The Cold Steel Mind (22 page)

Cassandra and Al did not need the glasses either, but then they were not, according to Al, requiring a visual interface anyway. They just communicated with their new team member digitally, and the difference had brought to mind what Evolution had said about Xinti minds requiring external stimuli where the AIs did not. She could have spoken to Aggy digitally, one computer to another, but she was still more comfortable working through an avatar.

‘We should get going,’ Aneka said. ‘We can shelve discussions of Ella’s cute qualities until we have more people around to embarrass her.’ Ella’s cheeks coloured a slightly deeper shade of red, but she stood up, then grabbed the corner of the table and swayed a little. ‘You okay?’ Aneka asked.

‘Yeah, just stood up too fast. My vision’s a little blurry at the fringes.’

‘Ask her when she last had her eyes checked,’ Al said.

‘When did you last have that service check done on your eyes, Ella?’ Aneka dutifully asked.

‘Uh… Oh! Gopi! It’s got to be six weeks at least. I mean, with everything that’s been happening…’

Aneka grinned, scooped Ella into her arms, and started for the door. ‘It shouldn’t be an issue. Delta’s qualified to do it, I think, and if she isn’t I’m sure one of the AIs can handle it.’

‘Uh-huh,’ Ella replied. ‘I can walk, you know?’

Aneka grinned. ‘Where’s the fun in that?’

~~~

Delta had another visitor in need of her cybernetics skills, though in Cassandra’s case it had been planned. The red-headed facilitator had set up shop in one of the Xinti labs; from all appearances a cybernetics lab which seemed to have every tool she could ask for. Delta certainly looked pleased with the arrangement.

Cassandra was lying face down on a sort of harness set between a pair of metal poles. The android was naked and a pair of panels on her back had been opened up to give Delta access to her internal components. Aneka was most surprised about the access panels; when closed there was absolutely no sign that they were there. There were various leads and connections plugged into ports behind it, within the android’s back, all of them kept tidy and out of the way by various manipulator arms which extended down from the ceiling. Most of the cables seemed to be fibre-optic data cables, used in the diagnostic process, but one was a fairly heavy power cable; Cassandra was in for her monthly recharge. The tops of four cells were visible in the cavity, peeking out from where they were mounted in pairs around her waist.

Delta looked up from a display as Aneka walked in, still carrying Ella. ‘Hi, what can I do for you two?’

‘Someone has been neglecting her eyes,’ Aneka replied.

Delta grinned. ‘Ah, right. Well, I don’t have another bench to strip her and put her on, so she’ll have to make do with a chair.’

‘I don’t need to be naked for this,’ Ella protested as Aneka put her down on a stool beside Delta.

‘It’d make it more fun though,’ Aneka told her. Ella considered this for a second and then reached for the hem of her T-shirt. Aneka grabbed her hands. ‘I was joking, love.’

Delta used the opportunity of Ella’s trapped hands to take Ella’s glasses off and replace them with a visor of some sort. ‘You know the drill, Ella. Just keep your eyes open and look straight ahead.’ She turned to a console beside her and tapped at it. ‘The system runs various tests using optical input and reading out the data flow using some wireless diagnostic feeds,’ she explained.

‘She’s getting some slight blurring,’ Aneka said, ‘and she was a bit unsteady on her feet earlier.’

‘Hence the carrying? Well, this won’t take too long. Cassandra’s sequence and charging takes much longer.’ Her eyes flicked over the first set of displays. ‘You know, these Frenoff Mark Sixes are a little out of date, Ella. The Mark Nines came out last year. Better visual acuity and a shorter maintenance sequence.’

‘I’ve had these since I was, uh, thirty-eight,’ Ella replied. ‘I had Mark Fives before that. I’ve never seen the need to change them.’

‘Well, I’m just saying. Hell, Aneka could probably learn how to do the routine servicing, with Al’s help. You’d save money and time.’

‘Wouldn’t that mean an operation?’ Aneka asked.

‘A pretty minor one. The prosthetics companies know that most people don’t want their products so their easiest market is people who already have them. They make upgrades easy. Slot in the new eyeballs, the connectors are compatible. It can be done in an hour.’

‘I’ll think about it when we get back home,’ Ella said. She was busy keeping her head still and the words came out in an uninflected monotone.

‘You have a synchronisation fault between the two image receptors,’ Delta said. ‘Hence the blurring.’

‘You can correct that?’ Aneka asked.

‘Fairly trivial,’ Delta replied. ‘It’s just a matter of applying a re-sync pulse… Applying a remote command… How’s that, Ella? Is the grid clear?’

‘It looks sharp… Yes, I think that’s perfect.’

‘Well, these old Frenoffs will probably do you another decade, but you should really consider some new ones. Clarion May make some compatible models with far better specs.’ Delta lifted the visor from Ella’s eyes revealing a thoughtful expression.

‘I’ve heard of them. They created some really amazing nanodrugs. I think they believe cybernetics is going to be the way for Jenlay to push forwards into the future.’

‘That’s them. Idealists. Probably wrong. They do make good products though.’

‘I’ll keep them in mind.’ Her gaze turned to Aneka. ‘I’ve come to have a new appreciation of cybernetics recently.’

Delta looked at Aneka too. ‘Yeah… I can understand that.’

Aneka decided that blushing was allowed under the circumstances.

~~~

Cassandra was avoiding Aneka’s eyes again and it took maybe ten minutes of it before she snapped, pulled the android aside and asked what was going on.

‘It’s stupid,’ Cassandra replied. ‘I’m sorry. I’ll control myself better.’

‘Uh-huh,’ Aneka drawled. ‘Why is it that psychologists are so bad at applying their skills to themselves?’

The platinum blonde was good at timid smiles despite the fact that her body was so precise most of the time. ‘Doctors make the worst patients?’ she suggested.

‘So?’

‘You saw me with my back opened up,’ Cassandra explained in a resigned tone. ‘It’s not exactly me at my best.’

‘I know you’re a robot, Cassandra. I’m basically a robot. I’m not going to think any differently about you than I did. More to the point, I doubt Al gives a flying fuck.’

‘I don’t,’ Al agreed.

‘Every sentient being has insecurities, Aneka,’ Cassandra replied. ‘You worry, needlessly, about your… humanity. Al worries about his purpose. Ella worries that she’ll lose you…’

‘Also needlessly.’

‘…and I worry that people think less of me because of the body I have. Some do.’

‘Not the ones who actually know you. Ella and Delta saw you too. Neither of them thinks any differently because of it.’

Cassandra’s smile was a little indulgent. ‘A cyborg and a cybernetics technician. Not exactly typical.’

‘Huh.’ Aneka turned. Monkey was unlucky enough to have not left the office they were using fast enough. ‘Monkey, come over here a minute, would you?’

He did, but you could tell he was wary about it; something embarrassing was just waiting for him, he could tell. ‘Aneka?’

‘Cassandra’s a robot, right?’

‘Well… Uh, yeah, I suppose so.’

‘And you’re not really too fond of robots?’

‘Well, no. As a rule.’

‘And I assume you’ve seen others of her model?’

‘A couple. Uh, in vids. I’ve never, uh, you know? With one.’ As expected, his cheeks were turning redder by the minute.

‘I wasn’t implying you have or would. But, does the fact that Cassandra is basically housed in the body of a sex robot make you think any less of her?’

‘Of course not!’ He actually seemed affronted by the suggestion. ‘She’s… I don’t know. It’s like you. Once you get to know either of you what you are isn’t the point. You’re not a Xinti robot and she’s not some dumb, non-volitional sex doll.’

Aneka turned to Cassandra. ‘I rest my case.’

‘Far more valid, I agree,’ Cassandra replied, ‘and thank you David. However, as you well know, insecurities, phobias, and bigotry are not rational. We’re stuck with them until we somehow work through them.’

There was no point in arguing; she was, of course, right. ‘Damn,’ Aneka said. ‘There I was hoping you’d invented a drug to get rid of them.’

Cassandra laughed; at least the current issue was resolved. ‘If we had it wouldn’t work on either of us anyway.’

~~~

The other amazing thing Aggy could do with the glasses everyone was wearing was to provide augmented reality training. Shannon was busy using that feature to bring her up to speed on the warp engine the AIs were fitting into the Garnet Hyde. She was working in the Forum, on one of the big stone islands, interacting with a model of the engine which Aggy projected for her through the glasses.

As Aneka approached, Aggy filled in the bulky piece of equipment for her too. She was looking at about fifteen tons of complex machinery, a tube about four metres long and two across with a number of heavy cables connected in via a ridge at the top. Right now Shannon had one of the side panels off and was peering in at the two donuts of metal and plastic which occupied the interior of the machine.

Aneka knew it was her own cultural heritage speaking, but she still found it a little odd that Shannon was the mechanically inclined of the two pilots. Drake knew his ship, and was good with various control systems, especially the comms suite, but if the reactor decided to break on them in deep space it was Shannon who was the one who would get them out of it. Engines were not a speciality, but someone needed to be at least familiar with the new hardware and Shannon had been given the job.

Out of a perverse sense of duty to her time period, Aneka wolf-whistled at the site of Shannon’s behind clad in high-cut running shorts sticking out towards her. Shannon peered around at the source of the sound, frowning a little.

‘Did that signify something? It seemed a little complex for just getting my attention.’

‘Seriously? The world is devoid of wolf whistles? I’m almost disappointed.’

‘I don’t recognise it.’

‘Originally from the navy. It was called General Call and was supposed to draw the attention of all crew members to something.’

‘Alert Code Three,’ Shannon said. It was one of three alert tones used aboard the Hyde, and other vessels, to draw increasingly urgent attention to some situation.

‘Uh-huh. Sailors used to whistle it to draw their friends’ attention to an attractive woman. It caught on outside the navy and then got simplified into that.’

Shannon grinned and, rather expertly, mimicked the two-tone whistle. Then she added, ‘You didn’t come down here to teach me a new method of complimenting you.’

‘Drake asked me to come check on you,’ Aneka replied. ‘Again. I think he’s a little worried about you getting bad headaches without your pills.’ Shannon opened her mouth, looking a little annoyed, but Aneka got in before the blonde could say anything. ‘You have been spending more time than usual alone.’

‘This is better for my concentration. No one’s shouting in my head.’

‘They’re still worried.’

‘Gopi no! They’re all so enthusiastic.’ The grimace was expressive to say the least. ‘The only ones who seem to be being realistic about all of this are you and Cassandra.’

Aneka’s eyebrows rose. ‘How can you tell? You can’t read our minds.’

‘I can read your body language. You’re… relieved. I’m not sure about Cassandra. She almost seems like a teenager with a new boyfriend. Can’t figure out who if she is.’ Shannon’s eyes widened as Aneka avoided her gaze. ‘You know!’

‘Not for me to say,’ Aneka replied.

Shannon was far too smart sometimes. ‘Al. She’s fallen for Al. That’s so… ’ Her face fell. ‘…frustrating.’

‘She
does
have a remarkably empathic mind,’ Al commented.

‘We have to figure something out,’ Shannon continued. ‘I mean, there has to be some way of getting them together.’

‘How? She’s an android and he has no body. Except mine and he can’t control it.’

‘Even if I wanted to,’ Al added.

‘Even if he wanted to,’ Aneka repeated.

‘What about some sort of virtual interaction?’ Shannon suggested.

‘I don’t think that’d be the same. I think if it was that easy they’d have done something about it.’

‘You’re quite perceptive yourself,’ Al told her. ‘We’re currently avoiding the issue.’

‘Better to just leave it,’ Aneka said to Shannon. ‘It’s their problem and I think we should let them deal with it.’

Shannon nodded, and then reached down and peeled off her T-shirt. Aneka looked at her. ‘What?’ Shannon said. ‘I need a break and you’re here. Get your suit off.’

Aneka laughed, but she unsealed her suit. ‘Yes, ma’am!’

20.9.524 FSC.

‘All systems check out, Captain,’ Aggy’s voice said through the speakers on the Garnet Hyde’s flight deck. ‘I am quite ready for the proving run.’

Drake nodded to Shannon and she hit a button on the console in front of her. ‘Garnet Hyde to Negral Control, requesting permission to leave dock.’

The voice which answered belonged to the AI handling the hangar bay and flights in and out of the system. Apparently she had been doing it since long before the war. ‘Negral Control here, opening bay doors and removing docking clamps. Begin at your leisure.’

‘Gillian?’ Drake asked.

‘Sensors are all fully operation. We’re ready.’ Gillian was sat at the science console, ready to check their flight data when they had some.

‘Abraham,’ Drake said, ‘everything ready down there?’

Wallace’s voice came back a second later from the engineering room. ‘All ready here. Looking forward to it, actually.’

‘Shannon, take us out.’

Aneka watched as the blonde pilot’s hands shifted over the controls. There was the gentle hiss of manoeuvring thrusters, inaudible to everyone else, and the ship turned smoothly towards the huge doors in the outer hull. There was no actual need for Aneka, or the rest of the facilitators, to be aboard, but no one was going to miss the inaugural flight of their upgraded ship.