I blink.

A.I’s are expensive. They can’t just be mass produced. Not unless you want to reduce their intelligence to a point that they wouldn’t care about the fact that there are multiple clones of themselves out there. And those are cheap as hell, considering they can’t really do much.

So A.Is have to be personally programmed. Each requiring weeks to months of work. Also, they need extremely powerful computers to work.

That’s why most A.Is, at least, the smart ones, are placed on ships and buildings. They’re easier to maintain that way. But, there are quantum computers.

They don’t require a lot of materials. But it’s the quality of the materials they do need that makes them expensive. On the other hand, they can function for millennia without a single source of power afterward. They’re also compact and can fit in your pocket. There are large-scale quantum computers, but those are used for just as large-scale projects, like say, building an Omega.

Now, putting an A.I in a quantum computer… that’s very expensive. So expensive, that I can’t even wrap my head around the concept. It was the sort of thing that company heads would buy, just because they could.

But, here I was, with an A.I in a quantum computer on my hand.

I look at my Mentor, shock in my eyes.

“You’re kidding, right?”

He smiles and shakes his head.

“She’ll be-”

The A.I- Grace, interrupts him.

“Taking care of your training, as in, making sure you don’t slack off, or break any rules. Also, I’ll be sending a weekly report of your progress to your Mentor.”

I blink.

“Um… Sure.”

I look at my Mentor, who simply shrugs.

“You can take your leave now.”

I nod, and walk away in a daze. The A.I interrupts said daze.

“So,” she says. “What do you do in your free time?”

I blink.

“Um… play games?” I say.

“What kind of games?” She asks, chipper.

“VRMMORPGs. Mostly. Though, my gear isn’t here. It’s back at my old house.”

“Huh. That’s it?”

I shrug.

“I like to fly.”

“Cool! Then let’s go to the hangars. We have two hours of free time.”

I blink.

“Uh… Sure. Wait… two hours? I have two hours of free time? Isn’t that like, too much?”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Well, maybe. But why do you care? Aren’t you supposed to be overjoyed?”

I stare blankly at the bracelet, as I start heading towards the hanger.

“I’m not some hyperactive teen. I know how precious time can be.”

“Geez. Life isn’t all about training. You’re only human. You should know how to have some fun.”

I frown.

“…Fine.”

Fifteen minutes later, I’m suited up, and piloting a small scout ship. I’m participating in a little race, between five new students. Two of them seems like complete amateurs, inexperienced, but excited, while the other three are veterans-competitive, and not without passion too.

We’re supposed to fly out, circle a planet, fly through an asteroid zone, and return to the school within an hour. Crashing, or not making it in time disqualifies you. Trying to bump into others is also cause for disqualification. Not that I thought anyone would do that-they’re too prideful.

I lay back into the seat, and insert my hands into two sockets on the dashboard. A moment later, I have a direct connection with the ship, allowing me to control it with just with my thoughts. The A.I continues chirping all the while.

Earlier, she had gotten me a few stares. Since then, I had told her to communicate directly to my neural implant, which is risky, but I trust my defenses to alert me to anything she might try. I regret it because now, she just wouldn’t shut up.

“…completely overlayed with titanium, which is a waste of resources if you ask-”

“Grace,” I say, interrupting her monologue.

“Yeah?”

“The race is about to start. Don’t distract me.”

I get a mental pout, before she (reluctantly) keeps quiet, giving me some peace.

I sigh, and look at the sensors of the ship, making myself familiar with it. It’s a strange feeling, connecting to a ship. Each time I do it, I get this undescribable feeling. I’m not the only one, but what the other pilots describe is nothing like what I feel.

It feels… nostalgic? And natural. Like I’ve done it a million times. My whole perception shifts, becoming bigger. Like I’m more than myself.

I get this deep satisfaction.

And my mind becomes unnaturally calm. All the things I’ve been worrying about become so small. I wonder how I ever thought that those problems ever mattered, but then another part of me chirps in that the moment I disconnect, I’ll just go back to my normal self.

This is why I’m mostly detached. This… calmness. I don’t feel it in the same intensity when I’m not connected to a ship, but the memories carry over. And they… make me rational. Cold. Eventually, though, the memories fade, and I start returning back to how I was. Sometimes, that takes days, other times, hours.

I only feel this way when I’m connected to ships. I’m suspicious it might have to do with the shit-ton of processing power contained in the computers they carry, but I have no way to really know. Just another mystery that I can’t solve.

I’m broken out of my reverie by the buzz. I kick up the engines, and I’m flying in no time, with a bit of a headstart.

In the end, it’s a close call, but I win. One of the veterans is really skilled, and I only manage to win by an inch, metaphorically.

I’m not surprised by my win. I have a lot of experience on hand, and there’s was the unnatural calmness. Grace was, though. I think I heard her squeal when I overtook the veteran. Though it could’ve just been wishful thinking.

So, the door slides open, and I’m out and about. The others are about to walk over and congratulate me and make other social niceties, but something about me deters them. I remain indifferent and walk out of the hangar. I don’t notice the silence I had left in my wake.

Grace does, and she tells me.

“Holy shit, the entire place just went silent. What the hell did you do?”

I shrug.

“Nothing.”

She then stays silent too, noticing my mental state. A small part of me is smug. The rest of me is busy pulling up plans for the tritinate. My current calmness was similar to the trance I fall into when I designed things. I take advantage of that.

I reach my dorm, find Dyne exercising, ignore him, and get down to business. I think he say something, but I’m too far down the rabbit hole to pay attention.

It takes me five hours before I come to my senses. I blink and see in front of me a hologram of a device… far beyond my understanding.

Which is strange, because… I built it. Or did I? It carries traces of things I would do but beyond that…

I blink as I see a file hidden in my neural implant. I open it and widen my eyes.

It’s a manual on use, has warnings, and all the standard things every manual has. But what I’m surprised at is the fact that I somehow knew I wouldn’t understand the device. And planned for it beforehand.

It doesn’t show me how the thing works, but I think I can figure it out. It would just take a lot of time.

And then I see a picture of Lucy, flashing me a thumbs up at the last page. My mind blanks out.