JessicaRae

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When morning broke on the station, Echo helped me dress and we went across the hall to the elder Erickson’s suite. Mikaela and Rachel were both there along with Marcus and Rachel had cooked breakfast for us. Once again, we were treated to some delicious breakfast burritos from the woman that was apparently quite the cook.

The entire family gathered around their dining table in an incredibly wholesome gathering. As she sat, I watched as Mikaela kissed Rachel on the cheek, thanking her for the food. Amusingly, Marcus was already stuffing his face and could only mumble a ‘thank you’ around a mouthful of food.

“Thank you for the meal, Missus Erickson.”

She smiled at me. “No need for the formality, Adresta. I appreciate the sentiment, but you needn’t be so stiff at this point. I think I speak for all of us when I say that you are family now.” With a sly smirk, she glanced at her daughter. “Maybe in more than just name too, soon enough.”

Said daughter blushed and I was much the same. “Mooommm!”

The woman snorted and made an innocent look. “Just saying it how I see it, hun.”

Both of the older women laughed at our expense, even their male partner silently shaking with mirth. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Echo for a while after that, too embarrassed by the longing in my heart. I had fallen for her hard and I knew it. After what she had told me before, I knew that she was far from uninterested in me herself, but since neither of us had made a move yet, nothing had yet happened.

The rest of the meal was nice. The parents (and it was very clear that both women were indeed mother figures to Callisto) all warmly shared their time with me and seemed to fully accept my presence in their home. It felt amazing and I knew that if this was what having family was like, I wanted more of it.

Much to my surprise, once breakfast was over and we started saying our goodbyes, Rachael came over and bent down next to me after hugging her daughter. “May I?” Her arms were open wide. I nodded dumbly as she embraced me lightly.

“I know I didn’t say it before, but I’m glad you are still alive. There isn’t much that really scares me, but seeing Echo drag your body into our ship after pulling you from the wreckage, it was… horrifying. I look forward to seeing the new you.”

Tears threatened the corners of my eyes as I watched the others nod in agreement. “Thank you. I’ll admit, I’m not used to people caring about me like this. It uh… it feels nice.”

“Best get used to it,” said Mikaela. “Something tells me you are going to be around for a while.”

Marcus put a hand over mine. “We’ll see you on the other side, Adresta.” He then moved over and hugged his daughter. “Be safe, Starlight, and take care of her. It’s going to be a long month without you around.”

Echo hugged him back. “Don’t worry, Daddy, I’ll call every night. You be safe too. I don’t want to find out that things fell apart on the Ratatosk because I wasn’t there keeping order.”

Michaela chuckled. “I am sure your father and I have adequate experience to handle the crew. I’ll hold you to those calls, Callisto. Love you lots, kiddo.” More hugs.

“I love you too, Mum. Love you all. Adresta needs a friend for now, though. I don’t want her to have to do this alone.”

Her father pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I know, and I’m proud of you for stepping up to do it, my starlight.”

I was forced to turn my face away from the family. The longing in my heart was bringing more tears to my eyes and I wouldn’t be able to stop them if I kept watching the absolute love that each of them held for each other.

The man’s head tilted and he glanced back at me. “Speaking of needing a friend, I thought I would ask a favor. As you will not be needing it, I was hoping I might borrow the assistance of your AI.”

I couldn’t think of any reason to say no, even if I really didn’t know what he would need Vox for. Rather than questioning it though, I just acquiesced. “Uh, yeah, I’ll make the allowance before we leave. Should only take a moment.”

“Thank you, Miss Matson. I’ll be sure to give Vox the respect due her.”

After a last set of waved goodbyes, for the third time in as many days, I wheeled onto the Hrafn with my bag sitting in my lap. True to their word, Casey was already aboard going through checks and filing a flight plan. They gave us a nod of acknowledgement as we came on to the ship, but otherwise just quietly continued their work. Meanwhile, Echo and I got settled.

The flight didn’t take long once we left: a half hour of travel time to the gate and about ten minutes waiting in queue for our departure window. As opposed to the one in Telemachus, this one established a stable wormhole in only a couple minutes and we quickly flashed to warp and sailed through the gate.

One dazzling trip through a hole in space and time that would make Einstein roll in his grave later, our ship was dumped into another solar system, one I had long dreamed of visiting. The K type, main sequence star at the center of the system was orbited by more than a dozen planets, though most were small, barren, rocky worlds.

Procyon VI, the home of the Institute, on the other hand, was a gaia planet, a super earth. With a similar composition and atmospheric makeup, it was fifty percent larger than humanity’s cradle. Even better, this world had been claimed early on in the first large-scale expansion of civilization by a group of scientists that had ensured a significantly more peaceful human presence there.

Descending into the atmosphere of the planet, we passed through a small storm but otherwise experienced a gentle glide down to the surface. It seemed that the Hrafn was significantly better suited to the rigors of planetary flight than my old ship. Everywhere the eye could see was covered in lush greenery and natural life interspersed with solar farms and windmills.

Being a major research center, the Celeste Institute was actually a few kilometers away from the nearest major city, with its own power generation and a small village of supporting structures. Large cylindrical hydroponic farms made for compact and efficient sources of food. The coast side location made water access easy with the use of a desalination plant. There was even a small spaceport connected to the property. The Institute was self-sufficient to an impressive degree.

Casey brought the shuttle down with an expert’s touch; I was barely even able to feel the bump from touching down. Echo gave them a fist bump and we moved down the ramp. Our temporary chauffer bid us farewell and lifted off again soon after. In an act of kindness, my friend carried my bag rather than leaving it in my lap. I swore that if I had to go around in this chair for much longer, I was going to get a trailer hitched to it so I didn’t have to have others carry my things.

The air was crisp and cool once we exited the ship. A hint of a previous rain still showed on the ground with puddles all around and the humidity. Rather than the harsh pollution that permeated the spaceport of Telemachus IV, the air here was fresh and clean, a wonderful and almost entirely unfamiliar smell of petrichor in the atmosphere. Gravity here was significantly higher than I was used to, but my powered chair didn’t care and Echo didn’t seem to even notice.

An automated tram pod took us from the landing pads and to the center of the institute complex where the main building was. It was a grand construction, though surprisingly understated considering the impact the people within had on the field of medicine. The building was almost in the shape of a massive tree, with a wide root system, a tall central tower, and an artistically designed array of solar panels that imitated the branches and leaves of a massive oak.

An oddly familiar person sat at the reception desk when we walked in. Their eyes were a vibrant orange color that was obviously unnatural, though their demeanor seemed friendly enough.

“Welcome to the Celeste Institute. Do you have an appointment?”

I finished rolling up to the desk and came to a stop. “Yes, I do. Adresta Matson.”

“Ah,” she said. “Miss Matson, welcome in. The office has been buzzing about you recently. I’m Orange.”

My head tilted with thought. “Are you by chance related to Red? I talked to her on the comms to set up my procedure.”

The receptionist’s eyes flickered for a moment and I could have sworn that I saw them turn a slightly more reddish orange than before.  A smile graced their lips. “You could say that I am familiar with Red.”

The cryptic answer left me with even more questions, but I withheld them.

“If you follow me, I’ll bring you to Doctor Hayes’ office. Will your friend be accompanying you?” I nodded my consent and Echo patted my shoulder. “Very well then. This way.”

With a surprisingly quick stride, Orange led us back to the office which turned out to be a very comfortable looking affair. It seemed that despite this being the office of the doctor, it was well equipped to make patients feel at home. Flowering plants of varying types were scattered about and natural light came into the room through curtain-shaded windows. Orange slid one of the plush chairs to the side to make room for my chair in front of the glass top desk.

Echo and I took our places and thanked the receptionist.

“The doctor will be with you shortly. Feel free to help yourself to water from the pitcher.” She motioned at a small table where a class pitcher filled with ice water had been set with a pair of glasses on a tray. She then walked away, presumably back to her post.

A minute later, Doctor Hayes, whom I had met before, entered the room through a door that was tucked behind a bookshelf. From my brief glimpse behind the door, it looked like the doctor kept a more private office inside, a personal retreat, perhaps.

“Miss Matson, welcome. Glad you could make it so quickly.”

With a brief wince, I held out my hand to shake hers. “A pleasure to meet you in person, Doctor. I came as quickly as transportation could be arranged.”

She smiled at me and then looked at Echo. “And… Callisto Erickson, I believe? You came to us for your own transition a few years back, did you not?”

My companion looked impressed. “Excellent memory, Doctor. Yes, you and your team did incredible work.”

“And you have had no issues?”

“None at all, Doc. Like I said, incredible work.”

Doctor Hayes smiled warmly. “I’m glad you think so highly of us, Miss Erickson. Now then, Miss Matson, straight to business. We received your files and genetic sequence along with payment from the Torgal Corporation. The team has already begun construction of your transference vessel, but we will need to begin the cranial scans to ensure a matched neural network. Now that you have arrived, we will be able to start that process quickly.”

I nodded.

“Accommodations have been prepared for you in one of the branches and a suite of facilities will be available to you, all of which were paid for as part of the cost of the full procedure. If you wish, I will ensure that a second bed is available for your companion.”

It seemed that these institute people had planned for everything. I was impressed. Before answering, I looked to Echo for her input.

“Yes,” she said. “I would greatly appreciate that. Would be a lot easier than taking a tram from Serenia every day. A lot less lonely, too. I want to be here for Addy.” My heart fluttered a bit. Stars, was she beautiful in every way.

“That can certainly be taken care of,” said the doctor. “I’ll alert the staff immediately.” Apparently she wasn’t kidding either as one of her hands typed out a message with blinding speed, all without ever breaking eye contact with us. “It should be ready before evening.”

After taking a drink from a bottle, the doctor continued. “While I am sure that Miss Erickson could tell you all of this, and I am quite sure that you have read up on the process, I must describe what your schedule will be for the next five weeks.”

Her hand pressed a few buttons on her desk and then tossed an image into the air. Holographically displayed over the desk for me to see was a calendar marked with dozens of appointments scheduled through the entirety of my planned stay.

“As the schedule shows, there will be three sessions each day with the neural scanner up until day eighteen, at which point your transference vessel should be ready for the penultimate procedure. Your free time between these sessions is, of course, free to use at your discretion.

“On day ten, there will be an additional appointment with the lead biotechnician to review any biological modifications necessary for your vessel. Similarly, you will have an appointment with the lead biotics technician two days later to review any last minute changes in biomechanical and cyberware augmentations.”

Her monologue paused as Doctor Hayes looked at me. “Any questions so far?”

“No, ma’am,” I told her. “As you inferred, I’ve done some research on the process.”

She didn’t seem at all surprised and just smiled at me. “Good. Day nineteen will be the final checks to make sure everything is ready and then some time either that evening or the next morning, if everything is indeed ready, we will initiate the consciousness transplant. Once completed, the remaining two weeks will be spent in rehabilitation so that you can learn to use your new body effectively and ensure that the transfer was as seamless as possible.”

The projected image collapsed back into the desk and I found myself staring directly into the eyes of the doctor.

“There are warnings, of course. This is an entirely new shell you will be inhabiting. We endeavor to ensure as easy a transition as possible, but it is impossible to eliminate any and all faults. Biological systems are not mechanically perfect and you will find that many things will be different, including senses, body awareness and much more. Beyond that, once this process has been completed, it cannot be undone. Your current body will be recycled as per institute standards and in accordance with Terran Union laws regarding vacated body laws set forth by the human digitalization act of 2177. Do you understand?”

It was as serious as I had yet seen this doctor. Indeed, it was a serious question. I was sure of myself, though, and nodded. “I do.”

Another few taps on her desk panel brought up a digital form with a blank line at the bottom.

“This document will describe all of the things I just outlined and your signature on it will indicate your consent to treatment at the Celeste Institute. Upon signing, you may withdraw consent at any time up to the start of the transplant process, but doing so will forfeit all payments made to the institute. Please review it carefully.”

Even though a part of me wanted to recklessly sign the paper and be done with it, I forced myself to actually read the consent form in its entirety. There was nothing I wasn’t expecting within, but it was important that I remind myself of exactly what I was doing.

With a deep breath, I touched my finger to the panel and signed my name. The future was now. No more waiting.

“Then let’s get started.”