The Sculpted Ship

  The name “Mad Clara” sounded familiar somehow, but Anailu didn't have time to puzzle it out. She shrugged and made her way to the other end of the noodle bar. Maybe she'd have more luck with this robed figure. “Maybe you're Snow?”

  The figure put back its hood. It was an obvious bot, all chrome and white metal, humanoid and sculpted to resemble a beautiful human woman.

  As it looked at Anailu, she could immediately see it had a fully expressive human-like face. That complexity suggested a high likelihood it was a shabti, a type of bot with intelligence, flexibility, and initiative – and a high price tag. “I'm not the Snow you're looking for,” she said softly, “but she sent me to meet you, Anailu. She says, 'Though the four winds blow.'”

  That was the recognition phrase that Snow had insisted on. Anailu nodded. “Where's Snow?”

  “'Snow' can't come this far. I've only managed to fool the system for myself, so far, and even I can't go far.” The shabti pulled open the neck of the robe to show a bot control collar attached to her neck. She closed the robe and put her hood back up. “Please, can we go to her? I don't want to be seen out here by someone who might recognize me.”

  Anailu was boggled, but she was also curious. What was going on here? Well, this was still Doran, not some wild world. Just in case, she would keep a hand on her blaster and her head on a swivel. “Fine, lead the way.”

  The shabti put her hood back up, then got up and led her out of the noodle shop. Anailu was surprised when they took a beeline from the noodle shop to a nicer neighboring district, which featured more expensive entertainment.

  They turned off the street and down an alley.

  Of course we have to go down an alley.

  Anailu unlatched her holsters and rested a hand on a pistol butt. She kept looking and listening, noting the various closed service doors as they passed them. Some doors were clearly back entrances, rather than just service doors. Finally, they came to a building that had both – a back entrance and a service door. The shabti went to the service door and knocked twice. Tense, Anailu tried to be ready for anything. The door opened, and another beautiful, feminine shabti stood inside, looking very similar to her guide. The second shabti was wearing, of all things, loose-fitting coveralls. This shabti also had a control collar attached to her neck. Her guide stepped inside and hugged the other shabti, then stood beside her. Now Anailu could see they weren't just similar; they appeared to be the same model. The one in coveralls smiled and waved at her. “Hi, there, 'Greywind.' It's me, Snow.”

  The robed one gestured for Anailu to come inside. “Come on. If the door is open for twenty-two more seconds, someone will come to check.”

  “You'll understand if I don't trust you quite yet.” Anailu pulled both pistols and stepped inside. The robed shabti closed the outside door behind Anailu.

  This was clearly a storage room with lots of shelves holding cleaning supplies. The room was dominated by a large laundry. There was another closed door across the room.

  Snow gestured around the room, smiling sadly. “Welcome to our humble home.”

  Anailu knew why the two bots were acting so un-botlike. “You're not just shabti, you're both u-shabti.”

  Generally, bots didn't need control collars, since they were programmed to be loyal. Bots had multiple layers of security, each one tying it to its master. This was intended to make it hard to steal a bot by reprogramming it, but it turned transferring a bot into a long and complicated process. The owner, and only the owner, could activate a control collar to override the internal security measures. This was done so that the bot could be quickly transferred to a buyer. The buyer could then reset all the rest of the bot's security in privacy, at their leisure.

  The only other time a control collar was used was if a bot was malfunctioning – or if it were sentient.

  A sentient bot, or u-shabti, was not controlled by its programming. The Empire recognized them as sentient, but still considered them property. On an u-shabti, the control collar enforced the owner's commands on the bot by making its lower functions, still loyal to the owner, fight its higher functions whenever the bot went outside the parameters set by the owner. If an u-shabti fought a control collar, the best they could achieve was a stalemate, locking up their systems.

  Anailu knew there had been a movement, ten or twenty years ago, to recognize u-shabti as persons, but it had failed. At that time, the Empire also banned the creation of u-shabti, but since shabti were so sophisticated and mentally flexible, they sometimes self-evolved into u-shabti.

  Snow nodded. “Our last master bought us directly from the manufacturer to add to his collection. When we 'awoke,' we realized we didn't want to fulfill our primary function, so he shut us down. He traded us to our current owner, Jodie Fun, for a number of his indentured servants. In the trade, our old master didn't mention that we had awoken. He claimed that he was just bored with us. Of course, when we refused to work for our new master, he was furious. The only reason he didn't have us wiped was that without our minds, we are no more than simple dolls. we lose our skills, our abilities, and our value.

  “Instead, we've spent eight months here, cleaning, cooking, and odd jobs like that, all while wondering what Jodie was going to do. In my spare time, I played StellaTactics, but you know that. Diamond here learned to crack into systems, to keep an eye on Jodie, and she's tried to unlock our collars. The most she was able to do so far was to modify her collar to let her get a little way outside.

  “This morning, Jodie listed us for sale and contacted a used bot dealer. They haven't finalized the deal, but if they do it, the dealer is going to have us wiped and sell us as dolls.

  “Please, we need someone to help us get away. Will you help us?”

  Anailu couldn't believe she was contemplating this. Even if they'd only known each other in StellaTactics, she discovered that she'd come to think of Snow as a friend. Anailu didn't take that lightly. “You seem to know a lot about what 'Jodie' is up to. Did you crack his comm?”

  Diamond nodded. “Yes, but he doesn't keep any of his important security information online. It's all locked up in a safe.”

  “How much is the dealer offering?”

  “They agreed on 20,000 credits for both of us.”

  “How much should you be worth?”

  “I don't know if any of our model have been sold on the secondary market, but pricing starts at 100,000 credits for the base model.”

  “Phew! You can buy a decent used starship for that much! And I'll have to beat that 20,000 offer by enough that your 'Jodie' won't mind backing out of his previous deal. Great.”

  Snow looked hopeful. “So … so you'll do it? You'll buy us?”

  Anailu wasn't sure. It was going to take a serious chunk out of the money she'd saved. She certainly wouldn't be able to afford a second ship, and she might not have enough left to buy any parts if she had to go to her original “Plan B.” On top of that, she didn't even know this “Diamond.” It was a tough choice to make. On the other hand, if she did find the Queen's parts on Doran, it might still work out OK. If she really had to, she could take another contract with the Torrells. That was not an outcome she wanted. She was really ready to get back into space, and soon.

  Anailu didn't like the idea of Snow getting wiped when she could have stopped it. Besides, they both looked so hopeless. “I might be able to swing it. It's going to cost a lot of money, though.”

  Diamond said, “This is going to sound terrible, but you might be able to cut the price if you convince Jodie that you will take us out of the Empire and torture us. He's often said, 'If torturing bots was legal, I'd force you two to earn your keep,' and we're pretty sure he means it.”

  “I don't know if I'm the right person to convince him of that. What kind of person would trade here, leave the Empire, and torture bots? Whoever would, I'm pretty sure I don't look the part.”

  Diamond looked at Anailu appraisingly. “Hmm. We might be able to fix that. I think if we undo your hair an
d change your makeup, we can make you look more violent and less proper. The pistols and those flashy holsters are already perfect. Yep, I think we could definitely go for a 'Pirate Queen' look.”

  “A what?”

  “Why not? That would be just the sort of person who might buy a pair of companion shabti just to torture them.”

  This scheme was getting crazier by the minute. “I don't like this plan. I don't know enough about piracy to pretend to be a pirate.”

  “That's OK. Mr. Fun doesn't know anything about piracy, either. He's an asshole, and he trades in indentured servants, but everything he does is legal, as far as I know. You'll just need the right look and a lot of attitude.”

  Snow came over to Anailu and pleaded with her. “If you don't give Fun a reason to want a deal with you, he might even give the bot dealer a chance to bid our prices up. Please, it will just be an act. And don't worry too much, he's mean, but he's not extremely clever. Remember, he got fooled by our last owner.”

  “Fine. I've got makeup programs on my comm. Do you have a face painter?”

  “Of course, Mr. Fun has plenty, and the spare units are stored here.” Snow went to a shelf and picked up a face painter box. The only table was next to the laundry, so Snow set up the painter there. Since there were no chairs, Anailu ended up sitting at the table on an empty bucket.

  Once Anailu had loaded her makeup programs into the painter, Diamond looked through them and picked one. “This one is a good start, though for the right effect, it needs a little more....”

  Once she'd finished setting it up and modifying it, she gestured for Anailu to put her face into the machine. Anailu looked uncertainly at her. Well, it was just makeup. If it was too horrible, they could clean it off and try again. She leaned forward into position, and the box went to work.

  When it was done, she leaned back, ready to see how it looked. Diamond said, “Wait, wait!” and then removed Anailu's hair tie, then played with her hair for a minute. “OK, you can look now.”

  Anailu looked at the holographic reflection above the facial. It was like seeing a different person!

  “Now as a Pirate Queen, you need to stay angry and arrogant, and a little paranoid.”

  Anailu focused on being angry, arrogant, and paranoid. Suddenly the woman in the mirror looked fierce, scary, and a little crazy.

  “Perfect! Just keep that up!”

  “OK, then. Should I call ahead to let him know I am coming?”

  “No, that might give him a chance to think of something clever. You should just go around to the front door, barge in, and demand to see him. Keep him off-balance.”

  There was nothing left to do but go for it. “Wish me luck.” Anailu went out of the storage room into the alleyway.

  She heard a whispered, “Break a leg!” as the door closed behind her.

  As she walked down the alley, the import of what she was about to attempt hit her.

  She was about to spend a lot of money that she wasn't going to get back, to help two bots that she barely knew. She might need that money to fix the Dove, and she might have only one shot at it. If she did buy the u-shabti, she'd have to choose between owning sentient beings, which she found morally repugnant, or freeing them, which was very illegal. To top it off, she only had their word for it that they were even in trouble. She thought about just heading back to the ship. She could just walk away and forget about the whole crazy thing.

  In her mind, she could see that future before her: she'd have her ship, money, and friends with influence around her for the rest of her life. It would be an enjoyable life.

  She could see the effects of the other choice, too: she might lose the ship, she might not even make it as an independent pilot. She could end up working for someone else for the rest of her life. Her life would be more difficult, and she might die alone.

  Either way, Anailu would have to live with her decision.

  She reached the end of the alley and walked around the block, still not sure what she was going to do. She couldn't stand around in front of the brothel, she had to decide before she got there. She reached the street that ran in front of the brothel. Anailu slowed to a stop right in the middle of the sidewalk, and then couldn't get started walking again. She had to make a choice right now that might change her life.

  Anailu took a step forward. “I'll take the chance.”

  I'm not letting two u-shabti be wiped – no, that's a cop-out. I'm not letting two people be murdered, even if it means losing my dream ship.

  As she walked toward the brothel, she realized that she'd been afraid. She'd never had a friend who was relying on her so completely. Sure, she'd been responsible for keeping people alive by keeping ships running, but those had been jobs, and she'd been keeping herself alive, too.

  With that realization, it stopped being a question. It was time to focus on being a pirate queen.

  Chapter 29: The Pirate Queen

  Anailu had never expected to walk into a brothel, but to walk into a brothel named, “The Fun House” was almost too much. It seemed like a pretty bad name to her, and she didn't want to be here anyway. Well, if that helped her to look angry, so much the better.

  The lounge was empty except for the hostess bot. She strode up to the bot who smiled and began to welcome her. Anailu didn't even let it get started. “I'm not here to play. I want to see the owner about the bots for sale.”

  The bot tried to appease her. “Are you sure–“

  “Now!”

  Finally she got the response she wanted: “Right away, ma'am.”

  Two minutes later, a clean cut, handsome brown-skinned man with blonde hair in a white suit came through a doorway. He approached Anailu and extended his hand. “I am the proprietor, Jodie Fun. I understand you're interested in my beautiful shabti, ma'am?”

  He was trying very hard to be charming, and he was pretty good at it, but knowing he was about to zap Snow left Anailu cold, and she ignored his hand.

  “Yeah, but your asking price is too low for what you're offering. What's the catch?”

  “You are a lady who knows quality. I hate to admit it, but they've gone a bit...rogue. They refuse to service anyone. I'm afraid they'll have to be wiped, which will leave them nothing more than simple dolls.”

  Anailu quirked an eyebrow. “Really? There are alternate, more enjoyable ways to 'correct' independence in bots. Some places, they're even legal. Show these naughty creatures to me.”

  Fun gave Anailu an unpleasant smile. “I think I like you, milady.” He turned his head toward the doorway and shouted, “Get in here, girls.”

  The u-shabti came in through another doorway, their heads down. They moved to the middle of the room and stood quietly.

  Anailu walked around them, looking appraisingly at them. Inside she was blushing, but she knew she had to make it look like she knew what she was doing, so she squeezed one of the bots' buttocks. She didn't even want to think about whether it had been Snow or Diamond.

  “What are their designations?”

  “This one is 'Velvet Snow' and this one is 'Diamond Snow.'”

  Anailu looked at Fun. “Really? So they're 'sisters'?”

  “Yes, I understand they were originally purchased as a matched set.”

  “Interesting...I'm willing to pay 15K for the pair.” She knew it was lower than what he was already getting from the bot dealer, but of course he would haggle it up.

  “Well, I'm sorry, but I have to admit, I already have a buyer. The best offer already stands at 40K.”

  That lying piece of crap. Now it was easy to act angry, because she really was. Anailu put her hand on her left pistol, half-drew it, and shouted, “Do you think I'm some stupid Imperial milquetoast to believe your bullshit?”

  Jodie Fun looked in fear at her and her pistol. “Well, it's not really a solid offer. I've got a solid offer for...20K for the pair.”

  Anailu got close to Fun, and tightly whispered, “Fine. 25K and we both get to walk out of here...happy.”
<
br />   “That would be, um, acceptable.”

  They completed the transaction, and Fun hurriedly handed the collar controls to Anailu. Apparently, angry worked. She had expected to pay at least 30K. She detected the smell of urine coming from Fun. Well, he deserved it.

  She gruffly ordered the u-shabti to follow her, and then turned to the man. “Don't even think about imagining what I'll be doing to them.”

  He still looked frightened. “Yes...ma'am.”

  Anailu hailed a taxi and took the u-shabti on the short flight to the Queen, all in silence. Once they were aboard ship with the hatch sealed, she finally relaxed. “Sorry for touching you, and ordering you into the taxi, but I had to make him believe me.”

  Both u-shabti laughed. Diamond replied, “That was nothing. Don't worry about it. And thanks for getting us out of there.”

  Snow chimed in, “Yeah, thanks!”

  Both of them then hugged Anailu.

  After a moment, she pushed them away. “I hope you're ready to help me do something illegal.”

  Diamond shrugged. “What do you have in mind?”

  “Well, freeing u-shabti is illegal, and that's what I'm about to do.”

  Snow cried out and the u-shabti hugged each other. Then both of them rushed Anailu and hugged her again. Snow cried out, “Thank you! We were just happy to survive; we weren't even asking for our freedom!”

  They backed off again, and Diamond added, “Are you sure you really want to let us free? If someone figures out we're u-shabti, you'll get in trouble with the Empire, and we'll be in trouble too, because a freed bot is just abandoned property. Besides which, we don't have anywhere we can go.”

  “You can stay here as long as you need to. If you want to work, you can join my crew. As long as we're in the Empire, that will have to be under the table, and the pay is pretty shabby for unrated crew anyway, but...”

  The u-shabti looked at each other, then back to Anailu. Simultaneously, they said, “We'd love to!”