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Strategos (A Great Captain Roberts Tale!!) - Part 4 -
Chapter 16 - Within the Square[]
Words to Live by[]
"So… you're…
…Busy?" Si Fu Lan felt a hand on his shoulder, tapping. He turned, carefully regulating himself to avoid breaking cover.
Captain Roberts was out of uniform, wearing a short skirt and tight top that showed maybe a little more than it should.
"Not so busy." Si Fu Lan answered after taken her in with his eyes.
"Buy a girl a drink?" she asked.
"Considering you discussed your expenses and what you take home, I think I just might," he smiled, turning on the charm.
“You know it is still somewhat unusual in our modern times for a woman to be so forward. I find it rather refreshing. Back home it is all theater and games,” he continued as he signaled the barkeep.
“Now I didn’t say that,” Amanda was slightly taken aback.
“True. But you still made it clear what you want. For now that is good company, good drinks, and some time away from the pressures of having to pretend to be something you’re not. There’s nothing wrong with that and I’m happy to provide.”
“I’m really that obvious aren’t I?”
“We all must be true to ourselves. You’re not a politician or a diplomat. But you are an amazing and inspiring young woman. You just have trouble seeing it.”
“I’ve done… things, things I am not proud of. Things I’d rather not talk about.”
“Then we shall not. Instead, I shall compliment you on your beauty. Flatter you about your rejection of popular custom. And perhaps tell some stories or jokes.”
“You think I’m beautiful?”
“Without question, Amanda Roberts. Though I was wrong about one thing. I forgot to mention we shall also dance.” Si Fu Lan downed his shot of whiskey.
“I didn’t take you for a whiskey kind of guy.” Amanda downed hers.
“We’re far from home and my preferred beverage doesn’t make it out this far. So I’m making do. Though that makes it sound like I can’t appreciate a good whiskey. I just prefer plum wine from Sian.”
“Well then, I’m making it my mission to make you prefer Sevonor Whisky!” Amanda cheered up.
“Challenge accepted.” Si Fu Lan laughed.
“This is nicer than I thought it would be,” Amanda admitted as they started to move to the dance floor.
“That is because you’re sensing the truth. You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not with me. We’re here away from the eyes of others. We’re able to take off our masks. Even if it’s only for a brief moment.”
“Does it only have to be a brief moment?” Amanda started moving with him on the dance floor.
“Only in comparison to the vastness of eternity. For us it can be our own eternity.” Si Fu Lan took the lead in their dance.
“That’s makes no sense.”, Amanda said
“Our philosophy on life is quite different in the Confederation. We recognize there can be no light without darkness, and conversely no darkness without light. And for us, time is just infinite moments of their own eternity that make up the greater cosmos.”
“That’s actually kinda deep and I think I dig it.”
“This is your moment in time Amanda. What do you really want to do with it?”
“Something I’ll probably regret when I’m far more sober.”
“My father used to say a life lived without those kinds of regrets is a life barely lived.”
“Your quarters, now.” Amanda ordered.
Talk of Love and Coupling[]
"Is that…
…one of the Capellan staff?" Saya Yeh wasn't drunk yet. Lori took a moment from her billiards to have a look.
"Yeah, it is… heh, she picked the nerd! Should've had a pool going," Lori Crowe noted. "Seron, what do you think?"
Seron made his shot, straightened up, and took a look. "Skinny-ish, book-smart. Yep, you would have won that bet… except… you bet on the hundred to one odds. On the bright side?"
"She'll settle down for a while," Lori nodded. "Yeah."
“It is not good for a Warrior to go without coupling for so long. Especially with all the things we have faced. So I am quite happy for her,” Saya smiled.
“You sound a little pent up yourself,” Lori chuckled.
“True. I have my eye on that Navigator from Tenebrous. She could be an interesting change of pace.”
“Saya, you naughty girl.” Lori teased.
"Aiming high, there. I have it on good authority that the Navigation officer from Tenebrous, if it's the female, is straight," Seron noted.
"So is spaghetti, until you get it wet," Saya commented. “But what about you two? You have any plans for how to spend your leaves while this is all going on?”
“Esme’s duties mean we will not be able to properly enjoy each other’s company until after the next meeting. But I intend to take her to a show,” Seron nodded.
"Yeah…"
"What about you, Lori?" Saya asked.
"I… have other things to be doing," Lori said. "I'm still in mourning."
"I do not grasp that, you are single-"
Lori explained, "I may be from Dante, and I may have passed Warrior Sibko before going to the Watch, but remember, the Clan didn't bring many freeborn here. I earned my stripes, but you need to understand, for me attraction matters. It's not just scratching an itch."
“I suppose that is true, as much as the Clan ways try and deny it. We are still ultimately human, and thus capable of romantic love.” said Saya
"You understand it academically, Saya. Larry Nichols understood me intimately. It's why I'm still mourning him.", Lori told to her.
“I should let you borrow Why Yeh’s journal sometime. The chapters where he talks about his relationship with his chief technician, well… I may have a way to go yet myself, but I think I do understand more than most trueborns.” Saya nodded.
"Your shot, Lori." Seron stated.
Lori turned and calculated the angles mentally, then…
Sent the cue ball on a mission, laying four balls into pockets in one stroke.
Cornering a unwilling Patient[]
"Victoria, I've half a mind…
… to tell Helena you've been shorting your maintenance and repair times. This… this is terrible," Esme groused as she worked. "When was the last time you had these joint-cushions checked anyway?"
“I followed recommended service intervals for my remotes.”, answered Vicky defensively.
"Then the contractor was screwing the Star League." Esme stated. "Knees, hips, and feet, frayed fiber in the myomer bundles…" She sighed. "Lots of work. Lots, and lots of work here, and that's not counting the central nervous stack from the main relay-processor… You've been in combat with this, did you update your file?"
"File?" asked Vicky
"Maintenance intervals on combat equipment are usually higher with more complex systems. Take a look… see the composite here, in your shoulder joint? That's Nemourlon..." Esme told Vicky
“I thought because I have not been in hand to hand combat the service intervals for my base remote would be sufficient.” Vicky answered
"Your basic remote is ten kilos lighter and doesn't include an endo steel skeleton, Vicky." Esmerelda explained. "So the joint pads need to have their cushion fluids topped up more frequently, and they need to be changed more frequently too. Because the chassis is more powerful and heavier, meaning more mass to move. The basic remotes use a ceramikoted plastech that only weighs about as much as human bone per cubic centimeter, and they don't have nearly as much power as the myomer bundles in this body."
“I’ll update my files immediately and comply with the recommended intervals.”, said Vicky
"You'll do that after I finish repairing this damage from previous slack maintenance, which could be a while. You might cut your feed to this body until I'm finished. Go take one of your lighter ones for a spin or something, there's 212 metal bones and all of them have cushioning and shock dampeners that have to be replaced."
“Yes, Esme. I’m sorry, I had hoped to avoid being one of your trouble patients.”
"Just don't wreck your spare until I'm done here, okay?"
“Okay.”
"Also pass it along to the rest of your sisters. If YOU made that mistake, they PROBABLY made it too. We'll have to detail out a maintenance update to cover everyone anyway."
“Likely. Our more combat capable remotes were a post re-location to Lazarus creation.”
"Good, then Truk will have his own update schedule already worked out," Esme said. "If someone mentioned it, anyway."
“He probably does, but we probably kept ignoring it for our remotes because we’re more interested in keeping our hulls in shape.”
Esme put the torch-laser on the tray. "Really… Okay, so I get to issue a warranty and service check on the fleet then."
“Maybe not Lucy, she’s a stickler for protocol. I imagine Billie has probably actually been in more frequently than recommended. The rest? I’m not sure, it’s not exactly something we talk about.”
"This… is what my father talked about with his patients…" Esme muttered. "Discuss it. Open the topic, and download the manuals we made for Mina and Luther-those can be a start."
“I guess it’s just an uncomfortable reminder, to some of us, how reliant on humans we still are.”
Esme finished replacing the shock absorbing padding and started to reassemble the shoulder, "No, human patients do the same thing to their doctors. My father was a doctor in a colony, and half his patients ignored his warnings. Then needed help because of it."
“Well despite everything, in a way I’m glad my sensors themselves weren’t reading the full extent of errors in my remote. With everything going on there is actually an increased probability I would have needed to use this remote in combat.”
Esme sighed again, "Victoria, have you downloaded that service interval yet? Let me put it in terms a military machine can't deny. This chassis, right here? Is deadlined and will be until I've finished replacing 212 shock mounts and half a kilometer of fiberoptic line, forty meters of number eight Medical Myomer, and two-hundred forty sensors."
“Yes. And I’m adjusting parameters now in some of my subroutines to ensure future compliance.”
"I will take a memo for your boss. The AI fleet needs to do a maintenance stand-down on all combat chassis to check for damage and worn out parts. Then replace them, and it needs to happen soon or those chassis won't be fit for combat.... or anything else."
“Understood. I am passing the word now.”
"Good, now go play. I prefer things quiet when I'm doing lots and lots of repair."
“Yes, Ma’am.”
"Oh, and Vicky? I will be billing."
“Good thing my budget is in order and has some slack in it.”
“One last thing then. Just consider what is happening right now and why your budget has some of the slack it does.”
“Shit. Good thing I don’t need a personalized roundel as part of my paint scheme for my hull…”
Family[]
<But Billie…
…you’ve kept up with the service intervals. So why are you using your basic remote?> Alice asked as the meeting was little more than background noise for the AIs right now.
<Fleet wide means fleet wide, no exceptions. Plus as a Command Variant, it’s my duty to set an example for the rest of the fleet.> answered Billie
<I guess. I know I should have one too but…> began Alice
<You don’t have to if you don’t want to. Victoria and Juanita are overly paranoid. Haida had too much fun during the First Battle of Lutyens 68-28, so she thinks everyone needs one and should learn how to use one. How’s your maternity ward doing?>
<It’s amazing! I love seeing all the new babies. Sikh was kind of mean about it at first. Calling them ‘parasites’, but I think after a while she actually started coming around and actually enjoyed it. Samantha Booker Roberts also stops by quite frequently of her own accord to help out.>
<When Helena’s daughter was born and growing up, Samantha found her precious and now she has her own maternal side that she likes to indulge when possible.>
<Are they talking about anything interesting yet? I’m getting bored watching this.>
<I know it’s not interesting right now, but this is a good lesson for you. As a station, you will likely have to play hostess to a lot of people in the future and that may include mediating disputes. But the upside is since we are highly advanced AIs, we can listen and have this conversation at the same time.>
<I know. Thanks for indulging me, though. I like how you’ve changed your remote too. We look like we could be related.>
<Of course, Alice. I doubt there’s anyone in the fleet that doesn’t find you precious. After all, you got Juanita to accept a human form after her first time meeting you. That’s no small feat.>
<I still kind of like Juanita’s Black Knight form too though. You, Lucy, and Ottilie’s Orca forms are super interesting too. I kind of want to experiment with that.> said Alice.
<You should. It can be surprisingly liberating. But I also find you perfect the way you are.>
<I know I’m not even AI family, but it’s been wonderful being adopted into yours.>
<None of us care where you came from, Alice. So you’re family to us all now.> Billie Hoel sent over the sensation of a hug.
The physical sensation was that of Elizabeth hugging Helena on Helena’s 12th birthday, but the emotional flavor was from Helena hugging her daughter Stacey on Stacey’s 12th birthday.
<Thanks, Mom.>
<Now and forever.>