“What the hell did you do to this ship?”

Cockroach was staring open-mouthed at a hall full of dismantled walls.

“We had to make repairs on our own,” Reggie explained, suddenly feeling somewhat embarrassed. “Half the systems rotted away while I was in stasis.”

“Okay, we’re going to come back to the stasis thing later, but for now you do realize there are access hatches, right?” Cockroach pulled open a hatch on one of the few intact wall panels to demonstrate.

Reggie rubbed his neck. “I could barely fit inside those. And I couldn’t see what I was doing.”

Cockroach pointed a finger at him accusingly. “Bullshit. Standard ship design ensures that maintenance areas are always large enough to accommodate mechanics of above average size and you are slightly above average at best.” She gestured to the mass of cables and pipes within the walls. “You understand that this shit ain’t supposed to be exposed, right? There’s a reason it stays covered. What happens if the anti-grav miscalibrates while entering or leaving an atmosphere—one of the most common problems with anti-grav systems—and sends one of these panels, or one of you flying into those cables?”

“I guess that’s what I get for taking art instead of shop,” Reggie said. “But if you need someone to paint a picture of the engine systems, I’m your guy.”

Cockroach glared at Reggie. “I’m going to forgive you for now because that was a decent joke.” She turned to examine the innards of the ship more carefully. “Honestly, walls aside, this is pretty decent for an amateur patch job. How’d you know what to do?”

Reggie shrugged. “Got lucky. The ship’s emergency computer system had a diagnostic program that told me what to do.”

“Oh, software, that’s something else to keep in mind. I’ve never heard of an emergency system like that. I guess some lost tech is so lost that we don’t even realize it’s missing. Fella will be able to tell us if it’s worth anything.”

Fella was currently with Elegy and Madeline, inspecting the computer system. Reggie was supposed to be showing Cockroach around, but the mechanic who ended up doing most of the leading, briskly leading Reggie to the various engines. She examined them carefully, noting anything that was damaged or broken in a small notebook. When she had completed her survey of the engines, she did the same for the sensors, life support, and various other systems. Finally, she met with the rest of the group in the cafeteria.

“If this ship’s really a thousand years old, then these engines are in remarkable condition,” she announced, sitting with her back to the table and leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. “Painfully inefficient design, though. The slower-than-light engines are Astral Dew powered. And they’re located all over the place for some reason. It’s a passenger transport built to have the maneuverability of a warship.”

“It really is a thousand years old,” Fella replied. She was sitting with her back to another table and one elbow propped on it, facing Cockroach. “Unless they decided to fake the computer records to keep up a pointless lie.”

Cockroach nodded casually at the news. “Assuming there’s no structural damage to the hull, everything I’ve seen should be within my capabilities to fix.”

“We will need to land the ship,” Fella added. “Aside from unloading any equipment we’re selling, we’re going to need to repair some of the exterior sensors.”

“We’ll take care of that later. First I want to get a sense of what we can sell. We’ll need money as soon as possible to take care of their basic needs.”

“That’s a good point. Food, shelter, what else?”

“Clothes. Those uniforms are not warm enough for this time of year.”

“We’d better get started then. Shall we start with the medical equipment?”

“Exactly what I was thinking.”

Reggie, Elegy, and Madeline stood to the side and watched this rapid-fire exchange. Reggie supposed that Cockroach must be leaning towards accepting the piloting job since she was already acting as if the ship was hers. Perhaps the engines alone had been enough to entice her.

He realized suddenly that the two had grown quiet and stood.

“Oh, right, the medical stuff. It’s this way.”

Reggie decided to lead them first to the stasis chamber, since it was one piece of equipment he was certain still worked. As soon as they entered the stasis room, Cockroach was staring wide-eyed into the blue light of the chamber.

“Astounding,” she whispered.

“This is where I found him,” Elegy said proudly. “He’d been frozen for a thousand years.”

“A hundred years, maybe,” Cockroach replied. “But not a thousand.”

“He is listed on the manifest from a flight a thousand years ago,” Fella said.

Cockroach shook her head. “There ain’t a thousand years of deterioration on those engines.”

“I thought that was strange, too,” Reggie admitted. “But it’s the only way for Elegy and Madeline’s understanding of history to line up with mine.”

“Either way, a piece of equipment like this is worth a fortune if we can find a buyer. Thing is, that’s a big if. There ain’t a lot of people wanting to freeze themselves, you know? We could sell it for parts, but we wouldn’t get as much. I’d rather start with something more high-demand and save this until I can get the most I can out of it.”

That settled it. Cockroach clearly saw the ship as hers. Her blunt attitude suddenly felt like a relief.

Reggie next led the group to the bio-engineering clinic. Cockroach stared at the row of seven metallic coffin-shaped chambers for a long moment before turning to face Reggie. “Are those what I think they are?”

“Bio-engineering chambers, yeah,” Reggie confirmed.

“Reggie, these are lost tech,” Cockroach said in a quiet, almost reverential tone. “They were all destroyed centuries ago. And records of how they were built were lost. Rumor has it that a few still exist in the hands of the ultra-rich, but…” She pointed across the row of chambers, counting them. “Five, six, seven? These are worth a fortune.”

“What do they do?” Madeline asked, doubtless surprised that she had unknowingly spent the last several days next to something that garnered such amazement.

“Change the body. Rumors vary on what exactly they’re capable of. It’s said that they can cure all diseases and disabilities. They can make you stronger or smarter, even change your appearance. With these, anyone can look exactly how they want to look. Some even say that they can make you immortal. A few rumors are even stranger than that. They mention additional limbs or…” She paused, her eyes slowly returning to Reggie’s face. “...inhuman organs. That’s how they did it, isn’t it? They put some new gland in you?”

Reggie gave her a smug look. Any doubts she’d had were clearly gone now. “This is how they did it. But I’d better dispel some of those rumors. They don’t make you immortal or cure diseases, though they can extend your life. However, neural entropy eventually sets in and the brain fails to properly control one or another of its own organs. It can’t make you smarter, either. Although that’s something that is—was—being researched. It can treat some disabilities, but not others.”

“But that other stuff?” Cockroach asked. “It can change, uh, organs and stuff?”

“Oh, yeah. Easily.”

She looked away nervously “So if someone’s trans…you know about transgender people?”

Reggie blinked. In his time, plenty of people had changed their sex in any number of ways. Use of bio-engineering chambers was easy and affordable.

“Yeah, they should be able to change anything you need.”

Cockroach grinned. “Shit, that’s rad. Okay, we are definitely fixing one of these up and finding a doctor who can run it.”

Reggie made an uncertain sound. “You can do that after completing the job.”

“Easiest way to get money is gonna be to fix up and sell one or two of these,” Cockroach objected. “And I think we may want to recruit a doctor anyway. What if you need medical attention after that gland activates?”

Reggie thought about this for a moment. There had been a doctor on the original flight, so Cockroach probably had a point. It was frustrating the way new tasks presented themselves every time he thought he knew the steps to completing his job.

“Okay, that’s probably a good idea,” he admitted.

Their tour continued with Reggie showing off various tools, computers, and entertainment devices, but none of these impressed Cockroach as much as the bio-engineering chambers. Still, she selected a few to sell in the short term while she repaired one of the chambers.” Afterwards, she contacted the dock and got permission to land the ship. As the ship entered the atmosphere, Reggie was so tense that his jaw began to hurt, but Cockroach handled it with a calm confidence, trusting in Fella’s insistence that the hull was solid.

Afterwards, the excited Cockroach took the group to a restaurant to celebrate. To Reggie’s relief, the run-down grill she selected offered several things that weren’t deep fried. The chili dog had been nice, but it was enough grease for one day, and he had noticed poor Elegy take a few trips to the bathroom over the last few hours.

Afterwards, Cockroach and Fella departed with plans to meet up the next day, and Reggie, Madeline, and Elegy returned to the ship. Even though they were still on Ambrosia, the interior of the ship felt comfortably separate from the planet. It felt like returning to the isolation of being buried under Lasstop or flying through space. Reggie could see in the relieved looks on his friends’ faces that they felt the same. For Madeline and Elegy, this ship was the closest thing they had to familiarity. There was a sense of safety in being able to shut away everything Ambrosian for a while, even faces of their new allies. They gathered in the cafeteria to chat.

“She’s an interesting one, isn’t she?” Reggie said as he sat on one of the benches.

“I’ve never met anyone like her,” Elegy replied. He was pacing back and forth, apparently still full of energy.

“I’m more concerned with Fella,” Madeline said. She was sitting on another bench, with her feet on the bench and her chin resting on her knees. “What am I supposed to think of someone—something?—like that?”

Reggie sighed. “I don’t have an answer to that. In my time, that type of A.I. was illegal, but no one knew what to do with the ones who existed. Are they living things or programs? If they’re made to enjoy a particular task and choose to perform that task, can they be said to have free will? Would it be right to change them to match our idea of what would make them free, or would that be taking away their individuality? I don’t know if anyone can say for sure.”

“If you ask me, I don’t think anyone who makes or buys a being like that is a good person,” Madeline said sharply.

“That’s more or less how I feel,” Reggie admitted. “Setting aside the philosophical questions, people who deal with A.I. tend to be a certain type. Someone who doesn’t care whether an A.I. is a person or an object is usually willing to treat people as objects, too. Cockroach might seem friendly, but we should think of her as nothing more than a business partner.”

Elegy halted his pacing. “I don’t think she’s like that. She and Fella talked like equals.”

Madeline scowled. “You don’t get it. She acts that way because that’s how Cockroach wants her to act. She’s made to be what Cockroach wants her to be. You imagine people wanting maids because when you were in a position of power over me, that’s how you expected me to behave. But Cockroach wants some ideal lover she can pretend is her equal. You’re at least honest enough to face the unbalanced nature of your relationships. Cockroach is a coward who refuses to face the fact that she’s in complete control.”

Elegy’s face fell and Reggie cringed inwardly. Madeline had a bad habit of breaking the Surveyor’s heart.

“I thought you liked her,” Elegy whined. “You were nice to her. And you were the one who got her to like us.”

“I acted the way I needed to,” Madeline replied. “That’s how it is when you’re not at the top. You have to pretend to be the type of person the powerful want you to be.”

Elegy gave her a hurt look, but said nothing. Reggie reached for something to cheer him up. “Excited to do some clothes shopping tomorrow? I know you wanted to experiment with your style.”

Elegy grinned. “That’s right. I wonder what clothing stores are like here.”

Reggie smiled back. It was strange, Elegy was nearly an adult, but Reggie felt like he had to talk to him like a child. He wondered what Elegy had been denied in his actual childhood.