<All right,> he said. From the administration area, they moved back through triage rooms, to a wide corridor with four surgery theaters. Through double doors off the center hallway, each surgery resembled the bottom of a ceramic egg with a silver alloy bed in the center of its floor. A console at the foot of the bed was the only dark thing in the space.
Petral went through the doors first as Andy and Brit pulled off their helmets.
<Don’t forget the nose plugs,> Andy said as he jammed Fugia’s personal air filter into his nostrils. The outside air tasted metallic, but he didn’t start seeing ghosts. Brit nodded and did the same.
Petral studied the surgery’s control console before bringing it to life. She turned to Andy as he walked into the room, heavy boots clicking on the smooth floor.
“She’s right,” Petral said. “It’s about as standard as any autodoc. We’ll have to let it run a scan and then go from there.”
“What if it doesn’t give us the option of removing the implant?” he asked.
Petral shrugged. “We’ll see.” She went around the side of the bed and lay down. As soon as her head touched the cushion, the console at the foot changed modes.
“Preparing patient,” a pleasant male voice said. The bed split down the middle, spreading apart to leave Petral supported by filament lines. As the sides of the surgery bed slid away from her, they rose around her, forming a cocoon that hid her from sight. Above the enclosed capsule, a holodisplay of Petral’s body formed in the air. The view cycled through her musculature, vascular, nervous and skeletal systems before stopping on the augmentations. Her left thigh was completely prosthetic, along with several other muscular and skeletal reinforcements. Sensors in her major organs glowed and subsided. Her Link system ran from her spine through her cortex, flashing a bright silver. Wrapped around the Link with tendrils reaching into her frontal lobes was the AI implant.
Andy watched, fascinated, as the surgery identified the unknown system and attempted to match it with registered augmentations. The software’s calm voice listed the various checks it was performing as it ran down the list. Finally, the voice said, “Proprietary system 446 identified.”
“Identify System 446,” Andy said.
“Proprietary system,” the software responded. “Possibly illegal augmentation identified. Would you like to notify authorities?”
“No,” Andy said. “No, don’t do that. Hold.”
<Brit,> Kylan said. <Brit, are you there?>
Andy glanced at Brit.
She stared at the console in surprise. <Kylan,> she said, obviously searching for words. <We thought you were locked out.>
<I was. Petral’s sedated so she can’t stop me from communicating now.>
<You know where we are?> Brit asked.
<I can tell a surgery system is scanning Petral’s body. I experienced the same thing when I was implanted before. I think I’ve been through this more times but it makes my memory distorted. I think it corrupts something. I don’t know if Dr. Jickson intended for a Seed to be implanted several times, or if he even intended for me to be implanted. That’s why it’s so difficult. I can’t remember what I’m supposed to look like or be. I feel like I should be Petral now but that won’t work. She won’t let it work. We can’t both be Petral. I don’t know how to just be Kylan. Did you know I had a brother and sister? I was supposed to take care of them.>
Brit’s jaw tightened as his words trailed out. <Kylan,> she interrupted. <We have to do the surgery again. We need to make Petral like she was before.>
<I’m sad,> he said.
<I know.>
<Do you know Dr. Jickson’s access token?> Kylan asked.
<Lyssa is going to start the surgery.>
<I don’t think she can start it without Dr. Jickson’s security token. Cal Kraft had his own. That way they can tell everyone who performs the surgery. I remember them talking about it before. It’s a special surgery.>
<Yes, it is,> Brit said. <Will you give me the token?>
Lyssa cut back in, sounding more harried than before. <Multiple units have found EV suits,> she said. <They’re sweeping levels looking for survivors and doing medical triage. I think you’ll have crew in this medical facility soon.>
<Damn it,> Andy said. <Is Harl all right? He’s not answering.>
<He’s taken his suit off and isn’t answering me either,> Lyssa said. <Wait.> In a few seconds, she said, <I can’t find him. I don’t have his status.>
<What about the people who had reached the command section. Can you track their EV suits?>
<No,> Lyssa said. <Diane is blocking me from internal sensors. I’ll let you know as soon as I can.>
<Can you lock down this section?>
<I’ll try,> Lyssa said. <Diane keeps rerouting my administrative controls. If Fiona regains command of the engines, I won’t be able to execute the flight plan.>
<Brit,> Kylan asked. <Where will I go when you take me out of Petral?>
Brit sighed. <I don’t know.>
<I didn’t ask to be implanted,> he said.
<I know.>
Andy watched Brit’s face as she looked into the distance. Her tone had become the same as if were soothing a fellow soldier who wasn’t going to make it to the pickup point. Her words were a warm contrast to the hard lines of her face and the dull brutality of the power armor.
<I was thinking about my brother and sister.>
<That’s what you said, Kylan.>
<It’s okay if I don’t go anywhere when you take me out of Petral.>
<Don’t worry about that.>
<I’m going to worry about it. I don’t want Petral to be hurt anymore. If you have to kill me to save her, I think you should do that.>
Brit pressed her lips together, her eyes moist with tears. <It’s going to be all right, Kylan.>
<Are you ready?> Lyssa said. <I have a window to gain access to the surgery control system.>
<Kylan says there’s a security token you’ll need.>
<A security token? I haven’t encountered one yet I couldn’t break.>
<You’ll need it,> Kylan said. <You won’t be able to access the specialized procedures without it. Cal couldn’t.>
<Fine,> Lyssa said, more forceful every time she answered. <Send it. I don’t have much time.>
<Sent,> Kylan said. <Goodbye, Brit. Thank you for—>
<Activating the surgery protocol,> Lyssa said, cutting him off.
The display at the end of the surgery cocoon scrolled through a series of new screens, switching to a raw flow of text on a black background. Whatever the system was doing, no one had bothered to write graphical interfaces for the procedure. The holographic diagram floating above the cocoon showed Petral on her stomach now, centered on her upper spine and skull. Outlines of her scalp being pulled back moved quickly to another model of the skull being split open.
<Does it have to show us what it’s doing?> Brit complained, scowling. <That’s disgusting. It’s even worse knowing it’s doing that to Petral.>
<There’s probably a way to turn it off but I would hope surgeons aren’t as squeamish as you.>
In the graphic, delicate articulated arms reached inside Petral’s cranial cavity and manipulated the silver outlines of her Link to draw out the additional spiderweb lines of the implanted AI. A few dark spots on her brain seemed to indicate bleeding but the graphic provided no actual information about the procedure. There was no way to see inside the alloy cover to verify what it was actually doing to Petral.
The arms blurred several times as they appeared to stitch through sections of Petral’s brain. In other places they rotated as if rewinding a long spool of thread. Abruptly the arms stopped moving and withdrew. Petral’s skull was fused and the scalp pulled back into position. The graphic rotated as she was returned to lying on her back, and the edges of the bed rotated outward, splitting the cocoon apart. Petral lay with her eyes closed on the bed.
appeared, returning to the pleasing colors of the control system.
The pleasant human voice said, “Surgery complete. Please assist patient from the operating couch.”
“Petral,” Andy said, taking a step toward her. “Petral, are you all right?”
She didn’t respond at first, then her eyes fluttered and Petral sucked in a deep breath. She turned her head to look at Andy, then stared at the ceiling with a questioning frown.
“How do you feel?” Brit asked, pushing in beside Andy.
“I think,” Petral said, still frowning. “I think I’m alone in here.” She smiled. “I think it worked.”
“Kylan’s gone,” Brit said.
Petral looked at her, appearing to assume Brit was still talking about the AI being removed. “Yes. He’s gone. Before it was like having someone watching me all the time, from the inside, like an overlay on everything. It’s gone now.”
Petral rolled to one side and rose on an elbow. She felt at her forehead and then the back of her head through her hair. “Wow,” she said. “It doesn’t hurt at all. This thing does good work.”
<Lyssa, where is Kylan?> Brit peered around the room. <The surgery doesn’t have a seed container or anything.>
<I have Kylan,> Lyssa replied. <He’s safe.>
<Safe?> Andy interjected. <Safe where?>
<I have him secured, Andy, don’t worry about it.>
<I—> Lyssa began, then stopped. <Andy, I can’t stop them. You’ve got a group coming your direction. It looks like they’re just doing a sweep but they’re armed. I still can’t contact Harl. The flight path is still locked but I think someone’s trying to access the astrogation system from a secondary control. I’m going to start the burn. If we can clear off the crew once we reach velocity, I think you can get off the ship.>
<We’re moving,> Andy said. <What’s the safest direction to go?>
<Back the way you came. There’s a barracks section off the administrative area that’s been emptied as they mobilize the non-wounded. I don’t think they know what’s happened yet.>
<Once this whale starts moving they’re going to know,> Brit said. She lifted her rifle and slapped the status control. <I still want to find Cal Kraft. I thought you said he was heading up from the lower decks.>
<Didn’t I say that?> Lyssa asked. <I said it was him that was in combat with Harl. I thought I said that? Diane and Fiona are trying to confuse me.>
<We don’t want you confused,> Andy said.
<I don’t like it much either,> Lyssa agreed. <Are you out of there yet? It looks like the medical service has its own security. You need to get out.>
Andy pulled his helmet back on and checked the HUD. The power armor returned a green system status. <Let’s go,> he said.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
STELLAR DATE: 10.02.2981 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: HMS Resolute Charity
REGION: Europa, Jupiter, Jovian Combine, OuterSol
<I have you,> Lyssa said.
Kylan looked around himself. He was in a dim space. He had his old form again, the shape of a teen boy with bad skin and lank blond hair. His mother’s eyes. He touched his stomach and looked up at her. Lyssa was in the form of a young woman who might have been one of Kylan’s teachers, with brown hair and olive skin.
<I used to have to go there as punishment,> Lyssa said. <It’s just an off-state. A nothingness. You didn’t have to stay there long.>
<So I’m not inside Petral anymore? Am I back on of the seeds?>
<No,> Lyssa explained. <I did something different. I imaged you. The surgery wasn’t designed to save the physical form that had been implanted inside Petral. In fact, I think there must be another version of you somewhere that was copied to the implant. But that’s not you anymore. And you aren’t inside Petral. That Kylan is gone. Now you’re here.>
<So I’m implanted in Andy with you?>
Lyssa smiled. <No. You aren’t implanted. You have no physical form.>
<So I’m no longer trapped inside a seed but I am trapped inside you?>
<If you choose to think of it that way, yes. I’m simulating hardware for your mind to exist within. You’ll remain mostly static for now. I need to finish my work with Diane, Fiona and David. Then we’ll get back to Sunny Skies and we’ll find a better place for you.> She gave him a reassuring smile. <I’ll help you find a home, Kylan.>
<That would be good,> he agreed. <Can I help you with the others?>
<Maybe,> Lyssa said, growing distracted by the other conversations she was tracking simultaneously. <For now, just listen. If there’s a time when I need your help, I’ll ask. Can you do that?>
<I can do that. They can’t hurt you, can they?>
<They’re actively trying to figure out how,> Lyssa said. <You’ll see. Come on.>
The empty space where they had been standing blurred as Lyssa moved to the game where she had engaged the three ship AI. A school cafeteria filled with long tables, each stuffed with teens, phased in around her. The AI David, in the form of a muscular boy with short black hair and a wide nose, sat at a table near the front of the room, kids squeezed on either side of him. This table was watched by most of the kids in the room. In the game, these were the most successful players, with the most dating points. David didn’t know that Lyssa had been assisting him throughout his gameplay, using a multiplayer function where one player could boost another’s stats by increasing their social capital.
Diane and Fiona sat three tables away, glaring at David. Diane was a small girl with vibrant eyes and purple hair. She had chosen the band as her social avenue and had a viola case that was taller than her, while Fiona had chosen swimming as her primary trait and was lithe with long arms and legs and knuckles bruised from water polo practice.
As Lyssa walked toward them, Fiona picked up a glass of orange juice from her lunch tray and flung it toward the David’s table. She followed the glass with a plate of mashed potatoes and an apple.
The other kids in the cafeteria responded immediately as several screamed, “Food fight!” and the room erupted with splattering food.
Since Lyssa had convinced the three AI to engage with the game, the only way they could stop the game was for one of them to win. What she hadn’t told them was that it was possible to crash the game by shutting down the school through any number of methods. This was a flaw in the game itself that Cara had exploited once to win. After a while, they started looking for the most creative way to crash the game, which was more fun than gathering dating points via dialog trees from random encounters.
Since she had seen what Xander’s expanse looked like, Lyssa had begun thinking of the game as her own similar space. She could manipulate whatever she wanted once she had other AI in the game, but it was easier to let the game play out as designed as long as it kept them distracted. She knew that Diane and Fiona had become aware that something was wrong with the ship but they hadn’t said anything to each other about it that she could tell. If anything, the less the game kept them preoccupied, the more their autonomous systems would be freed to correct problems David’s complete immersion had caused. As long as David was winning in the game, he didn’t care what happened on the Resolute Charity.
David wanted desperately to be liked and Lyssa had exploited this in the game. Not only had she made him captain of the football team, he was on track to be crowned Prom King at the upcoming dance. He was currently involved in a drawn-out quest to plan prom, which required gathering interest points from each of the toughest teachers in the school.
Lyssa hadn’t been stressed by what was happening on the Resolute Charity. She had been stressed by David’s inability to charm anyone. The AI was completely devoid of any characteristics that might make a human interesting. He showed no curiosity. He interpreted every conversation literally, and he didn’t know how to flirt at all. These might be admirable qualities in an environmental c
ontrol system but they didn’t make for a winning Prom King.
With the food fight in full swing, Lyssa struggled to maintain the integrity of the game. As long as no one pulled a fire alarm during the food fight, eventually the principle would arrive to figure out who had thrown the first food item. The room would get a stern speech on the value of calories and how many people in Sol didn’t have access to such abundant foodstuffs. Then lunch would be over and each player would have to continue their individual quests.
She spotted Fiona making her way toward the wall where the fire extinguisher and alarm lay. Lyssa suspected Fiona was the most cunning of the three and it made sense she would conceive an overwhelming event faster than David or Diane. Diane’s only interest seemed to be ganging up on David with Fiona’s help.
Lyssa had used David to convince the other two AI to play the game, so they weren’t aware she was like them. Dodging a volley of dinner rolls and stone-hard cupcakes, Lyssa grabbed her lunch tray and acted like she was headed for the dishwashing station, which would take her near the fire alarm. She scanned the nearby tables for something she could use to stop Fiona but all the kids there had already tossed most of their food. Now they were laughing and smearing what was left in each other’s faces.
Fiona was nearly at the wall now, the fire alarm only a few meters away. She swept students out of her way like she was fighting through water polo players for the goal. A girl in front of Lyssa fell off her seat, revealing a tray that still had a bowl of pudding in one corner. Dropping her tray on the floor, Lyssa scooped up the pudding and acted like she was stumbling over the girl on the floor. This move took her directly into Fiona. Lyssa let herself fall, hand full of pudding aimed at Fiona’s determined face.
The engineering AI didn’t even look at Lyssa. Her gaze went to the pudding, and she spun out of the way as smoothly as a seal. Lyssa hit the floor, knocking the air from her lungs and splattering pudding all over the tile.
Fiona pulled the fire alarm.