. “The ship panels? Is this something to do with what you were painting the other day?”
“See for yourself,” Alice said, “I’m sending you a couple of files.” Sure enough, two new icons appeared on her AUI. She peered at them—one was an unnamed image file, and the other was labeled “SSFRC Ship Registration.” Juliet’s smile widened, and she opened the file, skimming to the critical part—the name of the ship. Sure enough, just as she’d daydreamed with Angel so many months ago, she saw the official registered name of the gunship: Cherry Blossom.
As her grin spread, she opened the image file, and there, laid out against the drying racks in the hangar, were the big side panels of the gunship. Juliet had seen the glossy baby-blue paint before, but now they were decorated with a long streak of cherry blossoms in beautiful high-res detail. They looked like they were blowing in the wind along the ship's side. To top it off, the ship’s name was stylistically depicted beneath them in black-outlined, pale-pink lettering.
“Oh, God, this is so freakin’ shiny!” Juliet laughed, once again feeling emotion overcoming her. “I can’t believe you did it so perfectly! It’s exactly how I saw it in my imagination.”
“Bennet helped,” Aya said right away. “I didn’t tell you when you caught me the other day, but we’ve both been working on it.”
Bennet cleared his throat and nodded, “And Shiro and Alice did all the paperwork and paid the registration fees—quite a hassle with a type-four gunship.” Juliet knew what that meant from conversations with the crew in the past. “Type-four” indicated that it had combat-class nanites, rail guns capable of orbital bombardment, and ordnance that could threaten a capital ship. Juliet closed her eyes and leaned back, tilting her head to face the ceiling. She felt so overwhelmed by the show of affection and friendship that she was afraid she’d say or do something stupid. It felt good and right to take a beat and breathe, processing the emotions.
“Emotions!” Juliet subvocalized, “Angel, I could feel your happiness and excitement earlier. Have I felt your emotions before and just not realized it?”
“I think we broke her,” Bennet laughed.
“Give her a minute,” Aya said, gently leaning her cheek against Juliet’s shoulder.
Alice chuckled. “Let’s order food.”
“My biological components will be pleased with ribs,” Bradbury said, and Shiro enthusiastically agreed.
Meanwhile, Angel told Juliet, “I’m not surprised you felt me. I feel your emotions all the time. I hope it’s not troubling.”
“No. I love it. It makes me feel closer to you.” Juliet blinked and opened her eyes, sitting up straight and looking around the table. “I love you guys, you know that?”
“We love you too,” Aya was quick to reply. No one else said anything, but they all smiled, and even Bennet nodded. Bradbury’s eyes flashed, but Juliet couldn’t tell what emotion he was trying to convey.
“This might not be my birthday, but it’s the best birthday party I’ve ever had.” Hearing herself, Juliet frowned and reached across the table to take Alice’s hand while she put her other arm over Aya’s shoulder and grabbed Bennet’s neck again. “Listen! I know I’m cagey about my past, and I haven’t told you my birthday, let alone my name, but it’s not because I don’t trust you. It’s because I’m trying to keep you safe. There’s a . . . specter in my past, but I’m getting ready to deal with it. After that, of course, you can keep calling me Lucky, but you’ll know my name, too. I promise.”
Everyone got quiet for a minute, looking at her, perhaps unsure how to respond. “Sounds good,” Bennet said, breaking the spell. “Can we eat?”
And so, they did just that. Juliet stuffed herself and drank too much, but by the time people were ready to say goodnight, her nanites had sobered her up enough to drive. Aya decided to go straight to the Kowashi with the others, so after some goodbye hugs, Juliet found herself heading home alone with Aya’s helmet still attached to the front of her handlebars and her presents tucked safely under her seat.
“I feel pretty lucky,” she said, enjoying the relaxing ride in the light traffic on the interdome highway on her way out to the industrial domes.
“So do I. I was very excited to be part of that little surprise. Aya sent me a message thanking me for my help. I wish we could tell her about us.”
“We can. We will, I mean, after we deal with WBD. She’ll be the first. I feel like I could trust her even now, but I’m not a genius; I don’t know how knowledge of you and all that we’ve been through might impact her safety.”
“There are certainly risks; knowing what I am and knowing about your trouble with WBD could lead her to pursue more knowledge, even in a misguided attempt to help, which might trigger some flags on the pub nets. It’s best if you and I are the only ones to know for now.”
“Until I tell Tanaka and ask for his help.”
“Even then,” Angel said, “you should limit what you tell him and ensure he understands the gravity. If they made me, they may have other true AIs working behind the scenes. They may have removed the human component that made me who I am and granted me the ability to feel true emotions.”
“I see that you and I have been having the same dark thoughts. Even worse, what if they made another version of you and stuck it into a psychopath?” While Angel stewed on that, Juliet flexed her fingers against the bike’s grips. They felt perfectly fine. “What’s the percentage on my bone nanites?”
“Sixty-seven percent coverage.”
“You know, Angel. I think I’d like to have a relaxing day tomorrow after the dojo. Let’s go take care of Vicky’s gang so I can sleep without them on my mind.”
“Do you want to stop by the hangar to pick up more guns and your armor?”
“Nah, I don’t think so. I’ve got my sword and my pistol. Let’s go show Vicky why it was a bad idea to send that mountain of flesh after Aya and Bennet.”