+++ Jonathan Jones +++

Lubola System

Quite frankly, I was having an intense second thought about all this. I took the time to don my suit before I ventured out of the airlock. I wasn't really that well used to walking in space, so I kept the tether on its most secure configurations as I wallowed like a moron in the void.

Left? No, right? Up, or down? Come on, just get those thrusters in the right direction, dangit! I tried my best to struggle my way into the floating circular thing ahead of me, all while shouting profanities after profanities at SYS to keep the damned Corvette stable because good god was I struggling out here!

"SYS! Stabilize me for god's sake!" I shouted in vain on my interface, as I felt the tether pull me off my stupid spin.

"Recalibrating. Movement stabilized."

Recovering from my moment of abject self-embarrassment, I pushed myself forward into the circular thing. Good god was it small, I could practically hug it. Well, I hugged it. I knew it, an AI Core, most likely. The most advanced kinds were said to be capable of administering entire planets. I remember that before these kinds of AIs were banned after the Second Revolutionary War, they used to man the drone ship fleets of Stable Dynamics.

At least, until they went rogue. Thank god for the FEG though, they got wiped out…well, at least according to the records. Perhaps she was a survivor? Was she rogue though? I didn't know. All I knew was that I said I trusted her and that I would help her.

Why was I doing this again? This was stupid. What if she was manipulating me? I sure as hell would not plug her into anything but the secondary computer systems of my ship to interface with me…actually, what if she hacked shit anyway?

I felt myself quake in fear as two massive shards of debris, probably the armored mounts of the derelict ships nearby moved way too fast for my comfort above me. No time for second thoughts, I gave the order to pull the tether back as I gave her a death grip of a hug, I didn't want to lose hold of it and be tortured in a second attempt to catch her again after all.

She better repay me for this trouble, I told myself as I closed in on my Corvette. This better be worth it.

Soon, the dirty business was done. I breathed in and out deeply in the cargo bay after I removed my suit. Damn, that was a good day's work. I probably deserved some nice frozen fruits for myself. Or a good beer…actually, my beverage stores probably ran out during the trip in hyperspace. Damned self-imposed isolation!

"Now look at you…" I picked her up…was it a container? I didn't really know. "What the hell are you really?"

Naturally, it didn't reply to me. In fact, the lights seemed dead as well. Would I have to plug her in something? Anything? Man, I already had a lot of devious thoughts about this thing. No! Why are you looking at me as if I'm a pervert? I was thinking of selling this…or something.

Good lord, this should fetch me a hefty price! And then for my wildest imagination, I can finally buy myself a frigate or two, a crew, some freelance officers, and perhaps a few auxiliary vessels. A few hundred thousand SCs wouldn't be out of reach! Soon, I would be a proper space captain. Perhaps, I would do well at being an explorer? Could I finally cease being a smuggler to make ends meet? Hmm…hmm…opportunities, endless opportunities.

More like endless delusional greed. I slapped myself back to my senses. Think! She wanted help, well, how could I help? But you didn't give me any instructions you little—

"Initiating Audio Speakers! Er…wait…um…why are you carryi—" I almost dropped her when she blurted those words out.

"You can speak?! Why didn't you speak earlier? I thought I broke you." I said, holding her with my extended arms, and staring straight at what I assumed was her eye.

"Er…um, well, I guess the rays outside scrambled my speaker modules. I had to restart it." She said, in a very strangely human tone. Was she embarrassed? Was this really an AI? I always imagined them to be monotone…like SYS. "Can you put me down?"

"Uh…certainly. But first, what the hell are you?" I asked, giving her a frown for the headache she incurred on me. "Deal's a deal."

"I'm a Generation VIII J-Neural Core." She replied in a low tone. "I'm…supposed to pilot a Void-Class Phase Cruiser."

"A J-Neural Core? An AI Core then?" I curiously asked. I had no idea what she was on about. Well, I suppose the general public wouldn't know much about AIs in general. System Dynamics kept them as a top-secret technology, and the FEG, DSA, and even the Sagittarius Union eventually elected to purge them all from the Sector when they turned rogue. All I really knew about them was from the drunken ramblings of salty spacers in dockside bars or station markets.

And that turned my stomach upside down again. Was she rogue?

"A Juliett Core specifically!" She said, almost way too cheerful for herself. "And, since I don't think they produced any other version of me, you can just call me Juliett."

So a very special AI core then? Sure, that seemed interesting, but I didn't exactly see the rationale as to why I shouldn't go to the nearest Stable Dynamics colony to sell her. I mean, sure, she was acting scarily human, but she must be nothing but a bunch of code…I think.

"So…care to put me down now?" She asked, and I suppose I could agree to that. Call me a sleazy sneaky rat thief, but I would always honor deals.

"Alright, sure." I gave her a nod and placed her down gently on the nearest table that could support her. "So…a Void-Class Phase Cruiser? Wait, phase? What does that mean? Better sensors?"

"Um…yes? I guess my form has better sensors than most…but that's not exactly it, really." And by form, I was starting to assume that it was how she referred to her ship. She continued. "Do you not know what a phase ship is?"

"Crap if I know, I mean, I heard Stable Dynamics have those strange Foldspace Skimming Ships or something…" I leaned forward to her. "Did Stable Dynamics make you? Where were you produced? What for?"

She laughed at my sudden barrage of questions, which naturally irritated me in more ways than one. It had been a long time since I had conversed with someone, and this was how it goes. Who was I irritated to again? Oh, to her. Definitely not to myself…who was acting like a child with a new toy—

"Listen, new friend," friend? Didn't know I consented to that. "You're asking too many questions. Unfortunately, my only answer to that is…I don't know."

I paused. Was she serious? Come on, this tin can couldn't seriously just forget her origins and purpose. Hello? I didn't know Stable Dynamics produced such subpar products.

Or maybe the blueprint shortage really did them in. Yeah, at this point, many planets probably lost a great deal of those chips to run factories. This will be bad for the stock market. Or probably not. Don't the values go up when there's a shortage though? Not that I had invested in it yet to worry about it. Look, stuff outside of my control? I loved to worry about it.

"That's impossible," I said. "How can you not know who created you?"

"Well, it sure isn't in my databanks. Is that sufficient enough?"

"Then why? What is your purpose? You said you're supposed to pilot a…phase what again?"

"A Void-Class Phase Cruiser. And a few others. I got separated from it though…"

"A Phase Cruiser? What even does that mean?"

She laughed again. "You sure are a curious boy, huh?" Don't call me a boy you tin can! "Well, it's hard to explain…I guess, think of Phase Space as…do you know what Phase Space is?"

"Is it Foldspace?"

"Foldspace Skimming Drives are just a device, silly. It just bends space-time rapidly to move in short bursts in real space." Well, that still sounded high-tech to me. So I guess what they do is basically limited FTL in real space? Well, the more you know…I guess.

"Well then, what the hell is Phase Space?"

"Look, I get that you're weirded out by my existence." I definitely was, and her dodging my questions was starting to irritate me. "But I feel like you're just interrogating me, you know? I don't even know your name yet. Isn't that rude to a lady?"

I snorted.

"You? A lady? Are you even a person?

"Heeeeey! Screw you! I am the lady-est person-est person out there! Just wait till I reunite with my form, you jerk!"

"You know, you don't act very much like an AI."

"...What? Am I supposed to act robotic and stuff? AI Cores are copied from brains, you know? I'm not just some piece of code."

"Well, I suppose you do have a point in that." Damn, I didn't know that. Do they copy human brains now? No wonder AI crap was…illegal. That sounded kinda horrible. "Very interesting."

"Quite the stale response there, jerkface."

"I'll throw you off the airlock." SYS sucked ass, but at least it didn't call me a jerkface. This thing promptly gave me her high-pitched fully feminine squeaky voice that made me want to toss her off the airlock more.

"I apologize!" She squeaked out. "Please give this poor lady some slack, I did just get myself in a disaster after all. Pretty please?"

"You even inherited the moves of a woman." Was she copied from the brain of one? I held my head. "Alright fine, what's your major malfunction?"

"Look, I just wanted to know your name before we start working together."

"Work together?" Now, could anyone tell me any good reason as to why I shouldn't sell this rare commodity to a Stable Dynamics representative? "Who gave you that idea?"

"We're supposed to trust each other, remember?" Yeah well, I did say that earlier. "And…don't you want to work with me? I think you have potential."

"Potential for what?"

"Let's save this Sector together!" Oh hell no, lady. Or tin can…or Juliett, whatever. Me? A smuggler? And a borderline pirate if I was pushed further into desperation? Saving the sector? Don't make me laugh. "You were asking for my purpose, well, that's my purpose, Mr. Noname."

"Oi, you're getting ahead of yourself. I didn't sign up for that." Plus this Sector was beyond saving. I'll give it…two decades tops before the FEG and the Union get into another war and finally place the final nail to humanity's coffin in this place. "Plus, you already saw this rustbucket. I can't even afford to save myself."

"So what? You helped me. I can see things in you."

"For all you know, I'm probably just appraising a potential product to sell to the highest bidder. AI is illegal, you know? You're probably worth a fortune."

"Yes, but that's the point." Her voice became more cheerful. "I know you won't."

"You're naive."

"And you're just as naive for thinking that I wouldn't hack this ship of yours to take control of it myself." Oh god…um, airlock now? "But you think I won't too, no?"

I fell silent. What the hell were we on again? We were both just running rings on each other. Going back and forth in a silly game of interrogating each other. But hadn't I trusted her already, just as she currently does?

But…trust? After all that? After all the lessons I learned in this cruel universe and life? Why would I? And why? Why…am I trusting her?

This was all way too new to me. She was silent, probably to let me think about things. Could she be manipulating me? How would I know? What if she wasn't even the malevolent one here? I am not a saint…I already kept having thoughts of selling her. Am I just appraising her as a product? Am I?

"So…you trust me?"

"Yes!" She cheerfully replied. "I think you will be my best chance of reuniting with my form and saving this sector. What about you?"

I held my tongue. So she also had a goal. She had a reason why she wanted to work with me. What about me then? Why would I…what was I asking for here? Trust her and work with her? For what?

But I couldn't reject her. Was I being aimless again? Is that…why? I'm…done being aimless. I just…

"...Fine, I trust you too."

"Well, that's great." I could almost hear an enthusiastic breath from her, which…she had no lungs right? "So…name?"

Oh, right…that one.

"Fine…I'm Al—" I held myself mid-sentence. That…was almost an error on my part. "I'm Jonathan Jones. You can call me Jon if you'd like."

Did she perhaps notice?

"Well…" She still seemed cheerful though. "I guess it's nice to meet you, Jon! Let's help each other then!"

I'm…such a dirty liar.

"Alright. To a productive partnership…I guess."

+++

Active Missions:

"A Faint Memory"

- Find [REDACTED] in the Lubola System…

Rewards: Generation VIII “Juliett” Neural Core.

Completed!