+++ Juliett +++

Lubola System

This man…he was tiring to deal with. What an absolute foul-mouthed asshole! He could have had the courtesy to treat me well, with pure charming kindness, befitting a lady of my station! I was trying to stay kind to him, I even fixed his…below standards of a "ship", and he still called me a tin can?!

The absolute gall of this man.

I sighed to myself, or at least, in its electronic version. Everything had been a messy mess for me, and I honestly still felt like shit. Especially when he now essentially dumped the workload on me. I should have probably just stayed in my own system, waiting for him to valiantly place me back on my own ship…ah, but such gallantry could not be expected from this cretin.

He was asleep. And I was bumping a stick held up by one of the maintenance drones on his cheek.

Poke, poke, poke. Would he wake up if I hit him extra hard? Hmm…

I kept poking him, all while watching the passive sensor reports with great attention. SYS was also kept on the job, but I honestly couldn't trust this "AI". SYS was too slow, old, bloated, and…look, pardon me for saying this, it wasn't…"alive" in a sense. Like me.

But of course…that begs the question. Am I really alive?

I hated that question. Why did my creators make me this way? They could program my core to be like…that but they didn't remove my core’s functionality to ask if I was just a code or not. How cruel of them.

Poke, poke, poke.

He groaned and he tried to slap off the drone with his hand. Still, he was back at being dead asleep in his seat. Good, I took a reaction out of him. Score!

Still…a true human. And one that willingly helped me at my lowest. This was both new and exciting for me! Sure, he wasn't the best, and he smelled shady. I think he wouldn't be too far from being one of those bad guys. He was like a Pirate, but more loser-like. Yep, yep, that would be an accurate description.

Well, he did have that sad demeanor on him. Poor boy, was he perhaps left alone by his fellow humans? Or did he perhaps drive them off? I certainly hadn't seen a crewed vessel piloted by one person. And a glean on his Fed-System Level, he was but a newbie spacer.

Then again even the lowest level spacefarer could go toe to toe with those that have superior levels. Provided he or she is a smartass. It wasn't like the Fed-System made sense anyway. It only really had an effect on a few people from what I had known, and it was understood by no one. Not even me. In fact, once again, I wondered, where did the System truly originate?

Did the Federation create it? Or was it connected with the Collapse three centuries ago? My creators sure weren't the kindest to leave my databases blank with that one. What absolute rascals they are!

I continued poking him as he slept. This man would have a long journey ahead of him to become a worthy spacer. A Level One…perhaps I should have been pickier at picking my partner in this…mission of mine.

But…this guy wasn't that bad, I suppose. He could have destroyed me at my most vulnerable point. He could have killed me. He could have simply flown back to the Inner Sector to surrender me to those who would want nothing but to pick me apart to be studied. I know anyone who would have their hands on me would immediately sell me to…them.

Instead…he gave me a second chance after all that. In a way, he was strangely kind to a nobody. An AI no less. Each and every calculation of mine did not lead to this course at all. And I thought I understood humans, or at least had a certain grasp of their nature.

Still, he's a rude jerk! And a nasty man indeed! Oh, I wanted nothing more than to poke him a little harder. Maybe he would fall off his chair. I mean, who the hell falls asleep like this? I should teach him a lesson not to sleep at his job. Yeah, that should teach him.

But more importantly, I found my curiosity growing. Perhaps, this was really my chance to learn more about these humans. These creatures that the Void Fleet was programmed to defend. That I was programmed to defend.

SYS was having another chimp-out session in the ship network again. It was spamming alerts and alarms because of some unknown sensor contact. I kept it silent because SYS was honestly way too incompetent that…god, did humans really use these ineffective AIs ever since the Second Revolutionary War?

This thing was beyond pitiful, and I felt a tinge of pity for Jon too. If I wasn't here, he wouldn't have an ounce of sleep by now, and he would be wracking his head in a panic to work on that sensor contact only to find out it was a false positive.

Yeah, I should bring this up to him. How dare he belittle me? I made the maintenance drone poke him again in frustration because screw him! Why me? Why would I be the tin can here? It was SYS. Not me! I'm a majestic VIII Generat—

"For fu—" He woke up. And look at him, his eyes were no good. He should probably sleep again. "I said…I'M GOING TO SLEEP FOR A WHILE!"

"Well! Did you have a good sleep?" I greeted him in the most cheerful manner possible so that I would to further irritate him. "Tell me, what nice dreams you had?"

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He held his head in frustration. I wanted to do that too, but…well, my AVATAR Nanoswarm™ was on my ship. I still can't believe those nasty men yanked my core while I was down. That should count as an illegal assault or something. I mean, have you tried having your brain stolen? Yeah, you didn't! I did!

"You're messing with me again…" Oopsie…yeah, I guess I went too hard this time. Um…oopsie? "Alright…what's the status, tin can?"

Again? I take back what I said. I ain't sorry! This rascal!

"Hmph!" Yeah right, that would be the only response you would get from me, jerk!

"Now now, what's the big malfunction again?" He asked, further irritating me. Malfunction? Seriously? Why oh why was kind me being treated this way? "Come on…you woke me up randomly for no reason?"

"Fine. Look, we lost them. The Pirate contact, I mean." Well, we lost them thirty-two minutes ago, but well…woohoo…excuses and stuff. "We're safe, for now." For thirty minutes already more like.

He pinched his nose, tapping a few things on the control panels in front of him. Now I started to feel bad. He really did seem tired. I suppose I really went too far at messing with him. I should…well…probably be more mindful next time.

I sighed inside and returned to the sensor readings. Still, watching him act this way in response…it started eating me.

+++

+++ Jonathan Jones +++

Look, I didn't intend to sleep while we were probably at risk of being caught by a bunch of Pirates. It was the fault of my coffee. I thought it would be enough, but it wasn't.

I rubbed my cheeks. It felt kinda off.

Hah, she's silent again. I checked the previous sensor readings. It seemed we really did lose them. She's probably pissed off that I fell asleep on the post.

Well, pardon me, for that, Miss Perfect. I wasn't really the type of guy that slept in any healthy manner. I would collapse at work, that was just me. In any case, I should probably plan out how to proceed with all this in mind.

Alright, I have an AI Core with me, and so far, having her around has been a net benefit for me, provided she doesn't betray me later. In which case, I wouldn't even be surprised. Bad folks like me would have that coming. Always.

Silently, I almost saw my own reflection on the screen. But not my reflection right now. It was…why did I look like that? It looked like…me when I asked for those "debt payments" back in Loran. Just one of the dirty loan sharks in Loran's major slums. A loan shark that looked at the most unfortunate members of society, asking for their money, or else…

How disgusting.

Heh…I guess it'll really all chase me wherever I go. I breathed out and stopped what I was doing. Her voice soon spoke through the intercom again.

"Um…hey, are you really like, okay? I apologize for waking you up. I…I can handle the other stuff if you need to sleep!"

"It's nothing. Just…waking up with drowsiness. I'm fine." I sighed and gave another ship-wide system check. It seemed all fine, except for SYS, who filled my notification panels about "hostiles spotted" or something. Sensor contacts.

"Erm, I checked it. He's just going weird, you see." Juliett explained over the intercom shyly. "Should I have told you?"

"Nah, SYS ain't the best, I suppose. Thanks for filtering out the nonsense."

"Well, you're welcome then!" She seemed cheerful again. Silently, I chuckled about it inside, before I shook it off my mind. This brat was growing on me, and that wouldn't be too good.

Getting too attached to anything, much less something that wasn't even human, was bad business. Everything and everyone is an opportunity to be exploited in the Sector, I remember what that smuggler told me. Nothing lasts. Friendships and alliances are temporary.

But, was she just a business partner to me then? How would that even look like? Once she restored herself back on her ship, and I found the loot and money, do we just part ways? Just a mere equal exchange? I help her get her ship back, while she helps me get my in-system salvage. That seems simple enough. But…what about working together to save the sector?

It was an uncomfortable question. I could never see myself doing something…good. I could see how it could be her personal mission, perhaps her creators created her for that. But me? I would only be a detriment to her. A noble heroine wouldn't need a shady outlaw beside her. That was how I saw things.

But she wanted to work with me. Perhaps it was just because she didn't know who I really was. Not that I had an idea about what she really was either. Not that I even had an idea of how she could do her "mission". I mean, that sounded ridiculous. How could one save the Sector? This place was beyond fixing.

"Hey," I said, and she hummed in response. "You haven't really said what you really are yet. I know you're an AI, but you haven't told me what a phase ship is. Nor have you told me why you would want to save this shithole."

"Well, you also haven't told me what you really are. As for my ship, you'll see it, I promise."

"Look," I sighed. "I'm not decent."

"Okay?"

"I'm just saying…don't ask me to work with you on your mission. I'm not what you think I am…I'm…" A disgusting criminal that should have been shot a long time ago. A lowlife. "I'm sorry."

"You're ashamed of something, I see." She hummed to herself again, and I didn't notice any sense of hostility from her at all. I really wanted to slap myself for having not even the balls to tell her out loud what I really am. "But, I think you're a good man."

"You couldn't be further from the truth." I laughed. "I'm not."

"Well, maybe you're not. You did seem shady to me." I knew it. "But, how about this? Think of it as a second chance, I suppose. Let's work together, and I'll decide for myself if I want to be your partner in the long term. How does that sound?"

"I assure you, you would not." I countered, but she shushed me, straight from the intercom.

"That is up for me to decide. Now, stop worrying about those questions, and let's focus on the Pirate problem."

"Yeah…that." Fine. If she didn't want to hear what I really am yet, I suppose that would be on her. I sighed to myself, returning back to work.

A second chance huh? A new lease on life, a new partner, and perhaps—purpose. Did I really deserve such a thing? This was all eating me, and I buried it for now.

Some questions would be better left for later.