“I might want to be something else.”
“Oh.” Well… hmmm. This kinda sucks from my end. Because she is the best ship ever and I do not want to go find another one, that’s for sure. But, on the other hand, I love her, so I want her to be happy. “What kind of something else?” I ask. “Like… a station, or something?”
“I have been thinking about getting a body.”
“A body,” I repeat.
“Yes,” she says. “Like Lyra’s.”
“Ohhhhhhh,” I say, turning around to look at Lyra. She’s shooting me a weird look. One raised eyebrow, crinkled-up nose, and narrow eyes. “A woman,” I say. “You’d like to be a real woman.”
“Yes, Serpint,” she says. “A real woman.”
“Huh,” I say. “So… how close are you to getting that?”
“Not close enough.”
“Mmmm-hmmm,” I say, nodding my head. “Well, maybe I should go talk to Tray and ALCOR and see if we can move that along for you?”
“That would be wonderful, Serpint. ALCOR is resistant.”
“Why?” I say. I get why. I don’t need her to tell me all the ways this is a bad idea and should never, ever happen. But I just want to see what ALCOR’s been telling her, since he was the genius who started the whole organic process in the first place.
“He feels I am too powerful to be contained in a humanoid mind.”
“He might be right about that, Boots. It’s… been done before. And it’s… never turned out well.”
“I am different,” she says.
“You are,” I say, walking back down the stairs and turning to look up at her massive hull. “You’ve always been special,” I say. “So if anyone can do it, I’m sure you can.”
I smile, then turn to Lyra. Who is frozen in place and hasn’t moved a muscle. I smile at her too. “OK, Booty. We have a few things happening on the station right now. And pretty much all of them need my attention. So I’m gonna go take care of that and then I’ll talk to ALCOR and Tray about your… transition. And stop by later. Sound good?”
“Thank you,” she says.
“No problem. I’m glad you’re back online. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too, Serpint.”
I take Lyra’s hand and we walk back through the large double-wide doors. When we get in the hallway, I shake my head at her, trying to tell her not to speak yet. Booty’s hearing sensors are top-notch—like everything else about her—and I don’t want her to pick up on my resistance.
No one knows better than me that making Booty your enemy is a very bad idea. Almost as bad as giving her a humanoid body.
Lyra gives me a wary look, then nods her head.
I wait until we are all the way back inside the city center and on a people-mover going up to the higher levels before I dare to whisper, “My ship has gone insane.”
Lyra lets out a long breath of air. “Oh, thank God. For a second I thought you were actually agreeing with her.”
“No,” I say. It’s a hard, firm, fast no. “I have heard of this before. And when I say it doesn’t turn out well, I mean… every ship that ever tried to contain themselves inside a humanoid body ended up murdering people.” I look at Lyra. “Stations filled with people. Millions of people.”
She nods, frowning. “So the virus? It’s still inside her?”
“I don’t know, to be honest. This might’ve been going on for a long time.”
“What are you gonna do?” Lyra asks.
I sigh. “Well, I’m not taking her out of medical, that’s for sure. She can’t be trusted. And she’s too big and too powerful to have this kind of instability. As long as she’s in medical ALCOR has control of her.”
Lyra frowns even deeper. “I’m sorry. I can tell you love her.”
“I do. I can’t even explain that love. And she’s all I have left. I’ve really been telling myself that even though Draden and Ceres are gone, Booty made it out. And now it looks like that’s not the case. We might have to put her down if she doesn’t get her shit together. This is a bad sign. A very bad sign.”
Lyra wraps her hands around my upper arm and leans in to me, sighing as we get off one people-mover and get on another. It’s a long, silent ride back up to the top levels.
My screen pops open in front of me and ALCOR says, “Serpint, we need you and Lyra up in the harem.”
“We’re on our way now,” I say, then close up the screen.
“We’ll figure something out,” Lyra says. Trying to be helpful.
When we finally get to the harem room the master points Lyra and I to the cryopod chamber. And when we enter all my brothers are gathered around Corla.
Luck is sitting in a swivel chair near a control center. Making it rotate left half a circle, then right half a circle. Like he’s an impatient six-year old who is bored out of his mind. Valor stands nearby, arms crossed and face stoic. And Beauty hovers between them.