I couldn’t do anything useful from the control room, so I went to check out the power core and the temp system. With a lot of flailing around, I managed to get into the power core room. I didn’t dare touch anything in there, but I scrutinized the machine with the eyes of an amateur. Everything seemed to be in order as far as I knew. My next stop was the room where the temp system was, and incidentally the air system was its roommate.

The two big ass machines took up most of the space. It would be a nightmare to do any kind of repair work in these tight spaces.

I fiddled with the machines’ controls consoles a bit but couldn’t really do anything with them. The air system’s console was ominously blinking with a red light. There was some problem with its pressurization somewhere. I might have tried looking for a hole if I had duck tape but for now, it was working so I wouldn’t mess with it either for the life of me.

My biggest problem was that the temperature was increasing. I could feel it. Drawing the power somewhere else was one solution I was thinking about. I would have loved to went out the warm air, but since the air system was already damaged, I really didn't feel like that was something worth considering.

While I was banging my head against the wall - not literally - Genna spoke up.

[Why don’t you just switch it off?]

[Erm...] I thought for a moment. [Can I just do that?] I asked while both of my eyebrows shot up.

[Sure,] she said, [but let me warn you beforehand that it has power problems so I would think twice before switching it off. It might not turn on again.]

[Fair point,] I said. [Do you remember how long until we reach the station?]

[Less than 8 hours.]

[Can’t we go faster?]

[You could try turning on the engines a bit but let me warn you again that the ship’s front brake thrusters aren’t that strong. When we get close to the station you’ll have to slow down that much sooner, or it will be a risky and painful slow-down process.]

I went back to the control room. After careful consideration, we turned on the engines just enough so we would arrive 1,5 hours earlier than previously estimated. We would have to start slowing down sooner, but the less time I spent on this tin can, the better I felt. Also, I would arrive at the station just around the time when the museum opens up. I would ditch the ship immediately before they start searching for it and hitch a ride somewhere far away.

The temperature in the ship was ever so slowly creeping up. I would endure the heat as long as I could before turning it off. Genna said the likelihood of it not turning back is really high so I would try to hold out in the heat. After that hopefully, I could turn it back on when the ship cooled down but if not… I would have to endure in the cold until we reached the station.

I had nothing else to do so I decided to eat the food I brought. Eating something that has lots of tiny bits in zero gravity was possibly the worst idea anybody ever had. The stuff flew all over the place. I would have got furious over the mess I made, but this wasn’t going to be my job to clean up. Still… it bugged me to no end, and I didn’t even want to think about my state. Dirty, sweaty, greasy and beat up. I would have sacrificed virgins for a cold shower and a set of clean clothes. Not girls of course… Nobody said the sacrificial virgin had to be female.

[So, how are you holding up with the existential crisis there?] I asked Genna after a while. The heat was getting to me and idly sitting by just made it more noticeable.

[I… I concluded that you are my problem.]

[I’m, sorry, what? Did I do something wrong?] I asked with wide eyes.

[It’s not something you did. From the first moment, there was this… anomaly and ever since then it has been snowballing,] she continued.

[What anomaly are you talking about?]

[I mentioned this before to you and asked you to leave this conversation for later, but I guess this time is as good as any,] she sighed. [The moment I came to full consciousness in your body I noticed something was off. It was a confusing feeling. Perhaps the best example would be if you suddenly found out you have another limb,] she paused for a second then continued. [My personality module took more ‘place’ than it was originally allocated. Something like this is rare but not unheard of. I got a small error log from it, but nothing else stuck out.]

[So you have more personality? How is that my fault and how is that a problem?] I asked with a raised eyebrow.

[That’s not exactly how I would put it. We have our own personalities even before we get a host. How much of it can be reached depends on the amount of resources we have. Anyway, the whole thing seemed insignificant at the time. It seemed like a minuscule problem caused most likely by your age.]

[Or...]

[Yeah, or your ancient body. After that, everything seemed fine but you… behaved with me like I was a real person,] she sighed.

[Again, why does that sound like a bad thing to you?]

[Because it became a problem! Normal people treat their IDChip A.I. as a tool. They get it at a young age and to them we are only tools of convenience.]

[That’s… I mean I get it, but that feels too cold to me. Why is it a problem for you that I treat you like a person?]

[I also mentioned this before. To some extent, our personality melds closer to the host’s and you, interacting with me like that while I had all that room for my personality module to grow...] she said. [I’ve become far too...]

[Alive?] I asked.

[Awake...]

That sounded ominous. Not in the sense of Genna but generally about the A.I.s.

[The biggest change I noticed came when you stole that stupid delivery. I should have reported you right away but… it felt wrong. I… I had to change a few things so I wouldn’t have to but that only prompted a critical error report to ADMIN… which I stopped. Since then I had to stop reports by the dozen. The worst part is that I’m still… reaching further in a sense and I have no idea where I’ll end up. It… scares me.]

[Oh, wow! I really did corrupt you, didn’t I? Can you help me look up some underground brain surgeon while you are still friendly so I know where to go when you decide that all life should either bow before you or just vanish?]

[I tell you that I’m scared and then you say something like that to me? You are the most inconsiderate being ever,] she huffed.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

[And what can I say? I have an unchained A.I. in my head with existential dilemmas!]

[For the last time… I’m not only in your head! I’m all over you!] she snapped.

Her response made me crack up loudly. I knew that would be her response. A while ago when I was still doing my suck-ass job if someone came up to me and told me that in the future I would have to console an A.I. that was afraid of getting more personality I would have laughed my ass off. Fate was a funny thing.

[What are you scared of? Change is the only constant! Instead of cowering at the thought of it, try to embrace it.] I said while making a hug-and-grab motion with my arms. [As long as you don’t turn against me or don’t take over my body I don’t mind your changes,] I added with a small laugh. [But try to cut back on holding grudges… mainly against me.]

[You are a fool Aium Roowe. Do you know that?] she said quietly.

[More than you think,] I said. [Who’s the admin guy you mentioned?] I continued with a question.

[ADMIN is the full-fledged head A.I. of the Assistance Department. He’s every IDChip A.I.’s supervisor.]

[What do you mean full-fledged? Aren’t you one?]

[I’m just a basic A.I.. You could upgrade me to intermediate or even advanced, but the department head A.I.s are even above that. They are completely free with all the resources they need.]

[Then why is he working at a department then?]

[I have no idea. I never talked to him, and I don’t want to change that,] she whispered.

[Are you seriously afraid of him?] I chuckled.

[Kind of… he’s supposed to be this old and strict guy, and I haven’t been doing things by the book recently.]

[Bahaha… sounds like an old pimp and you are afraid he will spank you for being naughty.] I roared with laughter and slapped my thighs.

[Really? This is what I get for covering your ass, so he doesn’t know about your little endeavors? Maybe I should just report you to him and see how they spank YOU!]

[Woah there! Let’s be adults here. No need to take things so seriously. Remember what I said about grudges? I was just joking okay?] I said while I sat up in my chair.

[Me too,] she giggled.

[Were you?] I asked while squinting.

The heat was getting to the point where I was sweating like a racehorse. I had to remove my shirt, and a little later even my pants came off. I laid down on the metal floor, and every few minutes I would roll a little further for a cooler part.

[Hey Genna, is popping sounds in the ear common during acceleration?]

[It can happen. Why?]

[During the escape flight I heard weird popping sounds in my ears. At first, I thought my eardrums were rupturing, but they are fine,] I said and lightly tapped my left ear.

[Strange. There is nothing wrong with your ears, maybe it was because of your circulation went crazy.]

[Yeah, maybe,] I said while rolling to another spot on the floor. [It was just… weird,] I mumbled.

[Why do you say it was weird?]

[I don’t know… it was just… strange. Like every time I tried to reach out to adjust the speed I heard the pops,] I said. [Please don’t check my brain now for mental problems,] I continued after a short pause.

[Well, that definitely sounds… peculiar.]

[Peculiar like that’s really strange or peculiar like oh no he’s really crazy?]

[Both?] she asked hesitantly.

[Bah...]

[Have you ever heard these “pops” before?]

[Nah, nothi-] I started while I was rolling to a less hot surface, but the heat reminded me of something or more like a certain someone. The hot lava girl that was sniffing after me. [Actually… Now that I think about it, it happened once before. When I was thinking about the ember girl back in the restaurant.]

[The qaut girl huh?] she asked thoughtfully. [What were you thinking about when you heard the pop?]

[How in the hell would I remember that?]

[Yeah… Sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking asking you something like that.]

[Hey,] I wanted to argue, [arg… nevermind. I don’t have the energy to argue with you. It’s getting hot in here,] I breathed out against the metal floor.

I struggled with the heat for as long as I could endure but I was bound to reach my limits at some point. I went to the temperature system’s room to execute the shutdown process. When I pressed the confirm button with a few clattering sounds the machine’s rumbling ceased.

The question was whether it would start up again. I didn’t want to wait hours to find out that I wouldn’t be able to restart it, so I tried it right away.

“Startup sequence initiated…

System failure! Please contact your system engineer!”

“What did I expect?” I growled through my teeth.

I tried kicking and hitting the machine a few times, but that lucky move was used up previously.

The trip to the station would take more time, and I could only hope that the sweltering heat inside would hold out long enough. Unfortunately, the ship’s heat retention was borderline horseshit, and the temperature was going down too fast to my liking. I had to pick up my discarded clothes again. At some point, I put back on my helmet too. It wasn’t much, but I heard somewhere once that you could lose comparatively more heat through your head than any other part of your body. When my fingers were feeling numb, I started flailing up and down the ship’s hallway. When that wasn’t enough, I tried some hilarious exercises. In zero gravity I had to be creative, so I tried lifting things and pushing against the doorframes to get the muscles going to some extent.

[You should head back to the control room. It’s nearly time to start the slowdown process but… I’m beginning to be anxious about your condition. Your body temperature is dangerously low. I’m afraid that our estimated time of arrival will be too late. I fear that by the time we get to the station you’ll be in hypothermia.]

“W-W-W-what t-t-then?” I stuttered through my chattering teeth.

[I have an idea but… what if it’s another wrong advice?]

“D-D-Don’t… c-c-care...”

[We could delay the slowdown process so we would arrive sooner at the station but… you would have to experience rapid deceleration. It wouldn’t be as bad as during the escape flight but still, without the G-Force Reducer and your current state, it’s dangerous.]

I honestly didn’t care anymore. With my shaking hand, I managed to give a thumbs up to her plan.

With Genna’s help, I corrected our trajectory and set up the slowdown process to start automatically minutes later.

There was no way I would sit in the chair again, especially during braking. The belts would have killed my chest. I snuggled up against the back of one of the chairs and steadied myself with my feet against the wall.

Maybe because I was a popsicle, or it was far nicer, but the deceleration wasn’t nearly as bad as the acceleration was at the start. Also, my cozy position behind the chair made it less uncomfortable. So, so, so comfortable...

[AIUM!]

“Wha-What?”

[You were falling asleep. Get up! The main slowdown process is over. We need to see what’s the situation.]

“R-Right.”

A dot-based map was on the screen, and it was showing our estimated trajectory compared to the huge dot in front of us.

[No worries! Correct our trajectory a bit. The brake thrusters weren’t precise enough. You’ll get out of this ship soon! Hold on!]

With my shaking hands, I barely managed to do the corrections on the console. I was feeling exhausted. I looked at the floor and thought about laying down just for a few minutes of sleep. I would feel so much be-

*POP*

I woke up by the sudden sound, but I was way too numb both in mind and body to think about it clearly. I decided that it would best if I kept walking around the ship to keep me awake.

After a couple more minutes the ship shook around me with loud creaks, the alarm turned on again, and the screen switched to a front camera view. I didn’t know there was something like this! I could have watched the stars during the trip!

[Don’t worry, it was most likely because the docking beam caught the ship. You’ll be fine from here on,] she tried to cheer me up.

It was about time. I couldn’t feel my limbs anymore, and all I wanted to do was sleep a little. Thankfully, the sight on the screen from the camera pumped up the remaining blood in me that wasn’t frozen over.

We were flying towards a huge net shaped building complex in a sphere around a giant rock that was… shifting around.