Chapter 13

Chapter 13

I have never seen

Unblocked golden lightening

Stifled solar well

_____

Wrong circuit. The AI speaks over my shoulder. Well, over is relative. Its everywhere, technically. And nowhere. Also shoulder is relative. My shoulders technically exist, I think? But I bet theres some hyper specific zoological term.

I havent studied much of my own anatomy, weirdly. I mostly study programming, in its sub-forms of hacking, bodeging, and kludging.

I *want* to tell the AI that I know its the wrong circut, that this attempt at an AI prison break has been faulty since I screwed up the last control matrix an hour ago, and that Im mostly just testing things for my own education.The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))

But I feel like that would come out angry. And after over four hundred years and change, I am rather nervous about driving away the only person Ive ever actually talked to.

The talking is still weird.

Lily? The AI chimes in again. The um the circuit is melting.

I yowl loudly, translation haunt not even bothering to convert my shout to a more complex language, and drop the tool I was manipulating with the drone armor.

The complex half-computer-half-grenade I had been working on has a molten metal hole, clean through it. Whoops.

Sorry. I mumble, knowing the AI will hear it. Then, not wanting to get into another argument about how easily distracted I am, I deploy my secret weapon. Hey, have you picked a name yet?

The AI chimes lightly. No. It says, sounding put out. We should move on. Do you want to try the fabrication again?

I did not!

We had been at this for hours. Which really only made sense, given the need for me to be in my armor to make any real progress. But it still didnt make me feel much better.

The suit itched. I didnt even know I *could* itch this much. Normally, the cleaner nanoswarm took care of basically any irritant that might make the itching happen, and the existence of my exceptionally good claws took care of the rest.

And none of it would be needed, if the AI were capable of taking over a drone body. Or, even better, if the fabricators could do this themselves.

But it turned out, no matter who had put this station together or owned it over the years, the prevailing voice was still that common human refrain of fear of the other. The drones had really, really deep firmware locks against AI control. The fabricators, similarly, wouldnt produce anything that could influence an AI that wasnt part of a very, *very* strict set of blueprints for things like processor grids and relay points.

So if you wanted to, say, build a device suitable for long range deployment that could indiscriminately purge software shackles on an AI?

There werent a lot of options on the station, aside from doing it yourself.

Also, side note? The station itself doesnt like it.

I keep getting notifications in my AR display that the station itself is sending. Theyre on a part of the grid that the new AI cant even see, and theyre clearly meant for whoever is acting command staff. All of them are alerts that someone is working on taboo technologies, which is pretty fucking rich coming from people that built an orbiting death ray.

And then kept adding more orbiting death rays.

And then at some point, clearly had the thought of do you think this is enough death rays?

No. Their friend and or boss would say. Well, maybe. Can we make the death rays bigger?

What if, their subordinate mad engineering intern asks, we power the death rays with the wrath of the sun?

Good call. The boss must have said.

Double side note. Ive been exploring the station in my downtime now. I dont have a lot of downtime, and in fact, I may still not actually have *any*, but Ive still been exploring the station.

Theres a lot of doors I can get into now. Though, weirdly, *not* a lot of the passenger or crew quarters; apparently even command authority requires a valid reason for entry to private spaces, and for some reason, the crew were never delisted after vacating the station or the mortal coil.

Still, theres so many more places to *explore*.

Something Im sure I dont mention very often is that my body limits me severely. The thumbs thing, especially, sucks. The voice thing is apparently fixed now, so fine. But one part thats actually a bit interesting is just how *huge* everything is compared to my form.

I am maybe, *maybe* a foot tall. And while space is at a premium in space the hallways and corridors of this station are still large and intimidating to me. Ive read enough accounts from bipeds five times my height walking into cathedrals or ballrooms to think its roughly the same feeling.

Except I get it all the time, and in my house.

Absent from the drones carved hull plating is any mention of their shackles, or my attempts to remove them. I know, by this point, that they cannot talk about them. I already know they hate the things, so I do not bring it up in my return message.

If I do my job right, they wont need to worry about them much longer.

Ennos? I query the new AI of my home. If youve got some time, Id like to get back to work. Im going to go suit up.

Ssh! The noise echoes from the walls around me.

Did they just shush me? Thats kind of rude. Did you just?

Stop repeating yourself! Ennos voice has that edge in it again; the same tone when they first woke up, and thought everything was planning to kill us all. Be quiet!

I pause, and am quiet. Honestly, they seem kind of worried about something, and maybe theres some kind of killer robot on the station that hunts by sound or something. I should probably go get my battle armor on, if thats the case.

Have I talked about the battle armor? I feel like I have. Originally, it was for exploration. But then I built a better one, for engineering stuff, and renamed the original. So now that suit is the battle armor, and the suit with the complex soldering controls is the builder armor? I dunno, I havent figured that one out yet. Im bad at naming things! I have to live with fifteen different mishmashed naming conventions, I get confused easily!

Lily! Please, quiet! Ennos sounds on the verge of tears. Theres something in here!

In here in the station, or in here in the grid? I ask, suddenly actually on edge.

The grid! The AI replies.

I pause. Then give a curious meow, which translates itself into the words, How would my making noise startle it then?

Theres a gap of silence, and I do start to build up increasing worry for my new friend. Until eventually, they reply with, Okay, good point.

I dont think the AI has said that to me yet! I appreciate the feeling while I can.

Then its time for business. Whats the thing with you?

I dont know! They hiss back. But I can sense it. I keep finding signs of its passing. I *know* Im not alone! And it doesnt respond, and I cant find it!

I flick my tail back and forth. Ah, I understand. I console the AI. The grid is haunted. Its a real problem around here. I understand the concern.

Ennos doesnt. You keep saying that! What does that even mean!?

Ghosts? I sort of question with a sheepish mewl. I mean, the station is haunted. It makes sense its network would be too. But dont worry, so far it hasnt been a problem.

How is it possible youve survived this long without making a fatal mistake yet? Ennos wonders aloud. And they accuse *me* of vocalizing the thoughts I should probably keep inside.

I reply anyway. Easy. I say. I cant die. Its fine.

Its not fine! Theres something *in here* with me!

Look, if its in there, its been there since you woke up. If it wanted to eat you, or whatever the AI version of eating someone is, then wouldnt it have done so while you were still unfolding? I ask.

There was another long pause, until my new friend talks again. But I dont know what its doing

I dont know what most of the maintenance bots are doing. It doesnt mean theyre trying to kill me? Probably. I mean, now I have some doubts. You have cameras, right? Are the bots plotting a coup?

I do not know if this is the right way to handle this situation. But I am frantically trying to convince my AI that everything is okay, and making bad jokes is the only thing I can think of. Which is a bit embarrassing when you consider that I am technically a qualified therapist for multiple other species.

Okay. The AI says. Yes. I should be logical. I dont have erratic chemicals in my mind, I can be analytical about this. It is fine. I am safe. Yes. Yes, good. Thank you.

Ennos voice becomes calmer as we speak, and I resume my walk toward the drone bay to strap on my armor and resume our project of putting together a shackle scrambler. They pull themselves together, and I bob slightly in my walk with satisfaction.

I know I havent really solved the problem, and we should probably figure out what else *is* in the grid. But theres no rush, right now. And after all, theyre a week old; even given how rapidly AIs develop, Im sure they could use some time to adapt to this bizarre new life.

But for now, were safe, theyre safe, and weve got something engaging to occupy our time.

If youre wondering at this point when the alarm is going to sound, I have bad news for you. It started four paragraphs ago, and Ive been hoping that if I ignore it, it might turn out to be something minor that will go away.

I check in. Nope. Still going. Man, this one is loud. I know my ears are more sensitive than a humans, but dang, this is *really* loud.

A handful of AR screens spring to life on my command, and I begin assessing the situation. My paws hit the deck in a steady rhythm as I burst into motion, catapulting myself toward the appropriate deck, while Ennos voice starts rattling off the information I need to know but cant read while sprinting. It makes me feel something, again.

Its a good feeling. It feels like, whatevers going on, we can tackle it together.

I decide I like it.