You almost make it, but wind up bouncing off the last firewall. It's a made scramble to lose the tracer program before it breaches the Onion Router you've setup. Thankfully, you made it out without tipping them off to who you are or where you are. Unfortunately, you basically have kicked a hornet's nest.
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Everyone QUIET!," Anton says. And, then, realizing that no one is paying any attention because they're all being useful in the cyber realm, he mutters. "Well, that's better."
He turns his head again to the prisoner. "Hey hey there. Hello, remember me? Asked you t' tell us your life story, 'scpecially including the most recent time period got you crawlin' all up in our air. It'd be only polite t' give us that by way of introduction, yeah? We can't do a thing until we collate your data an' ain't NO ONE gonna say a GORRAM WORD 'til we do, dongma? Now I promise ain't no one gonna give you t' GalSec today, but if you don't shine some light on what you're personal situation is, can't make promises that'd last too long."
Anton didn't know much about having other people talk, but it figured that the first rule would be stop have them leading the conversation. Sure, she might be worth keeping. Might make people mad at them but that's nothing new. 'Course if she'd hiding because she lit a fine upstanding family on fire and is running from the consequences, that'd be different too. Either way, time to stop playing her game and get some details they can work with around the order of NOW.
You almost are caught by the last layer of GalSec's cyber defenses, but you made it in. You have access to a good bit of information, including what has got GalSec in a tizzy and what the young woman currently tied up in the common room is.
As luck would have it, she is the reason they are scouring everything, and that reason is she's an AI in a human body. Her core is within the skull and the "headphones" contain interface hookups, cooling systems, and status screens for both hard and software. She had escaped her guard and had been on the run for nearly two days.
As for why specifically, cloning humans is illegal, with a high penalty if caught. By the definitions laid out in the law, she's human, a sapient being with a human body.
The girl stares at Anton paralyzed with fear. Tears still streaming down her face as she can't spit out anything.
That's when Anton's phone buzzes.
You have just received a letter of resignation from Noreen, who apparently is now a cult karaoke idol called the Bodacious Space Pirate Queen.
The fact that it includes a shot of a rather stunning Noreen dressed as a Space Pirate Queen does nothing to improve your mood.
After a brief pause, the impromptu karaoke concert kicks back up, Noreen drawing in more and more people until the bar is packed way more that standard safety regs would allow.
"Well, I should arrange for the on-loading, then. You might want to get out before the mosh begins," Puck advises before leaving.
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"Gorram it!" Anton shouts, starting at his phone. "Noreen done quit on us t' go be a famous geisha-ninja pop-idol queen. Pssh. FAme, fortune, a smuggler needs not such things."
He puts his phone down and lets out an exasperated sigh. He gets clsoer to the Doc and whispers, "Alright, Doc, I'm startin' t' think this just an act. I think she's in trouble with th' law and is just playin' on our soft hearts. Girl can't even come up with a good lie. I want you t' give a her a smoother and we'll let her sleep it off. Ya, 'it' could be maybe some Orange Sunshine, causes anxiety like this it wears off. We'll bed her down tonight, then maybe she gives us something clearer in th' morning. 'Course, she just up and starts crying again when we ask for a mighty complicated thing like what she doing here and why she don't wanna go back, we'll know she's a criminal and we'll just give her the laugh."
Anton comes back to the girl. "Alright, you've had time enough to eat, but since you won't tell us where you come from we'll hafta give you a shot t' make sure you're not carrying Rigilean Plague. Just hold still and I'll tie you up quick enough so we can get ya all healthy-like."
Anton re-ties her arms and hands, then waits for the doc to give her something to have her shut the hell up already.
”DO NOT DO THAT” Aurora screeches before the Doctor can inject her. ”No drugs! Not before we know what they will do to her system! Look, here, see” She bounds to her feet and goes to show Anton her datapad. ”Look at this, see? She’s organic and synthetic. We can not introduce a foreign compound into her system because we do not know what affect it will have.”
Aurora looks curiously at their captive. ”Unless you know? Obviously you know your own internal systems better than I do.
Sirus has to read the pad twice just to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks. I gotta hand it to GalSec. They really know how to read the the thin grey line of legality. But I'm afraid she's right, Cap. An improper shutdown could corrupt critical system files.
"Right you are," Valerie agrees, letting Puck know where the Angel is docked. After gathering the leftovers in convenient takeaway containers that are even mostly clean, she motions to Tavid and heads back to the ship.
Upon entering the common room, she stands still for a few moments, trying to take in the scene before her, before handing out the leftovers and perching on a chair. "So would someone care to tell me what in the black is going on here?"
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Anton almost sags in relief that Val showed up. "Oh wuh tyeh jein ah wish I knew! We got a brain-burned cry-girl here got sense enough t' bust into th' Angel, but not enough to give us so much as her gorram name!" He turns to the trussed girl. "What. is. your. name? girl?"
As she just keeps crying already Anton turns back to Val. "I'm gettin' of half a mind jus' t' throw her at the first GalSec uniform I see 'cause ain't no one in th' 'Verse what breaks in to a ship an' don't at least make up a good enough lie is anything but WAAAY more danger an' complication than we need right now.
Okay, we can't make her sleep. So let's just find the first fine young GalSec we can, give them their employee...or...whatever the black she is, get our cargo, an' go grab our paycheck? Remember paychecks? An' with th' eating an' the flying an' the avoiding a horrible death at the hands of strange people what ain't s'posed to be here?"
Dax looks at Aurora's readouts with amazement. Well I'll be...
He looks in horror as Anton describes throwing the poor girl to GalSec before saying quietly. Captain, with all due respect, you don't know what happens behind GalSec's doors to kids like her. It's horrible and I can't let that happen to anyone else I can.
Tavid helps gather the leftovers, paying special attention to the Captain’s steak, like he requested. On the way back to the ship, he chats with Noreen about some of the other niche bars he’s been in.
Tavid looks extremely surprised to find a girl bound in the common room. ”How did she get in? Was she stealing something?” he asks.
Stepping closer to the mystery person, Tavid tries greetings in a few different languages: French, Japanese, Gujarati, and Igbo.
”You looked through her pockets?” he asks.
Puck waves good bye to both of you, bowing to Valerie.
"It's been a pleasure. Next time you're in town, give me a call," he says.
Somehow, his number had been entered into your compads' contact lists.
Tavid and Val arrive, with Noreen noticeably absent.
The recoils from Anton's diatribe and mutters under her breath.
"I don't have a name."
Did you happen to find anything in her pockets when you frisked her?
Sighing, Valerie nods to Dax and strides past Anton, crouching in front of the girl. "Hey," she says softly, trying to keep her voice gentle and calm. "You said you don't have a name, but I do. I'm Valerie, but most folks call me Val, so you can as well, alright?" She leans in a little closer. "Now, the captain's talking of throwing you to GalSec, but it seems there's folks here who don't want that to happen, so I don't want you to fret too much. Just stay calm, and answer our questions, and we'll treat you with the dignity and respect you deserve, okay?"
”You don’t have a name?” Tavid mumbles, looking at her with deeper concern on his face. How could she not know her name? Drugs? Some weird amnesia? Why isn’t her family taking care of her? She clearly needs help. Unless this is a bizarre play to sneak an undercover agent on board.
”I think we should take her to a hospital. We’re not equipped for long term care, especially psychological...or rehab.” Tavid sees that Val was keeping her voice gentle and calm. He tries to match her behavior, when asking the girl, ”Do you want to go to a hospital? They can really help you there.”
Before the newly arrived crew continue any further with their assumptions, Sirus whispers She's an AI... to each of them.
"We are not sending her back!" Aurora says with a look of horror on her face. "They’re keeping her captive! We are taking her with us! I am the one that caught her therefore I am the one that makes the decision, vis-a-vis the laws of Finders Keepers! Like you said, we are not in smuggling for the fame or the fortune, we’re out doing the right thing and seeing new places and making new friends and exploring and taking objects from one place to another place and that’s what we’re doing for her!”
Aurora moves next to the AI girl. ”If you do not have a name that means you can pick one for yourself! There’s lots and lots of options! In the last book I read the heroine was named Lady Constance Chatterley, you could use that name! Or Fanny Hill, that’s another one! There’s lots of names from books!”
Sirus returns to the captain's side impatiently waiting for the results of his systems check. Any fouled up system and he was of half a mind to have her fix it herself. The other half was contemplating how he'd toss get out the air lock (head or feet first?). Though the current state of the crew probably meant a mutiny if he actually did it.
At Val's and Aurora's reassurances, the young girl sniffs and nods her head. When Tavid asks about the hospital, she shakes her head.
"No, they'll find me for sure there," she says.
Everything's green. Half-way through the check, you find a set of statuses for her organic body, and besides a little bruising, a mild concussion, some minor dehydration, and low blood sugar, she's fine.
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Anton looks like a duck hit on the head as Aurora says that he said that they don't smuggle for fame or fortune. He immediately blurts out , "Now wait just a [i]jein dow maih[i] minute there, 'don't do it for fortune'?? Is that..." he turns to Val, "did I--did I ever say that?" He turns back to Aurora. "I--ah, no, that -is- the reason. The reason why we smuggle is for the fortune. For 'tis the fortune what keeps the fuel in the craft and the craft in the air and the food in the belly. Hell if everything paid the same, I'd go get my gov'ment issued plot o' land and raise six-toed kittens."
He turns to his engineer and mutters, lowly, "So, what you're basically sayin' is that we got a brain-burned girl-shaped robot? They, ah, they make AI in that shape now? That don't hardly seem...I mean, I -heard- rumors but..."
Anton trails off. Val is starting to work her magic, and he wants to give that time to percolate. Once we see if this witch's brew can simmer down, the options should become more clear.
Apparently, cap, but if Gal-Sec is after her I'm betting it's on the really murky grey side of legal.
She's in rough shape. I just got a readout from my sensors. The board is green, but I also got a read on her from the biofilters in one of the primary intakes. She's got a mild concussion, minor dehydration, and low blood sugar. Nothing life threatening, and I'd bet that concussion came from whatever happened here with Aurora.
Sirus adds while consulting some kind of tech readout on his arm, Be careful of her mechanics until someone convinces her to come down to engineering for a good hardware scan. No telling what a concussion inside an AI's half-meat head could mean.
Aurora points at the Captain and in an accusing tone says "You said it not even five minutes ago." She launches into an impression of Anton, complete with facial expressions. "You said 'Noreen done quit on us t' go be a famous geisha-ninja pop-idol queen. Pssh. Fame, fortune, a smuggler needs not such things.' Those were words that came out of your mouth! No take backs!" She nods to herself, clearly convinced that the matter is settled.
"Also, she's an Artificial Intelligence, not a Robot. Very different things. Well, there can be overlap, that’s always a given, but the factors that make one an Artificial Intelligence are not the same ones that makes one a Robot. When it comes to thought process the Artificial Intelligence is far superior. See, it’s not just the ability to think or reason, it’s the ability to reflect on the reason behind the reason..” And she’s off on another tangent.
”...it’s not just the ability to pass the Turing test…” She’s really picking up speed. ”...from fear, but really, events that are unfathomable make up the basis of human life; when you view it from that angle a technological singularity…” She’s going to keep going until someone shuts her up ”..find it highly unlikely that such technology is the result of a dimensional breach by ancient beings looking to enslave us. Cheating the laws of physics is impossible. Well, improbable. See, if you subscribe to the theory of Infinite Universes there must by definition be a universe where the laws of physics are not set in stone. If we are existing in that universe..”
"'Ora can't make up a lie like that to save herself - no offense," Val shrugs. "Sure sounds as though you said that." A smile plays at the corner of her mouth, before she turns back to the girl.
While watching her face and body language for any signs she might be less than entirely honest, she pats her reassuringly on the arm. "Don't you worry now; I'm sure our Doc can fix you up just fine. Don't want to go puttin' you places GalSec can find you easily. Reckon you can tell me why they want you so bad? And why you came to our modest vessel?"
”Please, can we stop saying we’re smugglers?” Tavid asks with a chuckle. ”Someone might believe you or have open microphones. And now’s not the time for discussing Infinite Universes, as fun as that may be.” He looks at the girl again, studying her body language and mannerisms as Val and Aurora comforted her.
”I’d believe she has implants and mods,” Tavid says stepping closer to Sirus. ”But why do you say she’s an AI? What convinced you?”
Sirus brings up his readings and transfers then to a tablet for the navigators review. Look at this.
She's being honest, almost painfully so.
"I'm part of a project to develop AI units that can be used in a variety of applications," the girls answers quietly, "top secret stuff, and all that. I came here to get out of the system as fast as I could. I was hungry and thirsty, though, so..."
Her shoulders shrug as much as they are able, considering her arms are tied to teh chair with shoelaces.
"So you're an AI, then?" Val asks, raising her eyebrows as if in surprise despite Sirus' earlier heads-up. "Artificial brain in an organic body, huh? So what was so bad about it? Just didn't like being used as an object, or was there something more terrible going on?" Glancing around the room, she adds, "How 'bout I untie those laces, take you to the kitchen, get you fed and you can tell me more, 'kay?"
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"Alright Val, take yer new best friend an' keep her -quiet-. We're gonna have a hold full of big, burly workin' men droppin' off a mess'a spices an' foodstuffs, an...assorted goods that still seems weird it's illegal somewhere, but th' point is that we need to keep her real quiet-like and maybe, once we're in the black, we can figure out what to do with her. Maybe we'll drop her off at a close planet, maybe we'll drop her off at a far planet, a lot of options here. Point is, dope her if you have to, but can we at least get the cargo before things go all shun duh whuh crazy?"
Anton starts prepping the cargo hold for the delivery to arrive.
”This is...hmmm...the implications of this...” Tavid says as he scans Sirus’ proof. He is silent for a few moments, as he looks at the girl.
”When did you escape? Do you have a destination in mind?”
Tavid helps the captain ready the cargo hold. ”If further complications arrive before the delivery, what do we do then?”
Sirus Subtelly begins warming up the engines. Something in his gut is saying that someone in charge will be punching the thrust to high levels soon and he didn't want to blow one of his new couplings.
As soon as that is started he sets up a cycle of continuous system checks and goes down to the hold with the captain to supervise the loading.
She has no name, only a serial number.
She's a general purpose AI, and hasn't received any training.
She'd been slated to be the next subject of the Alternative Information Gathering Techniques program.
She escaped about a day before you arrived.
She didn't have anywhere in mind except anywhere but here.
Save for her head, she's pretty much human. There are some implants to convert sugars into energy for the processors in her head.
A detailed scan reveals that she has barcode and serial number on her right thigh just below her hip, but other than that, no illnesses, injuries, or diseases.
GalSec is a corporate entity, and while it does own a few planets outright, it has a presence throughout Federation space, though they are less present in some of the more independent minded systems.
the girl eats with a gusto that only those who've been without food for a few days can appreciate, and it's only after her third helping of someone's pot luck soup does she slow down enough to reply to questions. It's not too long after that she falls asleep, exhausted.
===
The stevedores and longshoremen come as scheduled, ready to load the ship the next morning. They are quick and efficient in their work, and things go smoothly.
Of course, that's when the black water line starts to leak near the ventilator fans.
A suit with a few GalSec goons in tow approaches the tubes that stretch out to the Angel.
"Excuse me," he says in a nasally tenor, "I need to speak with the captain and owner of this ship."
Black water is nasty stuff when you're hold isn't being filed with food items. Sirus immidiately cuts the vent fans and send in a drone to see what's going on. He completely ignores the GalSec suit even though he's standing, like, right there.
Per Anton's instructions, Val keeps the new girl in her quarters. Finding it difficult to talk to someone without a name, she takes to calling her 'Elizabeth', promising to pinch a data pad from someone else and help her choose a different name later - "Plenty o' names out there, and you can pick anything what takes your fancy," she points out with a grin.
In the meantime, though, there were card games to be played. Of course, someone with a computerized brain would pick up the rules relatively quickly, which is why the time quickly turns to Val teaching her how to cheat.
"So, what can you tell me about that AIGT program?" she asks between hands.
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Anton speaks briefly to Sirus. "Is, is that the main black water line what is leaking near the ventilator fans? Do the ventilation fans really have a black water leak? Why do we even run a B-W pipe near vent fans? Make with the tape an' th' wrenchs and the...flugalbinders! Go on an 'bind up them flugals!"
Anton stops two workmen from putting a 200 pound crate of preserved goods on top of a 10 lb crate of dried veggies and pauses to gaze at the two new suits. He motions Tavid to come and join him, and he briefly brushes his dirty hands on his suspenders and holds out a grease-and-dirt covered hand toward the suits. "Howdy. Name's Anton, an' some would say that I hold some influence on this boat. You can see that we're already conducting some business here so I'll need to ask: Do you have an appointment?"
Simple tactic to put them on the back foot. They have their orderly idea of the world, so let's see what game they're playing.
While the ship is being loaded, Tavid is busy plotting their course back to Alta Station. Sitting at his station on the command deck he reads the latest information on hyperspace conditions. Occasionally he checks a monitor displaying the cargo hold area. The crates being secured into place make him wonder why Zuckerman was willing to pay so much for their services. Usually when something is too good to be true, it’s a sign of trouble.
Finished, he goes to watch the final loading of the crates. Within a few minutes, a man and some GalSec security appear. He catches Anton's motion, and stands next to the captain. His eyes glance at the guards, checking their weapons, but he also spends a few moments looking for signs the man in the suit has a hidden weapon. Perhaps in the small of his back, he thinks. He smiles with a slightly puzzled look on his face as he nods in greeting to the GalSec people. Maybe we should just pretend this is a common shakedown for some credits. Offer them a bribe to leave, like it's part of doing business here.
Anton speaks briefly to Sirus. "Is, is that the main black water line what is leaking near the ventilator fans? Do the ventilation fans really have a black water leak? Why do we even run a B-W pipe near vent fans? Make with the tape an' th' wrenchs and the...flugalbinders! Go on an 'bind up them flugals!"
Nah, it's not the main. Black Water's just a lubricant and warm-liquid coolant mix with a really high flow rate. Used for the fans and other high-speed bits. Should be a quick fix, but I need to know what happened first.
Dax is peeling a fruit local to the planet while watching the workers load the crates on the edge of the cargo bay. The arrival of GalSec breaks him out of analyzing the local food web of the planet's biome in his head and has him edge his hands just a little closer to the weapon on his hip in preparation.
Aurora's been spending most of her time with Valerie and the AI. She's given the girl a 'short' list of 2833 name suggestions ranging from common to bizarre. When the workmen come to load the ship up she moves to the cargo hold and watches them work.
She's disappointed to see the Gal-Sec representative but she figured someone from the company would show up; checking all the ships before they leave is the logical thing to do. Being out here has taught her that other people don't like it when you forge documents; she doesn't understand the logic behind most rules and regulations but she knows breaking them makes other people mad.
If Anton can get rid of the man that's good. If not she'll try to whip up paperwork to turn the man away. There's got to be something that will keep them from searching the ship...
Sirus manages to fix the minor leak, though he gets the feeling that, metaphorically speaking, the black water line's still leaking near an improbably placed fan.
"Elizabeth" flinches at the question, but the hours spent with you have ut her at ease.
"It was an experiment to gather information an AI would have through means besides hacking. Humans have been torturing each other for years, so the higher ups thought that putting an AI, which hadn't built up any pain tolerance, into a human body would allow an interrogator to use pain as a way to force the AI to divulge information or grant access to it without having to fight it tooth and nail in a hacker's duel."
The flat tone of her voice hides her true feelings well, though her eyes give lie to that dispassion. She was scared for her life, however artificial it might be, and she had ran when she learned what was coming.
The man looks at Anton's hand for a moment before ignoring it and looking at the captain of the Sweet Doomed Angel.
"Yes, now, can you go fetch your captain. I mean to speak with him, not some uncoordinated, grease-covered monkey," the man says with as much disdain as he could muster.
That comment gets Silas's attention. Hey now! he shouts from inside the port-aft circulation duct. His head pokes out along with a black, lubricant dripping hand. I'm the grease monkey around here. That man doesn't know a compression manifold from a injection matrix. He's the guy you're after.
Aurora types away furiously on her datapad.
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As Sirus interjects, Anton grins. "Well now I bet you folk feel real silly. An' since y'all don't know a Cap'n from a highly-trainined mechanical specialist, I'm also guessing y'all don' have an appointment neither. Now, I'm kinda booked today, but I can pencil for you in to see my next tuesday at 2:35. How's that sound?"
Anton turns away and makes to go back to the cargo loading, the matter apparently settled. He takes out his comm and texts to Val: Gonna neeed U 2 tak 2 sum men nao.
Then to Aurora: Hw much papers we got rite nao4 cargo?
He wasn't very good at texting.
As we awaited the suits' next play, he thought on the matter: 'Now they can come back soft or come back hard. Either way they show their hand. Advances better to the middle game.'
I have a Fate point with your name on it if you don't mind your Mad Scientist reputation preceding you. You can even tell me how this man knows you, or of you at least.
It's not your best work, but it should get by almost any bureaucrat you're likely to run into.
"I'm afraid that won't be acceptable. We are looking for some stolen property, and it is likely that your ship is being used to smuggle it out-system," The man says in clipped tones that make it clear he will not be directed away from his task, "now, if you are done wasting our time, I would like to inspect your ship and cargo please."
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Anton turns quickly on the man, spiting fire, "And you are done wasting mine! For consultation of idiots I charge 1000 creds an hour, putting you at the 50 cred mark!" He turns his head, calling out, not really aiming the accomapnying shout at anybody. "Make a note! 50 creds to G-S!" He turns his head back. "Last I checked, paper in hand was needed to commence search and seizure, I'm assuming seizure since you've brought bandits, and I see thy hands empty!" Yes, he really says 'thy'. He's orating now. "According to section 12, volume 32 of the FSB, twenty-four hours notice are required for inspection of stolen goods, with a denial the OPTION of the owning Captain, with board-certified appeal decision requisite upon further review! AND that's if you have a certifying judge having signed a Subgujation warrant! Now, since you've rung up quite a bill for your employer, I'm going to have to ask for your name, Ident number, and supervisor's comm number so I may submit a bill of sale."
He takes out his comm and stars typing furiously. "Val which part of 'nao' u not getX0rZ???questionmark??'
While typing, he says, "Oh, and if your hand touches hogleg, gonna be a whole lot of 27-As to fill out know wut I'm sayin'?"
Dax tries to get out of line of sight by turning around behind some boxes being loaded up but then all of a sudden his eyes made contact with one of the GalSec operatives. A Flashback. Standing outside the lab at attention. Sitting in the galley playing cards. Passing his power adapter to light up some E-cigs. He was THERE at the station. He somehow made it off in time and in that moment of recognition Dax knew that he was going through the same thought process that the good Doc was. Dax finally slips behind the crate but he knows he's too late.