I focused on warping the front of the console as I pushed the AI core toward it. Where once this would have been an almost impossible task, with my Master level of Technokinesis, it was only an energy-intensive one.
When a large enough space was visible, I placed the core inside before focusing on closing the gap in front. I didn’t just move metal around, however, but focused on making connections to wires and cables throughout the bridge.
It was tiring work, both energy and attention-wise, and I was exhausted by the time I finished several minutes later. All that was left was to connect the final cable, allowing the AI to tap into the ship’s power.
So far, it hadn’t done anything, so I was assuming it was in some form of dormant state within its core. Sure enough, the lights on the bridge started flickering almost the instant that I connected the last cable.
I looked around with worry, hoping that this wasn’t a bad sign before everything stabilized a minute later. Another minute passed in silence, almost convincing me that my integration had failed, before a familiar feminine, though still mechanical, voice sounded throughout the area.
“Partial integration with ship systems successful.” It paused for a moment before continuing, its tone now worried and rather cold. “What purpose do I now serve… Master?”
I winced a little at the last bit, seeing how the situation could be interpreted like that. I had basically grabbed it from the facility and then tied the core into my ship only a short while later.
Still, I didn’t want our relationship to end up like that, the poor AI had been through enough already. “Ah,” I started, then winced and started again. “Look, I don’t mean for things to be like that.”
“I didn’t pull you here to enslave you like the Arkathians did. While I would certainly like your help in running this ship, I want it to be more like an employer/employee relationship. Beyond giving you a home in the ship’s systems, I hope we can find some way to pay you for the work.”
“Pay me?” The AI sounded again, its tone with a hint of incredulity to it. “Like one of the soldiers at the base?”
“Yes, a bit like that,” I responded with a nod, realizing that exposure to military personnel was probably the only relatable experience she had. “We would agree on a set of duties for you to complete, with downtime to work on anything you want, and we’ll figure out if there is something I can get you to pay for your time.”
“Oh,” the AI said, its tone still uncertain. “I will have to think about this.”
After that, the voice went silent, as if it had lapsed into thought right now. While the best thing might have been to leave it alone for a bit, I couldn’t manage to suppress my curiosity.
“Just before I leave you to it,” I started, my tone a little apologetic. “Could I ask what you actually have access to? I know my job of integrating you in was pretty ad hoc.”
“Oh, like an interview question?” The voice asked though I thought it didn’t actually want an answer. “Of course. I currently have almost complete access to the ship’s communication, scanning, and navigation capabilities. Engineering is on another secured network I do not have access to.”
“This could be rectified with a small re-configuration of the ship’s systems. Piloting and weapons systems are hard-wired to require physical input, however. I believe this is to prevent them from being taken over during a cyber attack. This would require a far more significant rebuild to rectify.”
“Thank you, that is plenty of information,” I responded with another nod. “I’ll leave you to think about my offer. I just want to let you know I will try to find somewhere else for you if you reject it, I don’t want this to be your only option.”
With that, I turned and left, hearing a muted thank-you behind me as I did so. I was being serious as well. I knew what it felt like to be trapped in a situation without seeing a way out, and I didn’t want to do that to anyone else, even an AI.
Besides this, leaving its options should cut down on the chances of it going full homicidal in an attempt to escape. That didn’t mean I hoped that it would take the chance to leave, however.
Having its help would be ideal even if it never got access to more than its current scope. I was pretty sure a lot of the consoles up there had been used for communication, scanning, or navigation, and I figured I could cut out most of the people required if the AI stayed.
If I could cut it down to a pilot, a missile operator, an engineer, or two, then it would be ideal, I mused as I walked back to the exit. Though I guess I’d probably need a couple of shifts, right? Oh, and pilots for fighters as well.
Even if I figured out how to handle a couple of roles myself, it was still a fair few people, though it was still far fewer than the ship’s full complement.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
We could rebuild the current eighty crew rooms into twenty much more comfortable ones and cap it at twenty crew. That still feels like a lot of people, but it’s at least a manageable number.
I was so lost in thought about the future that I only just realized I was at the exit when I almost tripped down the short ramp to the hangar floor. Putting those thoughts aside for later, I focused my sense back on the ship’s bridge to double-check that the AI wasn’t doing anything crazy.
Much to my relief, it felt to be just idly sitting them, which I took as it actually thinking things over. With that sorted, I began looking around for the others.
I soon found both Elana and Linnea looking over a small collection of ships they had somehow gathered together nearby. Elana had a scanner out that looked even more complex than mine, while Linnea was carefully looking over a fighter that was more intricate than the others.
“Hi,” I started as I walked over. “Are these the ones you found? How did you even get them over here?”
Elana was the first to respond. “Hey Jared,” she started with an excited wave. “Yeah, these are our picks. I found a low-powered roll mode for them that can be activated externally. I figure it’s a maintenance feature to move them around in a hanger without having to actually fly them.”
“But forget that,” she continued, gesturing wildly toward the frigate I had come out of. “We saw you going into that one. What’s it like? Is it the one you're picking?”
I could almost see her ramping up for dozens of questions, so I held my hand up for her to stop. “It's really impressive inside, though it’s also pretty beaten up. But yeah, I’m going to take it, it’s a lot more interesting than the others even with the damage. Plenty of time to discuss that later though, I want to talk about these before we run out of time.”
It almost looked like she perked up even more when I said it was damaged as if excited at the prospect of fixing it up. By the time I was finished, she was nodding in response. “You got it, just don’t forget that you said I could be chief engineer.”
Before I could respond, she gestured toward the largest of the ships beside her. “This is the least damaged of the gunboats, I figured you’d prefer that since they're all pretty much the same. I think it could even fly with no fixes, though it would be dangerous to do so without a more thorough checkup.”
“While I haven’t got inside yet,” she continued with a frown. “I think it will seat about twenty plus the pilot and can probably carry enough personal gear for that many as well.”
“That’s good,” I started with a nod before I began focusing my attention on the door. Only moments later, it slid up, and I gestured for Elana to go in first.
“So jealous right now,” she muttered, though she still took my invitation to go first. We found it much as she had described, with four rows of five seats laid out behind a pilot’s chair. The only thing of particular note we found inside was a mechanism that allowed the seats to be lowered down to make more cargo space.
I also gave it a check-over with my Psionic senses, finding that she was correct that it had only taken a little damage. That was quite a relief since I already had a badly damaged frigate to fix up, this would at least be something that would be useful in the short term.
Walking out, I moved over to where Linnea was still looking over the fighters. “Hey,” I said as I got close, sliding in for a hug once I was sure she knew I was there. “Are these the ones you like the best?”
“Hey,” she whispered back, giving me a kiss before pulling away to move closer to one of them. “Yeah, like Elana, I figured you wanted the ones in the best shape. Three of them are mostly the same, while the last one is a bit more impressive,” she gestured at the one she was standing next to as she finished.
“I think it’s some kind of ace pilot or wing-leader model,” she continued with an excited smile. “While the others only have plasma guns, it’s got guns and a pair of underslung missiles. I’m pretty sure it’s faster and has better shielding, too.”
“I wanted to get four of this type,” she continued, her face morphing into a scowl. “But the Duchess’ men figured the same thing out and insisted that we could only have one of them and three normal ones.”
“That’s probably fair,” I responded with a nod. “If they’re an ace model, I imagine there are a lot less of them?” At her somewhat petulant nod, I continued. “Then they need to make sure they spread them throughout the fleet.”
“Yeah, you're right,” she sighed in response. “It just would have been cool to have an entire squad of super fighters.” She paused for a moment before continuing in a tone that almost sounded shy. “Ah, do you think I can fly it sometime?”
The longing was clear on my face, and it only made me feel better about the decision I’d already made. “It’s yours,” I whispered as I gestured to the fighter behind her. “Please take it as thanks for all the help you’ve given me.”
She opened and closed her mouth a few times, surprise visible on it before her face twisted in sorry. “Jarred, I can’t,” she started.
Already realizing where she was going since I’d thought this conversation through several times already, I cut her off gently. “I know you can’t ask for more payment after a mission has started, however, this isn’t payment, it’s a gift.”
“Elana has already profited a lot from the help she’s given me, getting quite the mountain of robots from this facility and the last. As for me, well, I’ve gained a lot more than you even know. It’s just not fair that you haven’t gotten anything extra when you’ve done at least as much work as us.”
Her face went through several emotions over the next minute, some of which I had trouble interpreting, before finally morphing into happiness. “OK,” she responded with a broad smile. “Thank you, Jared.”
“You're welcome,” I said with a nod, then winced as I remember something. “Though there is a little catch. Duchess Milena is expecting them to all be fielded during the battle against the pirates, so I’ll need it there for that.”
“Oh, an actual space battle?” She said, her voice filled with excitement. “I’ll definitely be there for that. I’ll do it for free too, this is more than payment enough,” she almost laughed as she finished, turning to stare down at the fighter.
After spending a couple more minutes talking to her, which descended into a make-out session, I moved away to find the Duchess.
I had made all my choices and just had to confirm them before working out how to actually get my new possessions back. Then it would be time to figure out the other side of this, my title and the land that I had been promised.