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Nov. 17th, 2004 11:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maderrI swear I'll catch up at some point.
Chapter Sixteen
Custom class ship #28922942, the Brilliant
"So what makes your ship so damned special?" Einn asked as Karmikel begrudgingly gave them a tour of his ship. "How do you man it all by yourself? Even as small as this ship is, it still requires a crew."
Karmikel preened, "Not this ship. It takes care of itself."
"How is that possible?" Faller asked.
"These are your rooms," Karmikel said, pointing to two doors at the end of a small hallway. "Take whichever you like, they're exactly the same. Certainly not Captain's quarters…" he looked at Einn.
In response, Einn shrugged. "If you're worried I'm going to try to usurp your authority or whatever, stop. I don't commandeer other men's ships. Though if you try to start getting bossy with me, Battery…"
"Whatever. And my name is not Battery, Stick."
Unnoticed, Faller rolled his eyes, "So explain the ship to us."
"Drop your things first," Karmikel dragged his eyes away from glaring at Einn to look at Faller. "And we can talk on the bridge."
"All right." Faller said before Einn could find something to take offense to.
Several minutes later, things settled in their rooms, the three gathered on the bridge - which was remarkably barren of the usual consoles, seats and screens that were required for a crew to run the ship. Several pieces of machinery were built into the walls, but they were obviously for monitoring rather than controlling. In the center of the room were chairs and a table that could be removed if so required. "What is this?"
Karmikel strolled to the massive strip of special glass that overlooked the rather stark view of space, "Have you ever heard of Live ships?"
"Yeah…" Faller said slowly. "But such ideas were outlawed not long after the Last Revolution on Earth - when artificial intelligence got out of control and it was decided that such things were better left in the past. Live ships were discussed for a while, but in the end considered just as bad - if not worse - as AI."
"Mmm…" Karmikel said. "You're well informed."
Faller shrugged, "Not really. I grew up in a shipyard. You learn things."
"Are you telling us this is a Live ship? But even beyond the questionable ethics of it - no one could design a successful way of integrating man to ship. Every illegal attempt proved futile."
Strands of cream-gold hair fell across Karmikel's eyes as he turned to look at them, "Ah, but there were a great many shipmen and scientists devoted to the cause. A great many who were willing to be patient, and work for it, rather than rush around eager for results. It took them many years, and many trials, and many new generations of scientists." His hands fell away from the glass, and he turned around fully to face them. "But at last they did come up with a solution - and this ship is the result of those decades of effort."
A dead silence greeted his words.
"How does it work?" Einn asked at last.
Rather than Karmikel, a faintly robotic voice spoke up, seeming to come from all over the room, the softer tones of a female. "The main flaw in the original theories was that the task of controlling an entire ship could be done by one person. This was a foolish assumption, and one we were guilty of for a great many years."
Einn and Faller had jumped at the sound of the voice, the Fornarian muttering darkly as Karmikel laughed at them. Faller turned slowly in a circle, finally looking up toward the ceiling. "So there's more than one "person" controlling the ship?"
"Correct," the female voice continued. "Another flaw in the original theories was that one mind could control a full-sized ship. Again, somewhat ridiculous in retrospect. Once this assumption was noted and the mistakes corrected, the task became much simpler."
A male voice continued, the sort of deep voice that immediately relaxed any listeners, "Reducing the size of the ship to a manageable size was the first step; much analysis was conducted before it was determined that a variation of the merchant class ships was the most effective. After that, we restarted the original experiments of melding mind with machine."
As the male voice stopped speaking, another masculine one picked up for him, this one of a slightly higher pitch, sharp and commanding rather than deep and relaxing. "It was determined that one mind, fully engaged in the matter of running a ship, could manage 43.7% of the task. Anything more simply strained the mind, and the subject was forced to give up."
"So you would need at least three minds working in unison to make it work," Faller said slowly.
"Correct," said the female voice. "Three minds are needed to fully operate a ship of this size. A full-sized merchant vessel would require at least seven minds, and it is roughly estimated that at least three times that would be required to operate an Intergalactic shuttle. War class vessels would require more minds that would be practical."
"And when you say minds…what exactly do you mean?" Einn asked.
Karmikel replied. "It means that when they finally figured out what they had to do, a group of scientists made every preparation they could - and then three of them "died" so that there minds could be transplanted to this ship."
"…That's really morbid," Einn grimaced.
Faller looked torn between being horrified and being impressed. "That's dedication."
"Yes, it is." Karmikel shoved away from the window. "The hardest part was finding suitable minds - you have to have people with extensive knowledge in science, ships, and flying. The three that killed themselves did it because they were literally the only ones qualified."
"And we were happy to do it," the commanding voice said. "We were getting old, and it was our dream to see a Live ship come into being."
Faller nodded, "But what about aging?"
"Don't even get them started on that. They'll talk for ages and right now we've got other things." Karmikel waved his hand, "But feel free to shower them with questions later - I certainly don't care. Just don't hurt my ship." He sat down at the table.
Einn followed suit, "So how is it you of all people came by a ship as rare as this?"
"My father was matched to a harbor master," Karmikel said. "And I got to know some of the scientists involved - this ship is only about ten years old. When they "committed suicide" there was a lot of chaos. It was actually given to my father's match, but he died in a harbor accident a few years ago - when they died, the ship was left to me." The bitterness in his voice was impossible to miss.
"And you've just been hiding up here in the stars ever since," Einn asked.
"Yeah," Karmikel said. "So I wouldn't get stuck with the likes of you. For all the good it did me, thanks to Mendel." He crossed his arms across his chest.
"I don't suppose you'd both shut up?" Faller asked sourly. But his words were either unheard, or ignored.
"I'm more likely to get caught saving your ass when it realizes it doesn't know what to do without a ship to baby sit it."
"Like a spoiled captain who was fired by his own crew has any room to talk!" Karmikel surged to his feet, as did Einn, and they both glared at each other over the table. "Why don't you just do me a favor and get us killed sooner rather than later?"
"No. I'd rather see you suffer."
Faller's breath hissed out between his teeth, and red began to cloud his vision as he rose slowly to his own feet - and then slammed his fists down on the table. He was pleased to see them both jumped and fell silent, and used the chance to speak. "Einn, I know it's hard for you to act like a civilized creature when you're this upset - but fucking try. You're getting on my damned nerves with all this bickering. And you," he rounded on Karmikel. "Just because you look like a woman doesn't mean you have to act like one."
Karmikel didn't waste time voicing a protest at his words - he simply launched himself at Faller and started swinging.
Einn's laughter didn't help matters, as the two exploded into a fight around the empty bridge. In short order, all three were doing their best to kill each other-
-Until they suddenly found themselves soaked through with cold water.
"That is quite enough," the female voice spoke up. "Honestly. Men. They never change. Get off the bridge until you can behave. You're acting like children, and this when you're supposed to be working out how to save a friend."
"Not my friend," Karmikel muttered.
Faller fingered a bruised eye, "You've got a nice right for someone who hides away on his ship all the time."
Karmikel made a face, "I haven't always lived on this ship. I told you - I grew up in a shipyard too."
"That would explain how you knew all my tricks," Faller said with a begrudging smile.
"Ha!" Einn said with satisfaction. "It's about time someone was able to get around your cheats." He looked at Karmikel, "I guess you might almost be useful."
"I live to serve," Karmikel snarled, turning away to stalk from the room.
"Hey!" Einn glared at his back. "I was just joking. Why the hell do you get so snarly whenever this stupid match thing comes up?"
The Draconis almost didn't reply, at the open door before he finally spoke. "Because I never wanted to be that responsible for someone's life. Or someone else for mine." He left.
Faller frowned, "What's he not telling us?" He looked at Einn, "You really need to stop acting like a damned child. What the hell is with you?"
"I don't like him being forced to shadow me anymore than he does. It's stupid - whoever came up with the idea was an egotistical moron."
"That would be the Coni," Faller said dryly.
The female voice spoke up again, "Are you well-acquainted with the Draconis crisis?"
"You mean the struggle over what's to be done with them?" Einn asked.
"Correct."
"Yeah. Some want them killed, other's want them 'fixed' and on and on it goes because no one will make a decision and others are doing things they shouldn't be doing."
"And are you aware of how the Draconis feel about all of this?"
"They want their freedom, don't they? That's what Mendel and Sean are working on."
"Incorrect," the voice replied.
"How do you mean?" Faller asked.
"Many Draconis want freedom. But not all. A great many of the Draconis believe that their proper role is as energy. They feel that those such as the Lady Jundel are out of line, and rejecting their roles in life."
A pause. It was Faller who spoke first, "That's rather depressing. I can't imagine having a mindset like that. 'My only purpose is to make some unknown individual more powerful' - I couldn't live like that."
"Karmikel's mother and most of his relatives believed just such a thing. They could not understand why Karmikel and his father wanted something different. That is why the Lady Jundel has such a difficult task - not only is she trying to persuade the Conis and the Infinitum, but she must also sway her own people."
"Why are you telling us this?" Faller asked. "He's just going to get mad at you."
"And do what?" the woman asked, amused. "We control this ship, and I will do whatever is necessary to ensure the ship's safety and that of its passengers. I do not want another fight like you three children just got into. If I must relate Karmikel's past to ensure that order is maintained, I will do so."
Faller snorted, "I wonder what other length's you'd go to."
"Let us hope you never have to find out."
Laughing, faller raked back his dripping hair. "Do you three have names? And are you the chatty one?"
"I am the chatty one, yes. Clearly men can't be trusted with the task - the other two were placing bets on the fight."
"What in the world do brains bet on?" Einn asked with a laugh.
"Who gets stuck with maintenance work for the next month," the deeper male voice replied. "It's dreadfully boring work. More fun to do navigation and the lot."
Einn grinned, "Do you three have names?"
"Victoria," the female said.
"Henry," the deep voice said.
"Charles," said the commanding voice.
"Nice to meet you," Einn said, before turning and sauntering out to go get dry.
Faller lingered.
"You should probably dry off first - I am sorry to have gotten you wet." Victoria said apologetically, though amusement laced her voice.
"Don't be," Faller said with a sigh. "I deserved it as much as them. Bad enough they act like children, I shouldn't have let myself be dragged into it."
"Then why did you?"
Faller grinned for a brief moment, "I liked the way he fought."
He could swear he heard Victoria chuckling before she spoke, "Well, go dry off and get warm. And you can speak to us from anywhere on the ship - the bridge is mostly a convenience for passengers. So get where you are comfortable, and away from the children, and we'll tell you all about the ship." Her voice turned mischievous, "And I'll give you stuff to use against 'Kel when he gets out of line."
"Sounds like fun," Faller said with another brief smile. "Perhaps by the time you've finished, the other two will have cooled down and we can get to work."
"If not, we'll force them to cooperate."
"I like the way you think, Victoria."
"I can see we'll get along famously."
Chapter Sixteen
Custom class ship #28922942, the Brilliant
"So what makes your ship so damned special?" Einn asked as Karmikel begrudgingly gave them a tour of his ship. "How do you man it all by yourself? Even as small as this ship is, it still requires a crew."
Karmikel preened, "Not this ship. It takes care of itself."
"How is that possible?" Faller asked.
"These are your rooms," Karmikel said, pointing to two doors at the end of a small hallway. "Take whichever you like, they're exactly the same. Certainly not Captain's quarters…" he looked at Einn.
In response, Einn shrugged. "If you're worried I'm going to try to usurp your authority or whatever, stop. I don't commandeer other men's ships. Though if you try to start getting bossy with me, Battery…"
"Whatever. And my name is not Battery, Stick."
Unnoticed, Faller rolled his eyes, "So explain the ship to us."
"Drop your things first," Karmikel dragged his eyes away from glaring at Einn to look at Faller. "And we can talk on the bridge."
"All right." Faller said before Einn could find something to take offense to.
Several minutes later, things settled in their rooms, the three gathered on the bridge - which was remarkably barren of the usual consoles, seats and screens that were required for a crew to run the ship. Several pieces of machinery were built into the walls, but they were obviously for monitoring rather than controlling. In the center of the room were chairs and a table that could be removed if so required. "What is this?"
Karmikel strolled to the massive strip of special glass that overlooked the rather stark view of space, "Have you ever heard of Live ships?"
"Yeah…" Faller said slowly. "But such ideas were outlawed not long after the Last Revolution on Earth - when artificial intelligence got out of control and it was decided that such things were better left in the past. Live ships were discussed for a while, but in the end considered just as bad - if not worse - as AI."
"Mmm…" Karmikel said. "You're well informed."
Faller shrugged, "Not really. I grew up in a shipyard. You learn things."
"Are you telling us this is a Live ship? But even beyond the questionable ethics of it - no one could design a successful way of integrating man to ship. Every illegal attempt proved futile."
Strands of cream-gold hair fell across Karmikel's eyes as he turned to look at them, "Ah, but there were a great many shipmen and scientists devoted to the cause. A great many who were willing to be patient, and work for it, rather than rush around eager for results. It took them many years, and many trials, and many new generations of scientists." His hands fell away from the glass, and he turned around fully to face them. "But at last they did come up with a solution - and this ship is the result of those decades of effort."
A dead silence greeted his words.
"How does it work?" Einn asked at last.
Rather than Karmikel, a faintly robotic voice spoke up, seeming to come from all over the room, the softer tones of a female. "The main flaw in the original theories was that the task of controlling an entire ship could be done by one person. This was a foolish assumption, and one we were guilty of for a great many years."
Einn and Faller had jumped at the sound of the voice, the Fornarian muttering darkly as Karmikel laughed at them. Faller turned slowly in a circle, finally looking up toward the ceiling. "So there's more than one "person" controlling the ship?"
"Correct," the female voice continued. "Another flaw in the original theories was that one mind could control a full-sized ship. Again, somewhat ridiculous in retrospect. Once this assumption was noted and the mistakes corrected, the task became much simpler."
A male voice continued, the sort of deep voice that immediately relaxed any listeners, "Reducing the size of the ship to a manageable size was the first step; much analysis was conducted before it was determined that a variation of the merchant class ships was the most effective. After that, we restarted the original experiments of melding mind with machine."
As the male voice stopped speaking, another masculine one picked up for him, this one of a slightly higher pitch, sharp and commanding rather than deep and relaxing. "It was determined that one mind, fully engaged in the matter of running a ship, could manage 43.7% of the task. Anything more simply strained the mind, and the subject was forced to give up."
"So you would need at least three minds working in unison to make it work," Faller said slowly.
"Correct," said the female voice. "Three minds are needed to fully operate a ship of this size. A full-sized merchant vessel would require at least seven minds, and it is roughly estimated that at least three times that would be required to operate an Intergalactic shuttle. War class vessels would require more minds that would be practical."
"And when you say minds…what exactly do you mean?" Einn asked.
Karmikel replied. "It means that when they finally figured out what they had to do, a group of scientists made every preparation they could - and then three of them "died" so that there minds could be transplanted to this ship."
"…That's really morbid," Einn grimaced.
Faller looked torn between being horrified and being impressed. "That's dedication."
"Yes, it is." Karmikel shoved away from the window. "The hardest part was finding suitable minds - you have to have people with extensive knowledge in science, ships, and flying. The three that killed themselves did it because they were literally the only ones qualified."
"And we were happy to do it," the commanding voice said. "We were getting old, and it was our dream to see a Live ship come into being."
Faller nodded, "But what about aging?"
"Don't even get them started on that. They'll talk for ages and right now we've got other things." Karmikel waved his hand, "But feel free to shower them with questions later - I certainly don't care. Just don't hurt my ship." He sat down at the table.
Einn followed suit, "So how is it you of all people came by a ship as rare as this?"
"My father was matched to a harbor master," Karmikel said. "And I got to know some of the scientists involved - this ship is only about ten years old. When they "committed suicide" there was a lot of chaos. It was actually given to my father's match, but he died in a harbor accident a few years ago - when they died, the ship was left to me." The bitterness in his voice was impossible to miss.
"And you've just been hiding up here in the stars ever since," Einn asked.
"Yeah," Karmikel said. "So I wouldn't get stuck with the likes of you. For all the good it did me, thanks to Mendel." He crossed his arms across his chest.
"I don't suppose you'd both shut up?" Faller asked sourly. But his words were either unheard, or ignored.
"I'm more likely to get caught saving your ass when it realizes it doesn't know what to do without a ship to baby sit it."
"Like a spoiled captain who was fired by his own crew has any room to talk!" Karmikel surged to his feet, as did Einn, and they both glared at each other over the table. "Why don't you just do me a favor and get us killed sooner rather than later?"
"No. I'd rather see you suffer."
Faller's breath hissed out between his teeth, and red began to cloud his vision as he rose slowly to his own feet - and then slammed his fists down on the table. He was pleased to see them both jumped and fell silent, and used the chance to speak. "Einn, I know it's hard for you to act like a civilized creature when you're this upset - but fucking try. You're getting on my damned nerves with all this bickering. And you," he rounded on Karmikel. "Just because you look like a woman doesn't mean you have to act like one."
Karmikel didn't waste time voicing a protest at his words - he simply launched himself at Faller and started swinging.
Einn's laughter didn't help matters, as the two exploded into a fight around the empty bridge. In short order, all three were doing their best to kill each other-
-Until they suddenly found themselves soaked through with cold water.
"That is quite enough," the female voice spoke up. "Honestly. Men. They never change. Get off the bridge until you can behave. You're acting like children, and this when you're supposed to be working out how to save a friend."
"Not my friend," Karmikel muttered.
Faller fingered a bruised eye, "You've got a nice right for someone who hides away on his ship all the time."
Karmikel made a face, "I haven't always lived on this ship. I told you - I grew up in a shipyard too."
"That would explain how you knew all my tricks," Faller said with a begrudging smile.
"Ha!" Einn said with satisfaction. "It's about time someone was able to get around your cheats." He looked at Karmikel, "I guess you might almost be useful."
"I live to serve," Karmikel snarled, turning away to stalk from the room.
"Hey!" Einn glared at his back. "I was just joking. Why the hell do you get so snarly whenever this stupid match thing comes up?"
The Draconis almost didn't reply, at the open door before he finally spoke. "Because I never wanted to be that responsible for someone's life. Or someone else for mine." He left.
Faller frowned, "What's he not telling us?" He looked at Einn, "You really need to stop acting like a damned child. What the hell is with you?"
"I don't like him being forced to shadow me anymore than he does. It's stupid - whoever came up with the idea was an egotistical moron."
"That would be the Coni," Faller said dryly.
The female voice spoke up again, "Are you well-acquainted with the Draconis crisis?"
"You mean the struggle over what's to be done with them?" Einn asked.
"Correct."
"Yeah. Some want them killed, other's want them 'fixed' and on and on it goes because no one will make a decision and others are doing things they shouldn't be doing."
"And are you aware of how the Draconis feel about all of this?"
"They want their freedom, don't they? That's what Mendel and Sean are working on."
"Incorrect," the voice replied.
"How do you mean?" Faller asked.
"Many Draconis want freedom. But not all. A great many of the Draconis believe that their proper role is as energy. They feel that those such as the Lady Jundel are out of line, and rejecting their roles in life."
A pause. It was Faller who spoke first, "That's rather depressing. I can't imagine having a mindset like that. 'My only purpose is to make some unknown individual more powerful' - I couldn't live like that."
"Karmikel's mother and most of his relatives believed just such a thing. They could not understand why Karmikel and his father wanted something different. That is why the Lady Jundel has such a difficult task - not only is she trying to persuade the Conis and the Infinitum, but she must also sway her own people."
"Why are you telling us this?" Faller asked. "He's just going to get mad at you."
"And do what?" the woman asked, amused. "We control this ship, and I will do whatever is necessary to ensure the ship's safety and that of its passengers. I do not want another fight like you three children just got into. If I must relate Karmikel's past to ensure that order is maintained, I will do so."
Faller snorted, "I wonder what other length's you'd go to."
"Let us hope you never have to find out."
Laughing, faller raked back his dripping hair. "Do you three have names? And are you the chatty one?"
"I am the chatty one, yes. Clearly men can't be trusted with the task - the other two were placing bets on the fight."
"What in the world do brains bet on?" Einn asked with a laugh.
"Who gets stuck with maintenance work for the next month," the deeper male voice replied. "It's dreadfully boring work. More fun to do navigation and the lot."
Einn grinned, "Do you three have names?"
"Victoria," the female said.
"Henry," the deep voice said.
"Charles," said the commanding voice.
"Nice to meet you," Einn said, before turning and sauntering out to go get dry.
Faller lingered.
"You should probably dry off first - I am sorry to have gotten you wet." Victoria said apologetically, though amusement laced her voice.
"Don't be," Faller said with a sigh. "I deserved it as much as them. Bad enough they act like children, I shouldn't have let myself be dragged into it."
"Then why did you?"
Faller grinned for a brief moment, "I liked the way he fought."
He could swear he heard Victoria chuckling before she spoke, "Well, go dry off and get warm. And you can speak to us from anywhere on the ship - the bridge is mostly a convenience for passengers. So get where you are comfortable, and away from the children, and we'll tell you all about the ship." Her voice turned mischievous, "And I'll give you stuff to use against 'Kel when he gets out of line."
"Sounds like fun," Faller said with another brief smile. "Perhaps by the time you've finished, the other two will have cooled down and we can get to work."
"If not, we'll force them to cooperate."
"I like the way you think, Victoria."
"I can see we'll get along famously."
