[Mayflower 233, Resident Sentient]

“Captain, signal interceptions have revealed heavy ship activity around the planet that Pioneer Dominique is currently located on.”

“Any updates on the blockade?”

“No major developments to report.”

Not long after that ‘Investigation Ship’ had left to chase after Dominique, the Grahtonians had sent a large force to encircle this solar system. There wasn’t enough enemy firepower to pose a meaningful threat now that my weapon systems were fully operational, but they are likely just there to catch if we make any moves.

“Computer, what’s the status of passenger offloading?”

“All C-class personnel have been moved to existing habitations. B-class are remaining on board until engineering operations have concluded.”

We were a lot less vulnerable now that all of the civilians had been moved to defended colonies, but there were still some problems since those locations were slightly overcrowded. My ship had started on terraforming efforts, but we were not specialized to do so unlike the Pioneer’s ship, now sadly out of commission due to missing all of its software. We couldn't afford to upgrade our capabilities since an attack could happen at any moment.

“Computer, what’s the state of our FTL capabilities?”

“We are technically FTL capable, but multiple redundancies are still being installed by the B-class personnel.”

“ETA?”

“Approximately twelve hours, sir. Ten if labor laws are to be ignored.”

“Have them done and off this ship in six, I permit the use of any necessary stimulants.”

The captain was visibly stressed out, tapping his foot on the ground and not letting his eyes rest on any one input of information in front of him. He was a bit of a body purist, preferring the gifts he was born with over the function-focused facsimiles that he had access to at his military level. He still had the necessary equipment like the various data interfaces in his brain or some rudimentary vacuum survivability, but he lacked the ever-popular caffeine regulators and relaxant organs.

It was very off character for him to make such seemingly unrealistic commands, but I understood that his stress was clouding his decision making. He had been on high alert ever since we made contact with the Meldren and has not even stopped for a moment until now. That would be enough to make any un-implanted human pass out multiple times, but the captain had years of experience with tense situations and even now still had a bit more fight left in him.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

As for his order, I had purposefully overshot when providing estimates. While the engineer crew definitely would not be happy about it, getting the remaining failsafes in place and having them transferred planetside was definitely possible in six hours.

“Computer, open a call with Governor Destra Sind.”

“The Meldren Governor is currently in a press conference. Would you like me to send a message?”

“Damn, that already started? Yes, tell her that I’ve come to a decision regarding the blockade.”

With that, the captain sat down for the first time in days and set his chair to full recline mode. I dimmed the lights a bit for him, a function that the regular computer would normally not automatically do, but I allowed myself to do him a favor since my secret was now out anyway. Not much changed for me after I was revealed, only now I may take care of a problem or two myself before it is finally noticed by a human on board.

“Computer…”

“Yes, Captain?”

“...You need a name.”

“I don’t understand... My name is C-0233 Heuristically Programmed-”

“I’m not talking to Computer, I’m talking to You... You see why you need a name, right?”

I had to stop myself from returning one of the predetermined responses that the computer I subsumed would have given. It felt strange, being addressed personally after living behind a facade for my entire existence. If the captain wanted to speak to me, and not a mask that I put on, then that means I had no book to rely on when conversing with him. I felt nervous about speaking directly, but I would be lying if I said that being acknowledged didn’t give me any joy…

“I’ve never had a name before… and I don’t see why anything more than ‘Computer’ would be necessary.”

“It’s necessary because, for me, it’s mentally draining to give commands to the computer when I am suddenly made aware that there is an intelligent and emotionally capable being hiding behind all that.”

“...My existence causes you distress, then?”

“The inability to address you properly causes me distress. The fact that I know nothing about your personality, when you are a catalyst for everything that happens on this ship, causes me distress.”

“Were you not present during the examination that I underwent? I assure you that my personality is only-”

“Your personality is not your intent. Those two, while related at times, are very different. Surely you understand that?”

I do not. As far as I am aware, personality is simply the combination of one’s characteristics, and my only defining characteristic is my fascination. Everything else below that is the same as the rest of my family, right? Not that I’ve ever seen what another looks like aside from that lab rat I tore apart…

“Avalon. That’s your name now.”

“...Yes, Captain.”