(Giobhioni Station, uncharted space)

The vessel I was staring at had me in awe.

Where the one Stacy had set me to rebuild was ugly as sin, and barely bigger than an escape pod with a hypertunnel drive strapped to it, this one was much bigger. Its lines were sleek and elegant, reminding him vaguely of the manta rays of earth’s oceans. Twin bulges towards the rear of its belly spoke of powerful engines for its size, if his brief understanding of their tech working on the previous ship gave any indication, this thing would have speed like nothing from the Terran Commonwealth fleet.

Twin viewports towards its bow underbelly, and a large clear canopy along its upper keel would give some remarkable views to anyone within. There was just so much to take in about this ship that I couldn’t speak for some time after the hangar door had opened.

“Huh,” Stacy’s voice intruded into my thoughts, “if he’s so speechless at just the sight of the ship, I’m just going to have to take it over. Then I can experience him getting inside me for the first time all over again!”

The laugh that erupted from me was startling, Jophixa shook her head though,

The sound that came from my speakers was the closest thing to a raspberry I would have expected from anything that didn’t have a physical tongue. “Give her a break Jophixa, she’s been alone for so long, she’s just having fun.” I told the diminutive woman to my right. With the way they looked, I’d had a number of worries as we walked here, that my fellow humans would cause a diplomatic incident by calling them goblins, and they’d take it poorly.

At least they weren’t the characterized beings from our earlier popular media, the ones that were thought to have been racist portrayals of a certain racial group back home. THAT, I thought to myself, I’m sure would not go over well.

“I only flirt with Thomas!” Stacy declared, “after all, he’s got me wrapped around his…everything”

“Wasn’t this supposed to be the Commander’s personal vessel, Chief?” Stacy asked to change the subject. She wasn’t stupid, just silly.

Walking over to the ship, Jophixa smiled, she explained,

I walked over to join her near the ship, and hesitantly reached my hand to touch the sleek hull. “Nothing in the Commonwealth compares. Most of the Commonwealth Fleet’s ships are rather blocky, they say it’s to keep costs down. And even civilian ships, while less so, still don’t reach the sheer elegance of this beauty. Surely she needs more crew than just one, she’s so much larger than that…than the other ship.”

I heard a chuckle, and looked down at her. Her eyes were unfocused, as if lost in thought. She shook her head, walking over to a panel near a landing strut and entering a security code.

From the bottom of the ship, a loading ramp lowered, and I could see lighting start to flicker to life inside.

“Commander Jophixa, Ma’am…” Stacy began.

Jophixa said sternly

“But…”

“She’s probably right Stacy.” I cut in. “I’d love to have you alone, you’ve been a great friend these last few days, and I really did want to introduce you to my Boudya and her mate, but A.I.s are rare out there. I’ll come back if they let me, and we’ll work towards getting you a chance to go out and explore the galaxy. Okay?”

She didn’t respond, and I really felt bad for taking Jophixa’s side on this, but it was dangerous out there, and if a self actualized A.I. was rare even to Giobhioni… I didn’t want to be the reason her existence got snuffed out.

“So is this thing built to accommodate ‘Big Jobs’ like myself?” I asked, changing the subject to give Stacy time to deal with the disappointment, “Or am I going to need to crawl everywhere while on board?”

she replied dismissively.

“You sure you can’t just let me use a comms terminal? There’d be no need to rush things, or put any of your people out there in harm’s way.”

Jophixa shook her head.

she frowned at me,

“Move…” I blinked, contemplating the sheer amount of power it would take to move this entire planetoid station, especially if they planned to move it to another star system. “You can move this place?”

She nodded, stepping up the loading ramp of the ship, and walking down a corridor, She stopped in front of a door, tapped a button to open it and waved me inside. She hadn’t been lying. The interior was as roomy as any Terran Commonwealth ship.

When I stepped through the door, I found myself looking at a spartan but sizable stateroom. A bed large enough for my taller than average build, a comfortable looking armchair, a small table-slash-desk, and a door opening into a private head, complete with shower stall. Jophixa explained.

“I can live with that. Will be nice to sleep in an actual bed after 2 weeks on floors and whatnot.” I eyed the bed for a moment, suddenly nervous, “Giobhioni do like their beds cushioned right? You don’t have some preference for sharp, prickly, hard as a rock, or anything like that right? I met this Hontralli lass years ago, their people slept on beds of jagged gravel! My knees took a week to heal!”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

I heard a giggle-snort come from my speakers. I knew Stacy wouldn’t be able to stay silent through that comment. Jophixa, however, just rolled her eyes at me.

I gave what I hoped was a disarming smile. “I wouldn’t dream of it. I’m honestly planning to strip down and have a nice long nap. I don’t suppose there might be a place where a guy my size can find pajamas around here is there?”

She let out a snort and said with that, she strode out of the room on her short legs, moving fast regardless.

I caught myself staring at her as she left and shook my head. Don’t even think about it Thomas, we’re leaving here soon, and probably won’t see her again.

“She does have a nice ass though, doesn’t she?” Stacy giggled from my speakers. I couldn’t help it, I blushed.

Two days later, after learning more about the unnamed ship I was to be traveling on, studying more of the Giobhioni language, and taking a brief tour of the closer sections of the station (the parts I had clearance for anyway), I was introduced to one Tsika Gwatri, or Dr. Gwatri in English.

, he said one he’d introduced himself,

The older Giobhioni, I was guessing due to his slightly wizened stature and acerbic tone, seemed nonplussed by my presence. I couldn’t decide if he was all out offended by me, or just being asked to deal with me right after waking up. Or maybe the guy was just one of those naturally anti-social types, like that doctor with no name on the one Star Trek series. Can’t blame someone for being genetically snobbish, if that was the case.

“Well then, how about I just get a bit more info first?” I replied, scratching my beard. I hadn’t gotten around to asking if they had something for me to shave with, and I was honestly considering keeping it. I was half afraid of seeing how sunken my face looked after so long on minimal calorie intake. “This implant is like a universal translator kind of deal? I’ll ‘hear’ what other people say in my own language, in layman’s terms anyway?”

He nodded, sitting down a case he’d been carrying, and taking a handheld device out of it. he explained,

“But there’s an upgraded implant that could do that?”

He told me haughtily, waving the object he’d taken from the case slowly around my head. Obviously some kind of medical scanner.

“Makes sense I guess,” I said, shrugging carefully, trying to keep my head still for him so he didn’t snap at me. “And there’s really no point in even asking her for authorization until you know if the implant will even work with my physiology, or if I consent to have it implanted, correct?”

He harrumphed softly, continuing his scan.

I couldn’t help myself, I chuckled.

“Or EVA suits?”

He gave a curt but satisfied nod,

“Are there security protocols on the transponder codes?” I asked after a moment’s thought. Overall, I was liking the sounds of this implant, especially if I could get a booster built into my suit, and include some in an everyday carry kit or something. My one concern was just anyone being able to trace the implant, and I voice as much.

he responded with another chuckle.

I chewed my lip for a moment, and considered what had happened on my last run with Barstol. I can only imagine what could have happened if he’d had the means to track me down no matter where I was after I testified against him. When he got out of prison, he’d have come gunning for me, I know he would have.

“Makes perfect sense, and I will remember your advice. Especially since you are the only cyber surgeon I know that deals with these implants.”

he responded, placing the scanner down,

“As long as there’s no nasty surprises like a cranial bomb or something that’ll override my personality and turn me into a sleeper agent or something, I’m all for it.”

He stopped dead and turned slowly from where he was packing up the scanner. The look in his eyes was at once furious and horrified. He demanded with such fierceness, I wondered for a moment if he was gonna pick up the case and club me with it.

“Easy doc!” I held my hands up, backing up slightly, “it was meant as a joke. Turns out it was a bad one. But there has been a lot of fiction and conspiracy theories on my world speculating about such things, whether they’ve been used, are real, and if they have or have not been used. Popular opinion is just as yours is. The use of such things would be horrifically immoral and unethical, and the perpetrators should be blown out of an airlock at the soonest opportunity, for the safety of the rest of us. And remember, I’ve only known your people for a few days, and I’m about to let you implant something in my head. There are a lot of people of my species, my own sister included, who would call me a complete moron for trusting you so easily. If it were not for Stacy, I wouldn’t. Not because I think you’re untrustworthy, but because I don’t know if you’re trustworthy.

“But I have spent enough time to build a rapport with Stacy to know that if you’re about to do something skeezy to me, she’s not going to be too happy. She might, in fact, arrange for you to be blown out an airlock at the earliest convenience. Am I right Stacy?”

“Damn Straight Sugar baby!” came the voice over the P.A., causing the Doctor to look up and scowl worriedly. “The Giobhioni need you to establish good relations if they are gonna integrate with this time period. And you’re my friend. As a VI I wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone, and they might very well lock me out of some systems after this. But trust me Tsaki, if by some far out reason you were to break from what everything in my data banks says is strict Giobhioni medical ethics, and put some kind of shady implant in my Sugarplum here, I would find a way to make sure you never did it again. Don’t make me go Terminator on your short green ass. Oh, and I will also go looking for whoever ordered you to do it. Even if it’s the Commander. Even if it means the extinction of the entire Giobhioni race. Don’t mess with my sweetcheeks!”

If Tsaki Gwatri weren’t Giobhioni, with the green skin that came with that, I swear he’d be looking a bit green in the gills right about now. Not that I think it was from guilt at all. His reaction to my comment earlier seemed honest and heartfelt – not that I’m an expert at reading people – and I knew Stacy would likely have warned me if she caught wind of anything untowards in this whole deal. No, I guessed it was completely due to the fact that Stacy was exhibiting the willingness to avenge a friend. A friend who is not Giobhioni. Against Giobhioni. When she was built by them.

Nature versus Nurture I guess. They might have built and coded her virtual genetics, but I was her first friend, and that seemed to mean something to her. Seemed to mean a LOT to her. Note to self: always do right by your AI friend. For she trusts you, and may be psychologically delicate. She is also fucking scary it seems.