Shock Therapy, CH 13 (Patreon)

“Will you need me for this?” Alex whispered to Tristan while their employer argued over his place within their organization. The Samalian looked at him, ear canted toward the discussion.

“This will be mainly them going over their options and what’s the best way to reach their goals. I’m remaining in case our employer needs my input with the logistical aspect of putting together the mission they’ll agree on.”

Alex didn’t need help translating. Tristan was here to make sure their job was the one that ended up being decided on. “Then I’ll go back to getting to the know the important people outside this room.”

“How good is their coercionist?”

“I haven’t had the chance to talk with it yet. Ester showed me around and introduced me. They have a lot of people who have no business being involved in this. A section of the resort is set up for families to live as normally as they can. That part is more refugee camp than rebel headquarter.”

“When you have the chance, speak with them. We need to know how reliable it is, since I doubt they’ll be willing to hand over that aspect of the job to you.”

Alex nodded, and Tristan focused on the leader’s discussion. He left with no one commenting.

He walked to the concourse, then for the place he’d last seen Ester. As she’d been the one guiding him around, he figured he could convince her to continue with Bernie’s work area. He reached the cafeteria, where word had reached them of the new arrivals, which could only mean Tristan’s return, and Alex had left her there.

Apparently, she’d moved on.

No one he asked knew where she had gone to. The best they could do was to point him to her quarters. Asking about Bernie got him something more useful, once he described it. He was directed toward the hangar. And once there to a shuttle at the back, nearly hidden among the unfinished wall.

Alex didn’t recognize the design, but was of a similar size to the shuttle he and Tristan had flown to the planet. So it would accommodate two humans easily, or someone of Bernie’s larger and not designed for human ship body.

He heard the computer inside the shuttle, more powerful than needed for a ship. He held back doing anymore. He’d want a computer of his own before attempting to coerce something that sounded this complex. And he’d already made enough of a poor impression on the Asharan.

The door on the side opened, and a long muzzle poked out, looking around. Bernie looked at Alex. “You are modified? My computer registered a connection I did not initiate, and I am aware of the shape of every connection of the computers within the resort. This was not a shape I have known before. But you do now carry a computer.”

“I have an implant that lets me connect to computers. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude. I listen to every computer in range. I didn’t get in.”

“I am aware. If you had attempted to coerce your way into my computer, I would have prevented you. Are you looking for answers?”

“I wanted to see your system; talk coercion. My employer decided to work with your people, so we’ll probably end up coercing side by side. It’d be good if we have a sense of how we work.”

Alex didn’t know enough about his species to figure out if the way it moved its head meant anything until it spoke.

“If we will work at each other’s side, then it is good to learn about each of the other’s methods.” It disappeared within the shuttle, and Alex entered.

What would be the lounge was empty. Traces of the table and seats around it in the form of ground down metal where they had been welded to the floor. In front, instead of the usual pilot’s chair, a harness was suspended from the ceiling. A similar one what would have been the bedroom, and Bernie slipped into it, facing an impressive assemblage of computer parts. Its voice was surprisingly uniform for the disparity in parts.

“I offer apology for not having seating fitted to a human. Hospitality was not the thought when I made this ship my home.”

“It’s okay. You should never have to accommodate one of us, considering the way we treat you and other aliens.”

Bernie looked at Alex with that same head bobbing. “Humans do not treat me wrongly. SpaceGov did.”

“SpaceGov’s human,” he replied in disdain.

“You are not correct. SpaceGov is composed of humans, but not all humans are of SpaceGov. Ester and many here are my friends.”

“The people in charge don’t seem to be all that keen on aliens.”

“I do not work with those. When my help is requested, Ester is who asks. If the request comes from them, it is not important to me. I want to ask a question humans consider uncomfortable.”

Alex smiled. “Are you going to force an answer out of me if I let you ask it?”

“I cannot force you. Humans are stronger than I am.”

“I—” Maybe it didn’t understand human body language? “Go ahead.”

“What is the interaction between you and the Samalian?”

“We’re partners. We work together.”

“His…smell is deep into you. Mixed the way humans who cohabitate in a way that leads to them sharing their bed is.”

“Not that we spend much time in beds,” Alex replied with a chuckle, “but yet. We’re intimate.”

“Thank you. The incongruity led to confusion. I will answer your question in return, I—”

“Stop.”

Bernie froze. “I do not understand.”

“The question I asked you earlier was inconsiderate. I shouldn’t have asked it.”

“It is customary to return uncomfortable questions with uncomfortable answers.”

“Your question didn’t make me uncomfortable.”

“It did not? Humans do not traditionally care to speak of what takes place in the bedrooms. When Ester answered me, her body temperature rose and her scent changed into what I have learned later was discomfort.”

“Did you notice those changes with me?”

“You are not Ester. Your smell will not behave as hers.”

“But blushing, which is probably how you registered the temperature change, is fairly standard among us. But if you’re still unsure. Does your culture have a method by which I can remove the need for you to answer?”

“You are unusual for a human. No one has inquired before about how they can alleviate the burden of my answer. Instead, they all reacted in discomfort as I explained equivalence to the question I had asked them.”

Alex chuckled. He could just imagine how people reacted to an alien explaining their reproductive method. Samalians were close enough to humans he hadn’t noticed differences between the vids he’d watched when younger and questioning why humans didn’t make him curious the way aliens did, and the Samalian groups he walked on while they were…reproducing. Being comfortable having sex with multiple partners, and in public, could be the most alien aspect of Samalian sex.

“I’ve always been curious about aliens, so I learned as much as I could. The first thing I discovered was that each species has its own was to handle interpersonal relationships. So I try to keep that in mind when I encounter someone new.”

“That is interesting. Even the less SpaceGov humans I interact with do not consider that when I am among them. I wonder if that makes you the opposite of SpaceGov.”

“If it does, I won’t complain. I’m not a fan of them. How about you explain to me how you were able to get all these computers to work so well together?”

Bernie took a long time responding. “That shall be my answer in response to your answer,” The Asharan said, and continued before Alex could stop them. “I committed atrocities.”

* * * * *

Alex stretched as he walked away from Bernie’s shuttle. The discussion had been interesting, but he’d had to sit on the floor looking up at the suspended Asharan the entire time unless he was studying his system’s control boards, which were set for someone in Bernie’s position, instead of a human standing before them. So even that hadn’t been comfortable for long.

The atrocity Bernie had been ashamed of committing was something that made perfect sense in retrospect. He’d killed all but one of the computers’ personality, then integrated the other parts within that one, effectively expanding that one computer over a total of five. Alex didn’t think it made for a good ratio of part to power, but it served Bernie well when he coerced.

He tried to explain it shouldn’t feel bad for what it did. Computers’ AI weren’t alive the way it and he was, their personalities were simply a byproduct of code interaction. But Bernie didn’t seem to understand the distinction. And Alex knew nothing of Asharan psychology, so he couldn’t think of explanations that would work.

Bernie was a decent coercionist. He had a solid base, which made Alex think whoever had taken him from his planet had given him instructions, and had continued to learn afterward. Alex sort of remembered the papers he’d read on Asharan talking about something if the way their minds worked made them well suited for working with programming, and what Bernie did supported that.

He slowed as he heard the distinct sounds of fighting, then followed them to a gym where men and women lifted weights, ran within exertion fields, or simply talked. These people had the feel to them of fighters. Of those who had no trouble hurting someone else to get what they wanted. He’d have to ask Ester why they hadn’t been part of those she introduced him to.

“You’re one of those merc,” a man called as Alex turned to leave. The man was muscular with the pale skin of someone who saw little sun, which was most of the people Alex had encountered since landing here. “I hear it’s your fault the mission failed.”

“It wasn’t. We just happened to arrive as the alarm sounded.”

“Right.” The man stretched the word.

“Don’t,” Alex warned him. “I appreciate that among them, you’re probably the top fighter, but you don’t even approach my league.”

“Hear that, everyone?” the man sneered. “He thinks he’d better than us.” He pointed to the fighting map. “Why don’t you prove it?”

Alex considered turning around. Unlike that man, he had nothing to prove. But maybe he had something to teach. They were aiming to take on a corporation; they needed to learn the opposition they were setting themselves up against.

He could show them that in a safe, controlled environment. Afterward, maybe they’d be more open to learning how to improve themselves. He removed his jacket, then the knife harness.

“I’ll be happy to.”