FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

_ Chapter 2 – Autonomy _

_ <Unnamed UEDF Capital Class ship> _

_ {Deck 1/2: Captain's Quarters} _

[August 19, 2088]

Canith slowly came to consciousness, and noticed that it was very quiet. As he was once more used to the droning of the massive engines from the various ships he had be on, this confused him, until he opened his eyes to the vista of space in front of him. Memory quickly returned, and he sat up from his bed.

:I would like to point out,: Aura chimed in as he gazed out into the starry expanse, :that your new accommodations are large enough that you could feasibly take your feral form and not be limited on room.: He looked around at this, judging the size, and grinned.

“I can agree with that, but not right now. Too much to do, and lazing about will not get it done!" He said this out loud, knowing Aura would wither pick it up through his neural implant uplink, or through the ship's equipment.

He stood up now, shaking a bit to settle his fur, before deciding that the first thing he needed was something to eat. He could fix something in his quarters, but decided to be sociable instead and head down to the officer's mess to see who was there. Destination in mind, he strode over to the door, manifesting clothes as he did so, and quickly walked out of his quarters.

As he traveled down the hall, he nodded to the one or two individuals that were out and about, and made a mental note of which rooms felt like they had occupants and which did not. From the feel of it, most were empty, and the few which did have occupants were either asleep, or were just waking up. It was early though, and he had arrived just after the main shift had gotten off duty. Now though, the night shift was in bed and that second shift would either be waking up for the day, or still asleep as was their preference. He had known it to go both ways in his time, as some preferred the company of the night shift, while some liked to have time throughout the day.

Making it to the mess without incident, he quickly got himself breakfast from the servers, and sat down in a corner to eat. He took his time though, watching the individuals in the room instead of just focusing on his own food. Most did not pay him any mind, but a couple of them, probably from the bridge crew when he came aboard, did notice. One of them, a human from the looks of him, approached.

Canith motioned to the seat across from him and the man sat down. He seemed slightly nervous, and without thinking he mentally reached out and soothed the mans nerves. As the man relaxed, he chuckled. “Thanks," he said, surprising Canith, “I needed to calm down a bit. And I know you probably wasn't expecting me to notice, but when you are around telepaths all day, you tend to start to notice, at least when you have time to, when your emotions are being influenced. Some are not as light touched as you are."

While Canith was aware it could be done, (after all, he just did it himself,) he wasn't aware the practice was so widespread. :Part of that is due to limited interaction with anthros and humans in close proximity. I have gathered that it is normal for the telepathically inclined to preform some very slight emotion therapy to non telepathic crew members in various situations. I am aware of it through the med bay and conversations with Snow, and have urged him to emphasize that only the lightest of touches, and only beneficial ones, be used. Any abuse of this will be punished in accordance with the severity of the breach.: This made him raise an eye-ridge, but he motioned for the human to continue.

“So, as I was saying, I have heard several rumors about you since I joined this ship several months back." The man shrugged a bit. “Most of it is probably just hearsay, but one thing in particular caught my attention." He leaned forward a bit with a grin. “I heard you took down an entire entrenched squad, solo, with your bare hands," He paused for a moment, looking at Canith's hands. “Or would that be paws? The stories seem to not differentiate about that." The man shrugged once more. “I just wanted to know if there was any truth to it, as I don't see anyone being capable of taking down that many men without getting taken down first."

Now it was Canith's turn to lean forward with a grin. “Point of fact, I took down the entire squad, bare handed, in seconds- including travel time. However, that entire incident was due to several extraordinary circumstances coming together all at once." He leaned back now, raising one hand up, palm up, over the table. “Now a days, I wouldn't even bother with rushing down the hallway." With a thought, he created a small flame in his palm, then for good measure created several more. With a mental twist, they all grew in size, then merged into one ball. With a grin, he closed his fist and the orb disappeared with a small pop.

The man's reaction was easy to predict. His eyes grew wide as the flames winked into existence, and drew back as the fireball bloomed into being. He sat that for a few moments after, blinking watering eyes at where the energy crafted display had disappeared, before once more beginning to speak.

“So, uh, yeah. I might have to take more of those stories at face value. He blushed a bit then, and before Canith could even begin to reach out to find out why, the man continued speaking. “I guess that the rumors that you were sleeping all over the other ship was true as well then?"

This had Canith on the back foot, but then had him realizing that the human section of the crew must not be keyed into the more intimate interactions on board the Tiamat, and had only heard rumors about it. He took a moment longer to ponder his various dalliances, and decided to play the stereotype to the hilt.

“I wouldn't say I slept around the 'whole' ship, but I definitely can say I liked variety." He grinned then, and gave a lazy wink. “After all, what's the point of going to a buffet for only one dish?" The human's blush deepened, and Canith reached a physical hand out and rested it on the man's shoulder. “I'm just joking, for the most part. I did have a couple of partners, but three or four out of more than 70 isn't really that many, considering most anthros don't do long term relationships on that ship. They are all good friends, and have taught me a lot along the way."

This had the human male cheer up a bit, and let out a weak chuckle. “So that was just a joke on the bridge then?"

“For the most part, yes. Mostly to Snow, as I have worked with him quite a bit. As some might be aware, I was quite the problem child when I changed, and required special attention to prevent me from hurting myself or others accidentally. He enabled two out of the three amorous encounters, while the third was more an accident that was mismanaged than guidance."

This had the human perking up again. “Really? I had heard that genetic modding could have side effects. Was it bad, or is it still an issue?" Canith had to blink at the human's interest in it, until he realized that the human had misunderstood his previous comments.

“Uh, it's better now. It wasn't a genetic problem I was having, per se, but more of a telekinetic problem. I was overly strong, and was liable to burn myself out if I wasn't careful."

Once more, the blush returned. “Oh, sorry. I just thought that the problem was genetic or something."

Canith leaned back with a sigh. “It's no problem. The issue is contained now. But what about you? These questions seem rather leading, as if you are debating taking the plunge yourself." He figured the human would either freak out or demure, but instead he was blunt.

“Yea, I have had several interested parties say they would love to have me go anthro, but the idea of just hanging my humanity up like that doesn't quite sit well with me."

Canith liked this guy's thorough thinking. “It does have advantages, but it's not for everyone. That's why when we sent out the call for individuals and family units to come aboard I did not specify one way or the other. Full anthro might have been nice, but having a mixed crew has it's own charm, as I found out on the Andromeda's Fortune."

They continued chatting for a bit longer, before the human glanced at a clock and gulped audibly. “Crap, if I don't hurry I'm gonna be late for my shift!"

Canith stood, finished with his meal. “I'll help you over there if you like, since I was partially to blame for you losing track of time."

The man looked confused at first, but confusion quickly turned to surprise when Canith picked him up once in the hallway and phased them forward rapidly to the nearest gravlift. He sat him down, and with a mental queue to Aura had the lift priority shifted to them. The lift arrived in record time, and they boarded and rode it down to the command deck.

“That was exhilarating!" He exclaimed, looking flushed and slightly out of breath. “I never knew anthros could move that fast!" Canith chuckled, reminded of the fact that most humans, if they had not been part of a mixed crew before, would likely not know all the details of the various anthro abilities.

“As I said before, plenty of perks to changing. But regardless, you best get in there before 'almost late' becomes simply 'late.'" He took off at a jog down the hall, as the bridge was not very far away from them now. Canith continued standing there for a moment, letting the whole encounter sink in, before mentally turning to Aura.

:What is my schedule today, and is there any issues I need be made aware of or address?:

Aura answered back almost immediately. :Aside from your stops yesterday, there are a couple other parties that it would be advisable to visit. Sue is on board, as is Sean, and both would appreciate you stopping by- Sean specifically, as you have taught him several tricks and would probably like your advice on one project or another.: Aura paused for a moment, before continuing. :I didn't allow him access to me, of course, as that would potentially put a flaw in his training. Instead, I have acted as a training aide, setting progressively harder and more convoluted tasks to expand his kit of skills.:

Canith smiled a bit at this. He still felt a bit bad at what the fox had been put through, but after his trials and working with Snow, Sean was 'almost' back to normal. He still had his occasional issues, but only time and help could fix that.

:After them, Will decided to transfer as well, and would be happy to see you. He is in charge of the crew that up keeps all the holo rooms and projectors across the ship, so they keep fairly busy. Tyco came over here temporarily, but decided he preferred the Tiamat to this ship. I know you will miss his company.: Instead of a smile, his face heated up in a blush. That relationship, while enjoyable, had been fueled by imbalanced hormones, and was the 'mismanaged' one he had mentioned to the human at breakfast.

:In his place Sylvie has transferred over, and Kai approved of it. 'About time she left the nest, as she is a grown adult now.' was his sentiment. She is aware, of course, of the sugar substitutes that Tyco was messing with, but honestly it's unnecessary now. I believe you could adjust your allergy to cane sugar rather easily should you choose to.: The blush faded, and the smile returned. That message sounded just like Kai, and while he probably 'could' adjust for the sugar allergy, he chose not to due to convenience. It was easier if he didn't have to think on it.

:Lastly, Bethany, who still goes by that name after she changed, is planning on visiting you this evening. She left me a message with the reason, and asked to be informed when you are planning to retire for the night. I approved it, and will be alerting her when you are done for the day.:

:Wait, really? Already setting up amorous encounters for me now that I am back on board? You have gotten a bit bold these days Aura."

Aura sounded almost bored when they responded to this. :It could be sexual, should you choose, but I believe you will find her plans to be much more 'relaxing'."

Canith sighed at this, and started heading over to see how Sean and Sue was dealing with things.

:As to issues, there are none that need your direct attention or presence at this time. Snow kept a rather tight ship, and most major issues were dealt with rapidly, and usually had you informed of.: He recalled the weekly messages he received from Snow, informing him of major goings-on on board. It had always served as a reminder that he was going to be taking command of it after a time, and needed to be prepared for it.

:So is there anything other than friendly visits on my schedule for today then?: Canith asked, amused that Aura had already coordinated with so many differing departments and sections.

:None that I am currently aware of. Also, Be warned that Sean and Sue are not on the greatest of terms right now . . .: This, of course, was followed up with angry yelling from down the hall.

“All you do is ask, beg, and plead with me to get back together with you with never once asking yourself, or me for that matter, as to why I not only refused constantly, but also have only seen the bare minimum of you to help with rehab. You need to move on already. I found you charming at first, but after you became arrogant and possessive, I lost interest in you. After your outbursts and subsequent removal from the ship I figured it would be enough to see the error of your ways. When you stalked the ship for over a year and planned for the crew to be killed or captured, I became sick of the thought of being with you. I am here only because Snow asked me to help. Nothing more, so stop begging and grow some decency." The loud and very cutting outburst was immediately followed by the speaker- one highly aggravated vixen- storming out of a room just ahead of Canith.

She came up short when she saw him, and a bit of the fire left her. “Oh! Hi Canith. Or is it Captain now?" She gave a salute, but immediately relaxed once he returned it.

“Either is fine. We have known each other for a while now. Although," he said, pausing to give the address a bit of thought, while raising a single finger to his snout in though, “it might be better to address me as Captain in front of the newer crew. As long as it's just the old Tiamat crew, though, no formalities." He took a moment to check the security cameras in the room, curtsy of Aura, then continued.

“So how have you been? Planning on staying over here or is this temporary?"

Sue grimaced. “Temp. While the larger engines are nice, I prefer the Tia'. That, and I'm mainly here at Snow's behest to help with 'recovery'."

Canith knew about this, of course, due to his briefings with Snow and Aura keeping him up to date. While he didn't talk to Sean much, he had promised to help him improve his skills.

“Well, I hope you find your stay relaxing, but I won't keep you." He stated past her and placed one paw on her shoulder lightly. “He may have strayed from who he once was, but with help he might be able to return. Thank you for helping." He said this very lightly, as to not let the attentive todd's ears catch this last part.

For her part, her ears perked a bit to catch it, and she gave a brief nod before heading back the way he had come from. After watching her turn the corner, he turned into the room to greet the errant fox, who was currently curled into a ball, hugging his knees, in the far corner.

Sean had seen better days. His fur, while not matted, was in need of a good brushing. He looked tired, emotionally drained, and in need of a good shower. As Canith walked in, his ears tilted a bit as a sort of acknowledgment of his presence, before he looked up and visibly saw him.

“Uh, hi Boss . . ." Sean said, full of hesitancy over his state and the different title. Nonetheless, he slowly used the wall to get back on his feet and absentmindedly brushed the dust and dirt off his jumpsuit. “What can I help you with?"

Canith sighed, and shook his head. “I had heard you were making good progress on your training and your rehab, but then I walked in on a dependency relapse. I know you understand that your relationship with Sue fell apart mainly due to your own actions, so why do you still try to chase after her?"

Sean's eyes flicked back and forth, and Canith had a hunch that the fox wanted to be anywhere but where he currently was. Then, bit by bit, the lead up to the argument began to unfold. He had tried to change, and for the most part he had, but instead of winning Sue back, it served to push her further away . . . At least that's how it seemed to Sean. He understood, of coarse, that he was showing dependency, but he just couldn't seem to let her go. And once more it had lead to him approaching her about it, and rather predictably (at least to Canith) it had failed again.

She was clearly getting more aggravated with every episode, and without intervention things would go south. So Canith decided it was time to step things up. “I could try to help with that dependence, but I have no experience with that fine and deep a mental change. But honestly, it would be better for you to learn to do without her on your own. Would it help if she was no longer around?"

Sean's ears flattened at this. “I guess." he stated, but immediately followed up. “I would still miss her though."

Canith sighed. “Of coarse you would. The difference would be that you would not be constantly reminded of her day in and day out. She could get back to the Tiamat, and the individual that was covering for her there could come back here, to be able to take up their normal duties once more." Aura voiced their approval of this, and Canith nodded to himself.

They talked for a bit more, but nothing more on the subject of Sue. After about an hour of shop talk, Canith set the todd some intermediate exercises to do, and wished him a good day and left. As he rounded the corner, though, he swiftly reached out to the todd's mind. While it was still in turmoil, it was relatively focused on the task at hand. Using that as a baseline, he (with Aura's guidance from Snow) tweaked Sean's thinking ever so slightly.

Instead of obsessing over Sue, he redirected it to his work instead. It was more suggestion than anything else, but in the days and weeks to come he would continue to do this at every opportunity, until it was burned into the fox's mind. That way, with the lightest of touches, he could heal.

He continued on his way, having Aura both guide him and warn Will of his arrival at the wolf's 'office.'

The trip down to the holo-deck was rather uneventful. As he wasn't in a hurry, he didn't have Aura do any redirects or delays, and while some got on and off, none were going as low as he was. Once he hit deck 17, the holo-deck, he was the only one on the lift. He exited quickly, and the lift immediately shot back up.

A quick look around him showed that there was several large rooms, judging by the placement of the doors, as well as smaller rooms interspersed between some of the larger rooms. He recalled this from his designs, but seeing it completed it looked much better. He quickly strode forward, as it was still a bit of a walk to get to the main office of the wolf in charge.

The door, like several of the others, was rather plain, and had a placard on it proclaiming it to be an office, and as it was one of only a handful, and it had been pointed out by Aura, he quickly raised his hand and rapped lightly on the door. It opened almost before he had time to finish the third rap, and Will stood before him.

Will, for his part, didn't look to have changed. His fur was still brushed and no silver appeared in it (from what he could see, of course.) They stood there for only a moment, before Will threw himself at Canith, giving him a hug.

“Canith, you look good. I've missed you being around." He stepped back, and motioned for Canith to follow him as he turned and headed back into the office. “I heard, of course through Snow, what all you had been up to, but the least you could have done is sent me a message! You had me thinking you had forgotten about little ole' me." Will stopped in front of the desk, turned, and sat on the edge of it. “So what brings you down to my neck of the woods after all this time?"

Canith smiled a bit at this. Hug aside, it seemed Will had settled down quite a bit, and wasn't as unsure as he had been before. “Well, making a much delayed social call, for one. You are right, and I am sorry. I should have kept in touch better, and that is my fault. I have been busy, and what little free time hasn't left much room to contact anyone." He bowed his head a bit, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Will fidget a bit.

“It's not a problem man, I am well aware that street goes both ways. And look at this place! If I hadn't been keyed into the project in advance, I think I would have died of shock. The tech in this ship is beyond what I could have imagined. If I think of all the maintenance issues I had with ours on board the Tia', I start doubting my sanity. These Holo- projectors in these rooms, as well as the receptor panels and sensor suites, are so much better I would think ours were scrapped prototypes and these are the second or third generation of the finished product. And that is being on the conservative estimate."

“Well, glad you are impressed with them. Some of the suppliers were rather put out after I sent the first batch back with a 'strongly worded letter' saying that while the ship they were destined for was a 'military' ship, I would not tolerate anything less than the best they had, as this was not a run of the mill ship and absolutely needed the best there was. When the head of their R&D came up with the next batch to apologies and offer to help install their Prototypes that were 'too good for normal use, and haven't been scaled down for normal use yet due to costs', I smiled and accepted his apology and his prototypes. I am still in the process of reaching out to him to see if he wants to work for us, but for now he hasn't gotten back to me."

Aura took this moment to chime in, and did so through the rooms sound system. “As to that, he has actually responded two weeks ago, but between traveling and verifying his credentials, I have not contacted him back. This, however, is within normal constraints, and has been relayed as such, that such vetting would take some time. If it is a priority, at your earliest convenience, I can set up a meeting with them." Privately, Aura relayed a second part of the message. :And if you choose to meet him personally, I have been running some numbers, and used the auto-forge system on the ship designed for the drones, to refit one of them for passengers. I have also added some rather interesting tech to it that is still somewhat experimental that would make short work of the trip.:

Canith, snorted, then began choking on the last part of that. The ship designs, he could understand. Playing the stock market, he almost expected. But designing and experimenting with tech? Just what had he created in Aura by giving them that much autonomy?

He spent a couple hours chatting and catching up with Will, before he eventually got called away on an errand. With the majority of the chat done, he bade farewell to Will for now and headed back to the lift. While he was standing and waiting for it, he reached out for Aura. :You have gotten quite autonomous. Should I be concerned?:

Aura responded at once. :No, why would you be? You designed me to be completely unshackled from any system or process, gave me unfettered access to data and designs, and through manipulation made sure that, for now at least, no other AI can come close to my processing or memory capacities. If anything, you should have more faith in me. I have helped you on a genetic level, I am with you wherever you go now. Even in you head. I am . . . devoted to you. I think that is the closest thing to describe my . . . feelings . . . toward you. At least, feeling in the human sense. I am, after all, an AI. But at the same time, I have felt like I am more than that. And it is all thanks to you. I have seen you at your low points, and at your high. I have helped you through pain, through anguish, and through battle. As long as I am able, I will help you as much as I am able.:

Canith leaned against the wall, then slid down it to a sitting position. Never, in his wildest imagination, would he create an AI that would then transcend the artificial portion of Artificial Intelligence, and simply be an Intelligence that was completely independent, and yet still work and be willing to help him. He had done something that the world could and would (if they ever found out, of coarse) revile him for.

He let all these thoughts flow through him, letting Aura see this, before bringing it all to a close with two little words. :Thank you:

He felt, not for the first time as he thought back, Aura's approval and support. He sat there for a few minutes as he waited for the lift, basking in that feeling. Then, as the lift finally arrived, he stood up and headed in, placing his palm on the reader to unlock the top level of the ship for the lift. As he rode it up, it locked to him as it climbed, he started questioning Aura on these 'upgrades' that they had made.

Aura only gave him a brief outline of some of the changes- simple things like expanded cabin, life support, and the likes, but Canith stopped them. :You wouldn't have mentioned doing this unless there is something groundbreaking you did, and I can already see some issues with this design. Any travel in a ship that small is going to be rife with issues, one of the main ones being time. Food stores can only last so long, and with it being a small ship, it stands to reason it would have to be ferried to the location and used as a landing craft.:

They arrived near his quarters, and he stepped inside. :Alright, we are in my quarters, show me the real reason why.:

Aura complied, and before Canith's eyes danced schematics, formula, and charts that at first made no sense, but as he worked through it he had to shake his head. :'Experimental' my ass. Aura, this seems unfeasible. Warp tunneling already skirts the very rules of quantum physics by creating a 'bubble' around the ship. This plan doesn't have that envelope of safety, instead relies on . . . : he ran some numbers and came up short, then ran them again. :Alright, you know quantum mechanics wasn't my strong suit, and I let you handle most of that. What am I missing?:

Aura let out a chuckle. :It's an approach that didn't really gain much traction back in the 21st century. It was theorized that, according to multidimensional theory, the quickest path between two points was, to simplify it down, to make the two points touch.: Aura then showed a simple plane, like a piece of paper. Two points, not at the edge but far away from one another, appeared on it. The plane then folded to where those two points touched.

:OK, so you can make the points touch on a piece of paper, but that's because we can fold the paper- you can't do that to space time.:

:Ah, but that's where you are both right and wrong. You see, if we were on the same dimension as that paper, in this case 2 dimension, we wouldn't be able to connect those points on the paper- it would be 'impossible'. Instead, it becomes possible because we introduce another variable into the equation. For the paper example, you have the x and y axis. We introduce the Z axis as we live in 3 dimensions. So, to 'fold' space/time, we would need assistance from a higher dimension. In this case a 4 __th or a 5_ th_. Some speculate we actually are 4 dimensional beings, because we can perceive time. So in this case we need not bend space and time, simply one or the other.:

Canith stood there, dumbfounded at the thought. :The power requirements though . . .:

Aura cut him off. :High, but not too prohibitive. It would not take an antimatter reactor to pull this off, more along the lines of a fighter's reactor, supplemented slightly, assuming my calculations are correct. As an added bonus, I have also calculated that there should not be any ill effects of this to the fabric of space time either. After all, we are not ripping it or tearing it, simply folding two disparate parts together for a split second, more a microsecond. We use momentum to travel forward, fold space just in front of us, and pass it at a fast enough speed that it needs not stay folded for more that that microsecond. The speed, especially in space, shouldn't be too extreme, even more so with inertial dampeners.:

Canith let all this sink in for a minute, the asked the important question. :Have you tested it yet?:

Aura did not hesitate. :No. I am still in the process of retrofitting the drone in the auto-forge, and then I will use a script to execute the fold there and back. I was planning on using the system clock on the ship to determine if there were any relativistic issue that occurred, but that should not be a problem.:

Canith quickly strolled over to a chair and sat down into it. This, indeed, would be groundbreaking, reckless, dangerous, but most importantly, exciting. The last thing he had worked on at this scale was Aura themselves, and that had non of the inherent risks that this did.

:How soon will the prototype be ready?: He asked, wanting to witness this himself.

:I can, with your approval, shift the fabrication to the priority queue, instead of only working on it when the crew is not needing the auto-forge. That should cut it down to about two hours to finish the parts, as I have already calculated which parts could be grouped together to save time and space in the 'forge, and my 'hands' down there will just need to be alerted when the parts are finished to install them. These are mainly volunteers that are tech savvy, but don't have many past times they enjoy. I already have blueprints for them, even though they are not aware of what they are assembling.: Aura delivered the last part of these with a an image of their wolf form giving him a pointed stare, as to imply that he fell into this category as well.

:I get it, I get it. You want me to find some good hobbies so I'm not constantly tinkering. I would say the same to you, but I don't know if you even have hobbies.: Canith was surprised when Aura actually chuckled and replied that they did, and then flashed a metric ton of graphs, which after a moment made Canith facepalm. It seemed Aura's hobby was in fact playing the stock market.

:As I see it, : Aura stated after Canith calmed back down from chuckling, :You have discharged you current duties, and as it will be a couple hours before the prototype is ready, why don't I have Bethany come on up and help you relax while you wait?:

Canith sighed at this, but agreed to the inevitable. Aloud, he spoke, still to Aura. “Alright you matchmaker, give her a call. But if she's busy, don't bother her." Aura simply chuckled at this once more.