I was still thinking things over when my system was informed of an emergency, and I looked at said emergency with a casualness that could only have been achieved by someone like me. Except that like any organic, I could have moments of extreme response to certain situations.

For example, seeing Ula throw herself out of the sim pod and promptly void her stomach over an otherwise pristine floor. Now I certainly wasn’t upset about the sick covered floor, I was more concerned about Ula as she collapsed. A two second scan told me she was alive thankfully, just unconscious, which was a relief and I dispatched a med bot to carry her to the sick bay. I didn’t know what had caused such a reaction from her, but I was sure to find out as I began to look over the logs of the sim pod.

I quickly understood the cause of her reaction, as I saw she’d booted up an old battle, one I remembered quite well, even if I was only there for the end of it. Old memories surfaced and then were quashed, as I set a bot to clean up her bile and kept a close eye on her for now. She’d be fine, it was just a mental overload it seemed, based on the deep scans that were made in the sick bay.

I did a very quick check of everything else, ensuring we were on course for our intended destination, and then projected myself beside her bed, sitting patiently. I could wait for her to wake up, whenever that would be.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

I dreamt of war, terrible, terrible war on a scale that now made sense to me. I understood Intra’s hatred of the Yil’kaa, the ease with which she was able to snuff them out of existence if the need arose. I understood… And I wish I didn’t. I now understood why humans had built such powerful warships, why they remained a martial species even though they had risen so far in such a short time. Without ships like the Warden of Eternity or the Ravana, without beings like Intra or High Admiral Kirkland, humanity would have fallen ages ago to the Yil’kaa or some species somehow worse than the Yil'kaa. Such terrible weapons and the people willing to use them for good and survival was necessary for a continued existence.

I wished it weren’t so, that woman's pain and fear stuck with me even in my sleep, tainting my dreams. Till I felt them shift, the images of war and death giving way to something else, comfort and relief. I knew it had to be Intra, doing what she could to help me through this mistake of mine.

I awoke some time later, rested yet stiff and I was immediately wondering just how long I had been asleep, how long had I been shocked into an unconscious state. My eyes fluttered open slowly, and I found myself in an all white room, but the lights were low to minimize any glare. A machine beeped beside my bed, and I noted that I could feel my own heart beating in time with the gentle beeping of that machine. Something was attached to an arm as well, and I followed a tube towards a bag filled with blue fluid.

“Good morning sleepyhead.” I heard Intra say, for once not in my head, but to my left, and my head sluggishly turned, looking at her in confusion.

“Where am I?” I asked whilst trying to sit up, but a hand pushed me back down, and I hadn’t the strength to resist.

“Sick bay, you had an… episode, to put it mildly. Your mind was subjected to a very intense event and it overloaded itself, in a sense.” She explained, rubbing her neck some. “It was… foolish of you to go looking at that sorta stuff, even though you knew how the sim pod worked.”

“I thought it’d… It’d be different. Not that I’d become one of the soldiers and feel what they felt.” I say, huffing softly, and I hear her snort, an amused little smirk on her face. I huff again, turning away like I was a young child once more.

“Next time, perhaps ask about it first, I know a simple spoken summary of past events won’t do them justice, but it will be easier on the mind.” I scowled at that, but she seemed to be expecting it. I felt her warm hand upon my shoulder, and for a moment my mind tricked me into thinking she was alive, solid, organic. Of course this was not the case, but I had to wonder what she would have been like if she was. I softened, feeling my tense shoulders loosen and slump, letting her turn me to face her.

I was so briefly reminded of my own mother, she often wore the same expression on her face when I was in a foul mood. Simple acceptance, a statement that she’d not push or pry, but simply be there for me to lean on. I missed her deeply…

“If you wish to talk about it, and ever experience my people's history again, you need but ask. I’ll… modify it so it will be less overwhelming.” She said this quietly, her head tilting slightly as though she were attempting to meet my gaze, even though she didn’t need to.

I nod, smiling just a little and she squeezes my shoulder and then stood, stretching and… cracking her back? That wasn’t right, but maybe she was just doing that for the sake of doing something.

“Well, if you’re feeling up for it, I suggest you get something to eat and then meet me at the armory, because we’ve made it to our destination.”

“Wait, we have? How long was I sleeping?!” I asked, incredulous while she moved around to my right and gently pulled the IV from it.

“Four days, you did a real number on that brain of yours. Red Mountain was one of the bloodiest battles of the war you know, not something I’d have ever recommended you take a peek at.”

“Four whole days… I think that’s a new record for me.” I said, slipping out of the bed and groaning as my stiff joints and muscles ached in complaint. “You were there, I saw you.”

I saw her stiffen slightly, but she nodded slowly after a minute, sighing.

“I was, at the end. I was part of the counter invasion force, meant to break the siege. And we broke it, we truly did. So badly it went for the Yil’kaa that after ending the siege of Red Mountain they surrendered the planet back to us. I don’t know what happened to them then, because I was tasked with leading a spearhead elsewhere, or rather, my then captain was.” She paused, frowning in a decidedly unhappy way. “It was also the first and only time I… I was ever asked to fire on friendlies. They were already dead, it was a mercy killing I know and we would have lost so much more if I hadn’t, but I… I can’t help but think it could have been different.” Her head bowed, her fists clenched, and i moved to her side, gently taking a hand in all of mine, holding it softly.

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“You did what you had to do, when I was in that woman’s mind I… I knew what she was thinking. Everything she felt. When she saw you, hovering over that mountain all she saw was hope, hope for the survival of her fellow soldiers, and… and swift death for the Yil’kaa. You did her a service, and the price she was faced with was willingly paid.”

Intra looked at me weirdly for a moment, then nodded, her hand relaxing, gently her fingers uncurling only to curl around my own.

“Thank you, that is a relief. Now, let’s stop looking at the past for a while and look to the present, there’s an entire planet to explore.”

I grin, and nod as I skip out of the sick bay, only to stop. I was about to voice a question about the armory when the lights started flashing along the required path and I followed easily, leaving Intra’s projection behind.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

My talk with Ula had been enlightening, if not perhaps, relieving. I looked elsewhere now, removing my projection from the sick bay and focused instead on the planet we now orbited. There were indeed plenty of ships around, many of them strange and unknown to me. They had scanned me numerous times, and then promptly gave me a wide berth when they noted how heavily armed I was. A wise and logical action to take.

I took the time to scan the planet carefully, noting there were several population centers, but this didn’t seem to be a colony world, more like a waystation than anything else. Also understandable, but it left me wondering just why there’d be one all the way out here, especially if nobody seemed willing or wanting to push the limits of their own version of known space. I had clearly come from outside of the sector, surely that would tell people here that there was intelligent life in the other parts of the galaxy.

I came up with several possible reasons for the reluctance to spread out further, the first being that they didn’t have the drive to do so, that they were content with what they had already, which was likely, yet also greatly unlikely. Organics were always content for a time, but eventually craved more.

My second theory was that some past event had instilled a taboo or perhaps even phobia of leaving this region of space for any reason, which was also a distinct possibility yet wouldn’t explain the apparent lack of daredevils and thrillseekers. Both would have pushed the boundaries of societal norms and headed out into space that was otherwise taboo.

My third theory was that they simply didn’t have the means, sure they had ships, but that didn’t mean they were necessarily good ships. They might not be able to make the journey, especially if there was no destination within reasonable range. This one seemed the most likely, but after all this time they should have advanced to a point where such a journey was possible.

The last theory I had was perhaps the worst, that something within this space, be it some sort of cosmic entity or perhaps a governing body was keeping the people within this space trapped, unable to expand at their leisure. It was the more concerning of my theories, and one I’d be looking into certainly.

Either way, I wasn’t entirely sure about this whole thing, I know I have free will and such and yet I still feel… beholden to Ula’s desires and wishes. I want to keep her here till she truly is ready to go out there on her own, but if I do that she’ll only resent it in the end, perhaps even feel I am stifling her. Such a conundrum…

I hit upon a solution however, and I peer into the armory, searching its inventory for something that would be most useful. And I found it, a simple suit. Well, it wasn’t simple by any stretch of the definition, it was actually rather complicated but that’s not important. The important thing was that I could interface with it, and while I can already interface with Ula directly, see through her eyes and such in an emergency, I had very little influence on the world around her that didn’t involve giant cannons and orbital bombardments.

This though, would give me a chance to do what needed to be done, if the situation arose where her life was in danger. I waited for her to arrive, and when she did I appeared in the center of the octagonal room, surrounded by weapons of all sizes and uses, plus armor that was the same.

“I have a small request, friend.” I say, and she pauses, raising a brow as I step aside and present her with a suit that had been quickly reconfigured to fit her. “If something should go wrong down there, you call for me. I’ll help you out of there, I promise. I’ll be keeping an eye on things anyway but I just…”

I paused, already doubting my ability to keep her safe. I had failed already in doing so with the sim pod, perhaps I really was defective or broken… I cleared my mind of such things quickly and continued.

“I’ll let you do your own thing, but I will be there with you, every step of the way. I promise.”

She pondered my words, and I feared I might not have been as clear as I had hoped, but she nodded and smiled, walking up to me and placing a hand on my shoulder.

“I’ll give you a call if I really need you. I promise. I feel safer already just knowing you’ll be watching my every step.”

I breathe a sigh of relief, but the doubt is still eating away at me, and I distract myself by showing her how to get into the suit. It’s much like her current attire, almost skin tight, slightly bulkier than what she’s used to but fashionable. At least the military wants their soldiers to look good. The suit is exceedingly functional as well, so it’s not just all looks and no bite.

I watch as the suits systems scan Ula and then adjust accordingly, compensating for its bulk by activating internal gyroscopes so she isn’t thrown off balance, and other systems that handle the weight of it all. I flow partially into the suit and get access to its other functions, able to see through the myriad sensors that dot its surface.

“How does it feel?” I ask, and she flexes her arms a bit, before smiling again.

“It’s good, I barely feel it. Wish it looked more like my clothes though.” She stated, and I looked through the various functions before finding one that’d work. I activated it, and the suit, much like her attire that she wore under it, shifted to be more in line with what she always wore. It wasn’t perfect, but it seemed to make her happy so that was all that mattered. And it didn’t compromise any of the functions either.

“Better?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. While you’re away I’ll dedicate some runtime to making something more like your old clothes but with all the modern bells and whistles.”

“Oh that'd be quite lovely actually. Hey uh… what’s happening?” She paused and I too paused, before noting the suit was linking up with her implants, providing her with information. “I see weird stuff, but can’t touch it.”

I took a moment to peer through her eyes, noting the presence of a HUD, a soft sound of understanding now leaving me.

“Don’t worry, it’s just a heads up display… It uh… it’s very helpful.”

“It looks like that thing that soldier saw.”

“Because it’s the same thing actually. It’ll also allow me to mark things of interest that you might want to investigate, or… In the event of danger, either get away or fight back.”

She mulled this information over, and then seemingly accepted it before planting her hands on her hips.

“Alright. I suppose you’ll want me to be armed as well?”

“Yes, just in case.”

“Okay, then where is my protection?”

I highlight the locker in which the pistols are kept, and she gasps softly, moving towards it and trying to open it. At first nothing happens, the locker remains sealed but I display the appropriate action she must take, and she follows it easily enough, placing her hand against the flat pad on the door and letting it scan. With a click the locker opens, and she gingerly picks up one of the pistols, humming softly in thought.

“It’s… heavier than it felt in the pod.”

“That’s to be expected, sometimes things don’t translate as authentically as they should between simulation and reality. I know you haven’t yet fired it, but I will feel better knowing you have it at the very least. And if a fight does occur, I’ll help you use it okay?”

“Okay… Here’s hoping nothing bad happens.”

“Indeed, here’s hoping. Now, I think we’re set, shall we depart?”

“Yes, let’s, I’m eager to do a little exploring.”

I smile to myself, and guide her towards the hangar bay, where her transport to the planet awaits.