by Jamie Hawke
“Really?”
Laurel shook her head, those large, full turquoise eyes of hers staring at me in an unsettling way. “No, but you wouldn’t be interested in that anyway, would you?”
“Teasing him now?” Charm said with a grin.
“They were actually explaining the dynamics of our team,” Aegriss explained.
“They were…” I frowned, not sure how comfortable I felt with the topic.
“Yes, how they all basically pass you around like a pipe at a meeting on planet Ventor,” Harp’s machine said, and then she bit back a laugh before holding up a hand and having it say, “That was a thought. I haven’t quite mastered how to have this keep some things internal. Sorry.”
I chuckled, adjusting my collar. “It’s not wrong…”
“Except for me,” Aegriss said, frowning. “Why is that?”
“Whoa, put on the spot.” Charm leaned back between Harp and Laurel, wrapping an arm each around their shoulders. “Why is that, Breaker?”
“You’re not prejudiced against artificial life forms, are you?” Shimmer gave me a mock frown.
“Of course not,” I countered, though to be honest I’d never really thought about it. Back on Earth some people played around with sex dolls, even advanced robotic ones at that, but none with the level of A.I. Aegriss exhibited. In a sense I was still connected with her, too, so the idea of sex with her kind of made me curious… like, would I feel some of it from her side of the action? But no, what was I talking about?
“Do it,” Charm challenged me.
“What?”
“You zoned out there,” Shimmer explained. “Charm was saying she wouldn’t have any problems at all with Aegriss being more indoctrinated… your way.”
“Kiss her then,” Charm challenged again. “If you don’t have any problems.”
“Yes.” Aegriss turned to me. “Kiss her, then.”
I frowned. “Are you all serious? This kinda feels like high school. I mean—”
“Stop being a chicken-shit and kiss her already!” Charm exclaimed. “Scared she’ll robot out on you and tear your limbs off? Come on, do it!”
“Charm, not cool.” Shimmer made a ‘tsk-tsk’ motion with her fingers. “That actually does kind of sound prejudiced.”
“Ah, right.” Charm turned to Aegriss. “Sorry. Here, if this will make it easier…” She stood and leaned over, one of her two tails swaying over to tickle my cheek as she leaned in and kissed the android. It was hot, in spite of the fact that I knew Aegriss wasn’t an actual person. Or was that thought wrong? Either way, Charm’s lips pressed to hers, then she added a gentle caress with her tongue. When they pulled back there was a thin line of saliva that lingered for a moment. Charm moaned excitedly, then winked at me and leaned back. “There you go. Your turn.”
Aegriss didn’t move for a moment, then finally leaned back and turned my way. “It’s quite welcome.”
There was nobody I was hurting by doing it, and apparently I was offending them all by not, so I took my turn, moving toward her and pressing my lips to hers. In spite of all my mind had made it out to be, the kiss felt no different than kissing any other woman. If anything, it was better than most, as she started kissing me with longing and great passion, her hands taking mine, then running up my arms to caress my face and run through my hair.
When we finally pulled apart, Shimmer looked at us, impressed. “I think she likes it.”
“She does.” Aegriss was all smiles now.
Harp shifted uncomfortably, and Laurel noticed. Suddenly, she was sitting up straight and clearing her throat, “And… powers?”
“Wait,” Aegriss replied, hand on my thigh. “I want to know where this is going.”
“He’s probably a bit spent at the moment,” Twitch called over from the pilot seat. “Sorry.”
I shrugged, honestly thankful for the save at the moment. As beautiful as Aegriss was, I did want to get to know the newest members of the team more, and not just physically. Her included. And yeah, any more sex without at least five minutes of rest… I was pretty sure would cause my dick to fall off.
“Rain check?” I asked.
Aegriss sighed, leaned back and ran her hand over her chest in a way that caused my eyes to follow it, very much aware of how much like a regular, real woman she appeared to be. “A woman has needs, you know, even an artificial life form, as you all seem to think of me.”
“Are you not… artificial?” I asked.
“I’m real,” she spat back. “Just not in the same way as them.”
She had a point, and I felt like a dick. As a matter of fact, I had to admit to myself that I was being a bit prejudiced when it came to this idea of her being real. On the one hand… she wasn’t. On the other, fuck that way of thinking. She had feelings, and felt real to the touch. As far as I was concerned, that bullshit negative thinking needed to be kicked out of an airlock.
To make up for it, I leaned over, took her hand, and kissed it. “When our time comes, I’m going to love it and make sure you do, to.”
That at least seemed to placate her enough to calm down. I kept holding her hand, not letting go, and moved closer so that our legs were touching.
“Rain check,” she whispered.
The rest of the team was watching with humor. When it was clear that was done for now, I turned back to Laurel. “Powers? What do you mean?”
“Huh?” Charm asked.
“Powers,” Laurel repeated. “I’d asked—was going to ask how everyone’s powers work, exactly, so we can all know how best to work together.”
“Not a bad idea,” Shimmer said. “Well, I do illusions.”
Laurel waited, then glanced around. “Oh, that’s—sorry. Like… making people disappear?”
“For cloaking purposes, yeah. I’ve also done things like making it look like there’s a bunch of us, so the enemy doesn’t know where to attack. Stuff like that.”
“I think that’s great,” Harp’s machine said.
“Me too,” Laurel said. “I mean, it’s more impressive than what I can do.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” Charm said.
“I basically can make things happen as they relate to nature. You know, like make trees hit people, use vines and roots… Not very unique, really.”
“And your mind-reading stuff?”
“Oh, that.” Laurel shrugged. “It’s more like mind-sensing. I’ve learned a lot since Supralines, including how to hone it so that I can basically interpret mind-waves to a sort of mind reading, but to call it actual mind reading isn’t entirely accurate.”
“What’m I thinking right now?” Charm asked.
Laurel frowned. “I really don’t want to—”
“What am I thinking?”
“Fine.” Laurel put her hands in her lap, stared at her, and then put a hand to her mouth. “By Oram, Charm!”
“What?” I asked.
Harp was leaning forward, curious now too. Charm just grinned.
“What does Charm ever think about?” Laurel laughed. “I’d say ninety-five percent of the time, she’s thinking of one thing.”
“And the other five it’s carrot cake,” Charm added.
“You didn’t say the ninety-five,” Shimmer pointed out. “Or what she was specifically imagining.”
“Right…” Laurel glanced at me, then sighed. “She gave me a very visual image of Breaker dancing.”
“That’s not so bad,” Shimmer said.
“Dancing… On top of a missile as it flies through space, and he’s not wearing anything.”
“Oh.”
“So, you can get images?” I tried not to think of the fact that now everyone was visualizing that image.
“It’s like a bat with sonar. The image of you dancing naked is now ingrained in my mind in a sonar style.”
Even I had to laugh at that, giving Charm a look. She really did have an addiction, but it wasn’t unhealthy… at least in my opinion.
“Getting back
on topic.” Twitch indicated the main screen, “since we’re not far off now. I can basically adjust things. It’s confusing, but… like reprogramming the world. In fighting, that often involves changing stats, giving boosts, shields, and more.”
“She can make whole planets disappear,” Shimmer added. Then grimaced. “Sorry, didn’t mean it to be like that.”
Twitch shrugged, turning back to the screen.
“Damn.” I put a hand on Shimmer’s leg, not sure I should be comforting her at the memory or scolding her for giving Twitch a hard time about it still. “And me, I guess I can… huh.” I didn’t have a clue how to explain what I did.
“He’s a smorgasborg of insane powers,” Shimmer explained. “Basically, he has a way of taking on others’ powers, but adapts and changes them once he does.”
“Gale does stuff like ice and lightning, and I guess wind,” Charm said. “And you know me, but I’ve grown. Evolved, I like to say.”
Harp grinned, and her machine said, “Me too.”
“Oh? Great. Like, in what way?”
“You’ll see. Ways to change up how my voice, my actual voice, affects people.”
“Badass.” Charm smirked. “Watch…” She did her rainbow breath thing, making her hands glow and the bubbles emerge. “And it doesn’t just look cool—I can do things with it. I’ve actually been experimenting, and…” She curled one hand into a fist and one of the bubbles emerging formed blue around her fist, like an energy shield. “I think if I hit someone with this, it’s going to sting like a bitch.”
“Whoa.” I hadn’t seen that before. “You’ve been trying other things?”
She nodded. “Not much has come from it, because I think I need to be in the action to do it, but yeah. The more I get in touch with my inner self, remembering all those teachings from Lamb—well, only a couple of days’ worth, unfortunately, but still—I think I’m able to make even more of this. Different colors do different things, just like with my charm breaths.”
“Well let’s go fight some people then,” Shimmer said. “I want to see that in action.”
“I can help you with that, depending on what’s waiting for us.” Twitch indicated the screen. “Coming in faster than anticipated.”
“I’ll go get Gale.” Charm hopped up more excitedly than normal. I guess she was eager to try out her new toys.
When she was gone, I gave Aegriss another smile and put an arm around her, watching our approach.
“And you two… met at Supralines?” I asked Laurel and Harp.
Harp nodded.
“We stayed a bit longer than Charm,” Laurel explained.
“I see. We visited, you know. But that was… before she got her memory back.”
Harp’s curiosity was piqued at that. “Oh, right! I didn’t think to ask—her entire memory?”
“As far as we know.”
“It’s all there,” Laurel said. “I… checked. Not sure if I should’ve asked for permission first.”
“Do you mind asking me before poking around in my head?” I asked.
She smiled and said that wouldn’t be a problem, and then Charm returned with a groggy Gale in tow. Ahead of us, the planet we were approaching wasn’t so much a planet as what looked like an exploded meteor. It spread out in front of us in sharp, jutting spires that reminded me of an ancient castle, or a many-limbed octopus.
“What’re we looking at?” Gale asked.
“You should find—” a voice from the ship started, but was quickly interrupted by Charm.
“What the fuck? Lamb?”
“No, but I’ve been set up on this ship as it’s A.I.,” Lamb’s voice stated, and now I recognized it as hers. “Most things Lamb would know I do as well, as I’m in some ways a part of her she’s used to make these A.I. programs as human-like and realistic as possible.”
A projection of Lamb appeared standing next to Twitch, and looked at me. “Your brother had one too, though his was… funny, I’d say.”
“Um, you can stay as a voice,” Twitch said. Then glanced back at Aegriss, “Don’t want you getting jealous.”
Aegriss chuckled and agreed, “Voice is good.”
The image of Lamb faded although her voice continued. “As I was saying, you should find an outpost here, one with supplies and several old guards.”
“Supers?” I asked.
“That is correct. There has been a rotation system in place here since the last war, when the Shadow Mystic pushed the enemy back and sacrificed herself. New communities have risen up around the area, and have taken to worshipping her, in a sense. It’s quite strange.”
“This is the actual place?” Laurel asked.
“Where the enemy was pushed back following the Syndicate Event? Yes. Hence the Citadel’s constant warnings of the unsafe conditions for living here. There hasn’t been an incident in a long time, though, so we haven’t stepped in.”
“So, it’s an outpost with a few villages that have popped up?” I asked.
“Basically. Mostly stragglers, rogue groups, space pirates. Not the most… friendly. But nothing you all can’t handle.”
“And we’re going to find the Shadow Mystic here?”
A moment of silence followed, and then A.I. Lamb said, “As long as you can make it through the… sorry… Devil’s Butthole and trace her properly. Yes.”
“No pressure or anything,” Andromida said as she stepped out of the back room.
“Finally joining us, princess?” Twitch asked.
“Funny.” Andromida stared at the image on the display, shaking her head. “Talk about pressure, huh?”
“You’ll do fine,” I assured her.
She gave me a half smile, then looked at Charm. “Hey, how come you got Gale but not me? I heard you waking her up. Just…”
“Oh, shit.” Charm grimaced. “Kinda… forgot…”
“Forgot I was there?” Andromida laughed. “I’m only the key part of this mission and all.”
Charm frowned and twitched her ears. “I’ll make it up to you, you’ll see.”
A round of chuckles from the others followed. Apparently, we all knew in what way Charm liked to make things up to people. Andromida frowned though, apparently still off.
“Focus, people,” Aegriss said. “Lamb, you were saying?”
I wanted to make a joke about A.I. sticking up for their own, but that seemed inappropriate, considering the talk we’d just had about prejudices.
“Do I take us in, or do you?” Twitch asked the ceiling.
“I’ll take care of it,” A.I. Lamb replied, and we began pulling into the exploded M-80 of a planet or whatever this was that held a supposed portal called the Devil’s Butthole. I couldn’t wait.
But first, I needed to know what was going on with Andromida. I moved over to her, taking a seat on her armrest.
She turned her stunning blue eyes to me, waiting. When I simply stared back, she finally asked, “Is there something I can help you with?”
“Telling me what’s up, for one.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“That so? You’ve seemed distracted ever since… well, since we left the Orion Corp complex. Something is… off?” As she looked away, I glanced around to ensure the others weren’t listening, then leaned in closer. “It’s just me and you.”
She took another moment, then finally replied, “Asterisk.”
“Asterisk?” I frowned, then my face lit up. “Oh, you mentioned her—the one, oh, shit!”
She nodded. “The one really behind what happened on my planet. Sure, Muerta and the rest—and when we found out she was involved, I knew it was bigger than just my issues… but I was still looking for her. When I went off on my own, I was searching for her.”
“And you didn’t find her, I take it.”
“Nothing.” She looked down, eyes narrowed. “Maybe I should’ve expected as much. Her type like to stay away from any chance of being scratched, let their underlings
suffer for them.”
I sighed, knowing the type. “But you have a plan.”
“I don’t know. If she was there, someone should’ve known. A couple of them I even hurt, some guards I found… but they’d never heard of her. I wanted to find the connection, to track her down on my own, to deal with her by myself. Instead, I found nothing. So, I returned to you all, thinking maybe we’d find out something along the way… but we didn’t.”
“Maybe they had her under a fake name?”
“It’s possible,” she admitted. “But I think she was never there—not as a prisoner, anyway. I think there’s something else going on there, and if she was part of it, she’s still at play. Just not on Abaddon.”
“Considering the ‘planet’ was blown up, I’d think so.” I put a hand on her shoulder, reassuringly. “We’re going to find all the pieces to this puzzle, then burn the fucking puzzle and throw the ashes into space. Right?”
She laughed, nodded, then opened her fist to reveal a ball of metal she’d been holding. It moved up, hovered there, then expanded into the shape of a face.
“That’s her?” I asked.
Andromida nodded. “A face I’ll never forget. Or rather, never again. They fucked with me good that first time.”
Giving her shoulder a squeeze, I repeated, “We’ll find her, and you’ll do what needs to be done. I believe in you, and I believe in us.”
She returned my smile. “You know something? I think I believe in us, too.”
9
Flying into this place, the signs of an age-old war that had been fought long ago became more and more clear. In addition to the destruction on the planet, metal jutted out in places and large ships remained with new planets formed from the debris around them.
And yet, as A.I. Lamb had said, there were little enclaves of settlers scattered throughout. Some were built into the ships, others into the large holes that the planet was peppered with.
“Get us directly to the… butthole,” Twitch said. In response to Charm’s chuckle, she added, “We’ll see how funny it is next time I help Breaker here jam it in your butthole.”
Silence.
I glanced over at Charm to see she was looking pensive, unsure what to think of that. Considering it?