Captain Savitskaya frowned and rubbed her temples.

I was alone with her, in her personal quarters. Of course, I wasn’t physically present; I didn’t have a convenient Telepresence Doll like Sveta or Laria, so I was merely projecting myself on a video monitor. Since the issue we were discussing was sensitive, I was transmitting with the highest encryption.

She was reading a top secret NKVD report I had just brought her. The contents were potentially explosive, so I was seeking her input on exactly what to do with the information. I hated bringing such stressful material to her, especially on the day before a holiday, but I required her wisdom on how to proceed.

The Captain finished reading the report and looked straight at me. “Teles, who else knows?”

“Aside from the field agent in charge of the investigation, and the official who collated the report, just you and me.” I responded. “I wanted to bring it to you before proceeding further.”

“A wise decision. Hrm.” She seemed to be just as much at a loss as me.

“Should we tell them?” I asked gingerly.

“Of course we should. But timing is important too. Christmas Eve is tomorrow, and I’d hate to ruin everyone’s moods…” She looked very pained.

There was a long moment of silence as we both wracked our brains. Then, slowly, the Captain floated over to the wall screen and tapped a single button.

“Laria.”

“Yes, Captain?” Laria’s image popped up next to mine.

“Tell Doctor Zehra I need to see her immediately. Tell her it’s urgent.”

“Understood.” Laria’s eyes unfocused for a moment, then refocused. “She’s on her way.”

“Good. I will require complete privacy when we speak. Only myself, Teles and Zehra will be present for this meeting.”

“By your command, Captain.” Laria’s eyes were curious, but she knew better than to pry.

*****

“What’s the big secret, gao~n? I’m very busy right now, you know!”

Zehra was clearly annoyed we had pulled her away from her lab. Both the Captain and I wore grim expressions, but the mad doctor was very bad at reading the room.

“It’s important.” the Captain stated simply. “It concerns your daughter, Kometka.” That got Zehra’s attention, and she stared at us intensely. The Captain sighed heavily, and turned the floor over to me. “Teles, if you will?”

“Right.” My voice cracked just a bit. “We’ve managed to track down Kometka’s computer core. To be more precise, we discovered what happened to it.”

“Happened? Past tense?” Zehra asked.

“Yes. As we suspected, it was installed as the computer core of a Gravity Frame. In this case, it was an SVGF-40 Nighthawk, like Sveta’s old Frame. The unit was assigned to the SGFC Ephedra, specifically to a pilot named Lydia Tereshkova.”

“I see. And after that?” Zehra’s speech tic had vanished entirely, and she spoke in a solemn tone.

“The Ephedra was stationed on the Tertiary Defense Line and fought during the Third Great Surge three years ago. They did… not escape to safety prior to the positron bombardment. The ship and all her personnel were classified KIA on October 14, 2052.”

The Third Great Surge was the deadliest battle in human history. It had lasted for five days, and every human defensive position was assaulted by a Sarcophage swarm so massive their numbers blotted out the stars. In the end, humanity had retreated to the Absolute Line and annihilated the battlefield with sustained positron fire from the Almaz defense platforms. The result was a pyrrhic victory, one that came at incredible cost. Casualties were in the tens of millions.

Zehra didn’t know what to say. She just floated there, silent. Absent any other option, I continued my report.

“The last communication received from the Ephedra was two days prior to the battle’s conclusion. Command estimated with an 87% probability the ship was destroyed prior to the bombardment, and… consumed.” I left that last detail vague; we were all familiar with the Sarcophage’s voracious appetite for raw materials and heavy metals. It was a horrifying mental image.

Tears were welling up in Zehra’s eyes. “Then… there’s no chance…”

I shook my head. “Likely not. We can take small comfort in the fact that Kometka was offline at the time, so she was entirely unaware of what was happening. For her, at least, it was peaceful.”

A heavy silence followed. The only sound was Zehra’s sobbing. The Captain and I looked at each other awkwardly. Neither of us was sure what to do. The Captain slowly, carefully, drifted over to Zehra and placed her hand on the doctor’s shoulder. Zehra buried her face in the Captain’s chest.

Five minutes passed, then ten. Finally, Zehra pulled away, sniffling. The front of the Captain’s uniform was covered in snot, but neither one of them paid any heed.

“You’re the only one we’ve told.” the Captain said softly.

Zehra nodded. “Let’s keep it that way, gao~n.” She had recovered enough to assume her speech tic once more; that was reassuring. “I don’t want to ruin anyone’s holiday. We can tell everyone in a few days.”

“Right.” the Captain responded. “If there’s anything I can do…”

Zehra pointed to me. “Give me Teles.”

““Pardon?”” we both said.

“You’ve put me behind schedule, gao~n. I’m on a deadline, so I need her to help me out with something for the rest of the day.”

“You… don’t have to go back to work right away. If you need to take time off…” the Captain began.

Zehra shook her head. “It’s better for me to be doing something right now, gao~n. If I think about it too much, I’ll just wallow in despair. I promised myself I would never do that again, gao~n.” She clenched her fists.

“I understand.” the Captain replied. “Teles, please assist the doctor in whatever she may need.”

“I’m not sure how I can help, but… sure.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll put you to good use, gao~n.” Zehra said ominously. Her expression softened. “Thank you both for telling me.”

“Of course. And… I’m sorry.” the Captain said quietly.

*****

I joined Zehra back in her lab, projecting myself on a tablet she held. Vicky greeted us, and immediately noticed something was off. “Mistress? Are you alright? Your eyes are red…”

“I’m fine, gao~n. Let’s get back to preparations.” She dodged the subject, and Vicky didn’t seem satisfied with that answer. She looked at Zehra with a concerned expression, but didn’t pursue the matter any further. She did shoot an intense glare my way, one that seemed to say “I’ll be demanding answers later.” I just rubbed my head sheepishly.

“Preparations for what, exactly?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“The Christmas Festival, gao~n. I’m providing my services to help decorate, via hard light holograms.” She placed both hands on her hips and thrust her (non-existent) chest out proudly.

“Oookay…” I muttered. “How am I supposed to help, though?”

“Well, Sveta’s out on patrol and Laria’s busy. I need you to do the heavy lifting, gao~n.”

“Ahahaha, I’m an AI though. How am I supposed to lift, with psychic powers or something?”

Zehra pointed over to a rack against the wall. “Get in one of those, gao~n.” I followed her finger, and saw six Telepresence Dolls of varying shapes and sizes.

“Wait, what? HUH? Where did those even COME from?!” I gasped.

“I’ve been making spares, gao~n. I figured you and the Tektites would come asking for them eventually.” Zehra declared. Vicky just sighed in resignation.

“I… never really wanted one, though?!” Well, that wasn’t ENTIRELY true. I was curious, like any other AI might be, but it was low on my priority list.

“Then give it back when you’re done, gao~n. But for the moment I need someone to do heavy lifting.”

It didn’t take me much to give in. After all, Zehra was in a very fragile place right now, and I didn’t mind indulging her. And that’s how I wound up getting my own body.

*****

I took control of the smallest Telepresence Doll. My own avatar was shorter than Sveta’s, so it suited me best. Needless to say, the onrush of physical sensation was overwhelming, and Zehra gave me zero time to adjust.

“Knock knock, are you in there? Hurry up, gao~n! We have work to do!”

“Aaah, just one moment!” I slowly moved my arms around, then suddenly struck Sveta’s idol-winking pose. “Ta-da! The gorgeous number-one idol of the galaxy, Teles, has made her debut!” The motion sent me spinning out of control, and before I could react I smacked my head into the wall. “WAH!”

Zehra and Vicky burst out laughing. The latter wiped her eyes and teased me. “B-Be careful now! We wouldn’t want the galaxy’s idol hurting herself!”

“…You’re the last one I want to hear that from.” I was pouting, but secretly happy I had managed to lighten the mood. I slowly flailed my arms and legs around, getting a feel for how to maneuver a physical body in microgravity. Vicky drifted over to me and offered me a helping hand; I managed to stabilize by clinging to her arm.

“Well, you should learn on the job, gao~n. We have a lot of equipment to move into the gravity centrifuge, so chop-chop!”

“Gah. You show no mercy, do you?” I whined.

“None whatsoever! I am the Golden Lion, after all, gao~n! Now, get to work!”

And so, reluctantly, I began my second life as a pack mule.

*****

The equipment that needed hauling was a large hard light holographic projector. It was about the size of a compact car and weighed 1.5 tons. Since we were taking it inside the gravity centrifuge of 433 Eros, into the colony proper, we couldn’t use Construction Frames to move it… at least, not on such short notice and without any permits. The central rotating habitation cylinder of the colony was fourteen kilometers long, and three kilometers across; the interior surface was lined with factories and habitation blocks, which enjoyed Earth-normal gravity from the spin. As soon as we entered that gravity, I had the unenviable job of lugging the holographic projector around. Well, it wasn’t particularly difficult for me to lift with my brand-new android body, but I did have to quickly learn how to walk.

The central park of 433 Eros was in the middle of the residential district, hemmed in on all sides by towering twenty-story housing complexes. The forested greenery of the park contrasted the grey concrete buildings, and provided a much-needed bit of natural beauty amid the brutalist architecture. The park was already quite busy, with several residents setting up their food stalls and stages for the festival tomorrow. At Zehra’s direction, I set the projector in the very center of the park.

Zehra quickly hooked it up to the power mains. “Now, behold my genius, gao~n!” she declared loudly, and flipped a switch.

There was a collective gasp from everyone as the park was suddenly transformed into a wintery wonderland. All the trees were now white, frosted with holographic snow, and strung up with multicolored lights. The buildings around the park were aglow with lights as well, in patterns shaped like huge blinking LED snowflakes. Gentle snowflakes drifted through the air and alighted on the ground, dusting it a powdery white. The holographic generator itself transformed into a massive Christmas tree, seven meters tall and shrouded in tinsel and glowing varicolored orbs. At the very top of the tree was a resplendent angel, seemly carved from crystal.

“Mistress… that’s incredible…” Vicky said in awe.

“Isn’t it? You may praise me more, gao~n!” Zehra said proudly.

“This is amazing.” I said. “You really went all-out for this, huh?”

Zehra nodded. “You know, when I was growing up, I never had a happy Christmas, gao~n.”

“Huh?” I turned to look at her and saw her eyes had grown distant.

“My household was… unhappy. Christmas was painful for me and my brothers, gao~n. We never enjoyed it.” Her voice was filled with sadness, and the corners of her eyes were moist. She was leaving a lot unsaid, but it was pretty easy to fill in the gaps.

“I’m… sorry to hear that…” I wasn’t sure what to say. The sudden shift in mood had caught me off guard.

“The first happy Christmas I had was five years ago, because of my daughters, gao~n.” Zehra continued. “It was the first time in my life I enjoyed celebrating with family, instead of dreading it.”

“I see.” I shuffled my feet, not knowing what to say. Vicky was wearing a solemn expression.

“After my daughters were taken from me, I swore I would live a happy life in honor of them, gao~n. And now… I want to make this the happiest Christmas celebration I possibly can. In honor of the daughter that returned to me, and the one that… didn’t…” Her voice choked up, and tears streamed down her face.

Wordlessly, Vicky wrapped herself around Zehra’s left arm and held her tightly. I followed suit with her right arm, and Zehra flushed a bit being hugged by two girls. She cleared her throat.

“A-Ahaha, thank you both, gao~n. I’m alright. Let’s make this the best Christmas Festival ever, gao~n.”

We both nodded, smiling.

pynkbites

I originally wanted to title this chapter "T-3. Rise of the Machines" but it didn't suit the material. Oh well!

I feel like Christmas can be a time of both great joy and great sadness. A lot depends on ones personal experiences. Those of us who have difficult relationships with family, or have lost people we care about, sometimes find the holidays too painful to bear.

Even so, I hope we all can experience a small bit of happiness among that pain. Let's all root for Zehra and Sveta to create their own happiness this beautiful Christmas Eve!