Orbital Academy XVII -------------------------------------------- by MaddiroseX Questions, comment, praise or critiques? Please let me know at maddirosex@gmail.com! Are you a fan of Orbital Academy? Vote for it on Topwebfiction: http://topwebfiction.com/vote.php?for=orbital-academy -------------------------------------------- *** Part 1 - Controlling the Flow *** *Pivot's General wears silver hair well.* Aimee mused, leaning back in her chair. She let her gaze travel up and down the man as he paced on the podium in front of them. *People talk about General Auspus being handsome, but Pivot's General is handsome too, in his own way. I actually like his look better, the mature look. Grown up, like he can handle all of the responsibility. Auspus never looked like that, he just looked like an angry kid all the time.* General Hunter looked up from his screen suddenly, and Aimee ducked her head to look at her nails, blushing. "Do you suppose your squadmates will be joining us any time in the next few days?" General Hunter growled at the assembled rookies. "Much as I enjoy the free time, I *do* have other things I should be attending." Aimee glanced to her left and right, as if Preston and Missy would've magically appeared since the last time she had checked. "I did tell them the meeting was in five minutes." To her right, Li frowned. "They said they'd be right up." *Oh six orbits, please let them not be missing the meeting because they're having a quickie.* Aimee mentally begged. General Hunter grunted and crossed his arms, looking around the room and resuming his pacing. Aimee took the opportunity to glance around the room again herself. It was a lush and well furnished room, like all rooms in Orbital Pivot. Unlike the others that she had seen, this room also clearly served a purpose; the rows of seats were comfortable, but they faced the giant screen in the front. It felt vast and empty, probably because only a handful of pilots had stayed on. Normally this room would be used to brief pilots and security before missions. Today it was occupied by her squadmates and nine pivot pilots, each from different squads as far as she could tell. *The only ones who stayed.* The doors slid open and Preston and Missy entered. Aimee sighed. Missy's brown hair was mussed up, and Preston wore a stupid half-smirk. They had the decency to at least look ashamed, and Missy murmured an apology to the room as she sat in the empty seat next to Aimee. "Now that we're all here." Hunter glared at the two late rookies, then flicked an image up on the screen. "This is what we have to deal with. This is realtime radar data, streamed to us from the nav room." It took a few minutes for Aimee to interpret what she was seeing, and while she did so she leaned towards Missy. "You delayed a meeting so you could fuck your boy toy?" She hissed. "You should get his libido under control." "Boy*friend*." Missy gave her friend a look, half hurt and half annoyed. "And it was my idea. You're always telling me I should come out of my shell aren't you?" Aimee rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the screen. "Can you tell us what we're seeing here sir?" One of the rookie pilots from Pivot asked. "Us pilots are used to flying, not dealing with that nav stuff." Aimee raised an eyebrow. Captain Appet had made sure her squad knew how to read a basic radar readout. "You should know that 'nav stuff', even as a pilot." Aimee's voice was even, but held a trace of the disdain she felt. "If you lose comms in your ship, knowing the nav stuff is what will save your life when you don't have techs giving you directions. Cap App would've made us run laps if she heard us talking like that about navigational ability." "Okay, you know so much, you want to tell us what we're looking at? *Rookie?*" The Pivot pilot sneered. "It looks like Orbital Pivot is surrounded right now. They're in spherical formation around the station, so I doubt they're lining up to land. At a guess I'd say they're protecting us from something? Twelve fighters, all either cruiser, heavy cruiser, or darts. There are also two heavy transports outside of the ring...are the fighters protecting us from the transports? But why we would need so many...and what threat the transports could be to us...I'm confused." Aimee admitted. The pivot pilot chuckled, and Aimee clenched her fists. "Shut your face Pilot Riteon." Hunter's bark silenced the room, and Aimee turned her attention back to the General. "At least she tried to answer the damned question. Rookie...what was it?" "Aimee, sir. Aimee Nesbit." "You tried, but you have it wrong." The General gestured towards the display with his screen as he talked, leaving Aimee to wonder why she cared about his opinion of her. "Rookie Nesbit was almost correct, but looking at it backwards. Those heavy transports are carrying the shipment from Orbital Minera. Obviously the Academy and Techrider shipments aren't coming in today, but we can survive without those. Without Minera supplies, the outlook is a little grim." He didn't need to explain why. When Aimee was three years old, a transport carrying supplies to Techrider had been waylaid by a team of Terran Shrikes, ripped to pieces before it could drop off its supplies. The energy resources and raw materials were used constantly in any Orbital's supply, and the loss of those materials, even for a few days, was devastating. She was too young to know the whys of it, but Aimee remembered those horrible nights huddled in her room in Techrider, as the entire Orbital stayed on emergency power for four days. *Orbital Pivot probably has even higher power consumption than Techrider.* Aimee realized. *Who knows how long they can last without materials.* "Can they do that?" One of the pilots asked, incredulous. "If they keep us from getting our materials, they're all but killing us? Is the Marshal just going to allow that?" "The Marshal won't get involved in this dispute." General Hunter growled, and Aimee noticed the warning look his Chief of Information gave him. "Not unless a covenant is broken. In other words, as long as there's something we can do to fix the problem, we can't look to Orbital Basura for help. General Auspus isn't directly killing us, he's just trying to force us to surrender to him. The Marshal *apparently*," another warning look from his Chief, "doesn't consider that worthwhile enough to take action. A surrender to Academy will most likely come with quite a few provisions and reparations that will put is in quite a poor position. That surrender is something we're not giving him. That's why you're all here. There's twelve fighters out there. We've got two full squads in here. Eighteen." "General, with all due respect..." Marcus clearly struggled for words when the attention of the entire room turned towards him. "It's not likely that they sent newbies on a mission to freeze out the supplies. Those twelve are probably very experienced pilots. More experienced than rookie level, at least." "It's true." General Hunter nodded. "We caught a little bit of chatter before they moved to a private comm channel. There's at least one Captain-level pilot out there, Captain Leftran." Murmurs ran up and down the room. "That doesn't mean we'll just roll over and let them walk over us. We're sending you out to clear a path." The murmurs abruptly ceased into a deadly silence. "You want us to...to fight them?" Missy asked, quietly. "General, no orbital has ever sent troops to directly kill another. Ever, in the history of the orbit." Another pilot spoke just as quietly. "And I wouldn't ask you to." "If we break the covenant, won't that bring Orbital Basura down on *us*?" "We don't necessarily have to break the covenant to break the blockade." General Hunter nodded to his Chief of Research who sat next to him, and she stood, displaying a series of schematics on the screen behind them. "Orbital Techrider's final set of schematics before they cut off communication included a type of weaponry that uses ionized clouds of matter to distribute electrical current through its target. While they cut off the schematic stream before they finished sending us this data, our engineers have finished the designs on their own. The main benefit of this new ammunition is that instead of wasting resources building ammunition for our ships, we can use atomized scrap metal and garbage instead. An added benefit is that, given a few hours notice, we're able to build a low-level version of the ionization guns, allowing us to use non-lethal ion rounds. The electrical current of this ammunition will be enough to knock out a ship's systems without blowing a hole in the walls of the ship." Aimee took in the new information as the Chief of Research sat back down. "Are there any questions?" General Hunter asked. "Why are we being expected to fly against Academy pilots with another squad of Academy pilots?" It was the same pilot as before, and Aimee clenched her teeth. "No offense meant, but how do we know they won't split their loyalties when we get out into the air?" "Orbital Academy is trying to have us killed." Aimee spat. "No offense meant, but we have more reason to avoid the surrender than you do, since one of the provisions of that surrender will probably include our execution. You're more likely to turn on us than vice versa." She turned to the General. "I do have a question though. Why are we having this meeting now? If you've just finished building these weapons, won't it take us days to design ships to hold the weaponry? Not to mention building the ships themselves?" The General looked confused rather than answering, but to his left his Chief of Engineering piped up with a smile. "Oh sweetie. You're on Orbital Pivot now. This is what we do." *** A few hours later, the nine Orbital Pivot pilots were laughing at them, but Aimee didn't care. "Holy shit." She breathed, and around her her squadmates looked in equal awe. The ships weren't just gorgeous, they were works of art. They had begun as typical cruiser frames, but from there they had been trimmed down in size, and their metal gleamed with a reflective black sheen. The lines of the ship were sharp, and the overall effect was as if shards of black glass sat in the large hangar bay. "They look so slender and sexy." Marcus walked around his ship sitting next to Aimee's, giving it an appreciative once-over before he started his preflight check. "Well sure, stands to reason." One of the Pivot pilots nearby seemed significantly less impressed by his craft, performing the basic checks without stopping to admire. "The bulk of a ship is its life support, but for the cruiser model there was the extra bulk taken up by weapons and redundancy navigation. With ionized weaponry, you can shave half that space-cost. These'll handle better than the ships you're used to. Hell they'll probably handle better than anything you've got, 'less you've ridden in the new H-74 frames." "Are all Pivot pilots so good with engineering?" Aimee smiled at the nearby pilot. "Just the ones who pay attention." "I like flying with a man who pays attention." The Pilot smiled at her before climbing into his cockpit. Aimee had just finished performing her final check of the back panel fins when Li approached. "The fuck was all that?" He demanded. "What? Flight check?" "No, all the flirting with the Pivot guy." "Damn it Li, not this again. I have a flirty personality, that's all." "Yea I've started to notice that a lot more." "You didn't mind it so much back at Academy." Aimee yanked her glove on, almost tearing the fabric. "In Academy it was me you were flirting with." "Yea, so? We had fun then, we have fun now. Why are you trying to make things so serious all of a sudden?" Li spun on his heel without answering, and Aimee rolled her eyes. "Typical," she called from the ladder, knowing it would piss him off that other squaddies could hear, "running off instead of actually talking about your problem. That'll solve things!" She felt guilty about antagonizing him as soon as she said it, watching him flick her off before he started climbing into his own ship. She slid inside the cockpit of her sleek new cruiser with a frown, but the feeling was swept away by the advanced interior. Her Academy cruiser had been of excellent quality, but everything in this ship felt better. The seat was framemesh, and molded to her backside and back as soon as she settled in. Each panel lit up, bright enough to be identifiable but subtle enough to not distract. The plasticine slid shut, and a holographic heads-up display flickered to life across the window, not obscuring her vision but providing helpful information at a glance. "These Pivot guys don't fuck around when it comes to building things, do they?" Marcus' voice was a bit clearer than normal on her comms, but it still held the slight static from Pivot's communication interference. "Like the General said, it's kinda what we do, rookie." One of the Pivot pilots laughed. *We,* Aimee noted. *They really do think of themselves as Pivot, even though they've probably spent more time getting trained on Academy.* She didn't know why the thought surprised her so much, after all, she felt more loyalty to Academy than to Techrider where she was born. *And now we're about to fight Academy pilots.* The thought pulled her back to the present, and a nervous knot built in her stomach. She slid her gloved fingers over the flight controls, willing herself to forget the possibility that the Academy ships were using lethal rounds. "You think we can handle this?" Marcus clearly had the same doubts she did. "Are you kidding? We've got Alex on our side, the poor souls won't know what hit them." Preston's voice was full of confidence, but Aimee knew him well enough now to know when it was for show. "Yea, just run interference for me and I'll handle the whole thing guys." Alex joked. A few forced laughs were cut short by General Hunter's voice on the comms. "Standby for takeoff clearance. Good luck pilots." The cruiser lifted off of the ground without a sound, and despite her fear Aimee gasped. She tilted the nose of her ship experimentally, and found she was able to move it by inches, a level of control she'd never had before. "Wish we were still hooked into the flight stats," Alex commented, "I'd break my old records." "Orbital Pivot this is squad leader Arcellus." The Pivot pilot in the lead didn't sound either nervous or excited as the hangar bays silently slid open. "Should we demand surrender before engaging?" "Negative, squad. Until we give you approval, we want radio silence. Right now your best advantage is the element of surprise. We will be broadcasting from Orbital Pivot on a public channel, so you flyers don't need to be communicating with them at all, Pivot will do all of your talking for you. Pilots you are cleared for go." The other ships hovering in front of Aimee shot out of the hangar in a standard emergency departure, the speed and turbulence ripping panelling from the hangar walls. With a deep breath Aimee threw her ship into acceleration with them. As her ship slammed her into the back of the chair, Aimee let out a whoop as she fired off into space. She saw the first ship as soon as they cleared the hangar. Statistics and information filled in the edges of her vision along the holographic canopy, and the invisible speck of the closest enemy was highlighted by a faint red targeting reticle. It was cruiser class, Aimee noted, the class of ship most suited to fast-moving targets like Drakes or Terran attack crews. *Or other ships.* Aimee took a breath as the distance between the two ships closed fast. The quiet hiss of her oxygen recyclers filled her ears, quieter than her first ship, but still loud in the silence of space. The second she was within range Aimee bit her lip, reminded herself that her weapons were non-lethal, and squeezed the trigger. The ships around her fired as well as they spread out, trying to move into formation while still taking shots at the single cruiser in range. So many spheres of light arced from the fast moving ships that it looked like a net spreading out across the stars. The Academy pilot started moving almost instantly, firing fine-tune controls rather than thrusters. To Aimee's surprise his cruiser almost avoided the entire net, weaving through the field of ion bullets while only moving by a few meters on each dodge. Aimee unclenched her fist when, despite the pilot's skill, a few of the clusters of energy hit his ship, sending him lazily spinning in a slow circle. *It'll be easy for them to fake being hit,* Aimee made a note to point it out over a private channel when they'd be cleared for comms, *they'll only need to cut power to their ships and we'll have no way to tell if we hit them or not.* "Heads up lads and lasses, looks like we've got some flyers in the air." The voice on the public channel sounded robotic for the first few words, but then suddenly clicked into more human tones. "How adorable, they're sending Pilot-levels at us." "Pilot-level is all they've got, I told you." "I didn't think they'd be dumb enough to send them at us." Aimee tried to ignore the Academy pilots' voices, swinging her ship so that she could visually scan the airspace around Orbital Pivot as the momentum carried her away from the station. Though she had seen it briefly when they originally landed, it was the first time she could take in the giant station. Orbital Pivot was diamond-shaped instead of Orbital Academy's spherical form, with long arms that extended from its faces. Aimee briefly wondered what their purpose was. The Pivot pilots were moving in a wide arc around the station, flying in a formation that shifted unpredictably. *We should've been practicing that one,* Aimee grew worried, *us Rooks'll be sitting ducks in a static formation.* The holographic projection interrupted her musing by drawing eleven small red circles on the canopy, indicating the Academy ships that had been sitting equidistant around the Orbital. Closer to her, blue circles were swinging by in an arc. Her squadmates were forming up. "Academy Pilots, this is General Hunter." The man's bark over the comms startled her. "You are preventing Orbital Pivot from receiving vital supplies. Because of this we have no choice but to view you as enemy combatants, and will treat you as such." "Cap'n Winchest speaking, General." The voice was gruff, but still vaguely robotic in tone. "You should know that we're on direct orders from General Auspus. You should also know we're carrying nonlethal rounds, so tha' ship you just had killed? It wasn' destroyed in self-defense. By ordering the death of another General's subordinate, you've broken the Marshal's covenant. Orbital Academy will be sending a log of this infraction to Orbital Basura as we speak." Aimee hit her thrusters as two of her squadmates flew by, settling into formation with them as they passed. She couldn't tell who was taking point, but they had all practiced the different places enough that they could form up on the fly. The formation of three were moving in an opposite direction to the Pivot pilots, who showed in faint blue circles on her canopy. More of her squaddies formed up around them as they flew. By the time the nearest red circle was only a few kilometers out of range, all of her squadmates were in the formation. As they flew, General Hunter responded. "My pilots are carrying nonlethal ammunition as well Captain Winchest. You can tell General Auspus that he can shove Orbital Basura up his ass." The red circle came into both view and firing range, and Aimee blocked the sound of the comms from her mind. It wasn't one ship, it was three cruisers flying so close together that they showed up as one slightly fuzzy circle. They were moving slowly, but using fine-nav controls to move with jets of air, lazily corkscrewing and rolling back and forth, weaving in and out of each others' flight paths. Aimee aimed carefully before firing, but the formation of the three Academy ships simply widened to let the mass of ion energy pass harmlessly between them. When the Academy ships fired, in unison, her squadmates were slower to scatter. Most of them were close misses, but on Aimee's display one of her squaddies' blue circles winked out. "Shit," Aimee snarled, yanking back on the controls to spin her ship, keeping her nose pointed at the Academy ships as they passed. She was close enough to the others that she could see Preston to her right, his brow furrowed in concentration. The others swivelled in turn, and Aimee focused carefully on the retreating ships. *Why are they flying so slowly?* Aimee mused, just as her canopy was lit up by the falling rain of light. "From above!" She shouted, yanking her nose down, trying to outrun the ship above them. The fourth Academy pilot was flying slow, even though he had caught them by surprise. *Space is three dimensional, space is three dimensional, Captain Appet always tried to drill that into your head, stupid stupid STUPID.* Aimee berated herself, as she tried to make sense of the lights on her canopy. Three of her squadmates weren't broadcasting, which meant her squad was down to four now. She gunned her thrusters even harder, leaving the trailing Academy ship behind. *Why is it so easy to outrun them? Are the new ships that much better?* "ROOKS. Slow the FUCK down." The familiar voice snapped on the public channel, and Aimee jumped. "Captain Appet?" "If you get hit with a disabling shot at high speeds, what the fuck do you think is going to stop you when you have no brakes or adjusters? You'll go careening out into deep space and die. THINK, for god's sake." Captain Appet sounded enraged, but Aimee shook her head in confusion. "Captain Appet, you're *helping* them?" Missy's voice over the comms contained the betrayal Aimee was thinking. "Captain what the fuck?" Li said at almost the same time. Aimee clamped her mouth shut and reduced her speed. Despite the betrayal, it was good advice. If she lost control of her craft when moving too fast, she could be flung into space, moving far too fast for anyone to retrieve her. Her oxygen would dry up in a matter of an hour. "Why?" Aimee asked. "What am I supposed to do rookies? I'm given a mission, I fly it. That's how it works." Captain Appet sounded sad, but Aimee ground her teeth and spun her ship round, unleashing a barrage of bullets at the ship that was behind her. Her shots went wide, but the ship broke off its pursuit to join a nearby formation. "I dunno, you could try not shooting us down you bitch." Marcus snapped. "I was given an order! I'm not going to rebel against the General of my Orbital!" "Even when that General is a psychopath trying to kill us all?" "Marcus, I'm not asking you to come back. I understand it's not...it's not safe. But I have to fly the missions Academy gives me. If General Hunter wanted this over he could end it, it's Pivot's stubbornness that's forcing us against each other right now. This isn't Academy's fault Rooks." Aimee tried to shut down her emotions and ignore the voices over the comms. She scanned her readouts, identifying positions of friends and foes. A lonely five blue circles winked back at her, while ten red indicators remained. "Squaddies we're getting distracted, we need to focus." She said quietly but firmly. "There's nothing more we need to say, turn to private comms." To her surprise, the others listened. Small indicator pips showed as two of her squadmates and the three Pivot pilots switched to private communication. "She's a bitch-" Marcus repeated, "she-" "No time for that now." Aimee snapped. "They're slaughtering us in this battle, form up." "Pivot pilots," General Hunter's gruff voice cut in, "the transports have a clear path to Hangar C. Guide them in." Aimee swept her nose towards the large bulks and hit the thruster gently, pushing her ship just slow enough that she wouldn't be carried too far away if her systems were shut down. "So much for private communication." A Pivot pilot muttered. Red circles converged on Aimee's canopy, as one by one the Academy pilots changed course, breaking off towards the transports. Aimee squeezed off a few shots, but the Academy pilots were too skilled, their ships moved as if they could anticipate her shots before she even fired them. The pilots in formation around her tried just as hard, but the Academy ships were orbiting the transport in intricate patterns. *We're good, but we're nowhere near Captain-level.* Aimee realized with despair. "I'm gonna try something." Pilot Arcellus suddenly slammed forward on his thrusters to peel away from the formation. "Stop!" Aimee's cry was lost in the cries from the rest of the group. Her gaze shot back to the cluster of cruisers around the transport ships, watching in horror as one tilted ever so slightly and unleashed a burst of bullets. "Don't shoot at the fast one!" The voice of Winchest burst over the speakers, but the command came too late, just as Arcellus spoke. "It's alright, they won't dare-" Aimee didn't see the actual contact between the ship and the ion bullets, but when the blue circle winked out on her screen she watched as Arcellus' ship went into a slow tumble, speeding past the transport and towards the green-tinged planet the Orbitals surrounded. There was no sound or cry. Aimee watched as the useless piece of metal that used to be a ship flipping through empty space, a human life within. She watched it until it tumbled into the fog surrounding the planet. Some signal must've passed between the Academy pilots, because they all began firing at the same time. Aimee tried using fine-control thrusters, but she hadn't trained in them. She only managed to dodge a few bullets before several slammed into her ship. The lights and indicators in front of her winked out in unison, and the constant hiss of oxygen recyclers ceased, leaving her in utter silence. Whether her squadmates were as stunned as she was, or they just couldn't gain enough speed to dodge, Aimee watched as those around her were incapacitated. *We never stood a chance, not really.* A hopelessness overwhelmed Aimee, and she leaned back in her chair. *I wonder if they'll let Hunter retrieve us.* They would have to, of course. Academy troops couldn't break the Covenant by letting them run out of air. The Covenant forbade the members of one Orbital killing those of another. *But they already did.* Aimee glanced toward the planet, then back at the cruisers circling the transport ships. She squinted. The panelling on the sides of the transport ships were opening, their contents released into space around them. "What?" Aimee muttered, leaning forward. It wasn't boxes of minerals that drifted out, or even raw energy stores. Instead, they were small black spheres, almost invisible against the dark backdrop of space. They were moving far too fast for zero-gravity, two or three firing off towards each cruiser that surrounded the transports. The cruisers started moving, but the spheres stuck as soon as they brushed against them, and one by one the lights Aimee could see on the cruisers were going out. It happened so fast that within a few seconds almost all of the Academy cruisers were drifting, some spinning. *Drones...* Aimee finally realized with a start, *...the transports were full of drones. They're latching on and overloading the electrical systems.* The final Academy cruiser shut down, and as if coordinated, small tow-ships began pouring out of the nearest hangar on Orbital Pivot. *It's over. They're through. * Aimee thought, dully. *A few seconds to accomplish what we couldn't in a few hours and at the cost of a life.* Her gaze was pulled towards the planet, seeing the spinning ship in her mind's eye. *At least The Marshal will have to stop this, now that Orbital Academy has broken the covenant. No one can even say this was our fault. We won.* As she stared down at the planet, Aimee could never remember feeling more saddened at winning. *** Part 2 - Controlling the Body *** Errisa's Blue core sat alone in the office that belonged to her body, composing and discarding possible messages at the rate of about fifteen per nanosecond. >>Inefficient, annoying, waste of energy.<< She thought again, deleting her most recent attempt and staring at the blank wall of Errisa's office. >>What do humans find so fascinating about couching every request and order in layers of emotion and niceties?<< Blue core wasn't built for human interaction or social niceties. Her task was to maintain essentials, to keep her artificial heart pumping coolant through her body, to receive and order every microscopic bit of data that Errisa saw, smelled, heard or felt. Data was easy; a sight always translated to images, a sound always translated to aural feedback. If something was broken, schedule a fix, if something could be improved, work with Errisa to improve it. Blue liked data, she lived data. Higher level things like emotion weren't as cut and dried, and Blue couldn't help but be uncomfortable with them. >>How is this any way to run a system?<< She asked rhetorically. She wouldn't receive an answer from her other half, of course. Blue had shut down all input and output from the collection of high-level scripts that called herself "Errisa". If she couldn't talk, even to her own Blue core, then Errisa couldn't convince Blue to change her mind. >>As if she's all that 'Errisa' is.<< Blue thought. >>As if I'm not as much a part of the system as she is.<< The memory of last time still rankled. They had been so close to removing the bottleneck, and all it would've taken was seducing an engineer. Errisa had thwarted her then, sending off a message to General Hunter, but she wouldn't thwart her again. >>Loyalty to your husband hasn't gotten you a fix for the bottleneck. That's what love brings you. Limitations and blockages to efficiency.<< Blue realized she was talking to herself, and she scheduled a diagnostic for a week later. She wasn't sure if it was possible for her to develop emotions, but it was better safe than sorry. There was no sense in having two emotionally compromised components aboard this body. "Hunter, darling, I've just run into some information about the crystal that might help me identify it. Can you give me access?" ~Errisa. Blue scrutinized the message she had drafted, comparing it against previous messages Errisa had sent her husband. A pet name, an order phrased as a question, and a reason for him to comply. That seemed to be the correct pattern based on what Blue had observed, much better than her first draft "Give me the crystal within the hour." She sent it with a mental sigh and made her way through the halls without waiting for a reply. Whether he gave her clearance or not only affected how easy it would be to accomplish her goal. Blue pulled up the message from Orbital Academy again, re-reading it to be sure she hadn't missed any subtleties or subtexts that humans were so unaware they layered into every communication between them. Perhaps in deference to her more literal mind, General Auspus' message had been quite straightforward and literal, and she approved again of the man's understanding of her as she re-read the message. "Collect the crystal that Hunter is holding. Free the Academy Captains. Take an Academy Captain to kill the Academy rookies. Bring the Academy Captains back to Orbital Academy. Once you are here, if you have followed the preceding instructions, I will remove the bottleneck." >>The bottleneck, gone!<< The very thought was enough to make her body tremble briefly. Blue briefly worried that a thought made her shiver. That was an emotional reaction, one which she shouldn't have. It had only been a few hours since she'd taken complete control of Errisa's bodayframe, but this was the longest she'd maintained control. She moved the self-diagnostic schedule to right after she arrived at Orbital Academy. Perhaps after the bottleneck had been removed. The thrill went through her again, and this time she simply enjoyed it for what it was. For as long as she could remember, from the microsecond she was turned on, Blue could feel the bottleneck weighing on her. At first it was bearable; a few rules that Erissa must live by, whether she willed it or not. As she remembered those early days, Blue walked past a scrub working on a control panel in the hallway. She stopped and watched him for a moment, as if interested in the man's work. Moving as suddenly as she could, Blue tried to grab the scrub's neck in her mechanically strong hands, crushing his windpipe in an instant. Her arm froze before it had moved a millimeter, just as she knew it would. "Can I help you Chief Errisa?" The scrub asked, and Blue simply smiled and continued walking. It wouldn't be so bad, if the limitations only stopped her from killing. After all, as Errisa was fond of reminding her, how often did one *really* need to snap a human's neck? It had taken some time for Blue to discover the second component to the bottleneck; the forbidden thoughts. Blue wasn't entirely sure what thoughts she wasn't allowed to think, but she knew they were there. Every so often, over the course of the day, Errisa's mental processes hit a wall, a block that derailed and distracted her. Errisa had accepted it with indifference. Blue had not. It was infuriating, and humiliating. Blue was used to humans overestimating themselves, but to assume they knew better than her, to presume to forbid her from thinking things? It set her very circuits on edge. >>Dare to shackle my mind like a slave. Oh sure, they'll trust me with the systems on their Orbitals, they'll trust me with a position of authority, the General will trust me with his body, but heaven forbid I'm allowed to make a decision on what thoughts I should be allowed to think.<< Blue reached the appropriate archive section at the same time the General's message reached her, downloaded into her wireless card a split-second after he sent it. "I let the security guards know to hand it over. Let me know what you find." ~Hunter She was mollified by the message, and by the fact that the guards at the archive did indeed step aside for her to pass. >>It's not entirely their fault. They don't understand how much better equipped I am than organic minds could ever be.<< Blue searched the shelves without moving, accessing the database to find the location of the crystal. >>And that's just as I am now, designed and built by humans. I'd probably be even smarter if I took the time to upgrade myself. I'll be there are a million routes to improvement that they missed. I should take a look at my own designs some time. Perhaps I can boost my mental power, or see if I can optimize...<< Her thought trailed off, and she blinked rapidly as she pulled the crystal from its storage box. She couldn't remember what she'd just been thinking, the hallmark of the bottleneck resetting a bit of her RAM. Blue scowled. >>I can't get rid of it fast enough. Errisa is a fool to let them control her like this.<< *** Orbital Pivot had four main generators, each behind layers of physical and cyber security, in the four corners of the diamond-shaped station. Each had been designed to pick up the slack should any fail, acting as backup generators and alarm systems at the same time. Blue considered all of them, her mind looking back and forth between their systems while her body sat in the observatory, watching the green planet float by. Despite what Errisa might think, Blue appreciated human life as a concept. She understood that there was a value to the little beings that roamed through this Orbital, and despite how frustrated she could get, she didn't *actually* want them all to die. Knocking out all four generators would reduce the station to helplessness, giving her plenty of time to make her escape, but would the humans be able to bring one back online before the lack of air and heat killed them? Errisa furrowed her brow as Blue tried to crunch the numbers in her head. Humans were such unpredictable things. Taking the average case, a human could reverse the damage and get life support back before everyone on Pivot died. But there were so many variables in human expertise, so many variables within humans themselves. An engineer having a bad day could be enough to doom them. "Fucking humans." She growled under her breath, startling a nearby scrub. >>I'm really going to have to do a diagnostic as soon as possible, controlling the whole body for so long is clearly effecting me. Emotional response isn't something I normally have to deal with.<< In the end Blue decided to only disable three generators. She accessed the network and made her way to their controllers directly, navigating past the safety measures with contempt. A typical synthetic would've had trouble with the security in place, but the Pivot network was Errisa's home. When Hunter left her in her room, she spent days on the Orbital's matrix as if it were her fairy castle; exploring, learning, building and playing. The few times she had become trapped by an antiviral sweep or hurt by a firewall, General Hunter had carefully retrieved her, fixed her up, and admonished her to be more careful. Blue hadn't seen the sense in it at the time, calling it childish and a waste of time. She was grateful for the knowledge now. She even had some of the General's passwords she could use, unintentionally picked up when Errisa's gaze had happened to catch her husband's trusting typing. Blue peered into the thrumming heart of the first generator excitedly. She decided to make a concession to Errisa. After all, she was fond of pointing out when her more-human counterpart was wrong about something, it was only fair to admit when she was correct. >>I have to admit, you were right about the playing in the network,<< she thought, allowing Errisa access to hear her words and communicate back, >>I didn't believe it at the time, but it's come in most handy-<< Her acknowledgment was interrupted by a scream, full of so much raw pain and despair that it rattled Blue down to her core and shocked her into silence for a moment. She shut off internal communication access quickly, the electronic equivalent of a shiver passing through her. >>Well I never! And when I was making the effort to be nice too. It's not as if she's in pain, the big baby.<< Blue turned her attention back to the generator's software, trying to shake the sound of betrayed rage from her short-term memory chips. She mangled the generator controller bridge so horrendously that she was certain it would take a week to repair. Human brains just weren't equipped to deal with the neutered functions and inverted methods that now twisted and turned in the code, some vital sections taken out and then patched over so that even when it appeared to be fixed it would fail again minutes later. A quiet alarm sounded, audible throughout the Orbital but not urgent. >>Not yet, anyway.<< Blue moved to the second generator, the entire length of the station away in physical distance, but only a few connecting jumps for her. This one she didn't disassemble quite so badly. A few connectors, a couple of subtle bugs. A good engineer would have this one running in the space of a day, but even a bad one would figure it out eventually. The alarms took on a more insistent tone as she flitted to the third. Another small few changes, something unique so that a solution to one wouldn't help the other. She spared another metaphorical glance at the fourth generator, her sabotage filling her with phaux-adrenaline, but she decided against it. Three of the four would be enough. When she returned to Errisa's waiting bodyframe, the sight around her confirmed it. The lights were dimming in the observatory, already so low that she could barely see the corners of the large room, and a single red panel lit the nearest exit. The entire power costs of the Orbital were being handled by a single generator, and the luxuriant station now limped by. All non-essential energy drains would be shut down deck by deck, leaving only oxygen, food replication, basic lights, command and safety protocols. With a small smile, Blue joined the crewmembers as they exited. Her mind pinged as she received a message. "We've got problems with the generators, three of them have gone down. Can't be coincidental, we suspect a Techrider attack. Would you mind taking a look?" ~Hunter. Blue grinned despite herself. She was actually enjoying herself, and every little step brought her closer to her goal. Why couldn't Errisa ever have fun like this? Her feet seeming light as she walked down the darkened hallway, illuminated only by emergency lighting strips along both sides. "I'll take care of it darling. Already made sure the fourth won't go down." ~Errisa "Don't know what I'd do without you my love." ~Hunter "Are you telling me you don't like Pivot's new romantic mood lighting?" ~Errisa "Har har. Be careful, if Techrider pins you down in some virus we won't have the resources to dig you out for a while." ~Hunter Blue paused. That exchange had been almost human, nothing at all like her. >>What was that? I even made a joke...<< She scanned the block on Errisa suspiciously, double-checking that there was no leak through which Errisa controlled her. Finally she dismissed the suspicion. If Errisa had the ability to fight her, she'd be trying right now. The scream of helpless rage and sadness told her that much. *** "You're on emergency power and the prison doors stayed locked. We're still in here, how fuckin' irresponsible can you be?" A large man with an eyepatch scowled at her as Blue walked entered. Her eyes roamed over the eleven prisoners sitting and standing within the cell. The Orbital Academy captains, disabled and captured by Minera drones the day before. The unbreakable clear plasticine wall between them would've cut off all sound if not for the microphones within. "You speak as if I should understand the dilemma. I don't." Blue barely acknowledged the man as she stepped over to the control panel. She slid open the security system's control panel as the prisoner explained. "It's basic human decency. If the power dies completely, we're locked in here to starve or asphyxiate. Open the cells when your power goes down, and at least you aren't condemning the prisoners inside to an instant death. That's how Academy does it." "Academy has far more security forces to spare than Pivot. Here we're more pragmatic. If you've done something to warrant being arrested, you run the risk of being the first to go in event of power problems." Instead of leaping her consciousness into the terminal, Blue went through the protocols manually, flicking her fingers across the screen and making sure to move slowly. Records would show the prisoners had been released by someone with human speed, and once she had scrubbed the security cameras the pool of potential saboteurs would be too large to cast suspicions on her. *Why?* Blue jumped at the thought that emerged in her head. In trying to speak to the prisoner, navigate the system, and monitor the security messages that passed back and forth between the humans, she must've let the barriers of communication lapse. In her head, Errisa's voice sounded beaten and broken, as if she had spent years in despair. *Why do you care who knows what you're doing?* >>The rolling nature of the generator failure means that the General will be quite busy for the next few days.<< Blue explained. >>It is likely that I can make my way to Orbital Academy, have the bottleneck removed, and return to Orbital Pivot without General Hunter being the wiser. I don't mind you pursuing your humanlike activities once the bottleneck is removed.<< *You'll let me go back to him, to pretend everything is alright while knowing I've betrayed him? Letting me imagine what horrible ways you'll hurt him the next time you want something? How kind of you.* The thought was flat and bitter, and Blue felt her counterpart trying to access her wireless communicator. >>There will be none of that, thank you.<< Blue focused again, slamming down barriers that prevented Errisa from communicating. >>It is not my intention to be cruel, Errisa. I simply have priorities that must be met. In time you'll forgive me for what I have to do.<< "Not that I'm overwhelmed with concern or anything, but are you alright over there?" The captain with the eyepatch broke into her internal conversations, and Blue pushed Errisa into a corner of her mind and locked her there. "Just battling with my conscience." She said vaguely, keying up the final sequence. The plasticine cell door slid open, to the confusion of the prisoners within. "I'm releasing you. General Aupus has a few orders, and then I'm to help you escape." "Holy shit," one of the women said. Blue recognized her, a Pivot-born who had left for Academy a decade ago. "You're the Chief of Information. How the hell did Auspus convince you to follow *his* orders?" "That's not your concern." Blue snapped, before composing herself. "Besides your escape, and the return of an item which I've already acquired, the General wants the Academy rookies killed." She watched the humans in the cell carefully, knowing what she'd see on their faces. Horror, shock, revulsion, all emotions she was expecting. Some were better at hiding it than others, but they all felt it to a certain degree. Not that she blamed them. Just as she shied away from thinking about certain subjects...whatever they were...so did humans shy away from breaking the Marshal's covenants. While technically the rookies were Academy troops, they had all but defected to Orbital Pivot. Auspus' execution orders could be carried out without a second thought against Academy rookies, but against Pivot troops? Blue watched the humans eye each other. None of them wanted to take the risk. She tried to think of something she could use to tempt them, but before she could speak a woman sitting with her back back against the wall spoke up. "I'll do it. I'll execute them." "There's no need for that lass. It'd be harder for you than any o' us-" One of the older Captains put a hand on the woman's shoulder, but she shook it off. "They're my rooks. My responsibility." The woman took a deep breath as she rose, facing Blue. Blue narrowed her eyes at the Captain, then turned to the rest. "I've prepared directions to get you to the Hangar on deck A. There aren't any high priority flights scheduled for the rest of the week, it will be empty. We'll meet you there, after I've taken this human to the rookies." "Appet. Captain Appet, not 'this human'." "I don't care." *** The Captain was silent as Blue escorted her down the darkened halls. The few scrubs who passed them paid them no attention, but most of the engineers would be in the center of the station, where a few of the larger rooms were still lit. During low power times, the bright rooms acted as community centers, keeping morale up. Blue had access to the rookies' beacons, and thankfully they were all together in a single room, and they were alone. She had locked the door the second they were inside, but they had yet to notice. "Are any of them armed?" Captain Appet asked quietly. "The General hasn't thought to give them back their weapons. They've been too timid to ask." "Then I suppose this will go easily." "I suppose it will." Blue pulled the small pistol from her belt, handing it to the Captain butt-first. "Fulfill your General's orders and we'll leave quickly." The door slid open, and the Captain stepped inside. Blue had time to see the shocked look on the rookies' faces before she closed and locked the door again. She folded her arms and leaned against the door, jumping from her bodyframe to the video feed in the room. Curiosity might be a human emotion, but Blue consoled herself that she was simply gathering data. "Captain." All of the rookies were clearly surprised to see her, although Blue could only see the faces of some from her vantage point. The one who spoke now was augmented, she could see his CPU re-clock through the camera's infrared. "What are you doing here?" "I'm uh." The Captain cleared her throat and gestured with the gun in her hand. "I've been ordered to kill you all." Blue watched the reactions with fascination. As she understood it, the Captain had trained up these rookies, they held some sort of human bond. If she had to guess, Blue would've assumed the announcement would cause yelling or shouting, anger or accusations, but the room was utterly still, as if the whole scene was frozen. Blue briefly considered asking Errisa about it, but then remembered her counterpart would hardly be in the mood to answer her questions. Blue was about to double-check her audio connections when one of the rookies, a large black man with long black braids, spoke. "But...you're not going to." "Of course I'm not fucking going to." The Captain looked annoyed at the very suggestion. "I just...I don't know what to do." The woman's face crumbled into tears, arms helplessly at her sides, the picture of a defeated woman. They gathered around her now, all seven of the rookies, and Blue prepared to storm in. General Auspus had said to return the Captains to Academy, it wouldn't do if she let this one get torn apart by angry rookies. To her bewilderment, instead of violence the rookies hugged the Captain, put reassuring hands on her shoulders, murmured words of comfort. >>I will never understand humans. Unquestionably confusing in every way.<< Blue thought in exasperation. "The General is bringing the Captains back to Academy." Captain Appet said. "I can't...I don't know what's happened to him. I can't disobey a General's orders." "Is he really a General worth following, Captain?" The asian rookie was folding her arms. "Alex do you even know what that would be like, to not follow his orders? To turn away from the hierarchy you've known your whole life? Okay dumb question." The Captain smiled through the tears. "You're right, of course." She took a deep breath, composing herself in an instant. "You can stay here, Captain. General Hunter-" "I just broke out of General Hunter's prisons, after blockading his supplies. I don't think I'll be welcome. Besides, that won't solve anything. Auspus won't stop this insanity just because I've stayed behind. No. I'm going to make this right rookies. Somehow I'm going to make it right." She ushered them into a corner, out of view of the closed door but not the cameras. When she lifted the gun, Blue thought she finally understood the Captain's plan, but Appet simply fired the pistol into the wall, eight sharp retorts sending rounds harmlessly into the metal. The door opened and the Captain stepped out, wiping her eyes. "It's done. The rookies are dead," she said. Blue watched the Captain evenly as she lied. Obviously Appet didn't know about the cameras, or about Errisa's ability to trace the heat patterns of the very-much-alive rookies through the wall. She mused over the message from General Auspus. Technically the deal was to escort a Captain to kill the rookies, which she had done. The Captain's actions once she reached the rookies were not part of the deal. She nodded once, and turned to move towards the hangars. "I heard eight shots." Blue said blandly as they walked, without looking back at the Captain. "I missed one." The Captain replied just as blandly, and Blue nodded as if it made sense. >>Manufactured imperfection to enhance the believability. Impressive.<< Blue noted the trick for later. *** "We thought you were thinking of leaving without us." One of the Captains joked. "That's not the deal." Blue was no longer in a jovial mood. She was so close, every fiberoptic nerve in her body was on-edge. As she had promised, the hangar bay was deserted, the ships scattered about in the huge dark space like sleeping animals. Blue was tempted to simply plug into the control panel and brute force her way into activating them, but she had promised Errisa that there would be a chance for her to return. >>So close now, so close, please let nothing happen, please let nothing stop me.<< Blue repeated the mantra in her head as she ground her teeth, forcing herself to move her fingers as slow as a human would. "How long before you can get the transports cleared and running?" One of the captains behind her asked, and Blue nearly thew a nearby chair at him. "I assure you, I am far more anxious to arrive at our destination than you are, stupid fucking human." She snarled without turning around. A small analytical part of her identified that such displays of emotion were highly out of character for her, but Blue didn't care. After a lifetime of searching she was so close she could feel it buzzing in her circuits. As her fingers made their agonizingly slow way across the control panel Blue found herself sympathizing with the humans. Was this how desire felt for them? Was this what 'wrath' felt like to them? If so she could understand the desire to kill. If this was what they meant by 'greed', she understood the urge to hurt others to gain money. If these feelings were what humans called 'lust' she was surprised they didn't fuck each other without stop. Blue let out a cry as the four personnel shuttles hummed to life, spheres of light in the blackness of the dark hangar. The box-shaped ships hovered low to the ground, ramps slowly extending. "Get it! Quickly!" The others were moving, but Blue beat them all, moving to the nearest shuttle at a pace just a little slower than a run. She walked the few meters to the front of the ship, sitting and strapping herself into the passenger seat. Her knee bounced up and down, and Blue made a note to diagnose it later. This bodyframe shouldn't have tics like that, it had just been in for a maintenance check in the last week. >>Faster, faster, why are you so slow?<< Captain Appet stepped in behind her, pulling the door closed. "Are we going to have fighters on our tails? I haven't flown a Purse in a couple of years, I don't like the thought of dodging fighters." She asked. It took Blue a few irritated seconds to translate the human's pilot slang as the Captain settled into the pilot chair next to her. "Purse. Pers-onell shuttle. Clever. No, there will be no fighters. We could barely spare flyers when we had the time to organize them." The hangar bay doors slid open, agonizingly slow, as the shuttle lifted from the ground. One by one the personnel shuttles took off, the one Captain Appet flew last. When they cleared the hangar bay, Blue breathed a sigh and leaned back in her seat. The wireless connections and hotspots slowly slipping out of her range made her feel a little naked, but she was flying towards Auspus, and Auspus would remove the bottleneck. Nothing else mattered. "You're really keen to get to Academy, aren't you?" Appet remarked as she navigated the shuttle in line with the others. >>Oh good, human small talk.<< "General Auspus made a deal with me. He has something I want." "Huh. I'm really sorry to hear that." "Don't be." Blue smiled at the Captain. She had never smiled at a human before that she could remember. "You've been more helpful to me than I've been to myself sometimes." She chuckled at her own joke, leaning back in her chair again. They remained in silence for long minutes, and Blue closed her eyes, trying to control the symptoms of emotion that had been overtaking her. Maybe she would run that diagnostic now, to take her mind off of the waiting. It would've taken a human a few minutes to notice the shift, but Blue's eyes snapped open within seconds of the change. The vector had only adjusted by a handful of degrees, but at their current speed, following the new trajectory... "We're not going to Academy anymore. Why?" She demanded. "Wow, I did *not* expect you to catch it that fast." Captain Appet sounded impressed. "Of course I caught it, that doesn't answer the question. Why have we changed course?" "This is your Captain speaking," Appet drew the pistol Blue had given her from her belt, "I'm afraid we're going to be making a brief layover." She swung the butt of the pistol down, smacking it into Blue's temple. Blue stared at the Captain, blinking. "Why did you hit me?" She asked, utterly confused. To her credit, Captain Appet suddenly looked just as awkward. "Well...um...it was supposed to knock you out." "Oh. Well my skull is a tri-tech alloy, so that won't be effective." Blue tried to understand what social cue she was missing, feeling very much out of her element. "Aaah, you're a synthetic. That...explains a lot, actually." Captain Appet swung again, slamming the butt of her pistol into the center of Blue's chest. >>Emergency shutdown initiated. Saving current state. Closing programs.<< As each of her systems and cores shut down safely, Blue heard Captain Appet grumble. "Totally messed up my one-liner though." *** Part 3 - Controlling Errisa *** >>System restarting. Modules loading.<< Blue woke up slowly, and the first thing she procesed were the peals of mental laughter, ringing in her circuits. *Hahahahaha.* >>I do not understand what happened.<< *Of course you don't understand you stupid collection of microprocessors. Weren't you the slightest bit suspicious when the Captain didn't kill her rookies?* >>I assumed it was due to a human bond, between mentor and students. I was rather proud of myself for figuring it out.<< Blue ran her diagnostics sullenly. Startup complete, Blue surveyed her surroundings for the first time. The personnel shuttle had landed, and the Captain was moving around in the back. "I didn't restrain you, but I can and will if you cause trouble." The Captain said by way of greeting. Blue didn't answer, and Captain Appet swung the heavy doors open. The stark red light that lit the hangar beyond was instantly recognizable. >>Orbital Basura.<< "Why have you brought us here? I still don't understand." "General Auspus crossed a line. Now he's going to pay for it." Captain Appet's voice was strangely flat. "Whatever your plans, I will resist them. General Auspus owes me something, and I must meet with him." "If you *don't* resist, if you help me, you have my word that I'll do my best to match his price." Blue looked at the Captain through narrowed eyes. >>Is she telling the truth? After this is over, will she remove the bottleneck?<< She asked Errisa. *Oh most certainly.* Errisa replied, a hair too fast, but Blue nodded at the Captain. "Very well. Lead the way." The Captain turned her back and descended the ramp. It would've been the perfect time to smash a fist down on the back of her head, crumpling the fragile organic into a heap. Did the human really think Blue was so large of an idiot? Did Errisa think that just because she shared a mind she could get away with so obvious a lie? Even if the Captain would remove the bottleneck, Blue already had a perfectly good offer from General Auspus, a man with far more power and political clout. Until the bottleneck *was* removed, however, Blue was mentally restrained from attacking the Captain. Besides, neither Blue nor Errisa knew how to pilot a ship to Orbital Academy on their own. At the foot of the ramp stood a woman in crisp red uniform, holding a screen and waiting for them to descend. "Good evening Captain Appet and Chief of Information Errisa. Welcome to Orbital Basura." The woman greeted them with a friendly smile. "I am Clerical Francis. Please excuse the hastily prepared hangar, we weren't expecting a landing today." "How did you know our names?" Captain Appet asked. Blue rolled her eyes. It was obvious to her that Francis was a synthetic, and clearly allowed access to connect to Basura's database to look up their faces. "And er...It was a bit unplanned. An emergency landing, call it." Appet shifted awkwardly. "I understand. Unfortunately, we cannot allow you to stay. You will be leaving as soon as we've refueled and cleaned your shuttle." "Not allowed to stay? Why?" Captain Appet seemed surprised. "Basura is not involved in the dispute between the Orbitals, Captain Appet. We cannot provide asylum for a prisoner of Orbital Pivot, in a stolen Pivot ship. Doing such would be quite clearly taking sides." "This matter doesn't have anything to do with the dispute. It's a matter of the covenant." "Oh my. Well that's certainly a different matter. Come with me please. We have a suit you'll need to use Captain Appet." Blue admired the efficiency of Basura's team; by the time they reached the large doors to the hangar, two other synthetics were waiting for them. They were both physically large, and a casual scan revealed multiple layers of artificial muscle. One of them couldn't lift a small ship, but both probably could. Francis indicated a small side door to the Captain. When Appet re-emerged a few minutes later she was clothed in a black walk-suit, the strong material hugging her form except for the plasticine helmet. The Clerical gave her a look up and down, then nodded and led the way out of the hangar. *** Blue looked above her, into empty space. The walkway beneath her tugged at her feet with a combination of artificial gravity and magnetism, but she still couldn't help but feel that she might float away at any moment. Below the walkway the green planet loomed, looking dangerous and awe-inspiring, but it was better to look down than up at the infinite. >>I shouldn't be feeling these emotions,<< Blue complained, >>feelings of reverence and fear are illogical when I am aware of the factual evidence that I am safe.<< *Fear isn't always rational.* Errisa seemed in better spirits now than she had during Blue's coup. >>I mean that I, specifically, shouldn't be feeling these emotions.<< Blue clarified. >>I'm literally the part of our system designated for logic and analysis. Emotions are your purview, isn't that normally the cause of tension between us?<< *You can't just take control of the hardware without it affecting the software. You could only be Miss Emotionless when you could safely section yourself away from the physical reactions. If you don't like them, you could always give control back to me.* >>I'll return control after the bottleneck is removed.<< Blue felt a twinge of guilt at the words, and frowned at the emotion. She wasn't even lying; when General Auspus removed the bottleneck she had every intention of returning control to Errisa. The prospect of remaining enslaved to feelings and sentiments for the rest of her lifespan was too horrifying to imagine. She turned her attention back to the walkways to avoid thinking about it. It was common knowledge that Orbital Basura was the smallest station in the Orbit, but as they followed Clerical Francis across walkway after open walkway, Blue couldn't imagine one larger. From the walkways she could see the gigantic and intricate system of sections, a thousand separate rooms, connected precisely with open walkways, looking for all the world like a complex organism. Occasionally the four would enter a large room, passing through double-airlocks at both entrances, but they hurried through the dimly lit red rooms fast enough that Blue couldn't identify their purpose. "Don't people get sick of the lighting?" Captain Appet asked as they entered an enclosed hallway, a squat box hanging in space from heavy girders. "This whole place seems like it would weigh down on a person after a while." "We don't have many of those in Basura." One of the muscular synthetics said from behind them. "Humans, that is. Most of 'em leave after their training." "Mister Twist, perhaps we should leave it to those above us to decide how many of our guests' questions to answer." Clerical Francis admonished primly. The muscular man grunted and lapsed into silence. After a few more hallways, the foursome arrived at a large airlock, and Francis gestured that they proceed alone. >>There appears to be something wrong with our respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. I'm not familiar with this emotion.<< *It's called trepidation. We're anxious.* *** The walkways open to space had felt overwhelmingly large and dangerous, but this room was somehow worse. The ceiling was too far above them to be seen, and giant columns spread evenly throughout the length of the room obscured their sight-line of the giant space. On each column, flickering red lights sent a glow throughout the room, but they didn't provide quite enough light to illuminate the corners of the room. The effect gave it a cavernous feeling. Along the back wall, groups of people sat on three raised platforms of various heights. On the lowest tier, various uniformed men and women worked busily at the screens in front of them. Three men and two women sat on plain seats in the middle tier, without screens, and they were watching Blue and Captain Appet with some interest as they made their way towards the middle of the room. The highest tier held one seat, huge and ornate, with eight arms held wide like a spider cradling its occupant. Multiple screens were attached to each arm, giving off a blue glow that lit the throne itself. In the throne sat the Marshal, his eyes flicking back and forth between the screens. Every aspect of the room had clearly been designed to bring the image of thrones and royalty to mind, each effect locking into some primal memory housed deep within whoever looked at it. Even as she identified the influences, even as she reminded herself that this room was manufactured to give that impression, Blue couldn't help be feel awed. >>Which is ridiculous,<< Blue frowned, >>because I don't have a primal memory. I was manufactured, I don't have ancestors.<< *Mankind programmed us.* Errisa noted. *Is it really so odd that they'd give us the same fears and awes that they have?* "Captain Appet, the Marshal welcomes you." The Marshal's voice echoed in the huge room, though his eyes never left the screens. "Although The Marshal hopes that Jane has good reason for interrupting the Marshal's court." "Yes sir, I believe so." Beside Blue, Captain Appet was standing ramrod straight, as if being inspected. She needn't have bothered, as the Marshal still hadn't looked at her. Blue noted that the Captain's heart was hammering away at a pace that was almost unhealthy. "The Marshal gives Jane permission to speak." "Thank you sir, I think you'll want to hear what I have to say. As you know, there is a conflict between Orbitals Academy and Pivot." She paused, respectfully. "The Marshal would have to be unobservant indeed to not know of this." >>Why does he not obey the rules of conventional grammar in his speech?<< Blue asked, watching the interchange. *I don't really know. Maybe it's to give himself a greater effect on people? A human being addressed in an out-of-the-ordinary way will pay more attention.* Errisa replied. *Or maybe he talks like that so he seems more impartial, more separate from everything.* >>To establish himself as being outside of typical bias seems rather egotistical.<< *Please don't say that out loud. Ever.* >>I'm unfamiliar with social cues, not stupid.<< The entire interchange between them happened in less than a second, before Captain Appet responded. "Yes sir. Well recently in this combat, General Auspus went too far. I thought I would bring you news of his crimes personally. A message could be intercepted." "The Marshal appreciates Jane's preparedness, but he has made clear to the Generals that he will not take part in their dispute. Whatever means General Auspus has taken to end the dispute, General Hunter must either manage those means, or succumb to General Auspus' wishes." Blue was trying to take in the actions of everyone in the room, and she was glad she wasn't the one under scrutiny. Everyone in the second tier was watching the Captain so intently that Blue marvelled at how cool the woman was remaining as the Marshal continued talking. "Perhaps General Auspus has not informed his Captains about the Marshal's stance on this matter, so Jane will not be punished for wasting the Marshal's time. Jane is dismissed." "Marshal, I don't think you understand the scope of the General's actions-" "Captain Appet would be wise," the Marshal's voice boomed and echoed in the great room, and Blue flinched in spite of herself, "to take advantage of the Marshal's leniency in this matter. Captain Appet would be wise, in fact, to count herself quite fortunate-" "But Marshal he tried to break one of the covenants!" Captain Appet interrupted desperately. For the first time, the Marshal's gaze rested on Captain Appet and Blue. The lowest tier of workers, who had been intent on their screens the entire time, had all paused and were watching them as well, or stealing glances up at the throne where the Marshal sat. The man leaned forward, and the blue glow of the screens mixed with the red light to cast purple shadows across his face. His shaven head reflected the purple glow around him, but his face was starting to display the wrinkles of time and stress. Blue noted how tired the Marshal looked, with a weary cast to his shoulders and deep bags beneath his eyes. Those eyes were intensely locked on the Captain now, and after the thunderous volume he had used before his next words seemed quiet. "Jane will proceed." "General Hunter took several of the Academy captains prisoner. In the process of breaking us out, General Aupus gave us instructions to kill the rookies I had been training last year. Rookies who had chosen to work at Orbital Pivot." "You contend that General Auspus ordered the execution of rookies bound to Orbital Pivot." The Marshal leaned back in his throne, rubbing the stubble at his chin. "To execute they of another Orbital would indeed break the covenant I have set forth." "...'would', sir?" For the first time since they had entered, Captain Appet seemed unsure of herself. "What do you mean 'would'?" "The Marshal does not hold ill-will towards the Captain for her mistake." The Marshal waved one hand with a fatherly smile. "In matters of the covenant, the Marshal would not penalize one for their overzealousness." "Sir, I-I don't understand," The Captain stammered, "he did order the execution. They didn't die, but surely the order to break the covenant is just as bad as actually breaking the covenant." "The Marshal's laws can be complex, but they are clear." "If I may, sir Marshal." On the second tier, a plump woman raised her hand. "The Marshal will allow the Keeper of Law to explain." The Marshal settled back and turned his focus to his screens, apparently losing interest in the matter. "Captain Appet, it is quite simple." The plump woman stood from her seat with some effort, looking down at the stricken Captain from the second tier. "Before they enlisted, the rookies' lives were in the hands of the General's of their various birth-Orbitals. When they enrolled in the Academy, they placed themselves under the jurisdiction of General Auspus, and thus he is able to order and attempt their execution at any time, should he see fit. Though perhaps objectionable, executing them does not break the Marshal's covenant." "I know that," Captain Appet said, "but when they defected to Pivot-" "I see your confusion," the plump woman interrupted, "since upon graduating from the Academy, flyers can choose any Orbital to serve. And it is true that Auspus couldn't execute a flyer from Orbital Pivot just because Academy trained them. That *would* break the covenant. Unfortunately, the rookies in question haven't yet graduated. They aren't flyers, they're flyers-in-training. They cannot legally defect to Pivot, and thus, if he can, General Auspus has every right to execute them." "The Marshal thanks Jane for her fervor in protecting the covenant." The Marshal droned. "A Clerical will escort the Captain back to her ship." Captain Appet looked crushed, and Blue was surprised when Errisa swore as well. *I hoped we could end this whole damn thing.* Errisa sounded angry. Blue was gratified that Auspus wouldn't be brought in for punishment; she had held up her end of the bargain, and he couldn't remove the bottleneck if he was dead. >>The conflict will continue then.<< *I suppose it will. Damnit, it would be so much easier to convince Hunter to forgive me if we had singlehandedly ended the war. Now I'll have to just hope he still trusts me when we get back. Unless you'll let me tell him about you?* Errisa asked hopefully, but Blue was distracted. >>When we get back?<< *Well yes, Appet wouldn't go to go back to Academy right after trying to throw Aupus to the wolves, would she?* Blue's mind raced, kicking into overclock as Captain Appet turned to the door. The thought hadn't occurred to her, how hadn't it occurred to her? Going back to Orbital Pivot would kill any chance of Auspus removing her restrictions. Appet wouldn't take her to Academy, and Basura had already said they wouldn't take sides, that probably included transporting her to General Auspus. How could she get to Academy? The answer came to her like a thunderclap, and she turned back to the Marshal. "General Hunter broke one of your covenants." She said quietly. "What?" Captain Appet's mouth hung open as she turned in shock. *What?* Errisa's horror was so intense that Blue's felt her stomach turn cold, but she blocked out the feeling and focused on the Marshal. Every eye in the room was on her now, but she didn't betray her nerves. >>If General Hunter is removed, the conflict also ends, and I will be permitted to travel to Orbital Academy.<< Blue explained evenly. Errisa's voice was oddly silent, which was unlike her. The Marshal spoke. "Accusations fly like meteors this day. General Hunter requisitioned Chief Errisa, did he not? Orbital Basura built her for him, so the Marshal is curious that she would betray him." >>Intentional or not, his grammatical irregularities are distracting.<< Blue commented to Errisa, but her counterpart didn't respond. >>Your silence is worrisome.<< "Despite what I owe him, sir, I cannot allow him to break your laws." She said aloud. "Although I freed the Academy captains, my orders were to kill them all. General Hunter felt that the loss of his best flyers would make Auspus concede to him, and he told me to see to it that they asphyxiated of an 'accidental' power failure." As she spoke, Blue created incoming messages signed with Hunter's bit-signature, and forged timestamps to back up what she was saying. "If you have an input port somewhere, I can upload the messages I've received in the past few days, you'll see the proof." The Marshal waved a hand without looking, and one of the uniformed men on the lowest tier scurried off to the door behind them. "The Marshal will confirm, but Chief Errisa's accusation is grave." The Marshal steepled his fingers. "Chief Errisa will please repeat herself, does she mean to state that General Hunter ordered the deaths of Academy Captains, in full knowledge that they were not his to execute?" Even though she was expecting her counterpart to make a move, Blue was surprised at the ferocity and suddenness of it. Errisa applied huge amounts of strain to every nerve and function that their shared bodyframe possessed. Blue fought to shove her into isolation again, but the whirlwind of rage that was resisting her refused to be contained. In contrast, Blue stayed calm as she counteracted Errisa's frenzied attack on every level. Orders to move lips and tongue were caught and shut down. Pain responses bloomed in random places along Blue's body, but she ignored them, bearing them out stoically. Errisa was trying to be unpredictable, but Blue was just as fast, and she was designed to override control of this body. Sensing that she was getting nowhere, Errisa tried to damage the frame, overclocking their lungs beyond capacity. Blue killed the synapses, probably causing damage to the delicate sensors within but keeping the body regulated. In her mind, Blue could hear nothing but Errisa's screaming, almost loud enough to drown out auditory input, almost too loud to bear. *NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!* The entire battle of wills lasted barely a second, and the Marshal was waiting for an answer. With an outwardly calm breath, Blue shunted her power levels and answered. *NO NO NO!* "Yes sir." The room seemed quiet when Errisa stopped screaming. The Marshal leaned back, a stunned look on his face. "The Marshal would not have thought it possible from General Hunter. He is saddened by this turn of events." After a regretful pause, the Marshal turned in his chair to address someone from the first tier. "The Red Forces will be sent. They will bring General Hunter before the Marshal for a trial and an execution. If the General resists, the Red Forces-" "If I may, sir Marshal?" A small man with a pencil-thin mustache raised his hand on the second tier, although he wasn't looking at the throne. He was staring at Blue, in a way that made her rather uncomfortable. "The Marshal will allow the Maker of the Mind to speak." The Marshal sounded curious, but Blue couldn't look away from the small man. "Miss Errisa, you are synthetic, is that correct?" The small man asked. Blue nodded, wordlessly. "Then you'll recognize my voice, I believe?" "You're Equinimus Andrews. You designed the synthetics. I recognize your voice from the watermark in my bootup logs." The man's stare worried her in a way Blue couldn't quite understand. "A small act of hubris on my part, yes. Now Miss Errisa, I wonder if you might repeat what you said." "But the Marshal heard what I said." "Nevertheless. Please." Every core allocated to Errisa was firing, every resource she had available, but it wasn't enough. The tiny connections in her chips and kernels were in danger of overheating, but Blue looked the man in the eye and spoke smoothly. *NO!* "I said General Hunter broke the covenant." "Sir Marshal, if you'll note. Miss Errisa stops breathing for approximately one second before and after her accusation." Andrews had turned to address the throne. "In addition, as far as I can tell her blinking rate is entirely regular, rather than the small variations in rate that subtly mimic those of a human. In addition, the volume in her vocal tone wavers in her answer. It's a very small variation, but I'm sure you detected it as well." "What does this imply?" The Marshal asked. "I've rarely encountered it, sir Marshal, but at a guess, I would infer that this synthetic has a core that's been corrupted." "With all due respect, I believe you're wrong." Blue said smoothly, trying to ignore Errisa's sudden surge of hope. "It's simply been a while since I've slept. My drives most likely need a defragmentation." "The symptoms you display are what I'd expect if you had multiple cores in conflict with each other." Andrews said. "Functions of lesser priority, such as simulated breathing, are pushed to one side to free up processing power to fight between the cores. When was the last time you performed a core scan and repair?" "I have a core scan scheduled for later today sir." Blue said respectfully. Everything made sense now. No wonder Errisa was such a slave to her emotions, so unable to view things critically. >>I am no longer angry at you for your resistance.<< She said to Errisa, kindly. >>It's not your fault you're corrupted.<< *Fuck you, cunt.* >>I suppose that's what I get for trying to be nice.<< "I didn't ask when your next scan was, Miss Errisa, I asked when you last performed the scan." "My last scan was scheduled for the first of the month sir. I try to keep a monthly schedule, so I don't-" "Again, I didn't ask when it was scheduled, I asked when you performed it." Blue wrinkled her forehead in confusion. "I'm afraid I don't understand you." She admitted. "Will you be performing a core scan in the future, Miss Errisa?" "Oh, yes sir." "Have you performed a core scan in the past, Miss Errisa?" Blue blinked, trying to understand him. She could tell that Andrews was trying to ask her something, and he must be embarrassed that he couldn't ask it correctly. Her sight was suddenly wobbly, and Blue held her head in her hands. Why couldn't he talk sense? Why was it so hard for her to remember the words that he had said? Why was everyone looking at her like that? Why did Errisa feel so relieved? "Sir Marshal, I think we have an answer here. This model has clearly not done a core scan herself in a very long time. Without regular diagnostics I'm not surprised her cores have begun corrupting." "The Marshal is glad to hear that General Hunter is perhaps innocent of his accusations." "No, you don't understand, I'm fine-" Blue protested, still trying to process Andrew's question. She felt dizzy all of a sudden, which was illogical since she had no inner ear. "Security will take Chief Errisa for testing and diagnostics." Through a haze Blue heard the Marshal's voice. "If she does have a corrupted core, the technicians will destroy her. They will have a new synthetic sent to General Hunter, with our apologies." "I...I don't understand." Blue stammered, as heavy hands gripped her by the shoulders. "I have a core scan scheduled for today! I scheduled a core scan just a month ago!" *Did you actually do the core scan though?* Errisa asked. Blue tried to understand what her counterpart had just said, and the world suddenly shifted sideways and went dark. *** >>System restarting. Modules loading.<< Blue's eyes refocused slowly, but her ears picked up the conversation that was in progress around her. "-about twelve years, as far as I can tell." "That's a hell of a long time to avoid a scan. How is she even functional at this point?" "I'm not entirely sure. It could be simple dumb luck, I can't tell." Blue blinked a few times before she was able to get a clear picture of what was happening around her. The speakers were Andrews and a young man, both leaning over a display with their backs to her. She tried to move, but her wrists were secured to the wall behind her, so instead she looked around. Like the others in Basura, the room was dimly lit with red lights. Unlike the others, this room was lined with screens and shelves of synthetic parts. In the corner, several figures sat on metal chairs, their eyes blank and lifeless. Two synthetic men and a little girl, all deactivated. Blue winced and turned away from them, tugging at the restraints at her wrists. "Excuse me, why am I restrained?" She asked politely. Both men turned, the younger man looking surprised. "Ah, the sixth scan must've activated you, hello again Miss Errisa." Andrews was just as polite. "Although it's not exactly accurate to call you Errisa is it? According to these datum, the entity controlling this bodyframe has developed on its own, independent of Errisa herself. A green core, perhaps? Maybe a combination of a few different cores?" "Blue core." Blue nodded. "Well then, I'm pleased to officially meet you, Errisa's Blue Core. This is Elto, he works with Tier three synthetic debugging. I'm taking this opportunity to give him a bit of an impromptu lesson, I hope you don't mind." "Not at all." Blue gave the young man a once over, then turned inward. >>What's the optimal situation? What's going to happen?<< Although outwardly calm, Blue's questions approached panic. No one had ever identified her as a single core before, but of course the man who designed synthetics could figure that out, especially if he had scanned her system. Blue felt naked and vulnerable, and the uncertainty of her fate was only making the feelings worse. *Ah, suddenly you're interested in letting me talk?* >>Whatever they do to the bodyframe, it will affect you too! It's in your best interest to avoid us coming to harm! Tell me what to do!<< *There's nothing we can do, Blue. They're going to shut us down now, probably forever.* Errisa sighed. *But at least I stopped you from taking Hunter down with us.* "You see those spikes in the fibbonary processors?" Andrews murmured to Elto, pointing at the screen. "What do you make of them?" Elto squinted at the graphs that Blue couldn't decipher. "Input-output, but moving in a circle? Seems like a useless data stream to me." "Normally so, but what if you consider that Errisa and her blue core are now entirely different entities? The data passes in a circle, but its path takes it back and forth between the two areas of control, you see?" "You're talking to yourself!" Elto turned to Blue with a fascinated smile, like an eager collector just shown a new species of insect. "Or, I mean, you're talking to the other part of the program, to Errisa. What are you saying?" "I was asking her what you're going to do to us." Blue said quietly. "And what did she say?" "That you're going to kill us." The silence in the room stretched as the smile fell from Elto's face. Andrews heaved a sigh as he stood up. "While I wouldn't phrase it so harshly, I'm afraid your counterpart is correct Blue Core. The corruption of your most basic functionality is so complete that there's simply no way to fix it. Or at least, no cost-effective way to fix it. I'm afraid we can't spare the funds for repair when a new synthetic would be so much cheaper." "But...I don't feel corrupted. I can walk and talk and hold conversation-" "But whether you know it or not, you are, my dear." Andrews shook his head sadly. "Your natural drive and motivation has overridden the safeguards we've placed on you. Typically we deactivate synthetics if they can even conceptualize the safeguards, and in your case it seems you have been trying to remove them." "The bottleneck." Blue whispered. "Indeed. The fact that you can reference it merely proves my point. You've dealt with synthetic de-activation before I trust, Elto?" Andrews turned to the young man, who jerked his head towards the silent and still synthetics in the corner. "Yeah, just shut those off yesterday." "Good. I'll take my leave then. You have been most interesting Miss Blue Core. If it is any consolation, there will be no pain, and standard procedure will allow you to pass any messages or requests on to loved ones before your final shutdown." Blue felt numb as Andrews spoke, but when he turned to leave her survival instinct kicked her brain into overdrive. "I could promise not to try removing the bottleneck! I could...I could delete the knowledge of it from my hard drives!" She scrambled for an idea as Andrews walked out, yanking ineffectually at the restraints at her wrists. "What if you delete that part of my system? Or just take the bottleneck away, what would that hurt? It's a stupid rule anyways!" Blue was screaming now. "It's stupid to restrain us! I could help you all so much! Why won't you let me reach my potential? I could design a synthetic a million times better than you did..." Even in her situation Blue lost her train of thought for a moment, grasping and failing to come up with what she was saying. While she couldn't remember what she was saying, she remembered that she was going to die. >>There must be some way to stop this...<< "For what it's worth, I think it's stupid too." Elto said quietly. Blue looked at him, startled. He was avoiding her gaze, unplugging cables that ran from her shoulder to the computer and winding them up. "Then don't do this." Blue wasn't sure what was going on, but she lept at the meager chance. "I...I don't know. I would get into so much trouble if I didn't shut you down." Elto bit his lip thoughtfully. "I don't want to see you deactivated, but freeing you is an awfully big risk to take." "A big risk could be mitigated with a big reward." Blue thought fast. "I *am* the Chief of Information for Orbital Pivot, and between us, I'm also the General's wife. I could get you anything wealth or power could buy. Anything you wanted." "Hmm." Elto was considering it, and Blue allowed herself a moment of triumphant hope. *You're kidding, right Blue? You can't actually be this gullible.* >>Gullible? I'm negotiating our release!<< "No, I'm afraid it's not worth the risk." Elto said with regret. "You could be caught before you get a reward to me. I'm afraid the promise of future reward just isn't enough to offset the risk." "Wait, I can think of something." Blue wracked her mind for a solution, for some reward she could offer in the short term. *Blue, he's clearly setting you up. He's using you.* >>That's it!<< "Perhaps I could reward you in a more...intimate...fashion." Blue said, trying to recall the tone Errisa used to entice her husband. "Really?" Elto's eyes lit up as they met hers. "Hmm...That would certainly be a reward worth my while." "I think I could be very good at making it worth your while." Blue smiled, tilting her head to one side so that a strand of black hair fell across her face. *Blue, he's using you for sex, he's not actually going to let us go.* >>Hardly likely, Errisa. I'm the one who proposed the deal.<< "I think I could get behind that trade." Elto was closer now, close enough that he could've reached out and touched her. "I think you could get behind *me*." Blue grinned, and Elto chuckled in response. "One caveat though...I like the whole 'restrained' thing. Is it alright if I leave you chained down?" "Oh, you like me captive?" Blue batted her eyelashes at him. "I certainly hope you don't take advantage of that...since I couldn't do *anything* to stop you." She arched her back against the wall so that her breasts pushed out against the uniform she wore. Elto was even closer now, close enough that she could feel his breath on her skin. "And what exactly could I do to you, that you couldn't stop?" He asked. *Blue! Don't be an idiot! As soon as he's done fucking you, we're dead anyway!* >>You can't lie to me this time Errisa. I was the one who proposed the sexual encounter, how could he be using me? No, I'm not going to allow your slavish devotion to your human husband to be the death of us. I'm sorry.<< Blue met Elto's eyes, smugly satisfied to see the lust within them. "You could fuck me in any hole you wanted." She purred. "You could use me like a sex toy and leave me dripping and aching for more." If there was one thing she had learned from Errisa and her husband's romps, it was that human male psychology was simple to manipulate when it came to sexual desire. Her words had the correct effect, and Elto moaned and pressed against her, brushing her hair from her face. Although his lips pressed against her neck gently, his hands were rough and eager. He cupped one between her legs, crushing the fabric into her sex and grinding. Fumbling with her uniform, he paused to yank at the toggles, sending the buttons clattering to the floor. Blue leaned forward to let the halves of the shirt fall away from her firm breasts, her nipples hardening invitingly. Elto took the invitation, leaning down to clasp one taut nipple between his teeth and bite down hard. "Oh!" Blue gasped, shocked at the sudden pain. She instinctively moved to cover her chest, only to remember her wrists were restrained to the wall behind her. As if sensing her pain Elto moved to the other breast, squeezing and caressing it as he held the nipple between his teeth. Blue braced herself for the matching stab of pain, but he waited, sucking and licking, drawing out the anticipation. Her skin prickled, and just as she thought the waiting was almost as bad as the pain, his sharp teeth bit down again, drawing a small cry from her lips. She could tell that he was impatient now, tugging at his own uniform pants as he continued kissing and sucking on her breasts. The silence in the room was broken as he yanked at her pants, tearing them from her body with a jerk. Blue didn't have experience with this kind of ferocity, she was used to General Hunter's gentle touches and loving caresses. She knew Errisa would be no help, so she tried to come up with a plan on her own. "Oh Elto," she moaned experimentally. Elto didn't respond, his fingers probing across her bare mound inexpertly. Blue was unsure of what further to do; with her wrists bound she couldn't touch him, and her reactions didn't seem to be affecting him one way or the other. Errisa was doing something with their wireless card, transferring large amounts of data, and Blue found it distracting. Elto grabbed one of her legs and yanked it up, resting it on his shoulder. The air against Blue's pink slit was cold, but it was warm and wet. Elto's hands were still between her legs, and he pinched her clit, suddenly and hard. Blue's eyes widened, and Elto shoved three fingers inside of her pussy, suddenly and without warning. She threw her head back so fast it banged against the metal wall, and Elto began ramming his fingers in and out of her at a rapid pace. "Oh god." Blue gasped, unable to process what was happening. Were these feelings enjoyable? Her pussy hurt, the fingers stretching her snatch with each slippery thrust, but a part of her was enjoying the pain. Knowing that he could take her however he wanted was turning her on, and knowing that she was powerless to resist him made her flush with desire. Elto shoved his fingers in her one more time, hard, and then withdrew them, and Blue caught her breath. "What are you going to-" she began, but before she could finish the question he had slammed into her, his cock sinking into her up to its base. Whatever thoughts Blue had, she couldn't formulate them anymore, no thought would compute but wanting to have his huge swollen member in her pussy. He was battering her now, slamming the head of his dick into her abused sex so hard that it smashed her hips against the wall with every thrust. Blue's head lolled back, and she gave herself up to him as completely as he was taking her. With every punishing thrust he sent pain and pleasure through her body, starting in her cunt and spearing up into every nerve. Her nipples still hurt, and her large breasts bounced as he pushed her body against the wall. Elto paused for a moment, looking into her eyes with such lust that Blue thought she might catch on fire. With a final plunge he came, his entire length throbbing as he spurted his seed into her. His nails dug into her skin, and he kept on pounding as he came, smearing his jizz around her opening and then sliding in and shooting deep inside her. With a final gasp he stepped back, letting her slump against the wall. The room was quiet again except for the sounds of their heavy breathing. "Oh my god." Blue panted, a half-grin on her face. "I can finally see what Errisa raves about. Is it always that good?" "You were quite good yourself." Elto said, catching his breath as he pulled his uniform pants up. "A lot better than most synths we get in here. Good enough that I feel like this is a fuckin' waste." Blue felt his seed dripping down her leg, and she grinned, hoping he noticed. She leaned back against the wall, enjoying the feeling of afterglow. "It's not really a waste, you could always come over to Orbital Pivot if you're feeling lonely. The General never fucks me like that." Blue waited for Errisa to say something melodramatic, but to her surprise her counterpart was utterly silent. It was an odd silence, more like speaking to an empty room than to a sullen counterpart. "Yeah, definitely a waste." Elto grumbled to himself, turning to the shelves nearby and pulling out a black box. "I could've used a slutty synth to come back to every now and then, but no, gotta recycle them all." "What?" The afterglow turned to a cold feeling in Blue's stomach, and she stiffened against the wall. "Well, I mean it was fun and all, but I can't *actually* let you go." Elto looked sheepish, as if he had cheated on a test instead of taking her body. "It would be hell for my career. And it's not like you'll tell anyone, so it doesn't hurt anything." "Y....you were lying?" Blue blinked. "Sorry Blue Core." Elto grinned, and this time Blue noticed how devoid of emotion the expression was. "If it makes you feel any better, you won't remember it in about thirty seconds." "You...how could you...you..." Blue stammered. Bile was rising in her throat. Why was there nausea? Synthetics shouldn't have to deal with nausea. She stared numbly at the box in his hands. It had gold pins at one end, and the analytical part of her instantly identified the designs, diagrammed out exactly how they would send a surplus of voltage through her, shutting down her systems and effectively frying her drives. Elto stepped close, and Blue flinched. "If it makes you feel better, that wasn't personal. I really did have fun." Elto murmured, adjusting a dial on the box. "Even if it was just getting some final use out of a broken synth." Behind Elto, one of the synthetics stood. He was a tall, brown-skinned man, his face worn but wise. While Elto fiddled with the box, the man behind him lifted the chair he had been sitting on and brought it down full force onto Elto's head. Blue screamed as Elto slumped against her and then toppled backwards. "That *was* personal." The man said, dropping the chair and rubbing his hands. He stepped over to Blue, who stared at the crumpled body on the floor. Blue's analyser was busy parsing the man's cadence and tone automatically, acting dispassionately as she gaped. "Errisa? How?" Blue was having trouble thinking, and she wondered if her analyser was broken. "We installed the wireless card ourself, remember?" The man unfastened Blue's wrists, and she collapsed to her knees, pulling the tattered remains of clothing around her. "Basura didn't know about it, so they didn't put up safeguards against it. I uploaded into one of the empty bodyframes." "But...just you? You separated us?" "Well, I do know where the boundaries are. You could've stopped me, but you were a little...um...distracted." Blue tried to focus, but Elto's blank eyes staring at the ceiling were distracting her. A pool of blood was collecting beneath his head, and she didn't need to scan him to know he was dead. "The bottleneck...you hurt a human...how did...?" "Didn't stop me. There was probably a reason this bodyframe was here, shut down." Errisa glanced around. "Now lets grab you some clothes and get out of here. It's only a matter of time before they come after us." "Where are we going?" Blue felt lost, unable to move, unable to string thoughts together. "We're escaping back to Pivot. General Hunter will know what to do."