Reckless Faith VI: Chapter 2

Spoiler alert: This is a new entry in the Reckless Faith series. The prologue may be found here: https://devonai.wordpress.com/2021/10/26/reckless-faith-vi-prologue/

It was after dark at the Four Winds Complexium on Secundus, and the towering structure was lit up like a beacon, making a spectacular vista for those on the bridge of the Reckless Faith.  Milena was at the controls, concentrating on her approach to one of the landing pads on the exterior of the building, allowing John, Ari, Ray, Evangeline, and Vecky to gawk at its beauty.  Each of the four towers of the Complexium, which seemed to lean into each other and converge at the top, was lit with a different primary color.  It was an effect not seen by Eva and Vecky last time they were there, having arrived during daytime.  Vecky’s own ship, the Fox, remained in orbit, but the young captain didn’t want to miss this trip, nor the unusual item the crew of the Faith had purchased.

The company they wanted to visit wasn’t in the towers proper, but in a separate structure nearby.  It was of more recent construction, having been built as overflow for the many businesses that wanted to be located at the extremely popular Complexium.  Milly effortlessly set the Faith down on the pad assigned to them, and locked down the controls.  That done, they exited the bridge and went down the stairs to the galley.  Almost everyone else was waiting there, eager to set foot on a new world for the first time.  Only Cane and Talyn weren’t present, having volunteered to stay on the Fox.

The group headed down another flight of stairs to the cargo bay, and disembarked down the ramp.  They stood in awe of the building looming above them, and breathed in the fresh air.  It was already known who would be doing what.  John, Ray, Ari, Richter, and Vecky would be heading to the company to make their purchase, while Eva, Dana, Miriam, Devonai, Milly, and Penrose would take in everything else that the Complexium had to offer, whether it be food, alcohol, or trinkets.

“Okay, everyone,” began John.  “Remember the rally points, and nobody wanders off alone.  Time hack for return to the ship is 1700 Sierra.  If you’re armed, go easy on the booze.  Keep your heads on a swivel.”

There were no objections, so the groups said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.  John’s group walked around the perimeter of the towers until they got to the newer section, and entered from the side where it was connected to the larger building.  The interior was of an atrium style, open in the center up to the ceiling three stories above.  Business flanked the central walkway, and moving sidewalks similar to an airport offered a slightly faster way to traverse it.  As they looked for the location they wanted, it became obvious that this section of the Complexium was mostly occupied by corporate offices, offering fewer retail establishments.  As a result, it was almost deserted.  After a few minutes they found what they were looking for, and went inside.

The lobby was stark white, bright, and spotless.  An employee, a native Secundian female wearing a tailored suit, sat behind a desk.  She smiled at her visitors.

“Welcome to Verisimilitude Android Designs,” she said.

“Thanks,” began John.  “We’re picking up an order for Temerity, LLC.”

“Ah yes, our very first Perditian design.”  She looked at the console on her desk.  “I see your balance is paid in full.  I’ll have the staff bring it out.  Please have a seat.”

The group availed themselves of faux leather chairs nearby.  It wasn’t that long to wait, and they barely had time to strike up a conversation before a door to the back opened up.  A Z’Sorth wearing a lab coat entered, followed by a humanoid female, garbed in a white robe.  Everyone but Vecky gasped at the sight, and stood up.  The woman stared at them vacantly, but her appearance was unmistakable.  Ray was the first to draw closer.

“Oh my god,” he breathed.  “She’s perfect.”

“We take pride in our work,” said the Z’Sorth slowly, his cadence of speech typical for his species.  “Your design specifications for the appearance were easy, for its operating system, not so much.”

“Is it… aware of us?” asked John.

“It’s in autonomous mode.  You can give it simple commands, that’s about it.  It was difficult for us to program in even a simple OS given your design parameters, but hopefully we figured it out.”

“It remains to be seen if it’s compatible with the orb configuration,” said Ari.

“If not, come back and we’ll load it with our standard software.”

“Maybe,” said Richter.  “It would defeat the purpose of having her look exactly like Christie.  Though we did pay an awful lot of money for it.”

Ray began to cry, and had to step away.  “I always liked this idea, but now it’s really hitting home.  I’m not sure I’ll be able to stand the disappointment if it doesn’t work as a vessel for Christie.”

The receptionist gestured at John, and pulled him off to the side.

“I hope there hasn’t been a misunderstanding,” she said quietly.  “This is a combat model, not a pleasure model.”

“No, that’s what we wanted, thank you.  My associate isn’t looking to, um, be intimate with it.”

“Oh, thank goodness, then.”

“Do you have anything else for her to wear?” asked Ray.  “We have to walk a bit of a way back to our ship.”

“We have some coveralls and shoes if you’d like.”

“That would be preferable.”

The Z’Sorth returned to the back room, and everyone continued to marvel at the android.  Though it wasn’t acknowledging their presence, its chest rose and fell with the rhythm of breath.  Whispering an apology, Ray got as close as he could without knocking it over.

“Her hair, eye color, pores, even that little scar on her cheek.  They got all of it.  It’s incredible.”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate it,” said Ari.

The Z’Sorth returned with the requested garments, and told the android to put them on.  To everyone’s embarrassment, it did so, sparing no modesty.  However, it was revealed that it was androgynous.  Ray helped it make some minor adjustments to the clothing.  They thanked the employees, and headed out onto the concourse.  The android followed them like a zombie.

“This is unsettling,” said Ray.

“I’m surprised you didn’t request a model with a few curves,” said Ari.

“It was Christie’s decision.  To her, it seemed irrelevant.”

Soon, the group arrived back at the Faith.  Christie’s voice could be heard as soon as they set foot on the ship.

“Astonishing,” she said.  “Obviously they were able to make good use of the data we provided.  It’s like looking into a mirror.”

“I’m glad you like it,” replied John.

They proceeded to the galley, where Ray instructed the android to lie on the couch.

Vecky said, “So now she just transfers her consciousness into it?”

“It’s more complicated than that,” Christie said.  “First I’m going to do a series of scans to see if VAD lived up to their expectations.  Then, I’m going to synthesize another orb, scaled down to fit inside the cranium.  It won’t have the same storage capacity as our standard-sized orb, but it should be enough for me to function like a normal human.  Then, I’ll be able to access it and make an initial attempt at a connection.  If that works, then I’ll spend a few days making sure everything works properly.  Ideally, as long as I’m on board the Faith, I’ll be able to freely decide whether I’d rather be in the ship’s orb or in its orb.”

“But I thought the whole point was to be able to go on missions with us.”

“Yes, it still is.  And I’ll have a backup system in place in case the android gets critically damaged or destroyed while separated from the Faith.  I probably won’t remember anything, though.”

“How far can you get from the ship before you’re on your own?”

“I don’t know.  We’ll find out.”

Ray said, “All right, Christie, we’ll let you get to work.  Please be careful poking around in there.”

“I will.”

John went behind the bar and began to fix himself a glass of bourbon.  “Anybody up for a round of poker?  We’ve still got two hours before everyone else is due back.”

It was a good suggestion, and the others grabbed themselves their own drinks before gathering around the table.  John picked up a well-worn deck of cards and began to shuffle them.

“Texas Hold ‘Em?” asked Richter.

“As usual.”

“I’m still a little fuzzy on the rules,” said Vecky.

“Don’t worry, we can go over them again.”

Vecky’s PDA began to beep at her, so she pulled it out of her pocket.  “The Fox is calling me.”

Cane’s voice filled the room.  “Captain, it’s Venator.  Talyn and I just read a report on the ‘net that will be of interest to everyone.”

“Can you summarize it for us?”

“Sure.  In addition to the refugee ships from Sadal Biham, reports are coming in about a ship from Eniph arriving at Matesia.  The Eniphites have made a formal request to the Matesian government to send ships back to defend against a possible invasion force that arrived a few days ago.”

“More Rakhar imperial wannabees?” asked Richter.

“That information isn’t in the report, but the scenario is playing out the same way as it did at Sadal Biham.  A fleet of at least a hundred ships, of varying configurations, shows up on the edge of the solar system.  Considering the proximity of these stars to each other, one might assume it is more Rakhar.”

“Eniph is closer to us than Sadal Biham, right?” asked Vecky.

“Yes, it’s (number) light-years out, or about (number) days transit time at the Fox’s top speed.”

John said, “Then once Christie’s available again, we might as well check out Eniph first.  Any word about Matesia’s response?”

“Not yet.”

“Okay.  If Christie is satisfied with the android by morning, then we’ll head out.”

“Understood.  How does it look?”

Ray said, “As long as it’s wearing clothes, you can’t tell them apart, even from an inch away.”

“Neat.  Talk to you later, then.”

Cane terminated the transmission, and the others went back to their game.  Ten minutes later, everyone was startled when the android sat up.  Ray went over and sat next to it on the couch.

“Christie?” he asked.

“It’s me,” came the reply.

“How is it?”

The android looked around the room.  “It’s so… quiet in here.  No, quiet isn’t the right word.  It’s peaceful.  There’s so much less stimuli.  And yet at the same time, I feel… claustrophobic.  It’s hard to describe.”

“That makes sense,” said John.  “You’ve been omniscient for so long, at least on the ship.  The idea was to limit the android to the five senses, is that what you’re doing?”

“That’s what I’m trying to do, yes.  It just feels weird.  My field of vision is limited.  I can’t feel the pulse of the ship.  My hearing seems to be normal.  I don’t recognize any of the smells in here.”

Ray took her hand in his.  She turned to look at him.

“Is that okay?” he asked.

“Yes.  That feels normal, too.  Though it’s hard to remember.”

“Are you completely disconnected from the ship?”

“No.  In my mind there’s something like a thread floating in space.  I can’t see it, but I know it’s there.  A few minutes ago, I practiced using that form of connection to return my consciousness to the ship, and it seemed to work fine.  It’s reassuring, since I’m finding this experience to be mildly terrifying.”

“If it’s too much for you, go back.  You don’t have to master this form immediately.”

“I know.  I just wanted to feel human again.”

Christie shakily rose to her feet.  Ray joined her, and put his hand on her shoulder.

“Easy there.”

“I got it.  Man, it’s like waking up from anesthesia.  I want to be able to move without thinking about it, you know?  When I do something on the ship, no matter how simple, I still have to visualize the path for a microsecond.  The android’s BIOS is supposed to do that for me, once we learn from each other how.”

John said, “You have plenty of time to figure it out.  Take it slow.  Walk around the galley, observe the game for a while.”

“I have a better idea.  Ray, help me get to the cargo hold, please.  I want to put on my own clothes.”

__________

Evangeline stood on a balcony, overlooking the city that bordered the Four Winds Complexium.  She’d had a little bit too much wine while at dinner with her friends, and hoped that some fresh air would help clear her head.  She and her companions had wandered around the towers for an hour or so before deciding to have dinner at the West Wind Bistro, the same restaurant where she had first met Vecky and Cane.  Milly and Penrose were particularly enjoying the experience, it being their first opportunity to see a wide variety of alien species in a peaceful environment.  Eva and Devonai had also attempted to engage a few shopkeepers in conversation about any refugees fleeing from a new Rakhar threat, but since none had arrived on Secundus, there was little for them to learn.

They still had half an hour before they were due back at the Faith, so Eva took the opportunity to stare at the stars, the glittering ships in orbit and in flight, and the lights of the city.  It had a bucolic, yet cosmopolitan feel to it that appealed to her, despite the fact that not long ago she almost got killed by robbers at the very same Complexium.  If she were to mind her own business, she could see herself retiring somewhere nearby someday.

After getting lost in her thoughts, she became aware of the presence of someone else with her on the balcony.  About ten feet away, looking over the edge of the Zephyrus tower, was a Rakhar.  He nodded at her, and she returned the gesture.

“Lovely evening, isn’t it?” he asked.

“Certainly is,” she replied.

Eva took stock of the man.  He was wearing dark pants, boots, and what looked to her like a gray barn jacket.  He pulled out a pipe and lit it, the unmistakable aroma of tobacco filling the air seconds later.

“Evangeline Adeler of the Fox,” he said flatly.

Eva’s right hand instinctively moved to her hip, resting at the hem of her jacket.  Perhaps for her, a blissful retirement on Secundus was impossible.

“And you are?”

“Suffice it to say, someone equally interested in the possible rise of interlopers claiming to be a new Rakhar empire.”

“Interlopers?  I take it such a thing doesn’t meet with your approval?”

“Interlopers they are, but my opinion is irrelevant.  What I see is a business opportunity.”

“So you’re a merc.  What makes you think we either need or can afford your services?”

“I don’t know if you do, because I don’t know what your intentions are.  I do know two ships isn’t of much use other than to observe.  As for payment, the Reckless Faith has gained quite a reputation for big spending.  Whether that be as a stipend from Umber or another source, it’s certainly worth asking.”

“I suppose it’s useless asking you where you get your information about us.”

“You people talk too much.”

“Okay.  Assuming we’re interested, what do you have to offer?”

“A well-armed ship, and almost a hundred highly-trained and capable troops.”

Eva raised an eyebrow.  “That sounds like a good setup if you wanted to raid, say, the Swan asteroid.”

“Mm hmm,” he said, and puffed on his pipe as he stared at the city.

“Fine, give me your contact info.  I’ll let my crewmates know you’re for hire.  I wouldn’t get your hopes up too much.”

The man passed over a card.  On it was written a name and number in a language she couldn’t read.  Despite this, she didn’t inquire further, and put the card in her pocket.

“If you’re going to call, you’ll need a SRC transceiver capable of encryption level five.  Which, by the way, you should be using all the time.”

“Good to know.”

The man tapped out his pipe, sending a small shower of flaming embers down the side of the tower.  He nodded again, and walked back toward the concourse.