A week of data collection and construction later, and we had a solid plan of action. Cerri had been exceptionally busy with Warren, the two of them combing over mountains of data to get us a series of star systems that they thought might be interesting. I wasn’t totally sure about the criteria they used for their selections, and I didn’t ask. I was way too focused on my own project.

Bundit Mk2 was finished, and I was now in the final testing stage. All the motors and many of the actuator parts beyond the motors were now alien tech. Their stuff was honestly crazy with how power efficient and even just plain powerful it was when you compared it with what we had back in reality on Earth.

The power generator was now under my butt, and was actually a sort of aetheric compression siphon. Unlike the larger one that powered our ship, this thing was basically a little pinhole portal into the aether that allowed the strange material of that dimension to rush into the containment chamber. Because the pinhole’s directionality could be controlled, it filled with aether and didn’t allow any back through.

During our research into all this crazy new tech, we discovered something fascinating. When aetheric cloud stuff is exposed to our reality, —which the badgers called something that roughly translated to Antithesis Energy—, it transforms into more mundane matter. The badgers were never able to understand why or how this happened, or even what determined the state the matter would take when it arrived. What they did figure out, was that if you left it the fuck alone, it turns into hydrogen. So, essentially, the reactor that bundit had right under my seat, was a compressed hydrogen tank of staggering density.

Thankfully, that pinhole could be very quickly reversed if there was a containment breach within the vessel, so I wasn’t at risk of violently exploding. It was actually how the mechanism bled pressure when bundit passed through a region of dense aether that would otherwise overwhelm the containment field.

What was crazy to me was that the badgers or the cyborg zombies had figured any of this out. The number of warning labels on this tech was, quite frankly, terrifying. Like, for example, the one that said not to let any animals near an exposed aetheric siphon, because their proximity could somehow cause the antithesis energy to change into anything from raw meat to pure fire. Any intelligent beings, mechanical or biological, were warned to always wear a space suit with robust radiation shielding.

Was that because of radiation from the siphon? No, it was because the antithesis energy could start to turn into much more complex things, from elemental gold, to a violent wave of mercury, to any kind of atmosphere, or even, on rare occasions, what they described as demons. Yes, that’s right. Horrific monsters could form spontaneously out of that siphon under seemingly random conditions.

Maybe that was how the big space monster had become a thing? We definitely needed to find a proper badger database to sift through. So many unanswered questions.

Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh right, the upgrades to Bundit. No, the new Bundit. Except all the old computer stuff was in the new mech, so it would be more accurate to say it was Bundit’s new body.

The cockpit had also seen a massive revamp. Everything was more ergonomic, I had a tiny smoothie machine in case I needed food, there was a little water tube, and so much more. Oh, and the best part, I had more space inside it! Like, it was still very cramped, but if I lifted my legs up I could stretch them out straight. Sure, they touched the ceiling when I did it, but like… I could stretch my legs!

Bundit also had new modular arms, which would let me take them out and replace them depending on the job. Despite all the new upgrades, it was also slightly smaller in ball form than it had been previously. Not by much, mind you, but five centimeters was a significant height reduction if you took into account all the shit I had to engineer around.

“Okay Bundit, boot up,” I said, standing several meters away just in case.

Lights flickered to life across its chassis, and all the motors relaxed, then stiffened again as the two bunny AI I had started the game with took control. A slight hiss escaped from somewhere, and I frowned, thinking maybe something from the life support systems had failed. It disappeared quickly, though, and the front screen chimed with a boot sound.

Right around the height that Bundit would have had eyes if it was a Mx Potatohead, the armour could go transparent. Behind the armour was a high definition screen that Bundit could use to display whatever it wanted. It also had a set of speakers now, and the mandate to use them.

“Bundit Mk2 online,” a squeaky, computerised voice said, scaring the shit out of me. “Running initial diagnostics. Extending AI matrix into new substrate. Unexpected substrate architecture, formatting for use with existing architecture and firmware. Extension complete. Awaiting instruction.”

“That’s so coooool,” I mumbled to myself, then quivered as a wave of excited frisson traveled the length of my skin. ”Okay, Bundit. Begin testing basic systems.”

Obediently, my mech began to test all the mundane things like motors and joints. When I was sure that everything was mechanically functional, we started with stuff like life support, then moved on to stress testing the power siphon. I had to make extra sure that it didn't explode or whatever.

****

“Hey, Alia!” Elissa’s voice chimed from the workshop speakers. “Roger wants everyone in the rec room.”

Putting down my tiny plasma tool, I looked over at the main console where she was smiling at me with her anime avatar. “What for?”

“I think we have a destination,” she shrugged. “What are you working on? I thought you finished Bundit?”

Turning my attention back to the workbench, I picked up the complicated little piece of metal and spun it on my finger. “Making a bio-tank,” I explained. “This is part of the gel filtration system.”

“Oh!” she gasped, leaning forward like she was trying to get a better view from the screen. “Is that…”

“Eventually going to help grow the organic parts of your body?” I finished for her with a grin. “Yes, yes it is.”

Elissa and I had spoken a lot about this while I was working on Bundit. Unlike everyone else in the crew, she could be anywhere at any time. Basically, she was always there for company. What surprised me was my own reaction to her. Like, most people were at least moderately scary to me until I got comfortable with them. She had this aura about her that put me at ease, though. I felt like I could trust her, so I did.

“Ah!” she giggled excitedly. “I’m so keen! I’ll finally get to be a proper member of the crew!”

“Keen?” I laughed, putting the piece of machinery back on the table so I could head for the rec room. “Have you been watching Home and Away? Immersing yourself in aussie culture?”

“I have no idea what that is, but I went down an aussie meme rabbithole that ended in a channel where these three blokes drop heavy things on other things and stuff,” she babbled while I walked out the door. Her image skipped to my tablet, which I held up so I could still see her. “I tend to spend a lot of time watching stupid online videos when I’m bored.”

“That’s kinda cute,” I mumbled, smiling down at her before I looked away, unable to meet her eyes. My chest felt all weird and tight all of a sudden.

“Cute?” she asked, surprised. “I’ve never really thought of myself as cute before.”

I just sort of grunt-squeaked in response, then hurried into the room where everyone else was waiting. Like usual, I hurried over to sit down next to Cerri, depositing my tablet on the table as I did so.

My newly minted girlfriend gave me a smile that faltered slightly when she saw the confused expression on my face. I shrugged in reply to her silent question.

“Alright, since everyone is here now, I’ll get on with it,” Roger said, pulling my attention away from her. “And yes, I know you are all getting sick of these meetings, so we’ll keep it brief. Cerri and Warren think they’ve figured out where we are in relation to the main area of the game. Somehow, our little trip took us about six degrees clockwise and several thousand light years towards the rim.”

Cerri leaned forward and with a touch, woke the huge touch screen on the table. “We’re about here,” she said, pointing to a spot on a map of the galaxy that had popped up. “This is the Perseus arm.”

“Indeed,” Roger said, thanking her with a smile. “Our plan is to investigate several potentially interesting sites along the way back towards known space.”

The last part was said while pointing to a tiny circle in the orion arm, and all of a sudden I felt very very small.

“Wait, that tiny circle is known space?” Gloria asked, her eyes widening.

“Yup.”

“God damn…” she sighed, closing her eyes. “It’s going to take us literally years to get home.”

“That’s without taking into account the state of the aether between here and there. We’re going to have to go slowly and very cautiously at every step of the way, otherwise…” Cerri explained with a grimace. “Boom.”

Surprisingly, it was Jason who made a thoughtful, considering noise. “Maybe not. One of the first things you learn as a ranger in a foreign environment is to get some sort of lay of the land. In our case, researching the civilisations that used to chill out around here could give us a map of those crazy hyperspace clouds.”

“Oh,” our captain said, pausing for a moment before he chuckled to himself. “Excellent point. Well, I guess we should go hit up the first planet then!”

“I’ll lay in a course, boss,” Gloria said with a wink, standing to head for the bridge.

Cerri was quick to follow, almost tripping herself on her chair. “Not without me, you’re not! Otherwise we’ll end up as a cloud of subatomic particles after we hit a dense aetheric cloud.”