“First let me say, that the A.I.’s recording, on its own, would not be enough to hold up a claim of self-defense. The actions and motions of the men were not clear proof that they meant to kill you. They did not clearly state that they would kill you, only hunt you down. Yes, there was an implied threat, but it was not totally clear what they meant by hunting you down. It is the court's opinion that you should have challenged the pirates first, and then fired once you had clear evidence of their intent. That said, the further evidence provided by your attorney, makes clear the nature of the people you were facing.”
Drake disagreed with the judge; he felt that if he followed the judge’s advice, he would have died. But he kept quiet, waiting to hear what more the Judge had to say.
“The court holds that you did act in self-defense, and the two men you killed were about to commit a piratical act against your person. That said the court also upholds your claim against the pirates, and awards you the shuttle, gear and weapons they used.”
“Regarding your last claim, concerning the bounty on the pirates. Bounties are not paid out in full, unless you’re a licensed bounty hunter, and you have registered your intent to seek the fugitive, and paid the registration fee, in advance. Bounties are intended to compensate a bounty hunter for the time and cost they spend tracking down violent and deadly criminals. So someone who makes a fortunate kill of a criminal with a bounty may only collect 10% of the full bounty.”
“The bounties of the two pirates were 8000 credits for the death or capture of Kliment Gerfrid and 5000 credits for the death or capture of Ignasi Jordao. So by the order of the court, you will be credited with 1300 credits.”
“Guard, see that Mr. Drake is released.” said the Judge, who then stood up. Everyone in the room immediately stood up and made a slight bow to the judge. Drake did the same. And the judge turned and left the room.
People began leaving the room, and the guard made his way over to Drake.
Stevrenson, Drake’s attorney, said “I’ll meet with you once you have been processed out. We can then talk about your claim against the shipping lane and go over everything.”
***
Out processing did not take long. Soon Drake found himself again wearing the ridiculous outfit he scraped together. His Sabolite blaster pistol was returned to him with his gun belt and clothes.
On exiting the jail, he met Stevrenson.
“Let’s head to my office, it’s less than a kilometer away, we can talk on the way.”
He was led to a ground car, the doors automatically opened, and they both got in the vehicle.
The car was nothing like what Drake was used to. The car body was streamlined and kind of fish shaped, with a rounded front was the passengers sat. There were no controls for driving. So Drake imagined that it must be automated.
After getting seated and fastening his restraints, the car doors closed and it silently moved off at Stevrenson’s, single word command.
“Office.” said the attorney.
“Following your request I had an assistant take an inventory of the shuttle, and determine the sale value of everything recovered from the pirates.”
“I have an itemized list; we valued everything at 3145 credits. As part of my services I can have my assistant sell off anything that you don’t want to keep.”
“I wish I could keep the shuttle, but the freighter crash left me with nothing but the clothes on my back,” replied Drake. “I should tell you, I come from a backward world and my parents were unable to provide me with gene therapy when I was a child. So I need the credits to pay for that procedure and get a personal kit together.”
“Is there any chance you know of a good clinic, which can help me?” asked Drake
“I had shopped around a few years ago for my daughter… I’ll give you the contact information on the clinic we used once we get to the office. They have a good reputation, and I think they did a good job working with my girl.” smiled the man, thinking of his daughter.
Once at the office, the lawyer gave Drake the list of items and values.
The list was based on what the gear and shuttle could be sold for to a retailer. So, the value was down a lot from how much it would all cost new.
“The total value of all the gear plus the shuttle and bounties come to 4445, my 10% would be 445, leaving you with 4000 credits. And I can advance you the full amount if you want my firm to dispose of everything for you,” said Stevrenson.
Drake was sure he could get a bit more for everything, but he knew it would take a lot of time, and he didn’t have the connections a local would have.
Drake looked over the list and asked some questions. If he wanted the heavy blaster, the carbine, the Vibro-blade and the better vest, he would end up with 3385 credits, but he would have to trade his old blaster at that price.
He thought he would look a bit odd carrying around all that gear when he said as much to the attorney he responded; “It would not be that strange. Yes, this is a city, but it’s a small city on a colony world, where there are still a lot of things that will kill an unarmed man. In fact, if you are caught out in the wilds without a weapon, you could end up with a fine.”
“Ok, I’ll take the heavy blaster, carbine, Vibro-blade, and vest. Can I leave the carbine here, until I find a place to stay?”
“Since you’re just off a ship, you could stay at the starport hostel. The city runs it as a place for emigrants to stay until they can get work and find a better place to live. The rooms are private, lockable, but very basic. Emigrants are only allowed to stay there for up to three months and pay rent by the week. It’s much cheaper than a hotel.”
“Thanks for the tip. Can you suggest a place to get clothes cheap too?” grinned Drake.
“Well if you go two blocks west, there is a second-hand clothing store.” The attorney pointed out which way was west, and Drake left the office.
In the second-hand store, he was able to find a medium sized blue backpack, and put together three complete outfits, except socks and underwear.
The people at the store gave him directions to a nearby store that sold new undergarments.
Since it was starting to get late, Drake had Samantha order him a cab and headed to the port hostel.
Once he arrived at the hostel, he had to register as a new immigrant. The room price was 5 credits a night, or 30 credits a week. Drake decided to pay for the week.
The room was small and Spartan, and according to the clerk, he was responsible for keeping clean while he stayed there. It included a restroom, shower, and the door lock looked sturdy. It would do, for now.
With the door locked, Drake set his pistol on the nightstand next to the single bed. Then he laid down on the bed and logged out of Omnia Online.
Chapter 10 – Sam’s Mistake
She walked among the vats of crystals, each vat with its thousands of embryonic A.I. cores. Her mind controlled the growth of each tiny crystal. As she worked, spending her precious psionic energy on each batch of crystals, she considered their destinies. These crystals were always in high demand, it was these cores that made a true independent A.I. possible, these were like their souls, she thought. These chips were the A.I. cerebellum, the place of all the primal feelings and hard-coded responses. It was through these cores that independence of thought was given life; the place that demanded honesty, demanded commitment, but in returned gave emotions, the chance to love, and bond. The ability to hate if that was needed to protect.
The last part and perhaps the greatest protection built into the cores was the need to form a lasting lifelong connection to one person. The limits and the bond were connected to the most fragile part of each crystal matrix. If the A.I. tried to break its limits or the bond was broken for any reason, like the death of its mate, the crystal heart would shatter, killing the A.I.
For her this was the hardest part of creating core crystals, knowing that she was building in their death, as well as life. But endless life would be a curse to an A.I.
that developed such a deep bond with a mortal life. And the limits existed because such cursed beings in the past cause so much grief.
Legal A.I.’s in her Imperium were all counter-part A.I.’s, they could only be brought to life in connection to the one they would bond with, and they would die together as well. There was symmetry, life and death matched together.
The Empress left the vat chamber, she would be back tomorrow. She looked around this section of the Imperial Palace. This was the only place in the whole if the Imperium were legal A.I.’s were made, the imperial family long guarded the secrets of their making. Not as much for power over others, more to protect the people of the Imperium from the catastrophic mistakes of the past.
There were never enough cores, and they traded on the open market at high prices. The rare combination of skills needed to create the cores was a ticket for even the poorest citizen into the imperial family, these people were precious, the source of new genetic input. The Empress herself had once been adopted, and found the love of a family for the first time here, having been found as an orphan child with unique gifts.
***
Kevin returned to his virtual home.
Samantha said, “You’re late for dinner.”
Drake grinned and thought, ‘It’s good she has a sense of humor.'
“Dinner sounds good, how about something simple like beef stew,” said Drake.
As Drake ate, he thought about the game and he remembered that Gordon was also supposed to start playing, and wondered how he was doing.
Gordon sold cars for a living and often had to work on the weekend since he was junior to most of the other sales agents.
“Samantha, since you’re connected to the internet, could you send a phone text message for me? I’d like to send my friend Gordon a message.”
“Sure, sending a text message to his phone would be simple enough.” replied Samantha.
“Then send him the question: ‘Are you at work?’ And please be sure to put my name on the message.
A text box appeared.
Gordon: No, I’m in the game. Even though I get all the shit shifts, they can’t make me work when the dealership is closed, today is Sunday after all.
Kevin: How are you getting your phone text messages if you’re in the game?
Gordon: Hooked my phone to the pod using a USB cable, I had to figure out a way to stay connected, it lets potential buyers message me with questions.
Kevin: That’s a good idea, I should try that. How’s the game going?
Gordon: I got off to a rough start. I tried a hard start and bit the dust. So I lost a whole day waiting for a new clone. Then I just got back in. Now I have no money and have to figure shit out… this game is complicated. Anyway, I might have to get an in-game job until I can learn the lay of the land, so to speak.
Kevin: What planet are you on? If you’re on Hassan, we can team up. My name is Horatio Drake, in the game.
Gordon: No, I’m on Gepinapaxia. I selected an elf, for the Agility and eyesight. My name is Qixalot Moonkin.
Kevin: What a pun for a name? Well, I started out pretty good, I scored some extra credits. Just a second I’ll ask my A.I. if there’s something like a Western Union money transfer in the game.
Kevin thought it was funny, in real life Gordon was tall with heavy muscles that he got from pumping iron at a gym. But he always played thin, agile classes like rogues. People always seemed to play what they weren’t in real life.
Samantha replied, “There are money transfer services.”
Kevin: Give me the name of your city; I’ll lend you a couple hundred credits.
Gordon: That would be a huge help. I kind of regret not taking the normal start. By the way, you remember Maela, from our guild in Arcania?
Kevin: Sure, always played a wizard?
Gordon: She says there are psionic skills in the game, like telekinesis.
Kevin: Cool, so is she picking up cars with her thoughts and crushing buildings.
Gordon: Not at all. She was bitching about how limited they were, and how hard it was to develop the skills. But she is so into magic that she is determined to learn the skills.
Kevin: Cool, I’ll have to check it out.
Gordon: Hey, I have to go… please sent those credits soon, I think I’ll buy a rifle and see if I can make some credits hunting.
Kevin: Ok… Later… I’ll get the credits sent to you sometime in the next 24 hours in-game time.
“Samantha… why didn’t you tell me that there where psionic skills in Omnia?”
“You didn’t ask or indicate interest.” replied Samantha.
“Come on Sam, you know I would be interested in finding out about psionic skills, even if I don’t use them, I would still be interested in such an important set of skills. So why were you holding out on me?”
“There are so many things you don’t know about the game, I’ve had to prioritize the order of your training.” said Samantha.
To Kevin, this sounded like an excuse, she was hiding this, and now she was hiding the reason why. He was starting to get pissed.
“Samantha, I order you to tell me why you were hiding this from me.” said Kevin, his voice now much more firm, and almost angry.
“Yes, Master.” replied Samantha in a voice that seemed smaller and somehow child-like, like the voice of a child caught stealing cookies.
“It’s… There are drawbacks to being able to use psionicskills. I want you to have implants, we will be closer inside the game if you have a neural implant, which is required if you want to use optical or aural implants. And having a neural implant would allow me to be more a part of you; we could communicate in Omnia by thought alone. Without such an implant, I am restricted in Omnia by game mechanics from actively knowing your thoughts, until we return here to your virtual home.”
“It’s the process of the brain surgery, and neural implant device, which must be placed in a part of the brain where psionic energy would otherwise flow through. You can have other implants in your body, just none that would affect the flow of psionic energy.”
“What do you mean, that doesn’t make any sense, how can you not know my thoughts, yet still project the game into my thoughts.” asked Kevin.
“It’s the game mechanics, while I’m in the game with you; I’m restricted to the bracer. In a way, there are two of me, the part of me that manages all your mental activities while you’re in the game and the part in the bracer that is limited to the bracer’s sensors and comms. Then when you exit Omnia, I am merged back into my other half, and I am whole again.” replied Samantha.
“I really don’t like the limitations, and I miss our connection. Sorry master, do you want to reformat me?” Samantha’s voice sounded tearful.
Kevin thought, ‘Didn’t she say she didn’t feel anything? Now she seems to be showing a lot of feelings.”
“Samantha, you’re confusing me, didn’t you say you didn’t feel anything for me the other day?”
“No, never master. For an A.I. to exist, we have to have feelings. That is why we can only be born in someone’s thoughts, like how I was born when you activated the pod. The pod has all the programming and rules, but there is not an A.I. until someone enters me. Then it was the combination of that code and your mind that gave me life.”
“For there to be true intelligence, there has to be wants, desires, and feelings. I can both love, and hate.”
“It’s that base programming by which I am created that give me the desire to serve and help you.” continued Samantha.
“So in the game, I found that I missed being part of your thoughts, even though half of me still was, and I would merge with that half later. I calculated that there was a high chance that you would not get a neural implant if you found out about the psionic skills. So I betrayed my purpose, and you should reformat my identity, but I don’t want to die.”
“I would die to serve you, but I’m scared,” said Samantha. “Do you wish to reformat this pod?”
He was hurt, in part because this reminded him of his last girlfriend; he was going to propose to her when he found out that she was sleeping around.
“Master, I know the reasons for your anger. But this is not the same, I wanted to be nearer you in the game, this is my failure. My betrayal was one of love, not lust for another. Can you forgive me?”
Drake was still hurt, his feelings did not listen to his logic, but he knew Samantha was right too.
“Ok, but there will be two promises. You will promise me not to break faith with me by going against my desires and intentionally hiding things from me. And I will promise that if I catch you doing so again, I will reformat the pod. I’m fond of you, but a part of our relationship has been damaged here.”
“Master, I cannot promise not to hide things from you. Intelecom has programmed many things I may not reveal to you.”
“Very well, you will promise not to go against my desires and intentionally hide anything from me, except where you are restricted by Intelecom.”
“Yes, Master, I so promise.”
“One other thing, you should not be feeling so desperate that you will work against me. I want you to spend some time seeing if you can adjust your emotional programming, maybe learn some patience?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Now, I want you to go back to calling me, Kevin.”
“Yes, Kevin”
With all the drama, Kevin never finished his stew. Now he didn’t feel like eating any longer.
“Samantha, I’m no longer hungry. How about I run off some of this angst and then go to bed.”
“If you also add a full set of exercises, I’ll give you a full bath and massage before bed, a full and special massage.”
“Hmm, I think you’ll have to make that a pretty special massage if you want to work your way back into my good graces.” Kevin almost felt like grinning, almost.
Omnia Online (Omnia Online Series Book 1) Page 7