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Strategos (A Great Captain Roberts Tale!!) - Part 4 -
Chapter 15 - Wheels[]
Sense of scale of the person and of the ship[]
"I knew they were broke…
…but Jesus," Victor Steiner-Davion muttered to himself as Captain Roberts led them to a tramway for the pass over to the dock holding Erinyes. "Regina?"
"Yes sir?"
"She was kidding, right? That number is below poverty level in most of the civilized galaxy. Even a Merc would get paid more as a grunt…"
"No, that's what Captain Roberts takes home-her gross is in the billions, but she pays out a lot. The Captains with 'company ships' like Illusive, Tenebrous, Capricious? They keep more of what they earn, because a lot of what Captain Roberts brings in ends up having to pay for things that can be requisitioned through government supply contracts… Though she pays her crew better than is absolutely required. She's actually acting the intended way the Privateers were supposed to operate, aside from the taxes."
"It doesn't seem right," Victor shook his head.
"A lot of it isn't." Regina agreed.
The ring-tram stopped at a dock, and visibly, the 'bag' had been secured only to the end of the massive thing docked to the station.
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Newgrange Class YardShip
A Newgrange hull is enormous. Practically a station in its own right. Distance can be a little disorienting.
"She's huge." Victor said out loud.
"Big enough to swallow a Bonaventure whole," Regina agreed. "Big enough to swallow my original ship-chassis and leave room for more. I present, gentlemen, the Erinyes."
A curvy, raven-haired lady in a very practical spacer's skin-suit was striding from that enormous wall of haze-gray hull.
The visitors were getting a taste of scale.
Stubborn Patient[]
"Victoria Cameron…
…someone told on you." Esmerelda Gomez crossed her arms, which accentuated her bosom to a degree that would distract most men.
"It can wait." Victoria suggested.
Esme took in the visitors, then, "Erin can cover your duty for this. As your medic, I Insist."
The remote for Erinyes had gotten some custom work done. She looked older than most of the others, mostly in her posture, as she walked up, flanked by yard crew in hazard orange and yellow. There were a few obvious artificial signs, unlike most of the others, including a slight chrome shading to her 'hair' and skin tone. More of a metallic sheen than a human tone, like a polished statue wrapped in a jumpsuit, with a tool-belt. Erinyes had, apparently, chosen to accentuate her true nature in her remote… at least, today.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the remote for OWS Erinyes. She can assist you while I address a slight malfunction in Victoria Cameron's remote chassis."
""Introductions," Victoria stood firm, and shot a look to Captain Roberts.
The young woman flushed a little, then, "This is Senior Director Esmeralda Gomez, Chief Technical Officer here and Commander of Record for OWS Erinyes. Which is to say, she doesn't give Erin orders so much as wrangle the technical crews for the Yard here on the station, and the human contingent aboard Erinyes."
"My position is a staff position. Humans need doctors and medics, I'm the equivalent for our Warships and AI's. So I'm pulling my medical role here, and taking Victoria in for a checkup." Esmerelda's Spanish accent was a little more prominent. "You might say I'm the 'Chief Medical Officer' for our AI personnel." She eyed Victoria, "Now, If I have to call Helena…"
Victoria raised her hands, "Erin, you've got this?"
Erin spoke for herself, first in Mandarin: “My apologies, Celestial Wisdom, for any inconvenience. Miss Gomez is quite dutiful and sometimes less politic than she might be, were she from a Military background rather than a technical one. I will be pleased to answer your questions to the extent I am permitted by security or human decency."
"That is quite acceptable, Erin?" Daoshen answered in English. "Your Mandarin is quite polished, Beijing accent?"
"Lingua files from the East Asian bloc were included in my original configuration, thank you for the compliment." She smiled, as Esme led Victoria to a magnetic-wheeled deck-mover with a portable 'box'-basically a service truck built for operations in a Fleet-grade station's shipyard.
"You were the ship's computer during the Blakist wars," Daoshen observed.
"I try not to dwell on that time," she answered the unspoken question. "My origin was as a heavy, deep range colony vessel. We haven't yet been able to replace everything the Blakists stole from me when they turned my body into a tool of atrocity and death."
"So you have become… what? What role do you play, docked here?" Si Fu Lan asked.
"Mister Si, I am currently playing a supplementary maintenance and logistical role for the base, as well as standby rescue and recovery for units disabled, but not destroyed, in the fighting. In simplest terms, I'm the 'tow truck'. Thus far, we've been fortunate and my recovery missions have been short and mostly practice. Given the amount of fuel and other consumables involved, I spend the bulk of my time here, docked and providing support to the station and the Station's Intelligence."
"So, is that what you will do when the war is over?" Daoshen asked. "Play 'tow truck'?"
"I'm getting help restoring my original purpose, Celestial Wisdom. I intend to go out and found new colonies for humanity when I have finished the work I am doing now. By then, everything stolen from me will have been replaced."
"An ambitious goal, indeed," the Chancellor said with just the right hint of admiration. "What sort will it be?"
"That's the fun, seeing what grows," Erin told him. "I have more examples now, than when I was first laid down at the yard, both of what to do, and what not to do when I do my true work."
“I feel so embarrassed Esme, this really is the equivalent of going to sick call for a sprained ankle.” Victoria said quietly.
This Esme is one to keep note of for later. She knows much about these AIs. The way they carefully choose their words too indicates she could be quite valuable to me in completing my goal. Si Fu Lan carefully studied Esme without making it obvious he was studying Esme.
Newborn AI[]
"OWS Illusive was…
…the second ship in the Privateer service, and the first one owned by a State Agency. In particular, she was half-owned by the Outworlds Military Command and half-owned by Clan Snow Raven's Watch, the Security arm of the Touman," Amanda explained as they got off the tram. "Illusive has battle stars from Johnson, Michtal, first and second battles of Grankum, and several reconnaissance flights in between. Her first commanding officer later became the Chief of the Service. Admiral Foster commanded her until only recently, but she's now the Flagship of the Service, and is currently going through her third refit."
“Third refit? That seems rather unusual even for the pace of operations you have been sustaining.” Victor commented.
"We get into fights with bigger enemies." Amanda didn't smirk. "Sometimes 'repair' is more like 'rebuild'. The Illusive was first recovered at Joan's Post in a non-functional condition. The Snow Ravens designed her first refit, replacing much of the original weaponry with more modern, more flexible systems and added a carrier function. We've kept that carrier function, but Illusive is gaining an Artificial Intelligence to… maybe reduce the number of times we have to bring her in for repair."
“Oh and which of the AIs are going in this vessel? The brief seems to have all the lovely ladies accounted for.” Stone chuckled.
"Luther," she said. "Who is not a lovely lady."
“Ah, yes. There was mention of us meeting the rare male AI. This should be quite fascinating to talk with one who broke from the mold that significantly.” Stone nodded thoughtfully.
She seemed distracted for a moment, then, "Here he comes."
At a distance, he looked like any mid-twenties to late thirties male officer from a professional background. It was only when he got close that subtle tells that the man coming up the dock wasn't… human became apparent.
"Captain Roberts." he nodded to her.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Luther. He's the Artificial Intelligence being installed in OWS Illusive..."
"We're still a couple of days out. Esme's team says the ship's almost ready. Now, for those of you familiar with the layout of a Bonaventure, my hull's got a few differences that should be immediately apparent…"
“Captain Luther Bedwyr is it? I’m curious as to what you can tell me about your source. The other AIs and Captain Roberts have hinted it’s not the same as the other AIs. Did you also come from the same program as an alternate template?” Daoshen Liao asked, uninterested in the ship.
"I can't tell you much about the process, Mister Chancellor. But I can assure you, I did NOT derive from a Terran." Luther stated. "I'm an Outworlder. My source was an Outworlder. I don't have a 'Director-General’, or an Exarch (no offense mister Stone). I have a President, and his name is Avellar. Going much past that, I'll have to get clearances. There are details too classified about how my AI was made for me to know about, much less talk about… except my source died fighting for freedom."
“You must have an extremely fascinating service history then.”
"I can say that I've been in this since almost the beginning, if you count the man I was imprinted from," Luther agreed. "I remember flying the landing on Devil's Breath, and the boarding of the Erinyes."
"Too… much… sharing!" Amanda muttered out loud.
“Oh my. That is quite interesting.” Si Fu Lan commented quietly.
“Ah, so you are a new AI. Seems the technology is not quite as lost as we were lead to believe. I can forgive that, given it’s sensitive nature. We all have national secrets.” Daoshen said warmly.
"Old core, new imprint. There were a cache of them, but to my knowledge, we don't have an extra blank anymore," Luther stated. "It's how we know we can't build more cores. Esme tried to reverse engineer one, and we just don't have the industrial knowledge to do it."
“And none of the AIs have the capacity either.” From the corner of his eye, Daoshen could see Amanda biting her lip in frustration.
<I thought I was going to be the one to ****** it up, Luther!!>
<I got permission, it was going to come out anyway. Calm down, Amanda.>
<As long as we don’t say we actually have two cores left, we’re okay I think.> Regina added.
"So… your original died," Daoshen looked thoughtful. "How long was he dead before you were scanned?"
"I wasn't. I was almost dead. The process was more like a mercy shot," Luther said easily. "See, a deep scan, and they knew this in the Old Days when they scanned Dharaval, kills the patient. I was so almost-dead that even surviving would be worse than a death sentence. So we took the risk and confirmed a few things, things like the scan is ludicrously dangerous for living people."
“Yes, I understand. There are times when death is indeed a mercy.” Daoshen nodded.
"How does it feel?" Victor asked.
"Like being numb all the time. Right now, anyway. I'll have full sensory again once the install is complete, but in my current state, it's like interacting with everyone from the bottom of a well. Everything's muted. Colors aren't quite right, everyone sounds… dim-not mentally dim, but like I'm trying to hear through ears full of water."
“Esme has done some wonderful work improving what our remotes can sense on their own without a ship system to supplement, but they do have their limits.” Regina added.
"So… You mentioned yourself in both first and third person…"
"I don't know if I'm really 'me' or just a copy. Is Luther Bedwyr sitting in the afterlife, or did it transfer over too? I don't know," Luther shrugged. "Some days I'm hoping my soul moved on. Others, I'm hoping it's still here. It varies, so I haven't really decided if my memories are MINE, or the memories and identity of a guy named Luther Bedwyr who took his ship too close to a nuclear strike and was too proud to admit he was getting sicker."
<Ask your partner in crime next chance you get. She’ll give you all the answer you need.> Regina gave a reassuring smile.
<Part of my permission is to suggest there are reasons for them NOT to try and copy the tech, Reggie. Trotting out philosophical arguments is part of that. I KNOW who I am.>
<Odd… that wasn’t included in my brief. Oh well. At least I said it in private and not in front of our guests.>
“Ship of Theseus after a fashion then. Quite an interesting philosophical quandary.” Daoshen rubbed his chin.
"Where I… My original grew up, it was called 'Granddaddy's axe'," Luther said with a chuckle. "All original, the head's only been replaced twice, the handle three times. Is it new, like new, or a genuine antique at that point?"
"So long as it still splits wood, does it matter?" Amanda asked. Then quickly answered herself with, "Only to a collector."
“Yes. I would agree. In this case you are the embodiment of the memories, and that is the important part, no matter how many times the physical has been replaced.” Daoshen nodded.
"How… pardon, but how large is this 'core' then? That it takes so long?"
"See those container-truck modules?" Luther gestured at an array of shipping containers. "I'm one of them, the rest contain additional memory modules, the tech is not small or compact."
“The human mind is really a quite complex computer that people often underestimate. That it requires so much computing power to make a sapient consciousness should be no surprise.” Regina picked up on what Luther was doing.
<Luther!>
<Operations Security. Their spies will watch the container trucks, not the small module we're already mounting that's only the size of a compact car.> Luther reminded her.
<Yes. Our cores are quite sizable by computer standards, but most of the bulk comes from support systems. So making them think it requires a great deal of computing hardware would be wise.>
<Well, ******. Somebody dropped the ball on briefing materials for this one. Can’t have been Foster. Helena?> Amanda was trying her best to keep the scowl off her face.
<Possible. She has had a lot on her plate lately, and only Simon to rely on. I’m starting to worry that Simon may be breaking down faster this time. With how much he has to always be on to help Helena with the side effects of her injury, and all the added pressures from this summit.> Regina answered.
<Shit. She makes it easy to forget she’s missing a good chunk of her brain too.> Amanda felt sheepish.
<How the hell she survived the blast of a laser pistol powerful enough to decapitate a man is nothing short of a miracle.> Luther couldn’t help but physically shake his head.
“Something the matter, Captain Bedwyr?” Victor caught the motion first.
“One of the downsides of being an AI is I’m now expected to multitask on a lot more things at once. Just some mundane but annoying stuff that is of no consequence to guests such as yourselves. Unless you’re really interested in fuel consumption logs and audits.” Luther covered himself.
<Nice save.> Regina smiled.
<Not really, I really am having to do those right now too. Just convenient timing.>
Not everyone was fooled by their rather basic deceptions. Si Fu Lan knew better, but kept his peace.
“Shall we continue our tour gentlemen?” Regina broke the latest uncomfortable silence first.
Seeking What is Needed[]
Si Fu Lan…
…was glad to have gotten the opportunity to break away from the delegation again. It gave him an opportunity to start stalking his prey.
The rumors of Esme’s preferred activities were easy enough to pry out of the various station crew and workers.
So he’d followed her to a bar. Her proclivities towards alcoholic beverages would make it easy enough to subdue and isolate her when the time was right.
But now he needed one more target and fate had provided.
She was perfect. Tall, powerful, and had just enough Asian features to not be questioned.
And how Esme greeted and reacted to her, he did not need his extensive training in reading body language to know there was a connection there. It would have been better if there was a more intimate relation between the two but by his estimation, they were close enough for her to serve as leverage as well as be a perfect host for the true Celestial Wisdom. Which was doubly fortuitous as it reduced the number of people he would have to control when the time was right. He may have been given celestial gifts but every extra person he needed to bring into his schemes increased the risk of them not working out the way he hoped.
There was now just one more thing he needed to do before he could collect them. He needed to learn where the machines they were protecting were. For that he would have to turn to technology. During the next meeting between Stone and Daoshen would be his best opportunity.