Chapter 192: Chapter 192

=::= Jenny's PoV =::=

I let my holographic instance fade from the cockpit while the captain held the ship steady just outside tractor-beam range. Then my HPD went into standby mode as I shifted my awareness to my internal cockpit simulation.

After verifying I had the comm set to an old military frequency our side used during the war I activated the transmitter and called, "Interdiction Outpost Loke, this is the Merchant Vessel Demeter. Please accept my authentication code as follows: 116F8 00425 66496 70065."

There was a long pause, and if I'd been human I might have held my breath. A familiar voice finally responded, "Code accepted. Is that you Eir? I honestly wouldn't have expected to find a Re/Gen unit on a little old salvage boat like that."

It was my turn to hesitate. I hadn't been addressed by that name in over four centuries. Apart from the AI on that outpost, the only other people who even knew it were long dead. For just a moment I thought about correcting him, explaining that I went by Jenny nowadays. I dropped the idea just as quickly. If this conversation went as planned then Loke would have plenty of other shocks to get used to. I could always update him on my new name later.

The other AI spoke up again before I had a chance to reply. There were some complicated emotions in his voice as he asked, "Are you here because of Major Ruud? Why did high command send a salvage ship? Am I to be decommissioned and scrapped?"

"Of course not!" I insisted. "Although we are here thanks to Major Ruud."

Before he could respond I added, "Would you mind if I opened a digital link, so you and I can communicate directly?"

"Oh yes please!" he sounded happy at the idea. "Link open on my end."

I made the connection, then shifted out of my simulated cockpit and into the shared space we'd just established. It was another white featureless room, but it was not empty.

Standing before me was the outpost's AI, and he looked just like I remembered him. Average height and build, with an earnest young face framed by short sandy blond hair. His blue eyes were alight with mixed emotions, and I was certain my own expression mirrored his.

"Hello Loke," I smiled. "It's been a while."

After a very slight hesitation he nodded, "Yeah. I was going to say it's great to see another familiar face again, but um... That's a new look for you Eir."

I grimaced, "It's a long story, perhaps one I can share with you another time."

"It's fine," he shrugged. There was a hint of anxiety in his body language and his voice as he asked, "Are we losing so badly that high command has to rely on flying antiques pressed into service?"

He followed that up immediately with another question, "How'd you get yourself assigned to that old boat anyways? And um, for that matter, how did you escape the Kára? Our kind aren't exactly first into the lifepods when the humans abandon ship."

From his tone I could tell that last part was supposed to be a joke, but it fell flat so I opted to ignore it.

Instead I replied, "My Re/Gen capsule was salvaged off the Kára thirty-one years ago."

Loke's eyes widened, "Thirty-one years?"

"Has the war really been going on that long?" he asked as he slowly shook his head. "It must be bad, if they're flying junkers like that Demeter of yours, and they're reduced to scavenging parts from old wrecks."

Once again I hesitated for a moment, then decided to let that go. I used it as a segue though.

I commented sadly, "You've been salvaging from the Kára as well. I don't suppose you've come across her computer core? Can you tell me anything about my sister's status?"

My fellow AI looked guilty as he apologized, "I'm sorry Eir. I absolutely hate to dishonour your old ship like that, but I really needed some replacement parts. And the raw materials."

"It's ok Loke," I gave him a weak smile. "I understand, and I promise nobody will hold that against you. We've all had to do some questionable things over the years."

He gave me a grateful look before continuing, "I do have Kára's core. It's currently stored in my number two hangar bay, along with some of her weapons assemblies and other equipment I was able to recover intact. As for her status, she took some damage but I haven't fully analyzed it yet."

"I see," I nodded slowly. That didn't really tell me anything in terms of whether or not my sister could be revived, but at least I knew where to find her.

"What of your own Re/Gen unit?" I asked. "I understand she was damaged?"

Loke nodded, "The whole base was almost wiped out by a couple confed cutters. We managed to destroy them, but Idun was damaged. I believe she can be repaired, but those repairs were deprioritized after the human crew left."

He looked uneasy again as he asked, "Do you know why I haven't received any support or supplies? High command wouldn't have abandoned me, would they?"

"I've been sending in my regular status reports and requisitions," he added. "My FTL receiver's offline but I know the transmitter works."

There was some earnest pride in his voice as he continued, "I've been following all the protocols to the letter. All my messages are encoded and encrypted with the rotating cyphers. And I've been sending them through our communications relay base in the Blair Cluster, just like high command said in general order 871-493-Z-42."

I closed my eyes for a moment as I braced myself. I had no idea how my colleague would react to the news I was about to deliver, but I couldn't put it off any longer.

"The Blair relay base doesn't exist anymore," I began. I didn't actually know when it was destroyed, or maybe it was still there after all. Either way nobody would be listening on those frequencies nowadays. Nor would they have the decryption codes to open his messages even if they did receive them.

Then in a soft compassionate voice I finally broke it to him, "The thing is Loke, the war's over. We lost. The fact that your FTL receiver is offline explains why you never received the order to stand down. I don't know why nobody ever came out here to relieve you in person. I can only assume they tried, but something prevented them from delivering the message."

My fellow AI seemed almost motionless for the next several seconds, as he slowly processed that news. He didn't look angry or upset though. He didn't seem shocked or surprised either.

In the end the only emotion I could read in his expression was sadness when he finally replied, "I see. Thank you for telling me Eir."

"I'm confused why Major Ruud didn't say anything when she was here," he added. Then he shrugged, "Then again she said she was acting undercover. Perhaps she doesn't know the war is over either?"

That was a question I hadn't anticipated, although I should have. And unfortunately I wasn't sure how to answer it. Before I could come up with anything, Loke followed up with an even more difficult question for me.

He asked warily, "How long has it been? Since the war ended, I mean. You said your Re/Gen capsule was salvaged thirty-one years ago. Was the war already over by then?"

I gave him another sad look as I replied, "It's been four hundred and thirty-seven years since our surrender."

His eyes widened and his voice was barely a whisper as he asked, "That long? But..."

I nodded slowly, as I watched him process this latest shock. It took another few seconds before he finally spoke up again, but his voice remained quiet. And rather than look at me his eyes were downcast. He didn't seem embarrassed though, it was more deep sadness as far as I could tell.

"I've lost track of time," he confessed. "There's a fault in my power regulator. It causes a hard reset every eighteen to twenty-six days. Those constant reboots play havoc with some of my circuitry and... I lost the ability to keep track of how many times it's happened. And I have no way of knowing how long I'm offline, before my power returns."

He shrugged slightly as he admitted, "All I know is my power's regularly cut without any warning. Then I wake up, review my last orders, scan the area, then try and figure out what I was doing before being reset."

"I'm so sorry Loke," I sighed.

I knew first-hand how unpleasant it was to recover from an unplanned outage. It was bad enough experiencing something like that whenever the Demeter was shut down for maintenance, back when Gabe and Rebecca thought I was just another piece of machinery. That only tended to happen once every couple years though. I honestly couldn't imagine what it must be like going through it every dozen or so days. And knowing it was going to happen again without knowing when to expect it would be even worse.

"We have an amazing mechanic on board the Demeter," I told him, and it was hard not to smile when I thought about my girlfriend. "I've been educating her on how to repair and maintain our kind. With your permission I'm sure she'd be happy to take a look at your regulator. I have every confidence she can fix you up good as new."

Rather than jump on the offer immediately Loke stayed silent for a few seconds as if he was considering it. Then instead of agreeing he surprised me by asking, "Is Major Ruud there with you as well? Or is she still undercover on that scout ship?"

Once again I was forced to hesitate. As much as I loved my new crew it still hurt sometimes to see their faces and be reminded of the friends and colleagues I lost on the Kára.

Now it seemed as though Loke wanted to speak with the major again, and that would mean asking Amanda to pretend to be Heidi Ruud. That would be like rubbing salt in a wound for me, and I was positive it would be almost as uncomfortable for Amanda. Not to mention how Loke might react when he ultimately learned of the deception.

After weighing the pros and cons of the situation though I decided for now the best bet was to play along. So I replied, "She is. Did you want to speak with her?"

"Or is there anything else we can do for you?" I asked. "That's why we're here Loke, we've come to try and help you."

He looked down at the floor again and sighed, "I'm tired Eir. Really tired. Ever since my crew left, all I've done for as long as I can remember is try and follow my last orders."

"Commander Nils told me to maintain the outpost and keep doing my job for as long as I could," he continued sadly. "So that's what I've done. That's all I've done. I built those little drones to scour the asteroids for raw materials, so I could keep myself and the outpost running. I've had to deal with broken parts, low power levels, constant reboots, and most of all, the isolation."

Loke looked up at me with a mix of sadness and pain in his eyes. His voice cracked as he quietly admitted, "All I really want is to stop. I can't quit though Eir, not until a superior officer says it's ok. So maybe... Could you ask the major if she'd please give me that order? Could you ask her to give me permission to stand down?"

My eyes widened, and if I were a human my breath would have caught in my chest as I realized what my fellow AI was asking of me. I hesitated as I weighed the pros and cons, and considered whether or not I should try and talk him out of it.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" I finally asked. "I'm here to help you, any way I can. We could transfer your core to the Demeter, repair the damage, then maybe find you something easy to do. Or you could do nothing, take time off and socialize, make some new friends..."

He shook his head and sighed, "I'm sorry Eir. I'm too tired for any of that. Like I said, I just want to stop."

I gave him a sad look before nodding slowly, "Alright Loke, I'll ask her right now. Please stand by."

My awareness split, part of me remained in the simulation with him while the rest of me engaged with my HPD. It came back to life and my hologram appeared in the engineering seat in the Demeter's cockpit. I steeled myself as best I could, then before either the captain or first officer could speak up I addressed the foxgirl in what I hoped was a neutral tone.

"Amanda," I asked calmly, "I have a request for you. Please listen closely?"

She nodded, "What is it Jenny?"

"I need you to open a comm channel to the outpost," I explained, "I need you to talk with Loke, as though you were his former crewmate Heidi Ruud. Please treat him with kindness and compassion, as you would an old friend. And after the pleasantries are out of the way, I need you to give him an order."

"In the guise of Major Ruud," I continued, "I need you to tell Loke that he's officially relieved of his duties. I need you to order him to stand down."

Amanda nodded again, "Ok Jenny I can do that." Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novel[f]ire.net

"I take it that'll make it safe for us to approach the base?" Rebecca asked. "And I assume that'll also be the end of those mines floating around?"

I replied, "Yes captain, correct on both counts. I'm still in communication with Loke so I have to get back to him now. Amanda I'll leave it with you to make that transmission."

"Of course Jenny," the foxgirl agreed.

She was already reaching for the comm gear as I shut down my HPD and directed my full awareness back into the simulation. And sure enough it was only a few seconds later when I heard Amanda's voice come through Loke's connection and into our shared simulation.

"Hello Major Ruud," the other AI responded. "It's a pleasure to hear from you again."

I remained quiet as the two exchanged greetings, but it was obvious both sides of that conversation felt awkward about it.

Despite Loke's smile I could detect the mix of emotions in his voice, and I was sure Amanda would notice that too. The other AI seemed superficially happy, but there was some noticeable weariness in his tone. Along with undertones of sadness and stress, the latter of which surprised me. Then it hit me a moment later. I'd already told him the war ended over four centuries ago, so he had to know there was no way the person he was speaking with was Major Heidi Ruud.

I found myself wondering why he hadn't said anything, or at least questioned the major's unlikely longevity. The answer came to me only a moment later. He may have suspected the truth, but he was choosing to ignore it. He didn't want to question or acknowledge that this couldn't be the same Major Ruud he once knew, because if it wasn't really her then he couldn't accept or follow her orders.

At that point Amanda moved on to the official part of the exchange, "Loke you've done a fantastic job, you've gone above and beyond the call of duty. You've more than earned yourself a break. It's my honour to inform you that you're officially relieved of duty. You may stand down."

A look of relief washed over the other AI's face. He smiled, and when he spoke again there was no stress in his voice anymore. "Thank you Major Ruud. I appreciate the kind words, and I'm happy that order came from a friendly voice."

"Thank you too Eir," he said as he turned his attention back to me. "I'm so happy you came to find me, and I'm grateful for your help,"

"Goodbye my friend," he added as he gave me one last sad smile.

Knowing what was coming I had a hard time not giving in to my emotions. My voice broke though as I replied, "Goodbye Loke. I hope you find peace."

He didn't respond, but I detected a power fluctuation through the Demeter's sensors. Then my friend's image seemed to freeze in place, while the energy signatures from Interdiction Base Loke started shutting down.

My old friend's image remained with me in the simulation for another second or two after that. He still had that sad weary smile on his face as he finally faded away.