Reborn as a Spaceship

The planet began to change the moment the Harmonic vanished as if the Harmonic that was living here couldn't stand our presence any longer.

The forward base collapsed, not violently, but with graceful efficiency. The growth pond dissolved into the soil, and the structures we'd built disassembled, the materials vanishing and reappearing in my new cargo hold. The message was clear.

We were no longer welcome.

I took the hint. With a surge of energy through my new form, I ascended, rising from the surface with a grace I had never known in my old shell. It was my first atmospheric flight since I had become a ship. I was glad my sublight engines no longer risked destroying planets.

As I climbed higher, I caught sight of a patch of decay below. It was a large blot of blackened earth like a scar on the vibrant planet.

Wayfarer spoke, its voice curious and thoughtful. "We drew deeply from the life force. But it will recover."

I hoped so. But a part of me wondered how much we had taken. The new body or our body felt like a perfect fit. No lag, no disconnect. There was no separation between my consciousness and my physical form I could feel the systems respond before I even consciously reached for them. But that intimacy raised a new question.

Was this truly my body? Or ours?

Laia answered without needing to be asked. "It's both. We are the body. You are the balance-keeper. The leader. But this is a union."

That sounded like something out of a fantasy novel but it felt right. I had to ponder what would happen if we disagreed on a course of action. Could I overwrite the other two?

Laia in her sentinel avatar had already recovered everything important from my old form: personal belongings, crew quarters, engineering modules, even the mess hall's ridiculous coffee machine. Everything the crew had ever made or used was safe now, stored in the new ship's massive interior. From orbit, harvester drones swarmed over my old husk, breaking it down with silent precision. It looked like vultures tearing into a carcass, cold and clinical.

T'lish was beside herself, practically running laps inside my corridors, breathless with awe.

"I've dreamed of this," she whispered, tail twitching as she leaned against a bulkhead alive with bio-light. "A true living ship… I never imagined it could feel like this. It's… it's not just alive. It wants to be alive."

She giggled, bouncing from system to system like a child in a candy store. "They're going to lose their minds when they see this."

I smiled. It was cute to see her so happy.

Speaking of the crew...

"I want to test out the new drive to find them," I said, "but I don't know where they are."

Laia brought up the system map. "The most likely location is still the human-controlled sectors. If they followed the plan, they'd be at their uncle's recycling station."

"And if they're already en route back?"

"We'll cross that bridge. Wayfarer can get us there and back with minimal effort. We won't lose them."

It was time to test the new drive.

With everything packed away, it was time to take the new body out for a proper test. The new drive required all three of us to work together, it required harmony literally: Laia guided the ship's systems. Wayfarer maintained the dimensional connection to the slipstream, holding the doorway open. And I... I guided the intent. My consciousness shaped the information flow, charting the exit path like sketching a line across an unseen map.

The power draw would have been immense in my old body but now it was negligible to us. The body solar absorption was near perfect. Energy surged through the vessel's organic conduits, and I felt it, like sunlight blooming behind my eyes.

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We jumped.

Not through space, but between it. A seamless transition. No flash, no sound, just one heartbeat and we were somewhere else.

But something was wrong.

We emerged near the recycling station... and three warships loomed just outside it, locked in a silent holding pattern. I didn't need to run IDs at first glance of their silhouettes told me everything. One was John. The other two were older NeuroGenesis destroyers, all outdated plating and far too many guns. Something told me the negotiations weren't exactly off to a good start.

I moved to open a channel, then hesitated. We hadn't even agreed on a name for the ship. Wayfarer had lobbied for Pathfinder, something poetic and bold. Laia, ever sentimental, had argued we should keep Lazarus. But that wasn't right either. This wasn't just me anymore. It was all three of us. Laia suggested The Scale as a nod to balance but it felt too passive. I floated a new idea: The Arbiter. Laia approved. Wayfarer made a noise of disapproval but conceded. So, for now, that was our name. I would let the crew decide before we made it official.

I opened the channel and projected my avatar which now stood on the physical bridge, Laia avatar stood beside me in her quiet, unreadable calm. "This is Lazarus of The Arbiter," I said. "I'm here looking for my crew. If anyone knows their location, I'd like to see them."

Static crackled before a face resolved on the screen—John. He'd changed avatars again. This time instead of Picard he was General Hammond, all warmth and poise and theatrical civility. But his eyes were too sharp. Too calculating. "La—zarus," he said slowly, like tasting the name. "Well now. That is a new look. I was expecting a ghost, not a resurrection. Didn't your crew leave you for dead?"

He studied my avatar, then glanced at Laia, lips twitching. "She's still with you," he muttered. "When? How? What even are you now?"

I said nothing. Let him work through it.

Finally, he straightened. "Your crew is fine. They're... guests of NeuroGenesis." He said guests with all the weight of a diplomatic lie. My core burned a little hotter.

"Where are they?" I asked, voice steady.

He didn't answer right away. Just smiled like a knife. "I'm sure they'd love to see you. But first, we'll need to debrief you." Behind him, I caught a glimpse of a harried comms officer trying very hard not to look directly at the camera. "After all, The Arbiter seems like a rather powerful anomaly. And anomalies require clarification."

Laia stepped in before I could respond. Her voice was low and measured, every word precise. "You'll find we no longer answer to NeuroGenesis."

That earned a long pause. Then John smiled again but tighter this time, more strained.

"We'll see," he said.

The channel closed, but his words lingered in the silence.

I wasn't even sure if I had weapons. Honestly, the thought hadn't crossed my mind when I was growing this ship. My new form was designed for exploration, for understanding and not for war. It wasn't until that moment that I realised just how vulnerable I might be.

Laia and Wayfarer both offered quiet reassurance.

"We are not meant to be a warship," Laia said gently, her avatar resting a hand on my shoulder. "But even explorers carry shields and we do have those."

"Explorers must survive their discoveries," Wayfarer added. "And sometimes... defend them. We will work on that"

Technically, I still had the mines and drones from my previous body, mostly automated, and far from a match for NeuroGenesis firepower. Against a destroyer, they were little more than annoyance. Against John? Less than that.

"T'lish," I said, shifting focus. "Sensor report?"

She was already staring at the data, her hands twitching nervously over the console. "I've got them," she said. "The crew, they're on one of the destroyers. Not John's ship."

Not ideal. But better than it could be.

That's when Wayfarer offered something that almost sounded like a joke.

"We could just dimensional shift them," it said calmly. "Dimensional extract."

"…You mean like teleportation?" I asked, blinking. "That's not a thing."

"It could be," Wayfarer said. "Theoretically."

I paused, running the idea through my mind. We'd never tried anything like that. Every shift we had performed so far had been full-scale transitions and a complete vessel relocations. We weren't equipped for surgical precision. Not yet.

"Laia?" I asked.

She was already calculating. Her eyes flicked across glowing displays, faster than thought.

"It's possible," she said slowly. "We'd need to open a micro-gate… small enough to fit a volume no larger than a person. But targeting would be difficult. We normally lock onto established warp coordinates or zones. Doing it inside a sealed warship comes with... risks."

"Like slicing someone in half?"

"Like opening a gate into a corridor and ending up inside a wall," Laia confirmed grimly. "Or pulling in something that's not the crew."

So, no. Not a rescue option I wanted to bet their lives on. Not yet.

"Alright," I said. "Run simulations. Quietly. We'll work on it in the background, see if we can refine it into something usable. But for now, we negotiate."

Wayfarer pulsed thoughtfully. "And if that fails?"

"Then," I said, "we find a way to do what we were born to do."

Laia tilted her head. "Explore?"

"No," I said, eyes narrowing as I stared at the destroyers on the edge of the screen.

"Adapt."