Reborn as a Spaceship

Things moved quickly after NeuroGenesis departed, the tense mood aboard relaxing into cautious relief. The crew soon headed across to the station, eager to properly say goodbye to Lynn and Kel's family and, much to T'lish's delighted surprise, formally introduce her as part of their new extended clan.

In the meantime, there was a critical detail to finalise and that was Wayfarer's avatar. Unlike Laia's flexible nanite body, Wayfarer could only manifest aboard the ship itself as a hologram. Even so, they already had a clear vision of how they wanted to appear.

I waited patiently on the bridge alongside Laia, watching with interest as the holographic emitters hummed softly. The air rippled with a cascade of digital motes, coalescing gently into an elegant, humanoid form.

When Wayfarer finally solidified, the effect was mesmerizing.

They had chosen the appearance of a living planet, sculpted seamlessly into a slender, graceful humanoid shape. Wayfarer's body was a tapestry of continents and oceans, deserts blending into lush, forested valleys, mountains forming intricate ridges along limbs and torso. Every surface pulsed softly with the glow of life, a living landscape in perpetual, subtle motion.

Their oceans swirled gently with real tides, tiny waves lapping at shores defined by subtle coastlines etched into their form. Storms drifted occasionally across their chest or shoulders, rainfall nourishing miniature forests, snow-dusted mountain peaks. Wayfarer's hair flowed like endless fields of golden grass swaying under an invisible breeze.

Wayfarer turned slowly, displaying the seamless continuity of rivers winding down their back, lakes nestled along collarbones, and even faint lights shimmering in valleys like cities at twilight.

I was awestruck by the immense effort required to design and maintain such a design.

Wayfarer paused, suddenly uncertain. "What do you think? Is it...too literal?"

Laia beamed immediately, clapping her hands lightly. "No, it's perfect. Beautiful, even."

Wayfarer's oceanic eyes rippled with visible relief. "Thank you, Laia."

I smiled, examining my own avatar critically. "It suits you extremely well. Now I feel underdressed. Maybe I should redesign my avatar with more muscle or something impressive."

Laia laughed softly, giving me a teasing look. "You're already impressive enough, Lazarus."

We were interrupted by the gentle chime signalling the crew's return. Moments later, footsteps and conversation echoed down the corridor.

"I can't believe your uncle hugged me, He was almost as large as a male Kall-e," T'lish's voice floated ahead, bright and breathless. "Do all humans express affection so... enthusiastically?"

"Only Uncle Brant," Kel answered with a chuckle. "Trust me."

They entered the common area, smiles still lingering but they froze mid-step as they spotted Wayfarer.

Mira's eyes widened. "Whoa."

Stewie stepped forward hesitantly, reaching out as if he might touch the hologram but stopping short. "What... who is this?"

Wayfarer inclined their head politely, ripples traveling down their form as they spoke. "Hello. I am Wayfarer. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Kel blinked several times, visibly recovering. "Wow. You guys really did some adventuring while we were gone."

T'lish practically bounced forward, tail twitching in excitement. "Everyone, this is Wayfarer! They're the consciousness from the planet itself, think of them as a child of a sentient world."

Stewie's jaw dropped. "The planet itself? How does that even work?"

I had the same question myself, but I guess life is diverse out in the galaxy.

Wayfarer nodded, causing tides to gently shift across their chest. "Indeed. Though my world has existed for billions of years, my own awareness is newly formed. Lazarus and Laia helped give me form, and now I join you."

Stolen novel; please report.

Lynn finally found her voice, tone slightly suspicious but clearly intrigued. "Wait—what exactly happened while we were away? We leave you alone for a bit and now there's a planet walking around in the bridge?"

Laia stepped forward, a small smile playing at her lips. "We had an interesting encounter on the planet"

Kel crossed his arms with mock suspicion. "Define 'interesting.'"

I chuckled, stepping beside Wayfarer. "We met a Harmonic, one of those ancient beings—"

Stewie's eyes lit up. "Like the Architect?"

"Similar," Laia continued. "And Lazarus was chosen as something called a 'Judge.'"

"A Judge?" Lynn repeated skeptically. "Judge of what?"

"Apparently, it's a long story, I will explain everything later," I said. " But it something about representing ideals, dealing with alien races from beyond the galaxy. Frankly, I'm still figuring it out myself."

"Sounds intense," Kel observed, brow furrowing. "Did becoming a Judge come with any perks? You know, like a badge or something to impress people?"

"Or special privileges?" Lynn added hopefully.

"Unfortunately, no badges," I replied, laughing softly. "The gifts we received were it. A new ship, new capabilities, and of course, Wayfarer." I didn't need to tell them about my ability to exist out of time and longevity granted by The Mother.

Mira shook her head slowly, eyes locked onto Wayfarer's living form. "I still can't believe any of this."

Stewie spoke up suddenly as he had been thinking deeply. "But, I mean... what really changes? We're still doing the same stuff, right? Explore the galaxy, make Telks, discover crazy things, and run away from trouble?"

"Pretty much," I agreed, nodding. "Maybe with a bit more attention to galaxy-wide politics. But yes, fundamentally the same."

Kel grinned widely, relaxing visibly. "Perfect. Let's not get too complicated."

Lynn smirked, nudging him lightly. "Life around here is already complicated enough."

Wayfarer smiled gently, the seas on their form growing calmer, more reflective. "Then I look forward to experiencing these uncomplicated adventures."

Mira laughed, shaking her head. "Oh, trust me but nothing stays uncomplicated long around here."

"Good," Wayfarer replied, looking genuinely pleased. "I believe that means we're going to have a lot of fun."

Kel laughed loudly, clapping Stewie on the back. "You fit right in."

Stewie nodded. "Yeah. Welcome aboard, Wayfarer."

As their voices filled the common room, warmth spread through me. We were complete again, and a new member added seamlessly. It felt like a fresh start, though I couldn't shake the quiet tension whispering at the back of my mind.

For now, though, we were safe. Laia had already prepared a new location, an interesting system with twin stars. The three of us prepared ourselves and we dimensional shifted successfully. The transition was smoother than ever before it was a testament to our growing harmony.

After the jump, we all embarked on a tour of the new ship. I had built it from my memories and had memorised the layout, but viewing it as a crew member was entirely different. Nearly every room had an external view, the twin stars casting dual shadows and bathing the interior in warm, golden light.

"This is incredible," Mira whispered, pressing her palm against a viewport in the corridor as the binary stars shining in the distance.

The crew marvelled at each having their own quarters with a bed and desk. It was a far cry from sharing a couple of tubes in a ship's cabin or having all four of us crammed into the crew's quarters.

There was a quick battle of rock, paper, scissors to pick which room they each got. Kel won first choice and immediately claimed the corner suite with the panoramic view of the starboard side. Stewie groaned dramatically but seemed pleased enough with his second pick.

We moved on to investigate each of the workstations. We would need to fit them out properly once we got to a trade station or world, but Laia already had the droids bringing in tools from our old ship. The familiar equipment looked almost quaint against the new organic interfaces.

I had saved some of Mira's garden from the planet, but not all. She knelt beside the transplanted flora, fingers gently brushing leaves that had somehow survived our transformation.

"It's perfect," she said, looking up with genuine gratitude. "I can work with this."

"Still no livestock pen," T'lish noted, a slight pout forming. "I do enjoy fresh meat."

"We'll figure something out," I assured her, watching her tail twitch with mild disappointment.

The hangar bay impressed them most of all even with its vast and empty space, with enough room for ten landers of different styles. Kel and Stewie were already deep in animated conversation, figuring out what types we would need and how to spend the Telks from the jump buoys.

"A scout vessel, definitely," Kel said, gesturing to one corner of the bay. "Something fast and low-profile."

"And a heavy transport," Stewie added, eyes bright with possibility. "For material runs."

We toured the rest of the core systems and even the holographic room. I had tried to remember all the rooms I had seen in sci-fi shows and films. The crew seemed impressed as we walked through spaces that could transform into almost any environment.

"You built all this... from memory?" T'lish asked, turning slowly to take in the holographic projectors.

"With some improvements," Laia added, her avatar flying beside me.

Wayfarer's form materialised into existence, their terrain-like skin catching the light. "Lazarus had quite the canvas to work with. I was impressed with his memories"

That caught my interest, I hadn't known he could see my memories, I wonder if Laia could as well. I would need to investigate that later.

As we completed the tour in the observation deck, the crew gathered around the central table. The twin stars burned bright beyond the viewports, their gravitation dance casting constantly shifting patterns of light across our faces.

"So," Kel said, breaking the comfortable silence. "Where to next?"