Reborn as a Spaceship

Laia was angry with me.

She was yelling, I mean actually yelling and it was strange enough hearing genuine frustration in her voice that it snapped me straight out of my deep-focus trance. My new virtual workshop, where I had practically lived since the slipstream lockdown, shuddered as she forced it offline, files and half-finished equations scattering like leaves.

"Get out of here, Lazarus!" she demanded again. "You're needed. Now."

I stared at her avatar, baffled. The fairy form she normally wore had turned a rather alarming shade of crimson a colour I had never seen before, wings flaring and eyes narrowed. Until now, I hadn't even known she could get mad.

"What's wrong?" I asked, confused. "Is it an emergency?"

"It is," she said sharply. "It's Mira's birthday. We're having a party, and everyone is already there. Everyone except you."

I blinked, momentarily bewildered. "But… Mira's birthday isn't for another three months."

She went silent, her wings twitching slightly as she stared at me with something that could only be described as genuine concern.

"How long do you think you've been in here, Lazarus?" she finally asked.

"I don't know," I replied slowly. "A week. Maybe a little longer?"

Laia sighed, a sound so authentically weary it startled me more than the yelling had.

"You've been in here three months," she said softly. "It's Mira's birthday, Right now."

My mind froze. Three months? How had three entire months passed without me noticing? I hadn't seen the crew, hadn't attended any briefings, hadn't even monitored the drones. A sharp pang of guilt twisted in me. Had my experience trapped in null-time altered my perception of reality so dramatically, or was I becoming more ship than person, slipping into some digital limbo where days and months blurred together into nothing?

I didn't like either option.

"What… what have they been up to?" I asked sheepishly.

Laia folded her arms across her tiny chest, still giving me an irritated glare, though now it seemed tinged with something softer, I guessed maybe relief. "Why don't you go ask them yourself?"

I entered my avatar and headed to the room. I hesitated briefly, aware of how much time I'd missed but when the doors opened the warmth washed over me.

The party was already underway. Mira stood at the center, beaming in front of a cake decorated with crudely piped stars and planets which was clearly Stewie's handiwork. Mira laughed brightly, as Lynn tried and failed to keep a straight face while recounting a recent escapade.

"Oh come on," Mira teased, nudging Lynn with her elbow. "You've got to tell us how your date went."

"It wasn't a date," Lynn replied, firmly but with a playful glint in her eyes. "It was a networking meeting."

"Networking, huh?" Kel said dryly, tipping back his drink with a knowing smirk. "Lasted an awful long time for a business meeting."

Lynn's face flushed slightly, but she stood her ground. "Humans are rare out here, Kel. It was nice sharing some stories and that is all."

Stewie snickered, exchanging a grin with Kel. "Stories, huh?"

"Oh, shut up," Lynn shot back, tossing a napkin at him.

Stewie dodged, laughing louder. "Hey, speaking of stories, maybe Kel and I should share about our mission. Turns out that Kelian client we took home still hasn't stopped asking about him."

Lynn leaned in closer, eyebrow raised mischievously. "Oh, seems like Kel made quite the impression?"

Kel raised his hands in mock surrender. "What can I say? I'm irresistible even the bunny-people think so."

Everyone burst into laughter, and Mira covered her face with her hands, giggling uncontrollably. T'lish, who'd been sitting quietly in the corner, allowed herself a small smile, her grey eyes gentle and warm.

I stepped deeper into the room, my avatar drawing immediate attention. Mira spotted me first, her eyes lighting up with pure happiness.

"Mr Lazarus!" she called, sprinting over and throwing her arms around my avatar. Her embrace was tight and warm, genuine enough to spark something that felt real, even if my avatar technically couldn't feel touch. "I thought you'd forgotten."

I smiled sheepishly, meeting the eyes of the others, who all seemed to be silently agreeing with her sentiment.

"I'm sorry, Mira. I got lost in my own head," I admitted quietly. "But I wouldn't have missed this."

She pulled back, eyes twinkling with excitement. "You've missed so much. Lynn's dating.."

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"I'm not" Lynn protested again.

"Kel's got bunny-admirers—"

Kel chuckled, shrugging in amused defeat.

"And Stewie's gotten so good at flying Chunkyboy, he has been able to fly mission solo!"

Stewie puffed up proudly.

Mira reached out again, squeezing my hand gently. "We missed you."

I nodded, touched. "I missed you too. All of you."

T'lish approached slowly, eyes thoughtful. "Have you made progress?"

"Maybe," I admitted, glancing at Laia, who hovered quietly near the doorway, expression now neutral again. "But I lost track of more than time." I still hadn't cracked the final part of how to access the network, I had come up with a method for connecting two individual dimensional windows and making an instant jump. I would still need to test

Mira looked between us curiously, but Lynn stepped in with a raised glass before she could ask.

"Enough of the shop talk," Lynn declared. "Today is Mira's day. To Mira, the brightest star on this floating heap of trouble! Happy 13th Birthday"

"To Mira!" we all chorused, raising glasses, or mugs of synth-tea. Mira's smile beamed brighter than ever, and for just a moment, we were exactly where we needed to be: laughing, teasing, safe and together.

Later, as the others drifted back into casual conversation and Kel produced some truly terrible party music he'd apparently traded 10g of Telk for, Laia fluttered softly to my shoulder.

"You missed a lot," she said quietly.

I nodded, feeling a little raw, vulnerable in a way I hadn't expected. "I guess I did."

Laia hesitated, hovering near my shoulder. Her voice softened, almost affectionate.

"We all need reminders sometimes. Especially when you're spending too much time with yourself."

I nodded quietly. "You're right. Thanks, Laia. Next time, drag me out earlier."

She smiled, just slightly. "I'll hold you to that."

I chuckled softly, turning my attention back to the party. Mira and Stewie had taken center stage, awkwardly dancing in their fancy new holographic outfits. The clothing glowed with radiant blues and greens, reacting to each other's movements. As they danced, their clothes overlapped, shifting and changing patterns with waves of interference rippling like light through light.

It was mesmerizing.

Then suddenly, clarity struck. I stared intently at their outfits, visualizing layers of constructive and destructive interference. Light could move through light effortlessly because it shared the same essential properties. What if energy and information could be packaged the same way?

Contained. Guided. Moved through the dimensional membranes shaped from the same kind of energy?

My core pulsed with excitement, racing ahead to possibilities. But first, I needed perspective. Another mind.

"T'lish?" I asked quietly, turning to the corner where she sat quietly, observing the festivities. She turned sharply, startled but quickly curious.

"Yes, Lazarus?"

"I need your expertise. And maybe some of your new memories, if you can access them."

Her eyes softened immediately. "I'll do my best."

We moved to a quieter spot, away from Mira's delighted laughter and Kel's increasingly questionable music selection. Once alone, I explained my sudden idea sparked by the holographic interference about the dimensional containers and my proposed new method of travel.

She listened carefully, nodding thoughtfully as I laid out the theory.

"Could that work?" I asked. "Could we use the dimensional wall itself, packaged as energy, to move between two points?"

She considered it carefully, her grey eyes distant. Finally, she shook her head slightly, a quiet frustration appearing on her face.

"I don't know. All of my genetic memories show the Kall-e only knowing of slipstream windows exactly as we did using the defined entry points, exit points and stable paths. But they've been sealed, as you know. Your concept, though…" She paused, eyes brightening. "It does have merit. Those walls aren't physical barriers. They're energetic. If you could match their resonance or maybe even emulate it. You might be able to create your own dimensional containers."

"That's exactly what I'm thinking," I said, energised by her validation. "A dimensional membrane, built from energy and information. A self-contained packet that could move through space without interference."

We talked shop for the rest of the party, oblivious to the cheerful chaos around us. It felt omfortable and collaborative, like solving a complex puzzle together. It felt hopeful.

By the next morning, my idea had crystallised into a plan. It needed testing and careful experimentation. And it had to be done far from the station. Chunkyboy was my best option. With Stewie's help, I loaded the lander with the instruments we'd need and a dimensional resonance coils, power generators, quantum analysers. The crew gathered around, tense with anticipation as Chunkyboy departed, warping to the far edge of the system.

My voice echoed across the virtual bridge, firm and focused.

"Ready for test one. Chunkyboy is at position alpha, systems stable."

I carefully activated the coils aboard Chunkyboy. A concentrated pulse of energy, encoded with information and a precise spatial location, radiated outward. The lander was simulating what slipstream would be doing in my new system transferring energy and coordinates along the lattice. At the same time, I began shaping the enterance dimensional gate near our position.

"Activating gate formation," I said, feeling my systems strain as I pushed power into forming the entry node. Space vibrated gently outside the viewport, it started to move and then collapsed.

"Dammit," I muttered. "Not enough power. Gate formation incomplete."

Lynn shook her head sympathetically from the lounge, watching on the monitors. "Keep at it, Lazarus. New tech rarely works on the first try."

Stewie's voice came in sharply, professional and reassuring. "Chunkyboy is holding steady. Systems recharging now with another attempt possible in twenty minutes."

Twenty agonisingly slow minutes passed. I rechecked my math, recalibrated power outputs, and increased the resonance factor. This time, my numbers felt stronger, more precise. I needed more power

"Ready for the second test," I announced firmly. "Activating energy pulse… now."

Chunkyboy's coils activated again, pulsing energy outwards, a clear, bright beacon in dimensional space. On my side, I channelled power more carefully, steadily shaping the dimensional membrane. A glimmer appeared and then held firm, expanding slowly, forming a perfect, shimmering gate right outside the ship.

It worked.

"Gate stable!" Stewie shouted excitedly. "Chunkyboy's instruments confirm solid resonance."

The crew cheered in unison, the joy rippling through me like a current. I didn't hesitate.

"Hold steady, everyone," I said. "I'm jumping us through."

For the first time in months, I surged forward at faster-than-light speed as I entered into a dimensional gate, instantaneous jump from one end of the system to the other. Space twisted briefly, the stars blurred, and a heartbeat later, Chunkyboy appeared on sensors and was right beside us, exactly as planned.

Kel leaned forward, eyes wide with amazement. "You did it. Lazarus, you genius. You really did it."

I knew this was only the start and was the part I was most confident at. Even with this, we could create a network using warp-capable ships but this wasn't the end goal.

"This was only step 1 we still have a few to go," I corrected gently.

T'lish nodded firmly, a rare smile forming on her face. "Still, This changes everything."

I stared out the viewport at the lander beside us, a quiet victory radiating throughout my mind. Our dimensional gate closed gently behind us, leaving only clear space and new possibilities.