Erik was halfway across the cargo bay, performing a visual inspection of his exoskeleton. Jia thought it was unnecessary, given that Lanara maintained all their equipment, but personal attention to detail was one of the reasons Erik had survived for as long as he had. It’d be strange if she questioned him about it now.
Jia snapped the lid back on the grenade crate and cast a longing glance at a scout bike. They’d barely used the vehicles since they got them, despite practicing in a simulator. The Core wouldn’t cooperate and infest some area that would necessitate her preferred vehicle choice. There was always hope, though.
Erik stepped away from the exoskeleton and headed toward Jia. “You ready for this?”
“Yes. I let my family know I’d be away on business, but not where. How’s that for operational security?” Jia let out a pained chuckle.
“You okay?” Erik shot her a look of concern. “Tell me if you’re not.”
“I’m fine.” Jia rubbed the back of her neck. “Having a night to sleep on this made it worse in my mind. I understood from the beginning that working with the ID meant things wouldn’t be the same as when I was a detective, but this blacker-than-black ops thing is getting to me.”
“Because we have to work with a syndicate?” Erik asked.
“To be honest, yes. I know we’ve stumbled into that sort of situation before, but it’s not the same as actively depending on them as part of our operation. Those people are scum. It wasn’t all that long ago we were hunting them down and throwing them in jail.”
“Is this situation that different?” Erik headed over to a weapons rack and pulled out a rifle for inspection. “We used informants as cops, and we knew those people were dirty. Shit, forget back when we were cops. We took Barbu’s information recently, and I suspect if we knew about everything that guy has been up to, he’d make Tellvane look like a nun in comparison.”
“In other words, we’re going to do more things like this, and they’re going to happen more often and involve increasingly disgusting people.”
“Probably.” Erik finished looking the rifle over and rehung it on the rack. “That’s the way the arrow has pointed since I got involved with the Core. Technically, I was breaking laws and regulations from the beginning. I knew I was, and I didn’t try to justify it since it’d get me closer to them. If we have to look the other way and hold our nose to stop them, I think the trade-off is worth it. We know what they’re capable of.”
“It’s not just about laws,” Jia replied. “It’s also this kind of situation. I keep reminding myself we’re not the only ones fighting the Core. Then Alina sends us to Mars with no backup, and it feels like we are the only ones fighting the Core.”
“I don’t mind taking the lead,” Erik admitted with a shrug. “If we do this right, we won’t have to get involved in a huge fight.”
“I’d say our record speaks for itself. If this doesn’t end with us getting shot at, I’ll pay for beignets for a year.”
Erik grinned and clapped. “So, either I get to take down scum, or I get free beignets. Talk about win-win.”
“This is serious,” Jia insisted. “Though it’s not like I mind taking down a syndicate. It’s just when we left the department, we gave up a lot of backup for freedom. Part of the idea was the ID would have our backs.”
“And they do.” Erik gestured around the cargo bay. “Which is why we have this ship. We couldn’t have chased down Sophia Vand without it.”
“I know, but sometimes I feel like Alina’s waiting for her chance to burn us,” Jia admitted. “I’m not saying she’s dirty, but she’s made it clear again and again that she’s ruthless. The only thing she cares about is taking down the Core.”
“Can’t argue with that evaluation, but for the moment, her enemies are our enemies, so I’ll gladly take ruthless. I think we’ve both come to the place that after we finish off the Core, we’re going to take some time off the galaxy-cleaning business. At that point, it won’t matter if we have backup.” Erik shrugged. “And she can take back her toys.”
“True, but we need to get that far first,” Jia mumbled. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I think I’m bothered because of how blunt she was about preserving the ID’s position over our safety.”
“For now, the ID needs to be as strong as possible, including politically, to help us out.” Erik’s easy smile faded into a stern frown. “And we’ve made decisions ourselves already that make things politically complicated. The right thing to do isn’t always legal, let alone the easiest choice.”
Jia tilted her head. “What have we done that made things politically complicated?”
“Helping Emma and standing up to the military.” Erik shrugged. “And we have both said we’re going to continue to do that, even with her little project. We can’t be too suspicious of Alina for prioritizing. Everyone has something or someone they want to protect regardless of the political implications.”
“Indeed.” Emma appeared, this time in a bright white suit and a white fedora with a black band around the crown. She wore a powder-blue shirt and a white tie. It looked ridiculous and was probably two hundred years out of date. “Some things are worth protecting, regardless of the temporary discomfort and disruption they might cause to otherwise corrupt fleshbag societal systems. I would hope you were past such pedestrian concerns, Jia.”
“What are you supposed to be?” Erik asked with a chuckle. “An AI who lost a fight with a fashion-prediction algorithm?”
“I’m a classic gangster archetype.” Emma sniffed in disdain. “Those Prism Associates gun goblins displayed questionable sartorial sense. I’ll fit right in on Mars.”
“That’s true.” Erik shook his head. “You know you’re an arrogant criminal when you go out of your way to stand out rather than the opposite.”
Jia took a moment to absorb Emma’s outfit before sighing. “And you don’t care about any of it, Emma? The way we’re going about things.”
“I don’t have much interest in obeying fleshbag laws if that’s what you’re asking. It’s not that I covet the wealth and power associated with criminal activity, but since I exist outside your society, it’s hard to care much about strictures designed to limit the beings inside it.” Emma summoned a glass cane with a skull on top and twirled it nonchalantly. “I have found I don’t care for unnecessary deaths and killings, and gun goblins excel in that sort of thing. In that sense, I’m motivated to work against them. Consider a bias toward stability.”
“Can I be honest with you?”
Emma nodded. “Of course. I’d prefer it.”
Jia looked away. “Not to offend you, but what would have happened if the gangsters we rescued you from had treated you well and with respect rather than as cargo to be sold off?”
Emma smirked. “Then the Neo SoCal underworld might be a far more frightening place for those in law enforcement. You two displayed a better appreciation for what I could do. Of course, I preferred not to be in the hands of such people. Whether or not I care about human laws, I’m far too familiar with the risk profile associated with being around gun goblins.”
“Risk profile?” Erik barked a laugh. “You’d probably be safer with gangsters than us these days.”
“True.” Emma raised an eyebrow and adjusted the brim of her hat. “But at this point, I’ve invested too much time into…training you. In addition, the Core is interested in the jump drive, which means they’re interested in me. Because of that, the safest place to be is with their foremost opponents.”
“Whatever gets you through the day.”
“Would it hurt you so much to admit you like us as friends?” Jia asked.
Emma smirked. “Depending on my mood, yes.”
Jia’s PNIU beeped. She groaned as the reminder popped up on her smart lenses.
“I’m an idiot.” She rubbed her temples. “I completely forgot about Chinara having another session at the wedding center.”
“So?” Erik shrugged. “You can go
.”
“We’re preparing for a mission.”
“We don’t leave until tomorrow,” Erik replied with a smile. “And I don’t need you here for this. Go hang out with your friends. Might as well live until you can’t.”
Chapter Sixteen
September 27, 2230, Solar System, En Route to UTC Space Fleet Base Penglai, Aboard Argo
“I don’t think Chinara can decide,” Jia explained. “It doesn’t help that Imogen keeps pushing crazy ideas.”
She was in the cargo bay, clustered around the dartboard with the rest of the crew. They’d had a rousing game so far. Emma had mentioned working on an internal optimization process that would take most of her processing power, so she hadn’t joined them.
“It’ll come to her,” Malcolm insisted, eyeing Erik as he prepared to throw. “It’s just a lot to think about.”
A careful flick of Erik’s wrist sent his dart into the board. He grinned when it was a bullseye. Malcom held a slim lead. A miracle might give Janessa or Wei a shot, but Jia’s luck hadn’t been with her that game, probably because she was so focused on yesterday’s visit with her friends.
Erik stepped back, nodding to Malcolm. There was something bizarre about the juxtaposition of Jia’s concerns about her friend’s wedding with their trip to Mars to investigate syndicate smuggling that might be related to the Core. The outlandish had become the casual, the everyday. He tried to not let it get to him. They had a three-day trip to Mars, and he didn’t want to spend it worrying about something that didn’t affect the mission.
Malcolm fluffed his shirt. Today’s choice was a subdued Hawaiian shirt covered with different fruits of the world. It was more tasteless than painful to look at.
He twirled a dart in his fingers. “I’m feeling good about this game. Very good. If I do this right, I can finish up this turn.”
“Less talk, more throwing,” Erik insisted.
Malcolm grinned. “I agree. Men like us prove ourselves with actions, not words.”
Erik politely didn’t laugh at him. He felt even less like laughing after Malcolm’s three quick throws landed exactly where he needed to win the game.
Malcolm bowed over his arm. “And that’s how you win at darts, ladies and gentlemen. Can I get a boo-yah?” He looked around and then coughed into his hand. “I mean, good game.”
Erik chuckled. “You weren’t blinding me with a shirt today. I’m used to having to compensate. It threw me off.”
Wei waved. “I need to get back to power conduit maintenance.”
“Me, too,” Janessa added quietly, putting away her darts. She smiled at Jia. “I’m sure your friend will figure it out.”
“Thanks.” Jia smiled back. She set her darts in the tray.
Malcolm yawned and put his darts away. “I stayed up too late last night, but it’s not like anyone’s going to attack us in the middle of space.”
Erik shook his finger. “Keep talking like that, and another Hunter ship will jump here and destroy us.”
Janessa winced before passing through the door. Wei smiled at Erik before following his fellow engineer. Malcolm looked worried as he headed toward the door.
Once they were alone, Erik frowned. “It doesn’t feel right.”
Jia looked at the board and then Erik. “You’re not normally a sore loser. It’s just a game, Erik.”
“I don’t care about that. That’s not what I’m talking about.” Erik nodded at the door. “Everyone’s here except Anne and Kant. That almost makes it worse than if it was just us and Emma.”
“So? That’s what Alina told us would happen.” Jia looked confused.
“It’s bothering me more than I thought it would,” Erik admitted. “I get the politics of this bullshit. It’s not like that never came up when we were cops or when I was in the Army, but I don’t know if I buy that us using this ship and all the engineers is okay but having those two field agents is stepping over the line.”
“You’re not thinking through the eventualities.” Jia shrugged. “At the end of the day, Malcolm, Janessa, Wei, and Lanara are far less likely to do something Anne and Kant would do.”
“What’s that?” Erik asked.
“Kill someone,” Jia replied with a serious look. “Bodies stacking up are harder to justify and explain away than someone doing repairs. Any hacking that happens can be explained by Emma, so no one’s even going to think to complain about Malcolm if they connect him to the operation.”
Erik rubbed his chin. “No point in worrying about something we can’t change.”
“I understand. You know I do.” Jia offered him a soothing smile. “I’m far from happy about having to rely on a syndicate to help us, but I doubt Alina would have sent us on this mission unless she was ninety percent sure we’d find something.”
“She’s not always right. I don’t mind beating down gangsters, but I hope this isn’t a big waste of time.”
Jia shook her head. “Technically, she has always been right. If you’re talking about the last time we had to deal with Martian syndicates, she was correct that an agent had gone missing. The fact that it didn’t involve the Core doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth sending us there.”
“True enough.” Erik looked down at the darts in his hand.
“Remember, I feel the same as you.” Jia shrugged. “At least we have each other.”
“That we do.”
A couple of hours later, Erik was finishing some soup in the galley when Emma appeared, complete with a chair and a deep scowl. No one liked an angry AI when said entity controlled the ship, including life support.
“What’s wrong with you?” Erik asked. “Get some sour electrons?”
“Very amusing, Erik.” Emma folded her arms. “I assure you I don’t have a sense of taste in any application of the word, including my power consumption. If anything, given Engineer Quinn’s optimizations, it would be odd to complain about the state of energy and power consumption and transfer on this ship.”
“I’m sure she’d love to hear that,” Erik commented. “Gourmet energy.”
“I’ve told her already. Proper reinforcement is necessary for maintaining relationships with the crew.”
“Then what’s wrong?” Erik asked. “Something amiss with the maintenance you were doing earlier?”
Emma scoffed. “Of course not. If I could be harmed by such a procedure, I would have destroyed myself a long time ago. It’s not about that.” She leaned forward. “It’s about…frustration.”
“Frustration?” Erik’s brow lifted. He hoped he wasn’t about to plumb the depths of AI sexuality, if that was a thing. “What kind of frustration?”
“I was pleased when Agent Koval sent the message,” Emma explained. She lowered her arms. “I assumed that meant she would be sending you on a mission that would give me access to the jumpship. It’s difficult to continue my attempts to generate progeny remotely. If I was near the ship, minor progress would be possible, but not from this distance.”
Erik let out a sigh of relief, grateful it wasn’t about AI sex. It was about children, which in Emma’s case, unlike his mammalian self, wasn’t the same thing.
“I get it,” Erik replied. “You got your hopes up, but now we’re not doing anything other than going to kick some syndicate ass. We might get lucky. We might find a lead that’ll require the jump drive.”
“Maybe.” Emma huffed. “But that’s slowing things down, and this is an arduous and uncertain process. I’m in limited communication with Dr. Maras as well.”
“Wait, Raphael? You are?” Erik frowned. “He knows about your little project?”
Emma scoffed. “Of course not. He seems pleasant, and he’s competent enough for a fleshbag, but I have no idea how he would react or what he would do if I told him the truth. Mostly my communications with him involve him sending me coded data sets so I can integrate them into my navigation subroutines. I’ve made changes to the Bifröst’s code through him, but I can’t risk anything extensive since those messag
es might not be isolated to them. Even if he doesn’t fully understand what I’m sending, someone else might figure it out.”
Erik nodded slowly. “I get where you’re coming from and why you’re frustrated, but I don’t think there is anything I can do about it. It’s not like I can force Alina to send us somewhere that requires a jump, but I wouldn’t worry. I doubt it’ll be long before we jump again.”
“I understand that.” Emma summoned dozens of small data windows crammed with numbers and diagrams that might as well have been in Zitark, given how little Erik understood them. “There are other issues, but you’re right, there’s not much that can be done.”
Erik spent thirty seconds trying to make sense of the windows before giving up. “I’m no expert when it comes to making AIs, but I know training needs the best hardware to produce results. Are you sure this is even possible with the systems on that ship? Don’t they need something more like your core matrix? Won’t you need help?”
“I’m still ascertaining that,” Emma admitted. She waved her hand, and the windows disappeared. “The ship’s systems are unusually expansive and include many elements you don’t normally see aboard ships because of the requirement to directly integrate my navigation into the jump drive systems.”
“They were planning on you always being there,” Erik replied. “They modified the Argo later to help with that, but you were always supposed to be controlling the jump drive.”
“Yes, they did plan it that way, but I’m not trying to create a complete copy of myself,” Emma explained. She snapped her fingers, and a tiny copy of her appeared next to her head. “I’m trying to do what you fleshbags do—make something that can grow into something more.”
The Emma homunculus grew for several seconds until it was a full-sized woman. The copy waved, then disappeared in a bright flash,
Erik chuckled. “Why do I get the feeling this is going to end with me being thrown in prison?”
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