“So, what should I call you?” Joshua asked after he’d gotten some shut-eye. “I can’t keep referring to you as the AI, right?”

“Call me Claire,” was the response.

“That mean anything? Or is it the name you choose?”

“Just a name I like. Found it in your head.”

“What do you mean, in my head?”

“Once I was integrated with your nanites, I gained access to your memories. Don’t worry. You can do nothing about it now, so just deal with it.”

“Okay… Claire, it is.”

They settled into silence again when Joshua remembered that he’d been very active recently and forgot to check his improvements.

Joshua Reed

Class-1

Strength: 6

Dexterity: 10

Endurance: 8

Intelligence: 9

Wisdom: 4

Accuracy: 9

Speed: 7

Toughness: 6

He’d made progress, and it was obvious that it was in the stats related to endurance. His injuries had forced the nanites to work on healing, which improved his Toughness and Endurance while tinkering with the ship and trying to figure out a solution to the many issues had improved his Dexterity and Intelligence. His Wisdom hadn’t moved, and neither had Strength, Accuracy, or Speed. He’d improve them in due time.

“What was that place?” Joshua asked as he walked around a bit, intending to familiarize himself some more with the ship. It would likely become his home for the foreseeable future, and so far, he’d been running around trying to fix it and nothing else.

“The base?” Claire asked and continued after Joshua nodded. “Well, as you know, it was a research base focused on learning about the Great One and the Profound Connection. They strove to find better ways to interface with the Great One, and the nanites, and me, were some of their advances. The others were utter failures, though, and subsequently scrapped.”

“Why were you still there, and the nanites as well,” Joshua walked into the living area of the ship, but he’d been forced to rip it apart to find spare parts, leaving it in shambles. “If you were a success, then why weren’t you implanted into your creator?”

“Because they were unable to. I don’t recall the details, as this was millennia ago, but anyone who was implanted died shortly after, and that vat of nanites used to be one of many. They were likely attacked before they could retrieve it.” Fortunately, he’d left the sleeping area in place, but the bedding was rotted away, forcing him to place a sleeping roll on it. He hoped to get a good deal on a bunch of things when, or if, he reached Rak’sethi, as he had a bunch of stuff in his pack that might prove valuable. He’d have to get there first, though.

“What were they called,” he asked. “Your creators.”

“You really don’t know much, do you? Well, they were called the Lorune. They were highly intelligent and spiritual people who believed knowledge was the key to immortality and paradise. They were, unfortunately, very xenophobic and actively avoided any other races. The other races believed they were creating a weapon to wipe them out, which is why they attacked en mass, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. While they avoided the other races, they didn’t believe in violence. They craved unity and peace to research more than anything.”

Joshua found a kitchen, which had also been stripped clean of any tech, and several storage rooms. There were a few more bunk areas, likely for crew or companions, and he was already very familiar with the engine room. Joshua returned to the cockpit, sat in his chair, initiated the last jump, and watched the flashing lights that some claimed were stars rush past. It was an incredible view, and knowing that he traveled faster than the speed of light, at least relevant to the main dimension, filled him with a sense of reverence. This was the dream of many young earthlings, but the vast majority never left their hometown, not to mention the planet.

“What is the Great One? Does anyone know?” he asked as he checked the systems, ensuring the ship would survive the trip.

“No one knows. Some claim it's an eldritch creature, while some claim it’s a manifestation of the universe itself, like some form of universal consciousness, but nothing has been proven. Some claim to see an eye when they are connected, but that has never been confirmed.”

“Aha, well,” he scratched the back of his head. “You can confirm it. I saw the eye and felt some kind of presence just before.”

“Truly? That does lend some credence to the eldritch provenance, but I’ve never heard of the presence. It might justify some further investigation if an opportunity arises.”

“Wait… I thought you could see my memories. That’s how you found the name, Claire, right?” Joshua asked, frowning.

“Yes, that’s true, but the nature of the Connection is above the physical, and I can’t process that information. Either it’s beyond me, or I’m blocked from seeing it.”

“Huh…”Joshua shrugged and looked back to the front window. The stars would flash by for a few hours more. He couldn’t afford to fall asleep again in case something happened, but the jump passed without any big troubles.

The ship dropped out of hyperspace, and Joshua piloted it toward a nearby planet. The planet was harsh, with countless mountains that seemed to breach through the atmosphere and terrifying storms. The storms were a permanent fixture on the planet, and the trading post he was going to sat in the center of the largest one. The eye of this storm was perfectly calm, and a large town was nestled in a mountainside.

Like most settlements, it was made from metal and held countless towering buildings, as the various races of the universe had started to build vertically rather than horizontally. With the large populations of different races, it became necessary to pack everyone as densely as possible, while only the obscenely wealthy could afford anything separate.

The landing was a simple process, as it was mostly automated. The only issue arose with his lack of personal clearance, but plenty of precedences existed. People discovered old ships all the time in the lost regions, or ships changed owners, which meant the Starport had protocols in place.

Once the process was started, the ship's autopilot took over, with the guidance of the Starport computer, and Joshua soon landed in a large communal hangar. His ship was sealed with his biometrics, and he could head out.

His first stop was a branch of one of the galaxy’s largest banks, where he could access his money, and he left the bank a bit richer. Then he headed to the market district, where he sold a bunch of nick-nacks he’d found during the expedition, and finally, he headed to the Starport mechanic.

The mechanics did their business near the Starport, and they all looked up at Joshua when he entered. It looked like there’d been little business lately as the gruff-looking people put on their least terrifying expressions. The mechanics were all of the same race, a short, stocky people who excelled in smithing, crafting, and mechanics. They also made excellent engineers and innovators when it came to making starships.

“Welcome. I do hope you bring business,” said the foreman. His crew listened intently, and all activity in the shop stopped. “Been slow lately.”

“I got that impression, yes. I do bring business. In fact, it’ll be quite a lot. I found a ship in the uncharted regions and patched it up as best I could, but I’m no engineer. It barely got me here.” The eyes of the Rothar, as their race was called, widened, and grins split their faces. “I’ve gathered as many credits as I can spare, and I hope it’ll suffice.”

Joshua showed a credit chip, and the foreman’s eyes widened, and the friendliest smile transformed his face.

“Let’s see what we’re dealing with then. With that kind of cash, you’ll get the very best service we can provide, short of rebuilding the entire ship with new parts. Hahah.”

The man practically dragged Joshua out of the shop, and a stream of Rothar followed in their wake. They arrived in the hangar soon enough, and Joshua showed them the ship. A shocked silence spread among the Rothar as they were shown the damage and the patchwork repairs he’d made, but the foreman seemed in extremely high spirits.

“Well, damn. Not often we get to work on a Lorune vessel, and this seems to be in pretty good condition too. We usually find them as wrecks. This’ll be a joy to work on. It’ll take a while, though. Hmmm. The amount of credits you have is a bit more than the work is worth; anything else we can do?”

“Ah, right. I think the systems are all good, so long as they are repaired. Weapons, scanning, and such, but I’d like to have an implant interface, if at all possible.”

“Hmm, yeah. As far as I can tell, the weapons systems are fixable, as are the other systems, but I’d still upgrade the weapons. The Lorune were mostly peaceful, and their weapons were subpar. I can install a good photon cannon and blaster array. As for the Implant interface, I’ll throw that in for free.”

“Great! Can anything be done about the exterior? It’s a bit rough.” The bland, gray color scheme of the Lorune didn’t appeal to Joshua at all, and he’d wanted to change that, but a starship paint job could cost a lot.

“Well, not with the credits you have, but if you sell me the weapons we replace, then I’ll fix you up.”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“That’s fine. For now, I just want to fix this up and make it look good. For reference, black, with gold and silver trim or detail. I don’t care about any symbology or design. Please don’t cover it in advertisement; otherwise, I’ll leave it to you.”

“That’s fine. Interesting color scheme, though, but you’ll get what you want. It’ll take a few weeks, at least. A few months if we need to wait for parts.”

With that, Joshua left them to their business, and the Rothar rushed to get started. It almost seemed like they suddenly came alive now that they had a ship to work on.

***

With his ship under repair, Joshua had to figure out something else to do. He’d wanted to work on his equipment, but he prioritized his ship, which meant he was pretty much broke. Years of saving and scrounging were thrown at the issue of his ship, but he was happy to have done it. Most went their entire lives without owning a decent ship, and once the Rothar was done, his should be pretty damn good.

The Rothar was a strange race. They took immense pride in their work and would never sully their craft with subpar work, scams, or tricks. That’s why Joshua was comfortable leaving them with most of his money and the ship itself.

He could take some odd jobs and earn some cred, or he could join a crew heading out to the uncharted region, but that ran the risk of not getting anything. Not every expedition went well. The jobs on the ground were the safer bet, but they wouldn’t earn him much.

In the end, he decided to stay on the ground. He wasn’t comfortable heading out so soon. He wanted to wait a while and let the situation with the Gravun calm down first. So, he approached a tinkerer. They worked with various tech and took things apart to fix something else, and Joshua had already gotten some experience with that elsewhere.

Brazter’s Tink-Tank was one of the more successful ones in Rak’sethi, and the proprietor was very interested in gaining an assistant. He had to pass a test, but with his experience, improved Dexterity, and Claire’s help, he passed with flying colors. The work was menial for the most part, just taking things apart and handing the stuff to Brazter, but he got to do some work on his own and even got to use some things for personal crafts.

He eventually found a way to improve his blaster, but it was a slight improvement to the blaster’s accuracy. More interesting was the work itself, as he learned a lot from the old human. The man was eccentric to the extreme, but madness and brilliance often go hand in hand, and old Brazter was a prime example of that. He could turn a bunch of useless scrap into a working computer in a matter of hours, and his insights were invaluable to Joshua.

It was three months after he arrived that Joshua got word of his ship being finished, and by then, he’d learned a lot. He’d upgraded his blaster and even gotten himself some pieces of armor. The armor covered his heart, arms, shins, and groin without hampering his movements too much. Brazter had provided a lot of aid with that, and his blaster could now fire twice as many plasma bolts before overheating. So, it was with satisfaction that Joshua packed up his workstation and bid the old man goodbye.

“If ye e’er wan’ work here agein, ye’r welcome,” the old man said, barely looking up from his work, and Joshua took his leave.

He had a pep in his step as he returned to the Starport and rushed to the hangar. The Rothar was waiting around his ship with proud expressions, and the foreman looked like he could barely contain himself.

“Good, good! You’re back. We finished the work, and I gotta say; it was a damn pleasure to work on that ship. We’ve fixed it up and made the changes you asked for. As you can see, the color scheme is fixed up,” and it was. The ship was an ominous black, with gold and silver patterns around the edges. “We’ve made some additional touch-ups since it was such a joy to work on it; we couldn’t help ourselves.” The man grinned as he started guiding Joshua through the ship.

First, he was shown the engine room.

“We’ve repaired every broken piece and fine-tuned the engine, so you should get some more power from it. The Lorune were experts in energy collection, so we could do little, but we’ve improved the energy storage and flow. Furthermore, we’ve added some extra padding, reducing the sounds that reach you while flying. We’ve taken the liberty to fix up the bunk rooms with proper bedding, and the living area is now in tip-top shape.”

Joshua was guided through the ship, and everything looked brand new like the ship came straight from the factory floor.

“As for the weapons, we did as discussed, and you now have a solid set of offensive systems, but the old weapons were something special, so we threw in a decent shield generator. We could do nothing to improve the scanners or navigation systems, but we did fix you up with a modern implant interface.”

Looking around the cockpit, he couldn’t help but feel excited about heading into space, to explore, and the foreman obviously noticed.

“Hah, I can see you want to head off, so I won’t hold you further,” he said as he walked down the ramp. “If you’re ever in the area, and need some repairs or new kit, come to me, and I’ll give you a discount. Anything to work on this beauty again.”

“Sure thing, boss. Hope you get lots of work in the future.”

The man grinned in gratitude and waved him off. Joshua took his seat and started the ship. It started with barely a hum and lifted smoothly off the ground. A quick communication with the Starport computer, and he was off into space. Before jumping anywhere, he stopped behind one of the planet’s moons.

“Alright, so how do I hook you up to the ship?” he asked as he checked the various systems.

“Just place your finger on the interface dock, and I’ll make a connection through your nanites.”

Joshua did as told, and soon enough, all his systems started blinking as Claire checked her connection. While she did, Joshua checked his gains over the last three months.

Joshua Reed

Class-1

Strength: 7

Dexterity: 13

Endurance: 8

Intelligence: 11

Wisdom: 6

Accuracy: 9

Speed: 7

Toughness: 6

Thanks to the tinkering, his Dexterity had improved again, as had his Intelligence and Wisdom. His Strength had also increased, most likely due to some of the physical labor he’d been made to do for the old tinkerer. Progress was being made, and Joshua couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

“Connection established. I now have direct access to the ship systems. The connection will become clearer if you get some technomancy or techno kinesis abilities.”

“Sure. Does that mean you’ll be able to pilot the ship?” Joshua had been reluctant about giving the AI access to the ship, but they had discussed it during their time trying to make the ship flight capable. Claire could now run diagnostics and streamline any repairs. The AI also had access to the scanners and would be far better suited to understand the data. The AI had also been very helpful, and Joshua doubted he’d gain the Connection without Claire, so there’s that.

“Not quite. I can work the systems and push orders to the navigation computer and autopilot, but actually steering the vessel remains analog. I’ll work the scanners and plot our route and such. On a side note, I found something. I discovered some old data while going through the systems and the scanners. The Lorune discovered something deep in the uncharted regions, or the Lost Regions as they called them. I don’t have any info on what it is, but it might be worthwhile to check it out.”

“Alright, that’s fine. We’ll put that on the list of things to do. First, I think we should gather a crew. Can’t run this vessel properly with only us.”

“True. The journey into the Lost Regions would benefit from more crew members. Any thoughts?”

“I know a few people. I’ve been around the block, so to speak, and I met a few interesting people. Problem is finding them, as they wouldn’t stay in one spot. Our first stop should be closer to the core. Darthenu tends to stick around the larger planets and cities. Let’s head to Onerak.”

“Alright, plotting a course to Onerak.” Onerak was one of the largest unaffiliated planets and home to a countless number of mercenaries. Most weren’t part of a crew, and anyone could hire them for the right price. You could get your hands on anything there, even nanites, so long as you had the credit. Any nanites you get on the market there would be subpar, at best, but the desperate didn’t have many options. Joining one of the great factions was an option, but you’d sign away your freedom if you did; most didn’t survive a year, as the newly integrated outsider was treated as fodder, which is why Joshua never joined. Of course, Joshua had spent most of his credits on parts he used to upgrade his gear, and what he had left wouldn’t get him much.

Moments later, they jumped into hyperspace, and the lines of starlight flashed past. Joshua settled back, put his feet up on a console, and popped open a beer. Some things remained constant, and while food had mostly become pills and dehydrated meals, beers still came in bottles and cans. The pop and fizz brought a smile to his face.

“So, anything else of interest? What else do you know about the other factions and their progress on nanite research?”

“Ah, well… You see, uhm… Alright, you got to understand; I was desperate, alright. Those guys were no good, and I’d been alone in that base for eons. I had to convince you to take me with you and said whatever.” Joshua froze with the beer halfway to his mouth.

“You mean… You don’t know shit?” Anger rose as he realized he’d been had, and Joshua immediately started thinking about how he could get rid of the AI.

“Please! Just listen! I don’t know about the other factions since I was stuck on that desolate rock alone for millennia, but I can help you, I promise. We’re bound now, and we share the same fate. Your success is my success, and you’ll never get as much out of your Connection as you can with me. I can program and guide any new nanites you get. That means you can tailor your improvements, which nobody else can. They have to procure specifically made nanites, and nothing is ever a perfect fit. You won’t have that issue, just don’t try to push me out or remove me, please!”

“The fact that you’re so panicked right now means I can, that there is a way to remove you… But you’ve got a point. I just wished you’d be upfront about it. I don’t like getting tricked or used, alright? As you say, we’re stuck with each other for now. Just know that I’ll keep an eye on you, so to speak. No more funny business.”

"Right! Yes! I’ll be a good AI, the best! You’ll see!”

“Fine! Fine. Do you have any info on other research bases or points of interest to your creators? We might find some more nanites in such locations.”

“No, sorry. I wasn’t connected to the mainframe while it was functional. I could help you hack into any console you find, though, and we could find something. I can’t do the hacking myself, but if you get me in, then I can pour through any available databases faster than most.”

“Ok, so we have a tentative plan. First, find some crew members, then find info on nanites and Lorune bases. Should be easy, right?”

The trip took weeks, even through hyperspace, since they had to avoid any space controlled by the factions. They didn’t know if the factions could detect his nanite or Claire, but Joshua didn’t want to take that risk, not yet, at least. Claire believed it to be impossible, but Joshua had learned that few things were truly impossible. They just hadn’t been done yet.

Soon enough, they were looking at a gray planet. It looked like a dead world from a distance, but it was anything but. It was a city world where every part of the planet’s surface was covered by construction. Some parts of the planet hadn’t seen sunlight for millennia, and the people down there barely scraped by, eke-ing out a living at the expense of whoever stood in their way. Joshua had no intention of going to the lower reaches, though, and eventually landed the ship on one of the landing platforms floating above the city.

His first target was a well-known bar called Lucent’s Retreat. It was dark and dingy, but everything looked orchestrated like it was meant to look that way, and Joshua made his way to the bar.

“Give me the house special,” he said, placing a credit chip on the counter. “And, some info.”

“What’re you looking for,” the barman, Lucent, said as he poured a glass of amber liquid. It gave off a strong scent that seemed to burn his nostrils.

“A merc, Darthenu. You know where I can find him?”

“I might. What do you want with him?”

“Hire him, if possible. He’s an old friend of sorts, and I could use a guy with his, ahh, expertise.”

“Hah, I bet! Hang around for a bit, and I’ll call him here. He’s a pal, so if you cause any trouble, I’ll have you thrown in the pit, got that?”

“Sure, I’ll be in the corner. Keep the drinks coming, and one for him when he arrives, on me.”

Joshua retreated to a corner table and waited. He didn’t have to wait long, though, as the door slammed open, and a loud, gravelly voice sounded.

“Josh! You loony bastard! What’re you up to now?” the tall, broad-shouldered man said as he approached. Darthenu was a human, but not from Earth. Humans were one of the most prolific races in the universe and came in many varieties. Darthenu was covered in intricate tattoos and cosmetic scars, which made him look far more intimidating than he actually was. “Didn’t get enough last time? That run through Tretch was hell, man!”