Chapter 18
Lost In The Mist © 2015 Sinclair Diavante
Chapter 18.
+720 days: Subjective.
Streak was nibbling on my muzzle insistently. Yeah, yeah. I know, you're hungry. I growled deep in my throat, enjoying my lazy nap for all it was worth. Life was good. My eyes opened fully when Streak spoke to me.
"This ship is without a registered owner. As there is still one life sign aboard, you have two hours to register as the owner or derelict status will be broadcast into local space."
I sat up. What... the fuck?
My whole world fell apart, de-rezzed into pixels and then faded to the bright glow of my room, I was lying on my bed, sprawled out. I felt very dizzy, blurry. More drugs, probably something hypnotic. Then I heard it again.
"This ship is without a registered owner. As there is still one life sign aboard, you have two hours to register as the owner or derelict status will be broadcast into local space."
I didn't want to move. I didn't want to think about what that even could mean. I brought my paw up to my muzzle and felt the tube still trailing out of it. The metal part around it wasn't in place. I would later recognize that my whole life hinged on Mist having not put it back on, feeling it was unnecessary.
I disconnected the braided hose from what was anchored in my stomach, and sat up, climbing up onto my haunches, while the world continued to swim around me. I looked around and got my bearings. Derelict status. Hurf. That's... an automatic process, why do I know that... of course I know that.
Oh shit.
I recognized that as an automatic process when the owner of a ship either leaves or dies, and no secondary is registered with the system. Eventually, it starts a general emergency broadcast. The first person to register the ship owns it.
I tried to bring my wetware online and remembered that it was dead. Fuck. What the hell was going on? I twisted the black hose inside my sheath and pulled it free, tossing it aside. I rubbed crust out of my eyes, and walked on wobbly legs to my doorway. I looked left and right.
I wandered down the hall and saw the first door on the left was open. I glanced inside and saw Mist, lying on his bed. He was intubated with something similar to what I wore, but it was gray and probably not anchored to something permanent. I put my paw against his neck, and felt no pulse.
Holy shit!
I stumbled backwards and slammed into the wall, kinking my tail painfully. A small rolling cart was next to Mist's bed, on it were a hypospray and several ampoules. I picked up it up and looked to see what was loaded, but didn't recognize what he had injected himself with. I stumbled again and knocked the cart over, landing with my elbows on the bed. I had to access the ship. I needed to register it as the new owner. Dog, this was unreal. This can't be happening!
I searched around for a data access panel, roaming the halls. What few I found offered no help. Of course! Who would be without a voice and wetware at the same time? And if you were, you probably needed help, thus the emergency beacon.
I thought about some random stranger taking the ship. I thought about who usually showed up to beacons like this. They would not be expecting me to be onboard. In fact, they would probably prefer me dead. Worse, with ownership they could probably pull all of Mist's authorization data. They could own my collar, too. My heart started to race.
I'd be sold with the ship.
This would be all bad, I had to gain control. I needed to register my collar before I could take it off.
I passed by an autodoc alcove and stared at it. It was modern, I pushed an emergency access panel button and a screen slid out. I selected Male, Rhenthar. A long list of capabilities displayed. I selected emergency foreign object removal, stomach. Local anesthetic only, I couldn't risk being put under with everything else swimming around in my system. I probably would never wake up.
The alcove tilted sideways and I lay down inside, putting all my weight onto my back. Then I shut my eyes while the system applied local anesthetic after shaving a patch of my fur bald, right over my stomach.
I noticed an inner access screen hovering near my head, and I realized that the system was built for interactive medical help. Of course, Mist lived alone on this ship. Everything would cater to that.
I switched it on and cancelled the last request. I fired up the ultrasound scanner and stared at the cross section display of my stomach. The ball in it was huge. I hoped it was hollow, like the last one. My worst fear would be if it were full of hardened epoxy foam, or something like that. I'd have to have the system cut my stomach in half in order to get it out. It probably wouldn't even let me perform such a dangerous operation.
I manually instructed the system to create a micro incision through my abdominal wall, through my stomach, and through what I estimated to be a couple of millimeters of silicone durometer.
A sharp snap from the ball deflating a few minutes later. I reached up and pulled on the tube, it slid free and I tossed it onto the floor while the alcove tilted back upright. I swallowed, exhaling relief, the feeling of nothing in my throat. I coughed and cleared it.
"Ship! Register new owner to me!"
Two beeps. "Cannot comply. Identity not known. Please register identity using wetware." Oh fuck. Figures.
Dog, I needed to find out what he was feeding me. I was going to start withdrawing. I really needed access to my wetware. Instead of exiting the alcove, I checked to see if the system could perform repairs on wetware.
It could.
I leaned my head back and instructed it to access my micropore access port at the base of my skull. I felt it pierce my skin and wiggle an optical fiber into the interface. The system began rudimentary repairs, simple synaptic burnouts. The interface came up, I focused on my nose and bright graphics swam into my vision. I instructed the system to detach and the fiber pulled free.
My wetware indicated that it needed to perform a full file system consistency check. I groaned, knowing how long that would take. Hours. If I had a remote operating system, I could mark the file systems as clean, but I had no access to anything like that, and single user mode required a remote display. I instructed it to continue, watching the progress bar. I had less than two hours to take ownership. I would never make it in time.
Wandering around, I looked for something I could use, maybe Mist had a Solve-All stowed away, somewhere. The ship had open access, I was able to go room by room. I was disgusted by the simple modular design, the lack of a bridge or even a control room. The whole thing was basically one big appliance.
I thought about how, all those years ago, I owned a ship. I never even had a chance to fly her. By now, it was long gone. I paused, forcing my brain to map out the time correctly. It had only been two weeks. My eyes watered from the effort, trying to wrap my head around that. All reality seemed vague and unimportant with this new data. I had no reference point, I felt like I had derailed from living my life, many years ago, and went sideways into some parallel reality.
Staring down at my hands, I felt like I didn't belong here. I leaned against the wall, and thought about Snow. I thought about my pack, and even Mist. My Alpha was dead. Oh, Dog. What am I doing? What am I supposed to do?
I put my back against the wall and slid down onto my butt, trying to make sense of what was real and what wasn't. Embrace the now, own the moment, take ownership of the situation. Sage words of advice, sure. But easier said, than done. I drifted off...
"Ownership timeout reached. Broadcasting emergency beacon." A shrill alarm sounded. "This ship is currently unowned. Please register this ship and complete a safety overhaul check at the nearest starbase."
The alarm continued, but I only sat there, feeling sorry for myself. I looked up at the ceiling. What if this wasn't real? What if it was just some sort of stupid test?
"Well? I bared my teeth. "Is this just another test? What the fuck! I'm tired of these games!" I stared around, and saw nothing. No white muzzles peeking around a corner. No quiet laughter. "You can't keep fucking with my life! I'm tired of other people deciding my fate." With building understanding, I saw what needed to be done.
"This ship is currently unowned. Please register this ship and complete a safety overhaul check at the nearest starbase."
I stormed down the central corridor to the main airlock, and palmed the high security access closet. It opened, and I stared at some of Mist's personal belongings. Armor, his tactical vest. I hefted his Sunjet particle cannon and pulled it free from its holster. Yes, that'll do nicely.
I carried it to what must have passed for a lounge, and sat down on his nice, soft leather couch. I shouted up at the ceiling. "Well, this is what I think of your choices... have fun wiping this from my memory." I pointed the business end under my chin, and was about to pull the trigger when the viewscreen on the wall rippled to life. I smirked at the graphical display, a dodecahedron morphing into a ball.
"Don't. Master repairer must not self terminate." I stared, confused.
"What did you just call me?" I wasn't yet ready to put the Sunjet down, the idea of finally having some closure had a great appeal, but I was curious.
"Master Repairer. I am weapons platform AI 18273456. I have followed you in protect mode, and per protocol thirteen, I have avoided contact until you made contact with me, desire known. Do you not wish contact?" It was speaking very quickly, with a grating, metallic voice. I had to play it back in my head a few times before I understood.
"Mist... this is lame. Why would you think I'd buy into this idea?" I paused, considering. "Ok, AI... something someth-"
"273456."
"Er, yeah. Provide credibility to your identity. Authenticate."
I watched the screen with a growing sense of alarm. Video footage passed quickly, Nod handing the Arcanian weapons AI to me. Everywhere I walked in Yoshi. Me pawwing myself off in my quarters. Every repair I made to my ship, it all flickered by the screen in ultra high speed, just a few frames at a time.
It suddenly dawned on me that Mist would have no idea about any of this. I sat there, stunned. Slowly, I lowered the emitter of the Sunjet, glancing down at it in surprise, shocked at what I was about to do. My whole life was almost forfeited by my paws alone.
Video footage continued, showing a bucket spilling nanobots onto the floor of my cargo hold, this part passed slowly, like it was important. The eerie metallic voice prompted a question of its own.
"Was this not your objective to bring me online?"
I watched as the footage continued, trying to remember where I had put the AI core. I'd done something with it... stored it somewhere, for a rainy day. Nod wasn't able to get me any information on it, and since it contained nuclear material, I decided trying to hack it might be hazardous to my health.
I watched as the mass of chrome tipped my Solve-All off the AI cube, then it floated the cube down the hallway, around a corner. Another camera showed it being lifted into an access hatch to a wiring closet. The hatch swung shut. Hey! That's... clever.
"Uh. Yeah... that was my intention all along." Thank Dog it couldn't smell me, I hoped. "AI, why didn't you rescue me earlier? Have you been watching all along?"
"Master Repairer did not need rescuing. Much analysis was spent, other of your species gave Master Repairer continuous great pleasure. Was analysis incorrect?" I sat thinking, and realized... the drugs. Of course. From the outside, it would look like I was indeed having great pleasure. Argh.
"Never mind, analysis was sufficiently correct."
Two beeps, female voice: "Ownership established. This ship is now owned." I felt a clunk ring through the hull. Uh oh.
"AI, what's happening?"
The AI responded, "Your ship is being docked by another vessel. Ownership has just been transferred."
"What? No! Oh, Dog, stop them!" I heard the airlock pressurization system start up, down the hall.
"Time needed to compromise system will exceed tactical objective." The tone dropped in pitch. "Target?"
"Target? Er, yes! Yes target! Fucking target ship and destroy!"
"Seek atmospheric protection immediately."
In the cold, soundless environment that is space, The Jefferson rotated and fired its engines in fusion mode, emitting a magnetically coherent mass of plasma hotter than the surface of a sun. It carved through the center of the ship that was docking. The resulting explosion sent debris and chunks that sliced through Mist's ship like tissue paper.
My ears popped from the explosion, something bounced through the air and tore into my left arm, numbing it from the elbow down. Available lighting doubled in intensity, the floor glowed in red moving lines, indicating the location of emergency survival gear, maybe even an escape pod. The rush of air leaving the ship was deafening, but the sound was steadily getting quieter, and I knew what that meant. Soon there would be no air to make sound as it bled away into space. Soon there would be no air to breathe.
I ran down the hallway, and was suddenly falling. I braced for impact, but none came, I was floating. Shit, the artificial gravity had cut out, but it's supposed to be modular. I brushed my paws against the nearest wall, trying to get traction as I drifted forward. My momentum carried me through the dead spot, and the next section slammed me down onto the ground, like I had jumped off a ladder. I landed on my arm, which certainly wasn't numb anymore. Pain flared brightly, I stared down at it and saw blood steadily flowing, pouring off my elbow, my fur was soaking wet. Droplets of blood floated around just behind me in the section without gravity.
I climbed onto all fours and ran the rest of the hallway, trying to prepare myself for another area to be dead, but gravity remained on my side, for now. The moving red lines terminated at an access closet, whose door was open. I pulled a spacesuit module out and stuck it against my chest.
Black polymer quickly flowed over my body, pressing down my fur and tightly filling every crack and crevice. I grimaced as my balls were painfully compressed, my ears filled with channels to electronic sound transducers. Clear bubbles covered my eyes, and an air duct formed under my chin and hugged my body down to the electronic module centered on my chest. Once the seal was complete, I could breathe for about four hours in space. I knew the system was trying to access my wetware, probably to complain about my injuries, but mine was still repairing.
"AI! Swing around and pick me up!" I shouted, hoping the air was still thick enough to carry my voice. I heard no response. Shit. I walked to an airlock and forced an override to open it into space. The last of the thin air rushed past me until it was all gone. I saw a large vessel tumbling, surrounded with debris. That some was shaped like bodies, I tried to ignore.
I needed to get off this ship, it was hella dangerous to be inside anything that suffered this kind of damage. If any of the power systems breached, I'd be safer swimming in vacuum than sitting inside a shotgun shell.
Talk about a leap of faith, I thought, backing up and building some speed as I leaped into the inky black depths of space. I easily escaped the pull of the ship's microgravity, from all its mass. The stars around me spun slowly as I rotated in space. I felt dizzy and tried my best not to puke. Oh, please don't puke.
The stars rippled near me, then that area rotated out of my view. I slowly spun around and saw the area again, but closer this time. The stars vanished, I saw blackness that had just turned to gray when it rotated past my view. I craned my neck, trying to watch. The next time my vision came around, I saw The Jefferson only a hundred feet away. Its attitude thrusters were small blue-white points of light as she came along... "under" me, I realized, as I was basically falling into her cargo hold. Up and down ceased to have any meaning, there was only inertia and direction of travel.
It gave me a great sense of pride to see her in space like that, coming to my rescue. Then I was past the outer airlock doors, gravity slowly spun into life and I landed on my side with a thud. Gravity rapidly rose to a full 1G and the door slid shut. I could hear the barest whistle of air pressurizing the small cavity, which grew progressively louder until it was deafening.
The module on my chest showed basic information, breathable atmosphere shifting from red to green. I triggered the removal process, and the material parted down my spine, flowing back into the module. I helped pull it out of my ears, and then reached under my tail and pulled some of it out of my ass. Argh, I hated this design, but it did have to void any air pockets. Blood spilled from the polymer onto the floor, creating a huge puddle. The sight of which made me dizzy.
There was no time to wait for the module to finish re-assembling itself, and instead I tossed it onto the floor and hit the inner airlock button. The door slid sideways and I walked onto my ship. My wetware came the rest of the way online, showing a deluge of incoming email. I pushed it all out of the way and staggered around the corner. Several red indicators popped up, showing substantial blood loss, critical. I stumbled to my autodoc, my vision was just a small circle surrounded with gray.
I made it.
I lay there while it repaired me, thinking, considering. It listed the drugs I was physically addicted to, and I had to scroll to the bottom to see them all. It recommended I undergo coma therapy, putting me under while it weaned me off them all. The process would take two weeks.
I nodded to myself, thinking that sounded like a good idea. I registered my collar, feeling a huge wave of fear fade when it responded. At least Mist didn't want to be buried with all his toys. I initiated release of ownership and an unlock. It hissed and fell from my neck into my waiting paws. I felt the bare area around my neck, and queried my autodoc to see if it could repair the lost fur.
Please purchase cosmetic module #2331 from your nearest authorized retailer.
"AI, just... keep us safe. I gotta sleep for a couple of weeks. Ok?"
I stared at the ceiling, wondering if it even heard me. I saw a small text window in my wetware.
"Protect mode, affirmative." I frowned and laughed.
"'Quit hacking things!" A watery cold sensation flowed into my limbs as my autodoc induced a coma. I gripped my collar in my paws tightly, and hoped I dreamed of Snow.
A single tear leaked from my eye as I realized I would never see her again.