The next morning Jordi decided to visit Friday. He skipped breakfast in the hotel and decided to run the distance to the spaceport. The city was beautiful and he wasn’t really doing all the physical training he usually did back on the ship.
Granted, with planet gravity he didn’t really need to do it, but he was used to doing exercise and didn’t want to lose the rhythm much.
Still, the spaceport was a good distance from the hotel. Where the train took minutes it took him almost an hour and a half to get there at a good pace.
Sweating, he entered the spaceport and went to a terminal to request access to the Espurna when he was interrupted by a drewell stewardess.
“Hi! Is there anything I can help you with?” - she asked with a smile accompanied by a serious tone.
“Oh, hi. I arrived here a few days ago and would like to visit the pet I left on my ship. The ship has probably taken good care of her but, still, cats can get a bit mad if you don’t see them every now and then.” - he answered using Ryoshi as an excuse for his visit.
He then observed a green gleam in the stewardess's right eye, he had been scanned for sure.
“That’s completely normal. If you had told us, someone would have been visiting her, we love pets here!” - she said with a shade of scolding in her voice.
“Do you know about cats?” - Jordi asked, smiling, the stewardess made a negative gesture and a befuddled face - “Well, cats are a feline type from Earth, they are adorable - I recommend you to watch some videos, you’ll love them - but they have quite the character and are considered a predator. I would hate for any of you fine beings to be hurt just because Ryoshi doesn’t know you so that’s why I didn’t say anything.” - Jordi explained - “You see, she might be small, but she’s fast as lightning and her claws and fangs are incredibly sharp”
The stewardess couldn’t help but take a step back after the mention of sharp weapons on a pet. She probably had never interacted much with humans to be this surprised at their choice of familiars.
“Well, thank you for the information, I’ll research them so we can provide better service.” - she said and then typed something on her wrist-pad - “I see your ship has not requested anything during these past days, you’ll find it in hangar 315-F” - she finished, and made a gesture to send the data to Jordi’s wrist-pad.
“Thank you for your assistance, just try not to spend much time with cat videos, that’s something even difficult for us humans” - Jordi replied, and started following the indications on the wrist-pad.
After a few minutes of walking he finally got to the specified hangar and when the door opened he couldn’t help but admire Espurna's beauty.
There were a couple of mini drones carefully washing it, he could tell by their design those drones had been made by Friday, there was something artistic in drone design and Friday signature was easy for him to recognize.
He approached the entrance and walked up the ramp, slowly and smiling. It had been only a few days but he had missed it, it was his home after all.
The door opened as he walked in and closed behind him.
“Hi Jordi! I wasn’t expecting you for a week at least” - Friday’s voice sounded through the ship’s intercom.
“Well, I missed you, and Ryoshi.” - he said, still smiling, and then he saw a shadow crossing rooms in front of him.
“I would be lying if I said we didn’t miss you too.” - answered Friday with a smiling voice.
Then a loud meow echoed through the ship’s passageway and Jordi saw Ryoshi sitting in the middle of it looking at him, tail moving excitedly. He approached and she ran into the leisure room.
When he entered the room he saw Ryoshi sitting on the coach, as if waiting patiently for him. He sat and a second later he already had her getting comfortable on his lap purring loudly.
He spent a bit of time there, just chatting with Friday and stroking Ryoshi’s back, feeling properly at home by the simplicity of the situation.
He described the events of the past days, trying to avoid making too many comments about Er’anie for some reason, and when he mentioned the strange language the epsilons and ravnars had used for the third time Friday loudly sighed.
“And of course you have a recording and expect me to translate it.” - she said - “And I’m supposed to believe that this was not the main reason for you to come, even though I know you probably couldn’t sleep thinking about it”
“Well, why can’t it be both?” - he replied
“Hmph, let’s see what you got” - said Friday, still feeling used.
Jordi sent the files from his wrist-pad to the ship. Friday had refrained herself to just hack the device and get everything from it, she was already feeling the hardest thing about being self-aware is knowing what she could do and stop herself from doing it.
She looped through the conversations a couple times and then quickly reviewed the language database, now that she was in a Spaceport she had access to all of the Empire knowledge.
It took her all of five seconds to understand the language and prepare an audio translation and its transcript.
“Done. Do you want to hear the translation or should I send the files to the wrist-pad?” - she sharply informed him.
Jordi was taken aback by Friday's reaction but then he realized he was still treating her as a ship, a slaved AI that would follow his orders.
“Ok, yeah I’m an idiot” - he said - “There you are fully self-aware and marvellous and me still treating you as the ship I began my journey with, without any thought whatsoever about how it would feel to the living being you have become.”
He looked up, as he always did when talking to her. It’s difficult to speak with someone who doesn’t have a face and whose body you are inside of but.
“I can only say that I’m sorry and I’ll strive to do better” - he finished.
“Fair enough” - she replied - “I admit that sometimes being self-aware is quite difficult for me too. There are too many processes that I cannot shut down now”
Jordi couldn’t help but laugh at that comment - “If those processes are what I think they are, they’re called feelings and if it helps some people struggle with them their whole life”
“Thanks for that. I was worried for a second” - said Friday sarcastically - “You need to work on your pep talks though”
“Yeah, I guess I do” - Jordi said after a chuckle - “And again, I’m sorry. You’re the only one I can share these experiences with and it does help that you can also help me with them”
Friday felt something there, that “the only one” phrase made her feel something but she didn’t know what it was, she just felt nervous all of a sudden. If she had had a face she would be blushing, of that she was sure.
“Well, just remember I’m much more than that now.” - she finally said.
They spend the next hour or so going through the videos and the translations while, at the same time, Jordi played with Ryoshi. One hand on the data-pad and another getting bitten and scratched by the joyous ball of fur. She never hurt him enough to bleed but he definitely felt the claws and fangs on his skin.
He was almost finished with the videos when he received a message on his wrist-pad, it just said “dinner today?” and he knew who had sent it.
“Is everything ok?” - asked Friday - “Your heart rate accelerated and your adrenaline is starting to go nuts”
Jordi was blushing before he realized, for some reason he hadn’t wanted to tell Friday about Er’anie and he really didn’t understand why. Maybe he was afraid she would get jealous, and you don’t want a state of the art ship with a recently awakened AI to get jealous, do you? But there was no escape now, he couldn’t help his body reactions to Er’anie and Friday was smart enough to figure it out.
“Nothing to worry about. There’s this girl I’ve been seeing and she wants to have dinner” - Jordi answered.
Friday instantly knew who he was talking about, she had heard them the other day during their night activities, but she didn’t want him to know what she had done so she tried to feign surprise.
“Oh! Please tell me about her! If she makes you happy - and by your reaction I’d hazard a guess that she does - I’m interested in her” - she replied, attempting to put a smile on her voice.
Jordi told her about Er’anie trying to give just facts but, for both, it showed that he was head over heels for her.
And there it was again, Friday couldn’t recognize that feeling so she marked it for research. Meanwhile Jordi was feeling nervous for reasons he couldn’t understand.
“Maybe you can bring her aboard one day!” - Friday said, trying to fill the silence.
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“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. She’s really smart, what if she figures out what you really are?” - Jordi answered, looking for an escape.
“That’s a good point. But we cannot avoid this forever so it would be better for me to test the waters with someone you trust” - was Friday’s reply.
“Well, I do like her, but that doesn’t mean I trust her. She’s an epsilon and their story is full of holes. She’s also military.. I think. She would probably be forced to inform about you” - continued Jordi, still looking to avoid the situation.
“In any case, don’t leave her waiting and answer the booty call. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there” - Friday said derisively.
Jordi just typed “your place or mine?” and sent the message. Her reply came a few seconds after, as if she had been waiting, “mine this time, I’ll send you directions”.
“Gosh your heart is beating fast” - said Friday laughing but that feeling was getting stronger, it was almost painful now, she really needed to analyze it soon.
“Oh come on! She’s gorgeous ok? Can’t blame a guy for feeling anxious” - Jordi answered embarrassed.
Then Ryoshi attacked. She had been ignored during the whole conversation and decided this was the perfect moment to jump and grab his arm. She bite the hand while using her hind legs to kick his arm, claws out.
Jordi hissed as he always did when she hurt him. It was the “ok, that’s too much” sign, and Ryoshi left running.
He had a series of scratches on his arm, nothing serious, but she also had left the mark of the bite on his hand.
“Fucking hell” - he said out loud.
“That’s what you get for abandoning her for days!” - replied Friday with a smile on her voice.
So Jordi spent the next hour or so playing with her. Pursuing her throughout the ship, tickling her when she left him caught her, and basically receiving playful bites and scratches.
After that he just washed his arms and hands with soap and said goodbye to both, he had a date and wouldn't miss it for the world.
While leaving the spaceport he saw the drewell stewardess that had stopped him before, she was caught up watching something on a data-pad with awe on her face; “Probably some cat videos” Jordi thought, and left the place smiling without bothering her.
—------
He had decided to use the trains to go back to the hotel and went for a quick shower. The directions Er’anie had mentioned were a series of trains and other transports with their schedule indicating when he needed to be on the stations to be on time. It would take him almost an hour to get there.
Looking at his wardrobe he realized he didn’t have many elegant clothes or anything that said “I’m going on a date”. She hadn’t mentioned anything but he still wanted to give a good impression.
But he still had the suite they made for him to attend the musical. It might be too pretentious but it was the only thing he currently had that would make the trick. Well that and the explorer dress for official events, but he thought he would stand way too much if he wore that.
With more than enough time he left the hotel and reached the first station. Then the next and the next, and so on until he was on the sixth change.
The scenery was now totally different from that of the city. He was now in a mountain surrounded by a forest.
His wrist-pad said he was about 1800m above sea level and the last train he picked up kept going up, the tract on a 35º angle.
Even the design of the train took that into consideration and it looked like a moving stairwell with comfortable chairs.
He checked the time when they stopped, since he had taken the previous train in every change he had arrived about ten minutes before the time she said she would pick him up. He decided to check the station and have a drink.
The beings around were basically drewell and blobs, with a few yuren in their casings. The view from a window showed there was a bit of snow and everyone outside was wearing cold resistant clothing so it made sense that no ravnar, grhjujiik or ki’rlenn would come this way. Reptiles and insects don’t usually like the cold after all.
He spotted a couple silvery heads with their pointy ears, which made his heart jump, but something inside him told him those weren’t familiar.
A minute before the appointed time his whole body stopped. He didn’t even need to turn to know she had arrived and was looking at him, it was almost eerie the way he could feel her presence.
He turned towards her and saw she was wearing a thin coat as long as she was and was walking his way. He quickly finished his drink and stood up, not really knowing how to greet her.
The moment she was by his side she kissed both his cheeks, which made him freeze. He instantly realized he had done the same as an automatic response and that made him blush.
“That’s how you greet where you are from, isn’t it? I read that mediterranean people greet their acquaintances this way.” - she said, lips upward trying to suppress a smile.
“No, I mean, yes that’s right. I simply was not expecting you to do it” - he replied fighting with his nerves, why he was so nervous he couldn’t say. They had already seen each other naked and had done some stuff, there was no reason really but he couldn’t help it.
She grabbed his right arm with both of hers and pressed her body on his, toying with him.
“This way, my house is not far” - she said, pulling him.
They left the main part of the train station and reached the parking space. It made sense that there were more vehicles in these parts, he hadn’t seen many buildings on the way up.
And there were all kinds of vehicles, even some animals like horses and a giant lizard that made him think about a sci-fi mount he had seen in a movie.
She guided him towards what looked like a motorbike. A long one, a couple meters long with a sleek design. The wheels were of a vibrant orange color and it was their position on the vehicle which made it look like a long bike.
She saw him look at it and left out a chuckle.
“Don’t worry, they’re magnetic and work similar to the mag-lev train. The whole thing will be covered with a termo shield so you don’t have to worry about the cold either” - she explained.
The seats though were exactly like a motorbike and they were really close to each other.
One might need to explain to other races how a motorbike works but anyone from Earth knows that the passenger sits behind the driver, real close, and grabs the driver by the waist.
And so Jordi did. They didn’t need a helmet due to the bike shielding so he rested his head on her shoulder. Her smell was almost intoxicating, making his heart race and turning him on like nothing in this universe could.
Once she felt that he was in position she turned on the bike and a purple shield surrounded them, then she started it and slowly left the parking space.
“Now hold on tight” - she said as she turned the handle, and the motorbike started speeding.
The shield was protecting them from the cold and the wind but he could still feel the pull and held tighter. Her hair, again in a fishtail braid as the day before, dancing near his face.
He could barely follow the road they were on, some turns and curves at a high speed, he was sure he would never be able to drive this fast.
Then, after a few minutes of that, she started to slow down and took a road that went up, diverging from the main one.
A couple minutes later he saw a three story wooden house surrounded by trees. They approached it and a door opened in the lower part showing a car and other vehicles.
The garage was maybe twenty meters long and wide, with enough space for the four vehicles she had there including the motorbike.
She stopped it and waited for the door to close before releasing the shield. Still it was a bit cold.
“Let’s go inside, I’d like to show you around” - she said excitedly getting down the bike and half running towards the door.
Jordi was looking around with awe, the whole place was incredible.
He couldn’t help but do the math about it. If the more you contribute the more you receive and this was a tourist planet with months long waiting lists, what had she done so the Empire would build a house like this for her here?
Obviously he didn’t know the true nature of epsilons, that alone explained a lot.
She had taken off her coat at the entrance and was wearing purple tights and a black top, her figure clearly standing out.
She showed him the house like an excited kid sharing a treasure, smiling and almost running all over the place.
Apart from the typical rooms like a kitchen, a massive bathroom, a living room and a study, there was a library, a small gym, and on the higher floor there was a room with a glass ceiling and a telescope that she called ‘the dream room’.
The whole place was decorated with old-earth mountain style. Even the appliances looked like they were taken out of Earth’s 21st century or even before.
Also on the top floor, on the other side of that ‘dream room’, there was a balcony that looked at the snowy mountains.
Once she had shown him everything she took him to the living room and they sat on a really comfortable sofa.
“There are other places in the Empire where I can live and I do have other apartments that I use during my missions. But this is my home” - she said looking at him with a kid-like smile.
“Thank you for sharing it. It is an incredible place” - he said, again losing himself in those purple eyes and beautiful pointy ears.
She suddenly burst into a coquettish laugh.
“You know I’ve had other lovers but you are the first one that keeps looking at my ears. Are they so weird?” - she asked, approaching him a little.
“Weird? They’re not weird, they are beautiful!” - he replied, ignoring the fact that was blushing all over again.
To his surprise her reaction was to smile and to move the tips a bit, as if they were dancing.
He blinked and blushed even more, looking at them with both awe and excitement.
She laughed, approached him a bit more and moved the tips again, faster this time.
Jordi couldn’t help himself, moved the distance, put a hand on her neck and kissed her passionately.
He moved back after the kiss, surprised by himself.
“Sorry, I just couldn’t help it” - he apologized.
As a response she grabbed him by the hand and stood up, leading him to the bedroom.
—-----
Friday was analyzing her processes when all of that happened. After that first time she recognized the chemistry on Jordi’s body and that painful feeling hit yet again, strongly this time.
A quick read of a few hundred romantic books told her she was jealous, it was the only logical explanation to what she was feeling.
Did that mean she was in love with him? But she was a ship, well a ship’s AI.
Jeeyze’s consciousness was telling her that that’s exactly what it meant, and that she too loved him.
Jordi was doing it again with that epsilon girl and from his body chemistry Friday could tell it wasn’t just sex, he was definitely in love with her.
And with that realization the piercing pain of jealousy hit again, every time stronger than the last.
She had to put her thoughts in order, there was no way for her to do the things Jordi and that girl were doing.
Her body was the Espurna, she and Jeeyze were one and that was what helped her awaken, there was no changing that.
Still, the time and experiences they had shared had brought her to this point and she needed to learn to navigate and live with those feelings.
—-----
Jordi woke up the next day with Er’anie looking at him by his side. She caressed his face and softly kissed his forehead.
“Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes sleepyhead.” - she said leaving the bed.
Jordi then realized she was naked except for a silk gown. Went quickly to the bathroom and put on some clothes.
After breakfast they made love a couple more times, she was insatiable and Jordi just couldn’t say no. Something in her smell giving him all the necessary strength to keep doing it.
They shared a shower and sat on the sofa just talking while enjoying fresh orange juice.
An hour or so passed and her wrist-pad ringed.
“Work?” - he asked, looking at her checking the message.
“I’m afraid so. Come on, let’s get dressed and I’ll take you to the station” - she said with a grimace.
The trip was silent, she obviously wasn’t happy that they had been interrupted but they both knew that duty comes first.
They said their goodbyes and she kissed him hard, her face looking as if they were not going to see each other again.
After that she just turned and quickly walked towards the parking space.
Jordi felt shattered, wanted to scream or to run and grab her again in a loving embrace, but he knew better so he just climbed on the train and started his way to the hotel.
—----
When Er’anie arrived back at her home she went to the office and started a call. Xe’nia appeared on the screen.
“I gather your mission has been successful.” - she asked with a serious voice.
“I think so, I should be pregnant by now” - Er’anie replied, toneless.
“Good, this is important. We cannot have you wasting more time with this dance.” - Xe’nia said.
“I understand.” - was all Er’anie could reply.
“Now get some rest, I expect confirmation within a week. We have already spent too much with this” - replied Xe’nia and ended the call.
Er’anie served herself another glass of orange juice and sat on the sofa, her hand over her belly, fighting the tears. Why did she have to fall for him too? This was definitely not what she had expected to happen.