EG 3 Ch 23 (Patreon)

"Ready," I said I piloted the Griffin into the station. I had moved Melgara over to our captured ship to pilot it in. At a certain point, I had realized that with this second ship we could very well increase our haul substantially, and if there was no danger, then running a relatively uncrewed ship wasn't too much of a risk.

The Griffin flew in close, and the station was completely unresponsive.

"It looks like it's all clear," I sent to Melgara.

"Coming in for docking, then," she said.

I even hailed the station, and it failed to respond. "Well then, don't mind if I just invite myself." I glided the Griffin up next to a docking clamp and began the sequence, only for it to stall on the other side. I paused and waited. After several moments, the unresponsive docking clamp hummed.

Violet chuckled.

Finding the station's automated response had been an important part of the plan. It wasn't every day that a station was completely unresponsive to docking calls, and it made sense that there was a default to accept.

Hostile boarding of a station really wasn't a concept, especially considering how dangerous stations were. No one would put a bunch of troops in enemy hands so easily. Although it could also be a default to prevent stations from being destroyed when they could otherwise be docked by an enemy and then reclaimed at a later date. They were, after all, incredibly expensive to build and did require quite a bit of upkeep.

"Docking complete," Aikari reported. "Though I'm disappointed you didn't let me drive."

"Your wielding of the steering wheel isn't exactly what I would refer to as driving," I said to the AI, recalling when she had driven backwards to scoop us up.

We carefully exited the Griffin onto the station. Lily stepped off on her own, while Violet carried Aikari's personality cube; the AI projecting herself as Violet carried her forward.

"Don't worry, just plug me into the station and I'll be good to go." She had been particularly confident about her abilities in this area.

"I thought previously you didn't have any hacking experience?" I squinted at the AI.

"Who needs hacking when I get hardwired into the mainframe? Duh." she huffed.

"Third floor," I nodded to Violet.

We stepped off, and the many workers that had previously been on the station were splayed out on the ground in a dozen different configurations. Violet stared down at them with hesitation as I pulled out a pistol.

"We don't have to kill them, do we?" she asked, and shot me a hopeful glance.

I could only shake my head. "The other options aren't pretty either. If we just leave them, a lot of them are going to starve to death."

Violet's face fell, and she looked at me clearly hoping I would offer up an alternative.

"The other option is we somehow allow them to recover from Lily's illness and report all of the happenings here back up the chain of command. The broader institution will absolutely have some reaction. What it is, well, we can't predict that. They will discover the virus and develop vaccines. But I doubt, when they realize what's been stolen, that they're going to remain idle. And our future pursuits will become more difficult and dangerous."

Violet's expression told me that she knew she was losing this argument. "All right. I just—" She looked away. "I don't know. Don't make it gruesome."

I didn't make it gruesome. A single tap was enough to send them on their way, which Violet ignored, looking everywhere else.

"At least it shouldn't hurt," she said, more to herself than to me. Violet sniffed and continued to ignore my actions with every fiber of her being.

"Perhaps you should guard over me while I do the most important task," Aikari did her best to distract Violet.

"I'd agree, but I'm on captain duty," Violet said, and I scowled at the term. "Which is a wonderful, wonderful situation to be in," she beamed.

"Of course it is," I said. "After all, I do get some important tasks in all of this. Meanwhile, Lily is literally just doing cleanup and moving-heavy-things duty. Which, if you wanted, you could go join her."

Violet shook her head hard enough that it shook her tails. "No, I'm fine." She clapped her cheeks as if to get herself to focus back in. "Lily trusted me with ensuring your safety. These are our enemies," she said to herself.

I did appreciate that Violet was not the same type of violent predator as Lily. Despite her extreme strength, she still cared for those she was far stronger than.

"Third floor," Violet told us as we reached an elevator, and hit the button hard enough that the panel deformed. She gave me a sheepish smile. "Guess I'm just a little eager to get out of here.”

Her tails flicked as she managed to partially undo the damage she'd created. It still looked like it had been hit by a hammer, but at least an attempt had been made to repair the damage.

Despite the impact, the elevator apparently still worked as the doors dinged open and we stepped inside.

Once we exited, the signs were easy to follow. We quickly made it to the central computing hub. Locks were completely useless in front of Violet, who simply wrenched most doors open, leaving behind a number of alarms crying out behind us.

"In you go," Violet said, and practically shoved Aikari into an open terminal.

The AI's hologram appeared beside me as she held her arms out wide and spun around. "Behold my newest evolution!" Various devices around the room began to spin and lift as if they were mechanical worshipers. "I am Aikari!" she shouted, holding her arms wide and continuing to spin lazily in the air, her nine tails whipping about as if they were each conducting an orchestra as lights flickered and screens shifted.

I clapped. “Seems it worked.”

“Of course it worked. I. Am. Aikari!!!” The lights turned off before they flashed back on every one pointing towards the AI who was quickly developing a complex. Only made apparent by the sudden luxury styled clothing she was wearing, complete with a useless fur article that draped around her neck and over her arms.

"Are you done?" I asked after a moment, unsure what exactly she was doing, and feeling a bit unsettled by the display.

"Nothing?" she asked, disappointed.

"I mean, it was interesting." I wasn't sure what she wanted me to say.

"Humpf. I am now in control of this entire station." Aikari lifted her chin.

"That was easier than expected," I said, somewhat surprised.

"Of course. You think I was the vaunted Akari's AI and I don't have a bunch of secret launch codes baked into me?" She huffed, her tails swishing irritably side to side.

"I mean, they didn't change the passwords after they killed Aikari?” I asked.

Aikari shrugged her shoulders. "It's less passwords and more hard-coded keys. I am the key to a number of systems that my previous master made and implemented. And you've given me full access. Most stations are old." The AI spun around.

"So I assume you can do everything we hoped," Violet deadpanned.

"Yes, and more." The AI slumped, her tails dragging against the ground as she landed and mopily walked back toward the terminal, glancing at us out of the corner of her eye, like she was hoping we would call her back.

"We will go and get the inventory, so we can make sure we've gotten everything we need. And then perhaps, when you're done with that, we can see if there's anything here that you might want to take back to the Griffin with you." There was no sense in not offering her at least some reward, especially if she was going to make this easier.

"Aye, Master!" She slapped a salute. "I knew you were worth serving, even though I was given to the mistress."

"Careful," I warned her. "Said mistress is listening."

"Of course." She slipped next to Violet, rubbing her hands together, the biggest smile on her face. "Though you understand, right? I am sort of stuck in his ship."

Violet crossed her arms. "All I see here is a traitor. I see how easily you settle in with a new master." Violet turned away from her, and the AI whined and pulled at her clothes, which were holographic anyway.

"Master, don't be like that. I'm doing this for both of us," the AI insisted. "And besides, you're sleeping with the boss. Those of us who can't do that have to do something to get ahead."

"I am not sleeping with the captain," Violet emphasized.

"Well, not yet." Aikari rolled her eyes. "But eventually you're going to, and we all know it."

I was pretending that I wasn’t here for this conversation and finding a terminal nearby very entertaining.

Violet coughed into her hands. "Discretion, please. Sometimes I can't believe you were my master's. You are so... silly," Violet offered after searching a moment for the right word.

Aikari stuck her tongue out. "Shopping list sent," she said. "And remember, if your favorite AI does good, you should give her rewards, like some spare processing drives that might be lingering over there." Every available electronic device in the room pivoted toward a server bank in the back.

"We will look at it when it's time to leave. You probably need that processing for now." I told her.

"Yep. I'll put it to good use and make sure I'm all up to date so I can use it in the future." The AI's hologram spun around, her nine bushy tails waving behind her in what I assumed was her trying to be enticing.

Unfortunately for her goals, the gesture fell a little flat for me given that I knew she was an AI and not exactly a physical being.

Violet, however, had a very different reaction. "Do not shake your tails at him." She ran her hand through the hologram, disrupting it briefly.

"I am sorry, Mistress, please forgive me. I'm only trying to improve both of our situations." The AI was now kneeling down on the ground with her hands held up in some sort of sitting posture that was very obviously meant to be a punishment.

"Get up. You're not even physical," Violet shook her head.

"Now, is there any movement on this station?" I asked, wanting to change topics.

"Yes, there's about five individuals who appear to have managed not to fall ill." Aikari held a digital simulation of the station in her hands as it floated and rotated, the station was sort of the shape of a floating dumbell, until there were five clearly marked dots all clustered together.

"How did they manage to avoid the illness?" I asked, curious. I hadn't expected so many to manage.

"From the logs," Aikari said, suddenly having glasses that she was pushing up further on the bridge of her nose causing them to sparkle, "it would appear that they realized something was going on early on, and then huddled into a room together with a number of purifiers, food, and medication. Though, honestly, they made a poor choice in the room." The AI shook her head. "They have access to many of the station's systems, but that terminal has no access to the outside. Best I can tell, they're low-level personnel who had a moderately bright idea, but not enough access to really do much about it." The AI went back to fluffing her tails and placing them in exacting positions while lines of code blurred around her.

Violet glanced at me, as if asking to leave them alone.

"We'll let Lily handle them," I said, and Violet's ears drooped. "Giving them mercy endangers ourselves, Violet." I patted the top of her head and noticed her tails half perk up before they seemed to forcibly droop back down. I grinned, but held back the smile, knowing she was having some inner turmoil.

"Of course. It's just a lot of senseless killing." She told me.

I stared at her, waiting for her to correct the statement but she stayed quiet. "It's not senseless if it serves our goal, and they are the enemy. Not to mention soldiers. They signed up knowing this potential outcome."

Violet still squirmed, and I gave her a long look before wrapping my arms around her. "I am truly sorry. I don't take any joy from your discomfort or what we must do."

"I know," she mumbled into my arms, rubbing her cheek against them before glancing up and meeting my eyes. "But maybe when this is done, we can do something with a little less killing?"

I held my hands up. "No promises. We're heading to Sage Shores after this with all due haste, and I don't know how they'll react if I bring a divine on board." She pouted, and for good measure I added, "But we'll see. We will dress very nicely and schmooze with a bunch of rich folks. It could go many ways."

"It is quite pretty. And it's time with you," she straightened herself up and stared back like she was ready to pick a fight over this one.

"It is. And if that's what's important, then so be it." I kissed the top of her head and squeezed her firmly.

"Awww." Aikari completely ruined the moment. She had turned into a cartoon form of herself, complete with 3D glasses and a bucket of popcorn. "Well, if you're done, I'm gonna send the messages to Lily and watch her clean house." Aikari turned like she was going to watch another movie.

The result made Violet scowl at the AI. "Don't enjoy death and destruction too much," Violet said sharply, and turned on her heels. "Come on, Captain. I'm sure Aikari can defend herself well enough."

"Hey, what?" the AI shouted behind us as Violet stepped out of the center.

A small Aikari suddenly appeared projected on my shoulder, complete with a golden halo. "You're still gonna get me the processing chips, right?" The little image of the AI batted her lashes.

"How about you find some materials we can feed Pip? After all, this is a station. It's probably got a neutron core or two running it." I told her.

Her eyes went wide. "Oh, yes, of course." She vanished from my shoulder, and I hoped that would keep the troublemaker busy for a while.