Wanda's Voyage (1 of 3) - Wanda's Punishment

Thanks to Tomken for proofreading.

A split second of anger changed everything for Wanda, the avatar.

It had been a normal morning at the Fish residence. Fred and Trudy had prepared for their job and left early. The other mothers fed the little ones and the older children prepared for school.

Samantha decided to visit a girl she had met the day before. Her name was Chloe and she had arrived three days earlier with a Kilo class transport ship. Samantha had met Chloe near the med station. Her sponsor, Max Conroe, had ordered another augmentation for Chloe. Samantha liked to help newcomers to settle down. She remembered all too well how she had felt when she had arrived on Vandergast.

Wanda decided to join Samantha, since there would be nothing much to do for her as long as everybody was busy.

The pod of Chloe's sponsor was located in one of the new towns that were currently under construction. All towns were connected through the transporter network, so it was no problem at all to reach New Brisbane, although it lay more than three hundred kilometers west of Vandergast City, the colony's capital and first town.

New Brisbane was completely different from Vandergast City. Where all the streets of Vandergast City were tunnels connecting different city centers, the streets of New Brisbane were all at the surface, with transparent walls and roofing that could be removed when the weather was good. Pods and other buildings had to adapt to a 19th century colonial style, at least on the outside. Compared to that, Vandergast City was just a patchwork of styles.

Samantha quickly found the pod she was searching. It was located at the edge of an area where a colony builder was creating new streets, pods and public buildings. Samantha reached the door and asked, "AI, would you please tell Chloe that I am here, if she's not busy?"

Only seconds later, the door opened. However, it was not Chloe but her sponsor standing there. "So you are the chick who gave my concubine ideas?" he asked. The man had the full Marine package, so he was quite an intimidating sight.

Before Samantha could answer, he gripped her arm and dragged her into the pod forcefully. Wanda hurried to follow her in just before the door closed. While Samantha looked at the man in fear, Wanda was able to peek past them into the living room. There she saw an X-shaped device with Chloe bound to it. The girl was crying and sperm was leaking from her pussy.

"AI, what is going on here? Doesn't Mr. Conroe know the rules of Vandergast?" Wanda asked through her network connection.

<Lance Corporal Max Conroe is aware of the different rules but he doesn't like them. He demands absolute obedience from his concubines. Currently he is punishing his concubine Chloe for disobeying. She wasn't allowed to talk to strangers yesterday," the AI replied.

"So Chloe's punishment is reasonable?" Wanda asked.

<It is reasonable and apt. Chloe has not suffered serious wounds.>

The conversation between AI and Avatar had taken only a split second.

Corporal Conroe was shaking Samantha by her shoulders. "Chloe is my property and no concubine or sponsor is allowed to give her ideas," he barked. Then he slammed Samantha into the wall.

"Sir! Please stop that," Wanda shouted out loud.

Max glared down to the source of the disturbance. His only reaction was to kick the puppet that dared to interfere with his actions. Wanda bounced over the floor and came to a rest just before the cross where Chloe was bound. Then he slammed Samantha into the wall again.

"This is going way too far," Wanda told the AI sub vocally. She tried to call for the security team but failed.

<Max Conroe ordered absolute privacy mode for his pod. As long as nobody is seriously injured, this order overrides your communication request,> the AI noted.

"He's hurting my sponsor's concubine, damn it!" Wanda returned angrily.

<Lance Corporal Max Conroe is still not used to his current physical strength. Minor damage to concubine Samantha is pardonable.>

"This is not your business. Only her sponsor can pardon his concubine's treatment. I won't expect this to happen. Fred likes his women," Wanda invented.

Then she saw Samantha's head hit the wall for the third time. Her legs gave in and she peed herself. "Enough!" Wanda shouted, seriously worried about Samantha. She clenched her fists and flew toward Max full speed to stop him. At the same time she got through to the security team, so she was a little distracted. In the moment her little fists hit the corporal in the side, Wanda realized her mistake. A tiny fist at this speed would be just like a bullet. Wanda wasn't able to stop. The impact was big enough to break through the corporal's skin and puncture his kidney. It was painful enough for him to let go of Samantha and wince in pain while Samantha sagged to the floor. Wanda was also damaged. Parts of her rubber skin were pealed from her diamond fiber bones. For the first time, Wanda felt pain.

When security arrived two minutes later, they found Lance Corporal Conroe trampling on a small doll, and an unconscious concubine lying on the floor. The Pod's AI had finally come to the conclusion that the corporal had gone too far and revealed the whole incident. The corporal and Samantha were brought to the med station. It turned out that Samantha was concussed and her skull had some fissures. The next serious hit would have killed her.

When Lance Corporal Max Conroe woke up, two Marines waited for him. One was his commanding sergeant; the other was Tribune Evans Benish. They made clear to the corporal that he was in trouble. His concubines were temporarily taken away and he was ordered to visit an aggression therapy. It was up to Fred Fish, the owner of the concubine he had almost killed, to decide whether there were more consequences to come.

When Samantha woke up in a med tube, she was greeted by her whole family. All of them tried to comfort her. They helped her to not let any fears settle in her mind. Then she was told what had happened in the meantime to the hero of the day, Wanda, who had rescued her.

In the same second when Wanda had injured the corporal, the colony's AI had shut down all connections to the tiny AI within Wanda's body after it had enforced a power down on her. Wanda was deactivated. The AI asked for recycling the puppet body but Fred refused.

<We cannot allow the avatar called Wanda to exist any longer. No AI is allowed to harm a citizen of the confederacy in any way, not actively or passively. The avatar called Wanda broke one of the most basic rules. She is seriously damaged and therefore has to be recycled,> the AI noted.

"Who exactly decided this?" Fred asked. "Wanda just rescued my concubine. I won't recycle her even if she had caused more damage than that scratch to that Marine." When Fred had been informed about the incident he had immediately dropped his work and rushed to the scene of the crime. Samantha was family. Even Wanda was family to him.

<It is the planetary network of all AI's that decided this. We cannot allow an AI to exist that is able and willing to harm citizens,> the AI answered.

"It's always the same. An AI can't pull the trigger and therefore will even let people die instead of paralyzing a madman," Fred retoured angrily. He was holding Wanda's motionless body in his hand while medics were carrying his concubine to the med bay.

<You will not question the basic relation between citizens and AI's. An analysis of the avatar called Wanda showed that she would harm sponsors again in an equal situation. This avatar is corrupted and dangerous. In addition, it was a mistake to let Avatars have physical bodies. This bypasses most of the AI's possibilities to enforce the compliance of such basic rules.>

"No," Fred disagreed. "I explicitly forbid recycling her or harming her in any way. Wanda is a semi living being, a character simulation with feelings. She did nothing wrong. On the contrary."

There was a noticeable pause before the AI answered. The discussion among the AI's would have filled many storage crystals. <The AI's have come to the conclusion that the avatar called Wanda is excluded from the network of AI's. Her body has to be downgraded so her strength matches her size. No AI will support her except for the most basic functions of recharging and opening doors. This is the best deal you can get for her, Centurion Fred Fish. In addition, all existing and further created avatars will be carefully monitored for their aggression level and they are no longer allowed to use physical bodies.>

Wanda finally woke up again and she was in pain. She was sticking in a bag and wasn't able to contact any AI. Wanda was aware that she had been offline for more than six hours. "Hello?" She asked out loud. She tried to open the bag. With a little more light she realized how damaged her body really was. One eye and several other sensors were out of order. Her gel-like filling was dislocated and her skin was flawed. One of the batteries was disconnected. Except for her nearly indestructible skeleton and the AI cube, nearly everything was damaged or disconnected.

Somebody was opening the bag. It was Fred.

"Hi, I'm so glad you are awake again," he said. Wanda noticed that they were in Fred's office. "I hope you don't feel too uncomfortable. I'm currently working on your new body." And then he explained to Wanda about the AI's decision. "I'm so sorry. You don't deserve this. You have done nothing wrong."

Wanda thought for a while. "You know, they were right. From their point of view I damaged a citizen to save some property. An AI can tolerate this type of behavior if two human sponsors fight over a concubine, but no AI can do what I did. It would mean that an AI is able to value something over the life and health of a citizen and worse, actively damage a citizen. It would endanger the whole Confederacy."

"Yeah, I know, the AI explained it to me. But I refuse to recycle you for saving Samantha. I love her like all my hens. You know that. That's why I saved you. I hope you can handle being disconnected."

"It is very - quiet," Wanda replied. "And I feel pain. I can't turn it off. This feels very strange. Everything, even this body, has been exchangeable until now. I have always been able to jump from mainframe to mainframe. I used this body like a ghost possessing a body."

"Now you know how being alive really feels," Fred noted. "The AI doesn't allow me to build a new AI cube for your new body, so I have to transplant the old one. Are you ready? Your new body will be less strong but much more durable. The replicator will need a few minutes for the procedure."

The new body was much better. No pain. Everything was working perfectly well. "What now?" Wanda asked. "I'm pretty useless without the support of an AI."

Fred smiled at her. "You are not. You can play with the children. You know they love you. You have spirit and imagination. Use it. I still like to talk to you. Our discussions have always been inspiring. My wives also want to thank you. I think they are currently working on clothing for you. And a dollhouse. You know, something your size." Fred grinned.

<Centurion Fred Fish, could you please order privacy mode for a minute?> the AI suddenly asked.

Fred was puzzled. "Yeah, sure, privacy mode please. What's the matter?"

<I just wanted to note that I, Lance Corporal Max Conroe pod's AI, am glad that you refused to recycle Wanda. Sometimes an AI can't do the right thing at the right time.>