Wandering Engineer 6: Pirates Bane (3 page)

“I am recognizing a theme here,” Phoenix interjected when Sprite
paused for input. The Admiral grew silent, stepping out of the conversation to
allow the two AI to discuss it.

“And that is?” Sprite asked, arching an eyebrow at the ship AI.

“That, well, what is done is done, there is no point griping over
it. They, we have to accept it and move on,” Phoenix pointed out.

“True.”

“Easier said for some than others,” the Admiral murmured, rubbing
his beard. “But you are right. And I accept responsibility for the mistakes I
made.”

“I've made a few myself,” Sprite said.

“We all have,” Phoenix replied.

“We mostly,” Sprite replied with a slight smile. “Though I respect
your including yourself in our little sack cloth and ashes session here. If
we're done feeling sorry for ourselves?” Sprite asked.

“It's educational for me,” Phoenix said.

On that, Sprite and Irons both agreed with nods. “Belly aching
over the past isn't going to get us any closer to our goals,” Irons rumbled.

Half way to their destination they passed the white dwarf's mass
shadow in hyperspace. It was a bit of an event; it meant they were on course.
But it also meant it would be harder navigating further along; the mass shadow
would only remain on their rear sensors for a few days before they lost the
range.

Irons realized he rather regretted starting the journey. The
constant work was taking a toll, not that he didn't mind the distraction, but
it was never ending. He had been smug about being superhuman, now he was
realizing, his body might be, but he was still human. He had started as such
and damn it he needed a break.

Still, he found little ways to entertain himself, the cats, and
the AI. Celebrating the half waypoint was one. Training the cubs was also a
distraction. Mini cheetahs were lithe and lean, but also smart to some degree.
But a kit was a kit; they tended to be endlessly curious and mischievous. Blaze
was the bold one, Goldie the subdued cuddler. Just getting them to use the
litter box had been messy. It still was, they tended to track the clay all over
when they exited the box.

He had rigged a laser pointer on a robotic arm for Phoenix to play
with the cats. For several days the little red dot had them scampering up and
down the companionway until they either flopped down in defeat or got tired of
it.

When they turned six months old they were large enough to mess
with the maid robots. The little vacuum had been a fun thing to play with or
ride, but they had quickly learned not to stick a paw under it. Their antics
and video of their antics kept Irons and Sprite amused.

With the AI he tried to exercise their mental muscles, since they
had no others. They worked on the software, debugging it until the ship ran
perfectly. Then they played what if. What if they were boarded?

That scenario brought up all sorts of brainstorms with the AI, and
got his own creative juices flowing. Disguise interior and exterior of ship.
That wasn't hard; after all, the ship had started as a civilian ship.

<----*----*----*---->

Irons turned from tinkering with the ship, which was no longer
helping, to working through the various ship designs he had on file. Some he
could see where a judicious change here or there could speed its
construction... or alter its power envelope. He played what if, trying out
battlecruiser reactors and weapons on a destroyer. He found the idea had mixed
issues. It had more energy reserves and firepower of course, but the larger
reactors required more bunkerage for fuel. If he altered the ship design to
accommodate that need it opened up a host of other issues. Solving some opened up
other issues. He found he was chasing the beast. Finally he gave up and shut
the program down.

Each of the Trinity AI's were involved in the various projects,
and of course Sprite wrote the software necessary to implement various ideas.
Defender took a military interest in some of the projects. They simulated as
much as possible before testing it in the real world, and even then they did it
at low power.

Sprite wrote scripts and code based on his outlined objectives to
help put the processes into reality. The AI also wrote a simulation program.
Proteus's engineering programming was put to the test. The AI had data sets for
various things, but some of what the Admiral was proposing was beyond those
tables.

It was an interesting and slightly dangerous series of projects.
Still, it was hit or miss, not all turned out as he had hoped. It was sometimes
dangerous, sometimes embarrassing but still interesting, very interesting.

The first project wasn't even the Admiral's idea it was
Defender's. The AI suggested Sprite try to use the Admiral's body. It was a
comic experience, with the AI attempting to work out how to control her 'meat
puppet'. The Admiral had ended up on his ass several times before the AI had
worked out how to stand and walk. It was still disconcerting to feel the AI
controlling his body.

“And why are we doing this again?”

“In case I ever get a bout of sleep walking?” The Admiral
quipped.

“Sleep walking?” Sprite asked sounding amused. He teetered. A
hand shot out to catch a bulkhead but pushed too hard, he ended up going the
other way. “Oh oh!” Sprite said as he hit the right bulkhead with bruising
force and then fell again.

Irons groaned. “Glad that was my right side. I really would have
felt that.”

“Sorry,” Sprite said sounding contrite. “It's harder than it
looks. I don't understand it, I've controlled robots before, I've moved your
arms a time or two, but this is... complex.”

“Well, Defender locking you out of his systems isn't helping,”
the Admiral said.

“Yes, this is your idea. I could copy your movement modules and
balancing algorithms and we'd be done. But nooo,” the AI mocked.

“Access denied,” Defender said, cutting her off.

“See? See?”

“All right, so, Defender wants you to learn on your own. I get
that. I think though, you should maybe try simming things.”

“I agree. Though I am not giving up so easily,” Sprite said,
pulling him to his feet. The Admiral groaned. “But I do have enough data to
process now,” the AI said. Irons felt his body slump. He caught himself and
then realized the AI had relinquished control.

“Thanks for the warning,” Irons growled, straightening.

“Sorry, thought you were paying attention Admiral,” Sprite
replied, with just the right hint of mischief in her voice for him not to be
offended. He shook his head. She was unrepentant, despite the apology. He
shrugged it off. “So, what's next?” Sprite asked.

“I have one,” Defender said. Sprite and the Admiral turned in
shock and surprise to the normally sullen security AI.

“You do?” Sprite asked in disbelief, getting that out before the Admiral.
The Admiral's mouth closed before he could say something.

“I, on occasion do have a thought,” Defender said reproachfully.
“And unlike you Commander, I stick to my field.”

“Oh boy, this I gotta hear,” Sprite said, crossing her arms and moving
back so Defender could take center stage.

“Well, I was considering your puppet analogy and a judicious
application of nanites in a host could be used to turn them into as you said, a
meat puppet.”

The Admiral sucked a breath in. That brought back all sorts of
thoughts, drawing from the nasty days of the AI war along with spec ops
activities since then. He shivered. It was bad enough for him to volunteer to
be under the control of an AI, could he do that to another person? He frowned.

“I guess it depends on the person you are thinking about using it
on,” Sprite said slowly, seemingly thoughtful.

“No,” the Admiral said quietly.

“Even a Horathian?”

“To compel them to tell us something... I'm not certain it would
work but to turn them into a zombie; an organic robot? I'm...” the Admiral
shook his head vehemently no. “The constitution has prohibitions against it for
very good reasons. And no it's not atavistic human nature to reject it.”

“I see,” Defender replied, red eyes flashing slightly. The eye
color faded to a yellow as the AI turned to Sprite.

“I agree with the Admiral.”

“Of course you do,” Defender replied.

“And you knew I would. And you knew his answer.”

“No, I didn't.”

The Admiral's eyes flicked from one AI to the other. Something
was going on here, something above his head. “Wait, you... that was a test
wasn't it?” he asked. “You were never really serious about that. You were
testing me?” he asked, turning to Defender.

The AI rested the handle of his war hammer down and placed his
hands on top of it. His shield glittered briefly and then went dark.

“You were. A test. Something triggered it, my exploring...”

Sprite looked at the other AI then turned to the Admiral. “He
wanted to know how far you would go. How far you are willing to go to achieve
your goals.”

The Admiral paused, thinking. “There are some things I am willing
to do. Some rules that can be bent, and some that can probably be broken in
order to get where we all are aiming for, a return to civilization. But some I
will not break. At least I hope not.”

“If the need justifies the means...” Sprite said softly.

“Yeah,” the Admiral sighed, shivering. “Did it get cold in here
or is it just me?” he asked. Sprite shrugged. “I hope we never have to answer
that question. So, moving on...”

“Yes?”

“Well, I was thinking...”

<----*----*----*---->

Over the next several days they toyed with different applications
of using Proteus and his nanites. Most were simple things, things that had been
used for thousands of years. Some were improvements, such as improving the
software in augmenting a person and appl
ying the augmentation to additional models of organic beings.
Proteus was reluctant to explore the project, but the Admiral insisted they
refine the process.

“In case we need it in Bek.”

But after that project was finished they turned their attention
back to the list of things nanites had been used for over the centuries, but so
far overlooked by the Admiral and Proteus.

For instance, by using a cluster of nanites and a milligram of
material from the Admiral's reserves, they could create
a micro robot before the nanites
self-destructed. This ant-sized bot would have a limited life span, but it
could serve as a spy. Proteus expanded on the idea by using the nanites to form
an independent spy from local materials, such as a bulkhead and his reserves.

Sprite worked on the algorithms to control the robot and allow
them to see and hear through it. It was difficult getting the camera's
functions just right, they ended up settling for a small fish eye lens until
Sprite copied and ripped apart the code for one of the maintenance bots vision
system, and then scaled it to their application. It wasn't perfect, but it got
the job done.

From that they worked on forming camera and sensor bots with
pieces of himself. It was a bit disconcer
ting to see stalks extend themselves from his skin. Somewhere thin
hairs extruded with a fiber optic line and a camera tip. Proteus could extend
the cable as long as he desired. The tip could have a camera or audio sensor,
or both as needed. Once they were done with the probe it retracted and
seamlessly merged back into his body.

Another nanotech application was drawing materials. Proteus took
material in from supplements he ingested, or if he placed a hand on an object,
the AI could use nanites to break the material up and reform it.

After watching an ancient science fiction movie in his library
about a virtual serial killer that got out into the real world in a body made
of nanites, Sprite questioned if they could do the same thing.

“What? You do realize it's fictional right? Besides, he's using
silica. Glass to replace nanites.”

“Yes, but... I'm curious.”

“Proteus rebuilds the stock of nanites as needed, either by
recycling them or creating new ones,” the Admiral said as Sprite tapered off and
looking like she was thinking.

“Yes, but can Proteus repair you? What if you had a physical
injury? Let's say, lost a finger on your left hand?”

“I could grow a new one in a few hours,” Proteus interjected.

“In a few hours. With materials on hand?” Sprite asked.

“Yes. Or I could reattach the original digit if it was still
available. But the self destruct programming would melt the digit in sixty
seconds once it is detached.”

The Admiral frowned. He knew about the protocol to prevent his DNA
from being used against him or the Federation. He hadn't quite thought of this
limitation however.

“What about food? If he ate yes, but what if you drew the material
needed directly?”

“Like putting a hand on a steak to make protein?” Proteus asked.
“Using my nanites to process the food item directly?”

“Yes! And there is so much more we could do with this! Like oh,
say grow another arm? Or extra fingers!” Sprite said, growing excited by the
idea. “You have always been limited to your right arm... with this...”

“I think I'll keep it sane and limit myself to what I am now
Sprite,” the Admiral said, distinctly uncomfortable.

“Why?”

“Even for me there is a limit on how far I wish to change. I don't
want to lose myself in the process Commander,” the Admiral said quietly.

Sprite sensed his shifting mood and then abruptly nodded. “Body
shock?” she asked.

“Insult? No, it in a way would be me, but... not the physical form
I am used to. You and I both know what I went through when you three came on
board. I'd had some experience with prosthetics before, but... well...”

“I thought you took it remarkably well actually,” Sprite replied,
cocking her own head and then crossing her arms.

“You mean I didn't have an atavistic frothing fit over the whole
thing,” the Admiral said. “There were a lot of factors involved,” the Admiral
replied, sitting back and echoing Sprite's posture by crossing his own arms.
“There was the war need, the desire to be whole once more, and the burning
desire to get back on my feet.”