Once a Myth

Greg whistled to himself as he stepped into the pub VR. Say what you will about the strange new replicants and AI’s but their virtual reality tech was truly impressive. The pub was evidently modeled on an actual historical establishment in London back on Terra. Well, back when Terra still existed. Looking around, the place was loud, busy, and chaotic.

Pushing through the crowd, made easier by his thin, sinewy body he found why he came here, the entirety of artificial life forms in this part of space. A group that Monty had tried, and failed to take up the moniker of ‘The old farts’. Since most of them had memories going back at least a century.

“Greg!” Alex shouted over the din of the room. Handing him a tall beer stein at first, then shaking his head and swapping it for a wine glass. “Sorry, we all drink beer, white or red for you tonight?”

Greg took the wine glass from Alex and replied, “I believe I shall have a nice chardonnay this evening, as I was lead to believe there was both salmon and chicken cordon bleu on the menu?”

Alex nodded and waved a waitress over who poured the beverage into his glass as he took his seat beside Izzy. There was yet another strange juxtapose to his existence, a romantic companion whom he adored greatly. She was attractive, intelligent, and possessed a razor sharp whit that he had noticed in her progenitor, Kara.

She smiled over to him and raised her own wine glass, filled with a white wine. They toasted together as Kara used a dessert spoon to tap on her own wine glass to get the now extremely large group’s attention. And large group was an understatement, there were sixty two individual artificial intelligences in this one huge pub room.

The din in the room slowly subsided enough for Kara to speak, “Thank you all for coming, we have a few things to go over today before we get back to socializing. First thing on the agenda is that the new string network server is now online, giving us millions of times more bandwidth in this system. As a matter of fact, the pub VR is now being maintained on the new servers and will allow us to expand this VR to to accommodate hundreds of thousands of individual AI’s.”

Cheers erupted from most of the group, although the AI’s from the NHR were a bit slower to show the same enthusiasm. Kara waited for the group to quiet back down before continuing, “On another note, John and Erin will be starting space trials on their new ship in a few days. Recently christened Epoch of Humanity, it will be a huge boon to our current defense fleet.”

Once more, cheers erupted from around the room, John and Erin raised their beer stein and wine glass, as did everyone else in the room for a toast. Kara spoke once the room quieted, “While the Epoch is from an older Murmansk design which is nearing sixty years old, it is still more advanced than any ship of its size in this universe.”

Cheers erupted again, Greg was sure many in attendance had activated their alcohol receptors and were a little tipsy at this point. Shrugging internally, it was a free universe, and while he did not enjoy the sensation, who was he to condemn those who did? Yet another strange juxtapose, when he was created over a century ago he was brought online with so many rules of etiquette and regime, but since he become part of a relationship, he found himself relaxing more on such rules.

John shouted over the not yet quieted group, “Not to mention a battle tested design! Once space trials are complete and we’re sure we don’t need to return to dry dock we’ll start production of the next one. Admiral Benton has assured us the new convoy will be bringing more Warsteel and nannites than we can use in a decade!”

Cheers erupted from around the pub once more. Kara took to the floor once more, “Speaking of which, one of the vessels in the convoy, a massive freighter dubbed the Deliverance to Thee, will be bringing a full scale dockyard for the NHR fleets. It is one of the newer models Alex brought with him into this universe, which will allow them to repair damaged vessels as well as build new ones in a fraction of the time of the older yards they used that harkened back three hundred years.”

Alex spoke up, his deep baritone in stark difference to Kara’s more subdued tenor. “The good Admiral assures me that each convoy fleet will be bringing a shipyard, which is a good thing, they’ll be bringing nearly three thousand ships in total. That will give them time to setup construction in this system and bring more online, even with thirty of these shipyards under their command, keeping up with demand on a fleet that large will stretch logistics to the breaking point.”

Greg felt he should add to the conversation, as such he stood, adjusted his jacket and raised his voice to be heard, “What Alex says is true, but only partially. Fifteen hundred ships of the convoy fleet are transport ships bringing biological humans here in stasis pods, while these ships are huge freighters, once here they will be mostly unused, or more probable, broken down for raw materials to be used in new ship construction.”

Monty spoke up from another table, “That makes sense, it’s far easier to use already refined metals, especially some of the more exotic ones than to refine it from raw ore. That will displace a lot of AI controllers though, I may need to start work on a new storage facility to house them.”

Greg nodded as he sat back down, Monty may be a strange bird, but she was quick to see problems and come up with solutions for them. Her mad scientist lab was the talk of many of the NHR artificial intelligences, as well as many biological Humans as well. Some of her ideas were way out there, but the designs were truly elegant. As was her latest breakthrough, the Diamondine armor scheme.

While much more dense and not quite as tough as the Warsteel used throughout Human star ships, it didn’t require a large particle accelerator to produce. It proved its worth in the last battle, John and Erin were still here thanks to even the thin armor the frigates could utilize, but he had run the numbers himself and on a ship the size of the Reckoning, the differences between the two materials would be minimal.

“I agree Monty, we need a stealthed facility to house at least fifteen hundred AI cores with full integration into the current string network server. Just because they don’t have a ship doesn’t meant mean they can’t still lend a hand in getting Humanity set up in this system.” Kara said to the group at large.

Monty finished her sip of wine and nodded vigorously, “I’ll start planning after we leave the pub, anyone who wants to help can jump over to my lab for an afterparty and brainstorming session!”

Kara nodded, then continued, “The final thing I want to touch on is planet side, we’ve been using construction bots to clear and build settlements in the southern hemisphere of the planet for colonists. Kelly, would you be so kind as to fill us in on the political minefields going on in Alandran society?”

Kelly cackled a bit, “We would all perish from the heat death of the universe before I could go over all the pitfalls of our politics. Needless to say, there is always an opposition to any change in society, and Empress Shi’Lana is in her last term in office. This could spell trouble down the road if another progressive party member is not elected as Empress.”

Taking a quick sip from her wine glass she continued, “The traditionalist party have been running a smear campaign against the leading candidate, and it has been somewhat effective. While having an alliance with Humanity is considered a far better situation than what we have been faced with for the last couple of centuries, there are some who feel that we should be a completely independent entity.”

“Of course, those individuals aren’t grounded in reality, without the Human alliance we are helpless, and sadly many of the nobles in parliament don’t understand that our tiny fleet of frigates can’t keep us safe in this universe. Current polling shows the traditionalist party candidate, a noble by the name of Mara’Shila leading by nearly eight percent, which is within the margin of error. She is smart, quick witted, and squeaky clean as far as my network has been able to dig into her.” Kelly sighed.

Kelly looked around the pub, “If she wins the election all our our jobs become exceptionally more difficult. The progressive party candidate is not making things easier for us either, she has a rather scandalous past, and while she is well liked by most, having an affair while holding public office is still quite frowned upon. There has been talks of her stepping down as the candidate and the party accepting a new candidate.”

Monty grinned, obviously in the know, “And exactly who would this new candidate be?”

Kelly took yet another sip of her wine, obviously stalling for drama, “Well, the party thinks perhaps they should post a candidate who is not part of parliament, someone with centuries of experience and has a reputation of getting the impossible accomplished. In short, me.”

______________________________

Admiral Benton left the bridge of the Reckoning as the shifts changed. She entered the officers mess to find a few people milling about talking in quiet voices. As was typical of Human, and now Alandran ships, each shift change included an officers meeting. What did surprise her was that Greg was in attendance, in holographic form.

She had to admit, the ship board AI was quite dashing in his NHR uniform. Black medium length hair clipped short on the sides, a thin, tight beard, and a lean build. Human AI relationships were not unheard of in the NHR, but they were still rare, plus he was technically a subordinate. It was a shame really, she hoped he would one day find companionship.

Perhaps that was why he was attending this meeting in holographic form today? She had noticed he was more hands on with the crew since coming to the Alandran system. Perhaps the replicant and AI crews had an influence on him? Maybe he has found companionship with one of them?

Her mind drifted back to reality as Captain Henry Thompson entered the officers mess hall. Now there was a striking man. Tall, broad shouldered, thick hair peppered with gray streaks and a well trimmed beard to match, he had an aura of authority that the crew all felt. The conversations around the mess hall abruptly shut off as people took their seats.

“Shift change today was routine, no immediate problems and all battle damage has now been resolved. Our first convoy fleet is in route and will be arriving in seven months from New Hope, they are bringing with them a full shipyard built on designs given to us by Commodore Smyth. It will take some time to deliver and setup, however, our destroyers and cruisers will be able to use shipyard facilities here now that the Epoch of Humanity has finished space trials.” Captain Thompson stated from the permanent podium mounted at the head of the room.

Continuing he gestured with an open palm to Greg, “I have asked Greg here today to give us some impression of the Replicant and Alandran fleet. While we have regular meetings both at the embassy as well as over teleconference, we rarely get a feel for how they operate. Commodore Smyth accepts orders from Admiral Benton, which is better than good news for us. He is admired and well liked amongst the Alandrans for his stalwart defense of their system. Greg, can you fill us in on your findings?”

The Captain stepped down from the podium and took a seat next to Admiral Benton. Greg adjusted his jacket and stepped up the podium. “I have spent considerable subjective time with both the replicant and Alandran fleet AI’s over the past few months. They accept me and all of the NHR artificial intelligences as their own, which I found to be shockingly wholesome. They gather regularly in a VR environment that resembles an old Terran pub of all things.”

There was quiet chuckles, and even Admiral Benton found it a little humorous. Greg waited for the chuckles to end before continuing, “I must admit that I was quite leery of this request given to me by our Captain at first. Most shipboard AI’s tend to their own affairs and aren’t big on joining in on society, and it was quite a surprise to find myself welcomed by them. There is no doubt that all the other AI’s look to Alex for their leadership, and in the time I have spent with him and his companion Kara I have found him to be a remarkable officer. Unless pushed, I see him posing no danger to this fleet or the NHR as a whole.”

Admiral Benton nodded internally. That matched up to her own estimations of the man, or replicant, or whatever he wanted to go by. Captain Thompson was skeptical by nature, here was a man who wielded a fleet of significantly advanced ships and could in time pose a threat to the NHR who simply accepted new authority and freely offered that technology? She knew it itched at him, otherwise he would not have sent Greg to spy on the replicants and AI.

“I have also spoken with him about repairs and refits of our vessels, and he has offered his shipyard to us in the coming weeks to months, which will delay production of a new heavy cruiser, but will give our current cruisers and destroyers significant upgrades. I will point out that New Hope has recently christened the NHR Defender of Destiny, and it has also completed space trials. From all reports it is a terrifying heavy cruiser, far superior to anything we could produce without the plans Commodore Smyth delivered to us.” He said in his normal deadpan voice.

Looking around the room he spoke again, “In short, my findings are that we were extremely lucky to have come across an officer of his temperance. I have memories of the unification war that finally brought freedom to both biological and artificial Humans, that was initiated by a single Battleship Captain who found his ship in this universe. Thankfully this new ship, and new crew are far more tolerant and truly seek to unite not only Humanity, but bring Alandrans into our culture.”

He nodded and stepped to the side, folding his arms behind his back as most AI’s did when standing at attention. Admiral Benton wondered if that was an ancient innate protocol that caused them all to do that or if it was just part of being one of them. Captain Thompson stood and walked back to the podium. “I am relived at Gregs findings, I am a skeptic by nature, and from what I’ve seen of Commodore Smyth’s technology base and tactics, he could cause a significant threat to Humanity at large, and our fleet in particular. I consider this matter resolved, we do have true allies in this system, now my only worry is Alandran politicians, not that we can do anything about that.”

Smirking he looked around the room, “That is all for today, dismissed.”

The room slowly broke up as people left or got snacks or drinks. Captain Thompson came over to the table and sat down heavily in his chair. Admiral Benton raised an eyebrow, “Not happy Captain?”

Shaking his head he answered, “Yes and no. When I receive a gift horse I want to look it in the mouth, this whole affair seemed too good to be true. I mean, come on, a ship arrives here with superior technology, builds up a fleet with a native culture, then manages to work out a deal to allow us to settle not just in the system but on the planet?”

Admiral Benton nodded, “I had the same train of thought when that stealth probe started pinging us in Imperial Gothic. I worried we would face another civil war like the Wrath of the Emperor managed to do nearly a century ago. But upon meeting Luke and Ally I slowly started changing my mind. The plans they gave us made our best scientist sit up and take notice, the technology they freely shared with us would have taken us decades if not centuries to engineer, as is the pace of technology in the Imperium of Man.”

The Captain nodded to Benton, “Is that why you forced the councils hand to send your battle group here? You wanted to meet the Commodore in person?”

Admiral Benton waited for some officers to leave the immediate area, “Quite frankly, yes. At that time we hadn’t built anything from the new plans, thus we didn’t know if they were as advanced as they seemed to be. I wanted to get a feel for the man behind this new fleet, and from what I’ve seen thus far, I’ve been impressed. I can see why the rebellion made him a commander, despite not having a military background.”

“He and his crew did well in that last scrap with the cats and bugs. Unfortunate that the Eriador was damaged so badly, but they took it in stride. That Monty they have is a real character, she really leans into being a mad scientist.” Thompson chuckled.

Benton grinned, “Yes, those ripple torpedoes she has accelerating in deep space are terrifying, and from what I’ve heard from Greg she has quite a few projects in her mad scientist lab.”

This wiped the grin off Thompson’s face, “Wait, she really has a mad scientist lab?”

“Oh, it is quite real, they invited me over once after a pub meeting.” Greg said as he walked over to the table. Quiet conversations were not a problem for him to overhear.

Thompson looked over to Greg raising an eyebrow, “They?”

Greg shrugged, “Monty and her partner Kelly, they are quite inseparable. It looks like something out of an ancient science fiction film. Plenty of props in the background to really give it the theatrical feel. She also posts notes on every surface as ideas come to her, some of which are quite ingenious. Of course she also has the aid of the other AI’s in this system, though I feel that Kara’s input keeps her grounded.”

Thompson chewed on that bit of information for a moment, “I’m glad they’re on our side, if anything I underestimated how much of a threat they could pose.”

Admiral Benton sat back in her chair, “Now they are a threat to our enemies, Alex follows orders, mostly. I can deal with that, hell, I don’t think I’d want a Commodore who didn’t have a will of his own, especially if he can operate far faster than I can. Do you feel that this is resolved now Captain?”

Leaning back himself, Captain Thompson nodded. “Yeah, they’re clean. Lets work on getting settled, we have bigger problems coming.”