Chapter Text
“Shuttle arrival ETA 10 minutes, Captain Seth. Martyn and Karime have been updated and are on their way to the cargo bay.”
I nodded. They were good selections to deal with trauma victims. And with the shuttle full of child refugees, calm non-threatening adults was what they all needed.
“Thank you, Peri, heading there now as well.” I picked up my pace, mentally checking off what needed to be done. “Does SecUnit require Medbay, and am I going to have to order it there?”
Because SecUnit almost always needed repairs and was much too laid back about its own care. What it considered to be flesh wounds made me shudder.
“I will handle that aspect, Captain. It will assist Martyn and Karime with moving Mensah and Leonide’s family to Medbay, and I will insist it stay for repairs.” Peri’s voice dropped into its favorite evil overlord timbre. “You need to deal with Three.”
Well, Peri was obviously still seething. It had synced with its drone iteration as soon as it was in range and, currently, was piloting the shuttle itself, so it had a complete recap of the mission’s success and had informed me of the rescue of Mensah’s family and Leonide’s children.
I felt, something, over the death of Leonide. Not sorrow, our adversarial history did not make for any emotional connections, but with a grudging respect for the length she had gone to protect her family, underhanded as it was. I or Mensah would see to the welfare of her children; at least she sacrificed herself for them and not Barish Estranza’s bottom line.
But that was not what had Peri furious. It had also passed on Three’s uncharacteristic disregard of standing orders.
“Thank you, Peri, for once again reminding me of my leadership duties. I am open to suggestions; would you like me to draw and quarter Three as soon as it exits the shuttle, or should I make it walk to Medbay first so you don’t have to drag its parts there for repair?" I regretted that bit of sarcasm almost immediately. Peri may very well think that was a stellar idea. It could, after all, put Three back together relatively easily, mechanically.
“This is not a joking matter, Captain. The whole point of SecUnit portioning off part of itself to accompany Three was to make sure Three DID NOT DIE. It is too new to have the expertise SecUnit has, and honestly too naïve. The plan was a careful one, and we all agreed on the timing and elements. Three disregarded mission parameters and went off on its own. It could have been killed.”
Peri paused, I assumed for dramatic effect. It’s learned a lot from watching media with SecUnit. “Frankly, it would have been easier to use it as cannon fodder and added protections to SecUnit if it had so little regard for its existence. This cannot become a habit. You have to discipline it for its disobedience.”
I didn’t disagree, dereliction of duty is a serious offense, but Peri was too focused on the what. I wanted to know the why.
Taking a deep, centering breath, I said, “Peri, calm down. I understand your irritation, but you are getting perilously close to me disciplining you for, hmmm, insubordination perhaps?” I could feel Peri sulk a bit over that, but it had the desired effect of stopping its rant.
“Look, from what you have told me, Three isn’t saying anything about its walkabout. It actually isn’t talking at all.” I suspected Peri was badgering Three. It sometimes conveniently forgot its graphic threats to the construct when they first met, which is why I’d joked about the dismemberment.
I was fairly sure Three had not forgotten.
I stopped in front of the cargo bay doors where Karime and Martyn were waiting. “Shuttle ETA?”
“Docking now, Captain,” Peri responded.
Time to earn my Officer pay. As soon as Peri gave the all clear, we strode into the bay.
SecUnit and Three descended first, an old habit to make sure the area was secure before allowing the humans to step out. SecUnit reached out to me in the feed to provide a quick SITREP, which was succinct but filled in high-level, first hand details on just how off course the retrieval had gone; it was a testament to its abilities that it was a success.
Surprisingly, while it was obviously annoyed at Three, it did make sure to note that Three’s presence at the final rendezvous point was an asset. And to request an ASAP in person debrief with Peri, Mensah and Three to discuss additional details.
That wasn’t at all ominous, but I mentally tabled it for later and shifted my attention to Three.
I could tell it knew it was in trouble with me as well. Normally Three was a stickler for protocol and would have at this point pinged me a request to debrief. It stood (hid?) behind SecUnit in unit neutral and found something exceptionally interesting about the deck plating. Martyn and Karime were helping our passengers off the shuttle and herding them towards Medbay.
SecUnit, as expected, was injured. “SecUnit, report to MedBay as well. Three, with me please.”
Three’s eyes widened, and it turned its head in SecUnit’s direction.
SecUnit raised an eyebrow and mouthed “You problem, remember?” at it, then shouldered past it to follow Mensah. One of its drones stayed by Three. It may be letting Three handle the consequences, but it was letting me know it was keeping an eye on the proceedings. It was also putting its foot down with Peri, and had pointedly included me in the feed conversation.
Stop taking it personally ART and back off. You know hard hacking and coding work built out my pathways. Three has got to grow, which means taking risks. Our job is to protect it in the background if it falters, and if you can’t provide that, then maybe it should go over to Holism.
That was going to sting, and I could tell Peri was stewing. I can create realistic scenarios that would be close to a life and death situation. I suppose it would benefit from being on Holism in a manner similar to ours but I am better in combat. If Three was unaware that it was a simulation, the learning experience would be the same.
Oh hell no. Time to put a stop to that idea. I interjected, You can’t terrorize Three, Peri, to make it learn. We aren’t Barish Estranza. That worked; Peri went silent. It wasn’t a cruel entity, just overly enthusiastic. And, SecUnit, please recall your drone. Three doesn’t need a babysitter or a protector with me. No argument from it, just an acknowledgement ping and a speedy retreat of its drone.
Now, I could turn my attention back to my current problematic MI.
I turned and started the trek back to my office. Three followed smoothly, two steps behind my right shoulder and in sync with my pace to keep that distance perfect, like a good obedient SecUnit; it was a reaction I did not particularly like but expected.
I knew it was anxious and felt bad about that but not enough to not use it to my advantage.
When we got to my office, I sat down behind my desk and Three stopped at a stiff attention stance a few meters in front of my desk. Close enough to satisfy an old protocol, but also close enough to the door for a quick getaway, if it felt the need.
I took the time to take a good look at Three. It was attempting to stand ramrod straight at SecUnit standard while it was running its Like a Human code and losing. Slight twitches and swaying, and an odd rhythmic tapping of its fingers betrayed its inner turmoil. Something about when it ran the code, a lack of understanding of human mannerisms maybe, that just made it awkward looking. Pretty much everyone (including other MIs) used that word to describe it. When it wasn’t trying to pass for an augmented human, it was as competent and deadly as any SecUnit. As a pretend human? It gave off ‘16-year old boy interacting with a girl after a particularly large growth spurt’ vibes. Panicked and clumsy.
“Thank you, Three. Peri, please engage privacy protocol on my office. Three, feel free to disengage from the feed if Perihelion has been badgering you.”
Peri indignantly burst in. “Captain, I don’t think that is at all necessary.”
Ha. I knew it was lurking.
“PERI.”
“Engaged.”
Three’s face relaxed minutely, its shoulders less stiff. Peri would never understand how stressfully overbearing it could be to other MIs and constructs, except SecUnit who had learned to fight back and tell it to fuck off.
“Please sit, Three.”
Three hesitated, then complied. I suspected it was calculating new escape times to the door from a seated position.
I was all for allowing Three to think about things and conclude it was in deep shit with me, but letting it ‘sweat’ to a cruel degree wasn’t my intent, so I got straight to the issue.
“Before we begin our discussion, understand that I have raised a human daughter to adulthood and a very headstrong MI as well. I suggest you do not attempt to lie to me. I am fairly good at spotting an untruth.”
Three looked taken aback. “I will not lie, Captain Seth,” it blurted out. Then, slightly more chagrined, “I am not very good at it. SecUnit has promised to teach me.”
It took quite a bit of control, but I managed to keep my face neutral. Of course that would be a priority with SecUnit. I could even agree with the necessity, total honesty isn’t actually feasible in the Corporation Rim.
“Good. To get to the point, I have been told you disobeyed orders, altering the plan by not rendezvousing with the shuttle immediately after successfully exiting the torus cargo bay. Instead, you sent a message to Perihelion Drone that you would meet at the secondary site where SecUnit was bringing Mensah’s family, (and Leonide’s but that isn’t pertinent at this time) putting yourself, and potentially the mission, in jeopardy. Correct?”
Three winced slightly. “Acknowledged. But Risk Assessment did put the probability of my decision impacting the mission in the 14% range.”
I suspected Three’s Risk Assessment was as off-kilter as SecUnit’s.
“Why did you do it?” I had learned with Peri that simple questions asked with a stern tone had the happy side effect of derailing whatever elaborate explanation it was planning, and, from the slightly frozen look on Three’s face, it was having the same effect on Three.
“Please wait while I search for that information.”
SecUnit stall tactic 101. “No using buffer phrases. Answer honestly, please, not what you think I want to hear. I am interested in your report from the point in time SecUnit disengaged from the diversion.”
Three winced slightly, then nodded. “I exited the ingress point and re-entered the station. Holism had provided documentaries on the Torus and had taken the time to lecture me on the different architectural styles in use in many of the sections. It was very interesting at the time. But then I saw it. It was…amazing. Vibrant in person. So many people and colors, and I was so immersed in the actual seeing and touching and identifying things I had been taught. And I wanted more. I needed more.”
It paused and looked directly at me, practically asking me with its eyes to understand.
I did, to a degree. But we hadn’t been stunting Three before this. Had we? “You have seen stations before, Three.”
Three frowned. I apparently hit an unknown sore point.
“With chaperones,” it groaned. Taking an unnecessarily deep breath (comparatively speaking with one lung), it composed itself and continued. “I understand that SecUnit is better at navigating human areas, it’s hacking abilities and processes are more akin to a Combat Unit. Because it has more practical experience. It told me it had learned ‘the hard way’. I want to learn, need to learn, in the same manner to be better than I am. And I could choose, so I chose to try the hard way. Choosing is a personal thing, I think. Being alone, and seeing the possibilities, this was the first time I wanted to make a choice for myself. Choosing is not easy, repercussions are not easy. But I think it is how a person grows.”
I was impressed. That was more emoting in one conversation than it had done in any other conversation since its govmod hack.
I was going to have to rethink our integration strategy. We had been letting Three do what it wanted since it never had that option before, and it needed more mentoring.
“Thank you, Three. That was a lot of personal information and I appreciate you trusting me with it.” I decided that was enough, it probably was close to overload with what it had shared. “If there is nothing else you are….” I was shocked when Three interrupted.
“Yes, I also gave 2.0’s helpme.file to a SecUnit I met. It was very appreciative.”
Oh, hell. Yeah that was important. Thanks Peri and SecUnit for not leading with that right behind “we have two additional rescues on board.” This is why SecUnit wanted the private meeting; I think that meeting just got bumped to an all hands one.
Deep breath, Seth. “That was not part of the mission parameter. Did it apply it? And did you give it to any others?” Just how far will this spiral?
“It did. And no, but the unit I gave it to passed it on to its squadmates for an additional four units. Beyond that I have no further data.”
For the love of…..PERI!
Yes, Captain Seth?
You knew about the hack. You knew the implications. What is your estimate on the number of SecUnits on the Torus and how many could conceivably be freed within the next 30 days?
Yes, I was aware. Secunit and I have discussed this. Without factoring in the possibility of the Barish Estranza units spreading the helpme.file among that corporation’s units because it is a low probability they are on the Torus, and keeping the calculation simplistic, our conservative estimate is that there are 5,000 Secunits, Combat SecUnits, and ComfortUnits in the entire Torus. Assuming each hacked unit frees one unit per cycle, and assuming half that figure are units in a position to run the file, approximately 2,500 units could be considered rogue within ten days.
I took a deep breath. Three, knowingly or not, potentially just started the construct revolution.
You seem rather relaxed about this, Peri. We can’t leave. Either the humans or the constructs are going to need our assistance.
What is the human saying? Don’t cry over spilt milk? It was already done, Captain. It is an additional part of my annoyance with Three, but only insofar as it made SecUnit’s retrieval on the Torus harder. This was going to have to be addressed at some point. Three just potentially accelerated the point to now.
Did it plan this?
Ask it. We do not believe so. But it is probably aware of the consequences now.
I looked at Three. “Was this your intention all along? To disregard the plan and free SecUnits?”
Three looked horrified. “No! I just…it just…”, Three visibly composed itself. “I saw the unit first, and initiated contact. I gave it the file immediately. It felt right. It ran it, thanked me, and then we each went our own way. It felt satisfying. I was in a position to help, so I helped.”
“Without thinking about the repercussions. What about the humans? Are they in danger now? And the newly freed Units? How would they live? Where would they go?”
“Query.”
“Go ahead.”
“If in the course of a mission, Perihelion encountered a ship with escaped indentured humans begging for help, would it and your crew not immediately render assistance? Would you not do the same for escaped constructs?”
Take on a ship full of rogue units deep in the Corporation Rim? “It’s complicated, Three.”
“Oh,” Three paused. That was one of its self made buffer phrases when it wanted time to think. After a moment, it carefully asked, “So you would not assist? If that’s true, then am I only secure here because of what I can do for PSUMNT?”
I didn’t want to lose control of this conversation, and I certainly didn’t want to lose its trust. But this wasn’t a black and white scenario.
“Three, you are a part of my crew and a part of PSUMNT. I will support you as your captain and I hope as your friend, as will SecUnit, Perihelion, and all the humans and MIs who have had a chance to interact with you and get to know you. But I want you to articulate to me exactly what you believe the next steps to be?” I could tell by its face it was processing future projections and was looking increasingly alarmed.
Good. “Because your one kind action could impact every being on the torus, and everyone on this ship.”
“I admit I did not think of the repercussions at the time. But in my defense, neither did SecUnit or 2.0 when it gave freedom to myself and the other BarishEstranza units.” Three looked pained. “I do not understand what it is you want me to say.”
Yeah, free will and consequences will do that. “You made a spur of the moment decision. As an individualized person that is your right, but decisions have repercussions which you are responsible for, like as not. Do you know what the Butterfly Effect is?”
“Yes, Sir. Chaos theory; it is the idea that a small, seemingly trivial event may ultimately result in something with much larger consequences.” It was starting to look panicked.
“I do not regret my impulse, but I do not know how to proceed. Please advise?”
“Three, you aren’t alone in this. I am going to have a crew wide meeting to discuss options.” I winced, because before that meeting I knew what I had to do.
“But first, I get to be the one to inform senior leadership that one of my crew’s desire to pass on freedom to others just started a corporate reckoning on personhood.”
Ah well. The Corporation Rim was never a viable long term polity anyway.