Chapter 20: Maja

Location: Unknown; Small yacht

After putting my feet back on the ground, I stand up. I move so fast, that the General’s jacket almost slips away. Uh, I guess I'll have to take a shower first. Don’t want to make a bad first impression. I throw the jacket back into the General’s room and enter the second room to take a nice long shower in the integrated bathroom there.

Ahhh, this feels so good! Hot water runs down my skin and washes all the sweat and grime away. The shampoo is a gift from heaven, as I can finally take care of my hair again. Those shitty pirates only gave me cheap soap, forcing me to keep it in a braid, or else I would have looked like a savage. Now I can let it hang down my back again. “Yes!” I exclaim and jump with glee and almost slip on the wet surface. I can’t help myself and start to laugh.

A while later when I’m done, I finally feel like a human being again. Wow, what a difference one shower can make. The past few days have been intense. I open the wardrobe and take in the contents again. There are more clothes than I've ever owned! First some underwear, then a shipsuit. That thing’s a must as I don’t want to instantly die if we lose atmosphere. I decide to take a black one, just to keep things simple. It’s way more skin-tight than the one from Solitur Transportation and feels like a second skin. I guess it's meant to be worn under normal clothes? But why is it black and not see-through? That stops practically everything besides pants from looking good.

Just as I think about that fact, S-57 chimes in. “I’m detecting a wireless signal emanating from the shipsuit. Shall I try to connect?”

I shrug. “Yeah, go ahead.” What could happen, it’s only a shipsuit. Also, why is S-57 suddenly so helpful? Does he know that I’m about to replace him? But he’s just the most basic AI, he doesn’t feel. I shake my head, don’t think too much about that Sara, you have to do the change to get rid of the collar! Maybe I can use him later for another purpose? Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

“Connection established… There are color-changing options. I’ll send it to the holoprojector.” A second later a projector comes to life in the room and I’m standing now next to a holographic projection of myself wearing the same black shipsuit. Next to it are controls to change the colors of individual parts.

Nice, now we’re talking! A small voice in my head now wants to become a General – so many benefits. I shove the thought away and focus on the controls. A long time later – I don’t want to admit how long exactly – I’m finished. I’m now wearing a dark grey skirt, a sleeveless purple blouse, and a black stylish jacket with purple stripes. My old boots also found their way to the trash and I’m now wearing black sneakers with purple accents. I like purple, okay! The shipsuit is transparent at my arms and legs, so it doesn’t look awkward. Now I’m ready.

With a slight jump in my steps, I walk back to the bridge. I should probably try to repair that grav chair. It’s completely unpractical standing down here on the ground. Anyway, that’s not why I’m here. I step up to the console and carefully lift the piece of technology lying there. Wow, it’s a piece of art! Just like the one Simon got at the academy, the AI chip is way bigger than the one I got.

The connector is the same and should fit into my slot once I remove S-57. Extending from the connector are three relatively flat arms of shining silver metal. Two gracefully curve upward, and it looks like they rest on my temple once I slot it in. The last one points downward and curves a little to move around my ear.

I guess it’ll look like a nice accessory, especially with my red hair mixing it up. Now only one question remains… Do I really want to connect to the chip? I mean that Sean guy said it’s harmless, but he also said the AI’s purpose was to replace the consciousness of the Mage connected to the chip. Hmm, he saved my life and said the chip is safe… And I do need more computing power. It’s worth a try, even if there is a program to kill me, it’s not instantly, right?

Making my decision, I balance the chip in the palm of my left hand and walk back to the living room. It’s better to sit on the couch instead of that broken-down chair. Next, I remove S-57 from the slot behind my ear. “See you later buddy,” I mumble, then I have the chip in my hand. I lay it down next to the other and chuckle. The difference is like night and day. On the left side the stylish and big new chip – Maja – and on the right side the small piece of technology that saved my life before I left the republic.

“I’m gonna find a new purpose for you, S-57, just wait a little, okay?” I of course don’t get an answer as he is now inactive. Taking a deep breath, I grab the other chip and put it in my slot. There is a soft buzzing sound, then the extending arms somehow glue themselves to my head, so that they won't break off. After that nothing happens and I just wait.

Five minutes later, still nothing has happened, and I start to worry. “Uhm hello? Maja, are you there?” I ask with a soft voice and almost jump when a silent female voice answers.

“Hi… who are you? Where am I? This connection is weird.” Uh, what do I say now? This is a whole new experience. S-57 never asked such questions.

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Honesty is probably for the best… A fully sapient AI should be just like any other human, right? “My name’s Sara, nice to meet you. We are on a small yacht, unfortunately, that’s all I know. We got lost in a collapsing wormhole.”

Maja is silent for a moment. “Nice to meet you too, Sara. What do you mean by getting lost in a wormhole? And where’s Sean?”

Ouch, that hits right in the gut. Sean was probably like a father figure to her. I have to tell her! Taking a deep breath, I start to talk. “Maja, I’ll explain the rest later, but there is something you need to know.” With that, I launch into a lengthy explanation of what happened in the Olovis System and how I came to meet with Sean. Maja keeps silent throughout my explanation. I guess, she has already figured out where this leads to.

Now comes the hard part. “You see, it was a lucky coincidence that I managed to jump onto Sean’s ship. I still don’t know how exactly.” I pause, remembering the weird moment when my Space Sense stopped working and I successfully teleported into a gravity field. “When I met him he sat on the ground and was desperate.”

I want to continue, but Maja interrupts me. “I remember, we were surrounded and Sean… and dad told me to overload the reactor… He didn’t want the republic to have me back. What they wanted me to do is horrible! We both knew a self-destruct was the only way out… Then… then you appeared! And I lost the connection to the ship, why?”

Oh no, he really was like a father to her. I swallow some spit. “Sean saw in me a chance for you to survive. He unplugged your chip and gave it to me, then he ushered me to the small yacht we are inside now. He said that I’m able to escape through the unenhanced wormhole as the military didn’t block it completely, probably out of arrogance.” I pause to take another deep breath. “Sean stayed behind to distract the military. He used the self-destruct to buy us some time. I’m sorry Maja, but he’s dead.”

Maja lets out a wail of anguish but otherwise, she stays silent. After a few minutes, I start to worry. Finally, she starts to speak. There is grim determination in her voice. “He died as a hero! He gave us a second chance. We’ve got to use it. They can never be allowed to try what they wanted to do to me again! Can you promise me to help me stop them?”

Wow, I kinda envy her ability to cope with such devastating news. Probably her advantage as an AI. I was down for days after Amal’s death… I still have nightmares. “Yes Maja, I can promise you that. What they wanted to do is disgusting and I’m sorry that Sean had to die for that.” I blink away some tears, this is getting very emotional. “We probably don’t have too much to do to stop them as Sean told me they destroyed all the research. But we sure can check that once we arrive back in the republic.”

“Thank you, Sara, this means a lot to me. So how can I help you now? You said we are lost. Oh and what is that weird connection I feel?” Oh, I’m probably the first Mage, she interacts with. And the first thing I do is put her into my head and connect her to my magic.

A little panicked, I hastily start to speak. “I put you into the AI slot in my head. It’s a Space Mage thing, the connection you feel has to be my magic, I think. I don’t know for sure as my old AI is very dumb and not sapient like you. Sorry for doing that without asking.”

“Oh, don’t worry. It’s not uncomfortable or something, it was just a new feeling. What can I do with it?”

I let out a relieved breath. “You should feel the range of my magic… I can jump with you to any place inside that range as long as there is no gravity. But I need you to calculate the coordinates and all the other factors that may influence the jump.”

“Cool, I think, I can do that. But let’s test it”.

With a silent chuckle, I slow her down. “Woah, wait a moment. That’s only the first part. The second thing is traveling through wormholes. There, everything is in real-time. My job is to cast the spell that encompasses the ship, then we can jump into the wormhole. Inside I need you to help me navigate and stop any power fluctuations. As you are connected to my magic, you can take hold of it and stop those fluctuations on your own.”

“That sounds even cooler! We have to try that too.” That has me laughing and a bit later Maja lets out a laugh too. It’s nice to have someone to talk to.

“Okay, let’s put magic aside for a moment. Can you connect to the yacht’s wireless network?”

“Sure, one moment… Oh holy shit, we’re in the ass end of nowhere!”

“Language!”

Her next words sound a bit embarrassed. “Oh, sorry, I grew up with IT guys and they swore like sailors... I miss them." A bit of melancholy enters her voice. "Anyway, what I said is true. The sensors detect no wormholes in the vicinity and the next planets are pretty far away… Hmm, our current course is going to take us 11.5 days to reach those planets, but there is a bit of fuel waste at the end… Okay, done travel time is now twelve days but it’s going to take 2% less fuel.”

My jaw drops. Holy smokes, she’s fast. “Did you just correct our course in two seconds?” I ask in disbelief.

“Yeah, that was pretty easy, wanna change the course to the new one?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.” Definitely an upgrade compared to S-57!

“Okay, so now we have twelve days to kill, first can you access the restricted sections of the computer?”

“Done, what do you need?”

I can’t believe it! She’s so fast. “Wow, that was fast. Can you find anything about Mage collars there?”

“Let me see… Yes! There it is. Holy shi…” She stops herself halfway through the curse and I can’t suppress a grin. “Those things are horrible! Wait, are you wearing one right now?”

“Yeah, I know. I’ve worn it for four years now. Now that I’m free of the republic’s clutches, I need to get rid of it. This was a General’s ship. He should be able to deactivate those things. Can you find something?” Hope has entered my voice, but it immediately vanishes when I hear Maja’s answer.

“No, there is nothing here… Maybe it was only on the main ship.” She is silent for a moment and I sigh in resignation. I guess, I have to keep it then. “Hmm, yes, that could work. Do you have a UC-cable?”

With wide eyes, I jump up and run to the bridge. I’ve seen a universal connecter cable earlier. With a shout of triumph, I hold it up. “What now?”

“Now I need you to rip off the cap and remove the two leftmost pins. Then feel around your collar till you find a small gap. There’s a port cover you can remove. Afterward, plug in the modified connector and the other end into the Captain’s console.”

I quickly do as she said, my hands shaking a little in anticipation. When I’m done, I tell Maja and she tells me to wait. Five minutes later I hear a click and the collar falls down.

YESSSSS!!!