I returned to my heart and saw Doc was still staring at my vitals, writing some observations on his own tablet. "Wish I could observe her bodily movement too." he mused idly. He seemed to be charting each little change in the values. There was the beginning of what looked to be a psychological analysis, with my text responses documented as well. There was no mistaking it, he was a professional. I really had to wonder how he ended up here.

When he looked up to the vitals again, I started a new line and added to his file 'Dork.' And let out a silent giggle when he looked down and saw my taunt, revealing that I'd been watching him type.

He smiled himself and looked up at the core as if he were speaking directly to me "I may no longer be a respected member of the scientific community, but that doesn't mean that the world doesn't deserve an accurate account of this, frankly historical, moment." he looked back down to see the word 'Dork.' again in larger font. He let out a little snort "And I'm perfectly aware of that. Was there something that you needed?"

'Believe it or not, more cyberware?' I asked.

He looked concerned at that line "What did you have in mind?" he asked

'A personal computer subsystem. I want my own interface.'

His expression softened "Are you... bored?" he asked, an amused tone to the question.

I briefly pulled the ship controls back over to accelerate again before I replied 'Your ship needs a hobby.' I explained.

He chortled "Okay, that's another new one. You won't even need to go under the knife. That case at your hip, it's meant to interface with your nervous system, but you seem to be able to move your body just fine on your own. I can grab a different blade you can use for yourself next time you're out of the tank."

'Sounds good. When can I get out?'

"Whenever you're not busy." he mumbled "You're only going to need to be in there when you need to do a deep dive in the systems. You should be able to connect remotely through the interface on your arm as long as you're in signal range of the ship."

'Are you saying I don't even need to be in this stuff?' I asked, prepared to be irritated at the answer.

"Technically, no." he said "Since the beginning of the initialization, you've been psychically connected to the core module. We don't really know the exact range of it, but it's more generous than the signal range of your cyberware." he continued staring at the core module, as if looking for a reaction somehow "No, you're in there because it's a sensory deprivation tank. It's impossible for a normal core to concentrate on the mental interface without all of their senses nullified, I can't imagine it would be any easier for someone with a lot more going on in their brain." he explained "You'll still be aware of the whole ship, but your control will be limited to a little more than what you could do with a standard terminal out here."

I paused for a long moment 'So I really do have psychic potential then?'

He shrugged his shoulders "You must. I definitely wouldn't call these readings random happenstance. Whatever Arthausen Syndrome is, you must have been misdiagnosed. The core module isn't some mind-scanning technology trick, you've been controlling this ship with your brain directly. And spectacularly, I might add. It's really like you're a sentient, thinking ship core."

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I huffed. All those times handing in my medical card to get through security and it'd been wrong all along. I supposed it was a good thing that I'd been able to fly under the radar that way for so long, or I'd already be some corporate goon's experiment. I pushed my thrusters up another notch to top off my acceleration, using the side engines to stabilize myself and fixing our course. 'Well, we're moving now. Let me out of this thing, I'm ready to spend some time as a human again.'

---

I sat in the medical bed, looking down at the remnants of the pile of goop I'd choked up when I was released. It was bizarre seeing the world through eyes again after I'd bonded with the ship so thoroughly. Every time I closed my eyes, I swore that I could still see everything around me, only fuzzier. Vague shapes instead of the whole picture that I got inside of the core module.

Doc had insisted that he give me a thorough examination before I left to wander my own halls, but he was at least nice enough to hand me a towel to dry myself off with first. I sat with it draped over my shoulders, still not clean, though. The texture was unbearable. The feel of everything I touched was magnified a thousand times over, and the terrycloth felt like sandpaper against my skin, so I was just using it to cover myself for now.

I closed my eyes and tried to reach out, but nothing in my psionic link made sense anymore. The hum of electrical fields around me and the sound of Doc shuffling about and breathing were all too loud. Even the slight variation in light around the room was too much against my closed eyes for me to focus. Not to mention the artificial gravity and the fact that it still felt freezing. I saw what he'd meant about the lubricant negating ALL senses. And the effect that my physical senses had on my ability to use the psionic link to the ship was debilitating. I could almost feel an urge to dive back into the sphere, but I still wanted to try taking a walk around my halls.

Doc walked back into the room, carrying a circuit board "It's a bit dated, but it should run just fine." he said, leaning up against the metal wall and gently dusting off the back of it with his hand.

I hesitated for a moment, shaking off the urge to attempt mentally writing a response into his tablet "It's not like I'm going to be rendering anything, or playing video games." I spoke out loud "If I can use it to draw and write, that'll be enough for me."

"Are you an artist?" he asked, kneeling down and taking a screwdriver to the case at my side.

"I need to do something with my time." I whined, trying to hold my lower body still while watching him tinker with my body "I'm... not used to having much time to myself."

"Oh, I'm well aware of how the corporate colonies treat people like us. Work, work, work, all the time. You get to rest when you're too spent to move, and when you've had it, it's right back to work. Honestly, I've never really been able to get out of that mindset myself. I do what I can to keep myself busy around here."

"Well, I'm not going to let myself end up like that. I have free time now, I'm going to find something I like to do." I flinched when I saw him open the panel. He pulled out a chipset that was already inside, probably a default mobility system for a ship core, and quickly replaced it with the blade he'd carried in. "I'm sorry about the state of your body." he started "Our situation was fairly dire, and the captain insisted that you be operational before all the flesh completely healed. No danger to you, or anything, just, the scarring might be causing some complications and well... look at it."

"I don't think I'll be getting out much anymore, anyway." I muttered. I was a starship now, after all. Just the thought of straying far from its walls made me feel uncomfortable. "There go my dating prospects." I joked.

"Bachelor life's not so bad." he smirked, seeing I was feeling comfortable "Only one prospect on this ship for me, and there's no way in hell we'd ever do anything."

"Captain too wily for you?" I jabbed at him as he closed up the panel.

"Joel, actually." he said casually. I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows in stunned surprise as he turned "And not in a million years if humanity depended on it."

I smiled at him "Ahh, you swing that way?" I asked as he tightened the panel back into place. I crossed my arms and smiled down at him before I muttered quietly "Well, more captain for me then."

He fumbled with the screwdriver, watching it clatter to the floor before he looked back up to me and gave a knowing smile.

I cleared my throat and decided that it was time to change the subject "So, you were going to give me a medical exam, now that I know it's not an excuse to pull something creepy?"