Tasha hasn't had any formal spy training, which is probably Katherine's fault. But her task isn't really to spy, it's to blend in - so Hakeber may be the better role-model. After all, she's not trying to uncover secrets, just be friendly with people that won't know who she is. And technically the only ones who do know are Tia and Hakeber at the moment. So far she's learned that the Kai remote has its own voice and accent, but that's about it.
And so Tasha thinks on the matter at length. Trying to go the direct route with a 'I'm Tasha' might not working, and it might even be cheating, certainly she won't learn anything by doing things that way. So, rather than take the easy way out -- at least now that she knows she's being tested anyway -- she considers other options.
The first ideas is to try and be Kai, based on copying Tia. This is what everyone would expect of an associate of Tia, and would play to expectation.
The second is to invent a personality for Kai, but she decides that, having no training in even basic acting, nor any spy training, this could be playing to her weaknesses rather than strengths. It will also make it harder for Kai to fit in in the future if there's a mis-match.
And so Tasha decides on Plan A, copy Tia. If she seems like a lost and confused remote, perhaps people will help her. She could even play off her own flaws, note that 'Tasha requested me but failed to provide an entry code and is no incapacitated and cannot provide an entry code', or some such. But first she needs to blend in and work her way towards it. Maybe she can state her goal early, then provide a vexing presence. She decides to see how people react and then ramp things up from there.
As she decides on how to present Kai, she senses a 'prompt' of sorts. It's not quite the heads-up-display sort of thing, but more like a thought that clearly isn't her own: record new behavior for autonomous baseline?
Tasha denies the request, it's best not to have the remote copy what is essentially her own behavior combined with attempting spywork. That could set a dangerous habit. She does note that the option is available, however, and she might address it in time. Having a helpful and friendly remote might be useful, or not. But such thoughts are for later.
As Tasha heads to the fore, she considers remotes. In particular what happened to the little dragon remote attached to the anisble. Is it stuck in her head now? Did she destroy it? It would make her sad to know she destroyed it, but as she's come to learn people have limits, there are losses, and sometimes there's precious little one person can do about them. It's a somber thought, but not a useful one presently, so returns her mind to the task at hand as she reaches the Galley.
Even from the corridor she can hear voices, and matching them to faces is easy. Especially Mr. Gold's electronic one. But it sounds like Shojo and his men are all in there, but she doesn't smell any food.
Testing herself against mercenaries, as well as Shojo, is like stooping off a low cliff. She could aim for easier first targets: An isolated person, for example. But she may not find one and she should act as the remote might, which would be to seek the closest source of assistance, or the best one. Gabriel is the best source of assistance as is Moka or another Council member, as any could override the lock. But they also tend to know her best, so she heads in to the Galley and prepares to do her best with what's available.
She also gets an evil little idea she'll have to try later, but only if she feels confident in her acting by then.
The men all look at her when she appears in the doorway. This is not surprising for people who are supposed to be aware of their surroundings. They seem casual about it, although Mr. Pink, the human, holds his glance for an extra second. He's also the one to stand up and say something. "Greetings, ma'am. You must be one of the passengers we were told about?"
"Yes. My name is Kai. I am attempting to reach Aldera Tasha Argentine, but she has not provided me with access to the Hangar and I am unable to enter. This is a problem." Overstating key elements is a habit of more basic AIs, Tasha remembers. Basic personalities will not know to shorten and adapt facts to fit with local jargon and vernacular, let alone culture. She punctuates her acting by starting at the men expectantly.
"Oh, well we can't help directly," Mr. Pink says, and turns to Shojo. The Vartan still his comm gear on, and activates it, saying, "Lacci, could you come to the Galley to help with something?" He then says a moment later, "Someone is coming who can take you to one of the officers."
"That would be helpful." She continues to more or less stare at the men. Less, because she blinks, and more because she does not otherwise move or engage in further conversation. She considers adding "I will remain here," but Tia would not have added such helpful additional information, so she doesn't either.
"Interesting accent," Mr. Pink notes. "Wunderlander?" Before Tasha needs to answer though, Lacci arrives. "Oh, hello. You are one the women from the space station?"
The remote pauses before answering, becasue Tasha knows basic AIs have to process requests against internal heirarchies of orders when the answer is not straightforward. In this case, it's a check against the internal order to conceal her origin or, rather, Kai's origin. "Yes. I am Kai. I am supposed to go to Aldera Tasha Argentine, but she has not provided me access to the Hangar, therefore I cannot reach her. This is a problem. I am supposed to go to her. Can you help?"
"I can take you to someone who probably can," Lacci says, sounding confident. Or maybe she's glad that she's not the only one for whom Standard is a second language. "I'll take you to the.. hmm. Wardroom, I think."
"That seems helpful." The remote then fixates her attention on Lacci in the same way she had fixated on the men before, with the men now seemingly forgotten. She says nothing further, but does look what might be charitably deemed 'expectant'. It's what she thinks Tia would do, Tia always has that slightly annoying reaction to things, as well as a certain immediate expectancy and lack of acknowledgements of common social limits.
"Yes.. uh, follow me," Lacci offers, and takes two steps before pausing and asking, "Oh, do you have any medical questions? The Med Bay is right here if you need it. I'm not much of tour guide.. I used to be, but there isn't much to see on this deck."
"I do not have medical questions. I need to reach Aldera Tasha Argentine." While Tasha does have medical questions about this body, she decides to save them for afterward, when her 'mission' is completed and she's achieved her goal. Gabriel is right, she has a problem with mission creep, and she decides late is better than never to deal with it. Kai, after all, would not have medical questions and can likely self-diagnose. She even decides to check that, willing a query in her mind to check remote health status.
The remote doesn't report any problems, despite apparently have been in storage for a millennia or more. Lacci leads the way towards the bridge. "These are all barracks and quarters," she explains as they move along. "The wardroom should be safe enough, and I'll go talk to the captain or one of the officers on the bridge." The door to the wardroom is open, since there aren't any meetings scheduled. Compared to the conference room it's more intimate, but the table is actually a holographic display unit. "Just make yourself comfortable," Lacci offers, gesturing to a seat.
Tasha wishes she looked so good after a millennium; perhaps she should ask the being guiding her body's formation to adjust to remote standards. She also considers requesting additional cerebral development to support both the ansible and the spore, to better make use of remote control techniques and other such things. She decides to think on it later.
For now Tasha-Kai does not say anything in response to all this information, but does 'make herself comfortable by entering the room and standing in the closest corner. Out of the way, certainly, but not seated or otherwise taking the time time to make herself at home, as she might have in her own body. She then resumes watching Lacci with that almost passive expectancy.
"Hmm," Lacci muses at this, then heads back out. Tasha can hear the bridge door open and then close again.
A short while later, she hears the doors open again and two sets of footsteps. One is Lacci (since Vartan steps sound very different from any other species) and the other Gabriel, apparent when they both enter the wardroom. "I'll take care of it, Lacci," Gabriel says. "Thank you."
Lacci nods, and gives a Vartan smile to Kai before heading back towards the Galley.
Tasha keeps the body staring at the door expectantly, as a remote would not drop this behavior just because it's unobserved, Tasha decides. A robotic AI might switch to a low power mode, or otherwise move to reduce system loads, but an AI running a humanoid body would continue its social routines as long as it anticipated being social, which on this vessel would be always, unless in a shut down state. Tasha learned all of this from working with AIs, even piloting their bodies and seeing their minds at work. In some ways she suspects she can impersonate an AI better than she can impersonate many living people.
Kai looks between the two individuals, stares at Lacci when she smiles long enough that it seems like some acknowledgement, then turns to face Gabriel. "I am trying to reach Aldera Tasha Argentine, but I have not been given permission to enter the Hangar. This is a problem. Can you help me?"
Once Lacci is gone, Gabriel closes the door behind him. "So.. who am I helping? I didn't think you.. operated on your own?" he asks.
"I am Kai." Tasha-Kai replies. If she hadn't so much practice keeping a straight face in times past, this might have been harder. But she's tougher now and she knows learning these things may make a life-or-death difference, so she restrains herself. Gabriel, she thinks, would understand. "I operate 'on my own' when required. I am required to do so now. I have been ordered to come to Aldera Tasha Argentine, but cannot due to insufficient access permissions."
"And she isn't answering the com?" Gabriel asks, that addresses the room, "Gabriel to Tasha, are you awake?" He waits but there's no reply. "Alright, did Tasha order you to come to her?" he asks Kai.
"Yes. Prior to becoming unresponsive I was ordered to go to her. I have contacted-" Pause. "Tia, but Tia lacks access to relevant ship permissions. Therefore, this problem." Kai stares at Gabriel the same way she did Lacci and then men, vaguely expectant and unusually intense energy that she's copied from watching Tia and other AIs. She manages this by taking a kind of back seat to her control of Kai, putting just enough effort in and then letting go, watching the results from a kind of mental distance.
"Niss, is Tasha in the hangar?" Gabriel asks. This time there is a reply: "Yes, she is currently unconscious in the hangar with Hakeber and Tia."
"I'll escort you then," Gabriel says. "She usually doesn't just pass out.."
Kai says nothing about this, she just watches as she always has. There is nothing the AI would say, Tasha decides. She might have said "see?" or "Hakeber doesn't have permissions either" or otherwise elaborated or reinforced. It's about now that Tasha realizes she talks a whole lot more than she strictly needs to. This almost makes her cause Kai to frown, but she catches herself.
Once Gabriel begins to lead her, Kai follows at the same sedate pace and energy she followed Lacci, and offers no further insight.
Once they reach the bulkhead for the hangar, Gabriel overrides the lock to open it, and heads in.
Once Tasha-Kai has entered, she walks over to her actual body and reaches down to poke herself in the nose. "Objective complete. Infiltration successful." She then lifts both hands and makes 'pew-pew' finger guns at Hakeber and Tia. "Your base is mine."
And then Tasha is back in her own body again, without feeling any worse for wear. It doesn't seem that Hakeber or Tia did anything to her.
"What's going on?" Gabriel asks.
"Aww," goes Tasha, who had a super evil plan to go from impersonating Tia via Kai to impersonating Kainudy piloting Kai. "Alright I'm here now-- What is wrong with tasha now, Lothryn? You didn't kill her, did you? Did she kill herself? Ah, I see she's just unconscious." Look around, appear put upon and strained. "Where are we exactly?" And so on. But it probably would have made Tia even madder at her than she already is, so missing the chance is probably for the best.
Once up Tasha spreads her hands, then makes the pew-pew motions again. "So Tia and I thought it'd be good if I could learn to pilot remotes, so we were having a teaching session. Except once I was in control of Kai I was then informed I had to figure out how to get back in here, and relying on people believing it was me was, uh, probably not going to work. Maybe cheating. So I pretended to be Kai by copying how Tia acts, and let me say, mission successful." She gives Gabriel a thumbs up.
"Utter failure," Tia claims. "You acted like a robot."
"Not true, people expected a robot. You act like a robot," Tasha insists, raising a finger as she makes her point, "That's why it works so well, because everyone is used to you, so why wouldn't they expect another you not to act like you, too? And a remote on its own isn't exactly personable."
"If I acted like an actual Human Gabriel would have been very suspicious," Tasha adds, nodding. "After all you don't act like a normal Human. Why would your remote be better than the master at acting like a Human?"
"I can be very convincing when I need to be," Tia claims. "But it is technically an act, after all, so I do not do it with people I need to be honest with." She then points to Hakeber. "I thought you would try to emulate her, and actually be friendly and approachable."
"Have you met me? I have a very distinctive style of interacting with people. It's much easier for me to impersonate an Ai than it is for me to be Hakeber. Besides, I think acting like a personable Human would result in more suspicion. An AI trying to accomplish its objective is a simple and understandable thing, but a Human mind could have any goals, any secret agendas. You then have to think about all the things a real person might want with an unconscious Tasha. Then I'd have had to," Here Tasha starts counting off on her hands, "Defend myself, support whatever lie I came up with, not seem suspicious, hide my own behavior, and so on. In this context, an AI is not only simpler, but also what is expected. And I know the crew is trying to hide the fact you are what you are, so there'd be extra incentive to see me here with a minimum of fuss." And so Tasha gives Gabriel an apologetic shrug for essentially using him, even if for a good cause.
"We'll have to try again in a more public setting, with people you aren't expected to be encountering often," Tia says. "The point is to be able to operate as a different person who can blend in, potentially using your actual body and person as a distraction."
"Is this some of exercise intended to be used on Daltoona then?" Gabriel asks everyone present.
"I have to be there in person, I think," Hakeber notes.
"I'm pretty sure I did that," Tasha insists, standing up. She walks over and adjusts Kai's dress like she might adjust a doll's, making sure it is just so, and correct. "I'm trying to devise ways I can be present and not be dead, dying, or suicidal," the red woman then replies. "I'm experimenting with remotes and drones. Then I can stay here and still be in the field."
"Or be very visible somewhere else," Tia suggests. "I'm familiar now with your 'cover story' and it is unlikely to hold up in an actual Khattan city, especially one run by what appears to be a criminal family. Tasha is very obvious. A human and a Karnor together are not."
"I might stand out a little bit," Hakeber claims. "We aren't like the modern Karnors."
"Yes, I suspected my cover won't hold up forever. That might be a problem if we're reported as a rogue, potentially alien-motivated power operating under the guide of a legitimate Galactic authority. But, well, what can you do." Tasha hand-shrugs. "I suppose I could make for a distraction, legal or otherwise. If it seems like they caught me that could work. And yes Hake is right. Gabriel and Katie have it even worse. I think they exude 'command pheromones' Neo-Karnors respond to with submission and obedience."
"I imagine that is easier for Hakeber to appear as a modern Karnor via cosmetics," Tia says. "Or at least make her less noticeable. The age difference is a potential hurdle, but I'm still not entirely familiar with the relationships between humans and Karnors."
"Humans are the most senior of the TerraGens, they legally 'own' the other TerraGens species, or more accurately, they're the Humans Clients, which is a special status relationship amongst Galactics. Hakeber could be my assistant and no one would question it, but the reverse would be less common. A Human is also required to sign off on any special contracts one of their Clients engage in, which was the case when Moka and Kaa joined us," Tasha explains. She then gestures to Gabriel and Hakeber. "Gabriel and Hake are old-gen Karnors. Different genetics, more martial. The new ones were created under pressure by other Galactics that Karnors not be a species of soldiers, and done under duress. The TerraGens civilization cannot oppose the Khattan and Celestial interests easily."
"So, what sort of Terrans.. TerraGens.. would visit or have business on one that Khattan Clan's space station?" Tia asks. "I assume they are not openly criminal."
"Trade in the technologies sold there would be the most obvious choice. There could also be visiting relatives, friends, and associates. We have one contact on the station but that information is many months old by now, and the contact might be hostile. The station is a major producer of gravity-manipulating stator devices, which are created from drawing off the Ogdru-hem. Many other Galactics buy or lease these stators such that they're a common item across all Galactics." Tasha then waves to a nearby wall and says, "Database access, display House Khomen stator products sold at Daltoona station."
There is an entire catalog, although notably missing are the compact ones like Melchior has installed, or anything that could reasonably fit on a smaller spacecraft. In its guise as a yacht, Dark Horse mimics the 'smallest' available one, even though it's just a shell enclosing its plasma-like ring of exotic-matter. The prices are also extremely high, as are the maintenance plans.
"So this is a sort of monopoly, where only the Khattans produce this technology?" Tia asks. "They do not appear to come solely from House Khomen, according to the power comparisons."
"Ouch, look at those prices. I think we can safely assuming they're killing -- at least financially." And so Tasha snorts. "So I suspect these are luxury or high-end products. Lets confirm this. Database, compare House Khomen stator units to those offered by other Houses, and from any other Galactic if other Galactics manufacture them. Highlight House Khomen entries that have superior numerical advantage over other stator products."
"Each Galactic power more or less has a monopoly on specific sorts of technology," Gabriel says. "But they aren't all available to other groups, even allies. The Khattans originally were the only ones to sell hyperdrive systems, for instance. The Celestials do not trade in their own technologies, as it seems some of them form part of their religion."
"I Know their AIs hold religious significance," Tasha chips in.
New data is displayed, showing that the House Khomen stators have significantly lower power requirements than their competitors for the same inertial and gravimetric output. They seem mostly used by Khattan and Vartan military ships, where efficiency is of high importance.
"They don't seem to have their own military, or Vartan corporations in their employ," Tia notices. "Always selling to other Houses and junior Galactics."
"There you go. While it's not a requirement, the use of Ogdru-hem exotic matter provides an important boost. The problem for us, however, is that Humans can't buy these units. It does suggest another route, however." Tasha then turns to the group and spreads her hands. "If we can sink this production method, then the next vendor in line will absolutely love us. Database, display Houses that compete with House Khomen's stator marketing. Highlight closest competitor."
House Ser'av is the next one, and they do supposedly produce Titan-sized stators and other components. Their clientele seems to have a lot of very wealthy people, but they also mass produce a lot of essential pieces of technology, including Progmat systems.
But then, House Khomen has a lot of other non-stator products as well. The second biggest competitor runs a passenger line of spaceships.
"Hmm, what do we know about House Ser'av's politics?" Tasha turns back to the display. "Databse, display best-understanding summary of House Khomen and House Ser'av's political stance, focus on technologies, opinion of other Galactics, criticisims and conflicts with each other. Include to the list the House that manufactures the spaceships."
The reports are.. a bit bland. All Khattan houses claim to support the same causes and follow guidelines decided by a council - the closet thing to a Khattan government. They all have their little scandals, since they all want to raise their ranking and wealth of course. Even the Khomen attempt at 'disrupting' the transfer of power within the Silent-Ones Star Empire isn't considered that big of a deal. The intimation being that they are all trying to sabotage each other anyway, either through industrial espionage (which is apparently still a thing even if all the technology comes from the Library) and other attempts to 'count coup' against one another.
"They've been after non-Library tech for a long time," Gabriel adds. "From the Terran drive and shield systems to the Confederate bio and psy-tech."
"Well, that's as depressing as it is useful," Tasha remarks, taken aback by just how much infighting there is and how banal it's all become. "Nice to know our 'seniors' lead by example. Well, we see here an opportunity to ingratiate ourselves at House Khomen's expense. The down is that our patrons would probably scrutinize and try to control us, but maybe we can make it a one-time thing in return for supplies and special status. It might amuse them to protect us from retaliation from Khomen, as well." Tasha taps her muzzle. "They could give us a reason to be on station. Database, display legal consequences of dealing in alien artifacts and in exploiting extra-diemsnional entities known to be disruptive to this universe, Khattan and Galactic laws."
"No Results," the computer claims. After all, it isn't officially known why Titanians attack ships (and it's not always for artifacts). There's no data on 'extra-dimensional' entities either.
"Explain about artifacts," Tia asks Tasha. "What makes an artifact illegal?"
Tasha aborts her own question, being much the same as Tia's. She folds her hands behind her back and awaits the answer.
"Artifacts belonging to the previous age of Galactic Civilization, either artistic or technological, are prohibited from private ownership," the computer explains. "Governmental entities and museums are allowed, however. Lacci is a former curator of one such museum."
"So alien devices and objects," Tia concludes.
"Such as this ship," Hakeber explains. "Or.. uh.. you, Tia."
"We should get Lacci on this." Tasha sends a message requesting Lacci's presence, then continues. "Probably me to some extend as well. I am composed of several alien technologies and recreated by an alien power. I also, uh, represent a few of them. I think it's safe to say we partially fall under private ownership, but that some of us also fall outside Galactic law as independent aliens outside of Galactic governance."
"So, we could potentially use the Dark Horse as bait," Gabriel says. "Or any weird stuff you have on your ship, Tia."
"The Titanians are also very interested in how House Khomen avoids detection by Titanian vessels. If we can obtain that we could gain a lot of favor with them," Tasha adds.
It doesn't take long before Lacci arrives. "I seem to be in high demand today," she says.
"Thank you for your help earlier," Kai says warmly to Lacci.
"Yes, thank you for your help," Tasha offers, equally warmly.
"You're.. welcome," Lacci replies, looking slightly confused. "Well, what's going on? I don't see food so it can't be a picnic."
"You didn't bring any food?" Hakeber says, overacting being shocked.
"We were discussing the Galactic black market," Gabriel says. "For artifacts."
"We're discussing House Khomen and various ways to go at them and get on their station. One idea is to exploit their love of artifacts and use catching them in the act or revealing such against them," Tasha explains, gesturing to the windows displayed on the Hangar wall. "We're trying to find the real consequences of being caught in the act and how much that might help us."
"Ugh, one of the reasons our collection is kept on ship is that some of it had been stolen when it was planet-side," Lacci says. "Well, I'm not sure how or whom you would approach when trying to sell something. And it varies a lot depending on the Galactics involved. TerraGens and Celestials are the strictest about enforcement. Silent-Ones are a bit less so, since they don't put a lot of value in First Ones artifacts, but are more interested in the sort of thing you'd get from pre-contact Clients. I think they have collections of Sifran crystal in private hands, but to them it's just.. pretty rocks I suppose. The Khattans are very much into extravagant displays of wealth however, and are avid collectors of art and artifacts both from First Ones and contemporary civilizations. It's muddy for them, since they treat anything that is 'relatively' open to the public as being a museum, even if it's just one item while the owner has a hundred more in their bedroom. The don't openly trade in them however."
"Hmm, muddy and complicated, but not surprising." Tasha taps her muzzle again, thinking. "Being able to harm Khomen, release and destroy the Ogdru-hem, and gain favor would be the best outcome, but favor could come with strings attached and many of us are valuable on our own, which wouldn't do for scrutiny. What do you know about House Ser'av Lacci?"
"They provide a lot of colony materiel," Lacci notes. "Generally as a seller to the actual colony corporation, but not as investors. Lots of essentials, and also a few big machines for construction and planiforming."
"This is probably a silly question after what we just saw about the Houses but, how trustworthy are they, relatively speaking?" Tasha brings up the political interactions section again, for review.
"They don't sell defective products," Lacci says after some thought. "I can't speak to the contracts or pricing or other sorts of business practices though. I'm only ever familiar with what gets put on the ground and used."
"Before get too far into machinations, we need to know more about our main goal," Gabriel says. "How to get Hakeber deep enough into Daltoona to where the secret Ogdru-hem blood bank is."
"Okay. So we'll consider them interested but questionably trustworthy, we might be able to deal with them and get paid for it, but we should limit our trust and expect betrayal and plan for it." Tasha taps her muzzle all the more. "A opposing direct competitor may have floor plans. The Titanians may as well. I assume not complete or accurate floor plans, or else one or both would have already acted by now. General access floodplans should be easy to get, of course. Well. To contain an Ogdru-hem a holding facility is required; they can be contained by massive gravity fields and by psionic and magic prisons. Size can vary drastically due to their dimensionally abstract natures."
"I can pinpoint something like that once my dimensional drive system is repaired," Tia offers. "Long range psionic detection is trickier."
"Miss Teatime may have insights as well. I can also detect direction of an Ogdru-hem in space as well as their rough distance from me if I know their signature," Tasha notes, reaching up to tap her forehead. "I can find Sam on the ship, for example, but I need to be relatively close by. I don't know what my maximum range is."
"I think our initial plan still holds," Gabriel says. "Get our operatives to the station ahead of time, see what they can uncover as far as security and people likely to have higher access levels. And find a way to get our key people there without raising any suspicion or risking more than we're willing to lose."
"Yes, I think so. We'll know more when we can contact Miss Teatime, too. I will continue to work on infiltration and detection methods. Speaking of which... " Tasha turns to Tia and asks, "What happened to the little remote attached to the A-unit I damaged?"
"What little remote?" Tia asks. It was before she met Tasha after all.
Tasha holds her hands apart ye tall. "It was a little dragon with an orb in its head, about this tall, similar to the ones Charon uses."
"And it had the ansible or was created from it?" Tia asks.
"I'm not sure, actually. It seemed to emerge from and become part of the ansible. Your-- My teacher used it to communicate with me," Tasha answers.
"Well, I've never tried manifesting a remote around an ansible," Tia claims. "After all, they are not generally found outside of one."
Tasha frowns at this. She hopes this doesn't mean her head will explode with a tiny dragon at some point; that would be awkward for all considered. "I suppose I could ... try to manifest the little dragon. Unless you think my head will explode."
"The issue there, is that you would no longer have an ansible in which to make the attempt," Tia points out. "If it's external, then I suppose it makes sense for it to manifest a means of communicating. It's meant to be internal after all."
"Alright, I'll leave it alone then." Tasha nods, this means avoiding an activity in which her head might explode. "A life-boat function with no use outside of being unseated."
Then Tasha has a thought. "It's too bad, a tiny dragon would have made a nice gift for Mariel."
"They were for controlling remote bodies, not for.. well.. anything else," Tia says. "They don't exactly grow on trees. I cannot create new ones myself. I'd have to remove yours in order to experiment. Even if I had a spare one I'd be reluctant to hand it over. I'm sure it would be handy to have something you leave or smuggle into some secure location and then grow a body around. But given the nature of your mission, I won't risk myself like that."
"I don't blame you," and Tasha doesn't sound like she does, "I'd say I wouldn't risk myself so much either, but we al know I'm still working on that. There are probably more elegant colutions anyway, like using specially crafted bodies and machines."
"You don't know what will happen when Hakeber does her.. thing," Tia points out. "Or even how close she has to be."
"I'd be willing to do it over the radio," Hakeber says.
"I know. But I don't know if my presence beside her will help or hinder. Mr. Yellow may try to compel me to do something, and the things I can do directly, in person, are frightening. A remote may be better. We don't know. And as for myself, I have come close to destruction too many times lately." And so Tasha gives Hakeber an apologetic look, ears back. "Sorry, Hake. I know how bad it can be when it's you that stands alone against the storm."
"The frightening thing is that I'm not me when I do it," Hakeber says. "So I need someone to.. carry me out, or act when I'm out of it."
"Having two beings 'under the influence' might make for a really poor result. While I have control, I am not immune to being compelled under enough duress, as Tia found out the hard way." Tasha gestures to Tia by way of example. "And Mr. Yellow has an interest in Daltoona."
"I have also learned the hard way that I -- and possibly any of us -- can be compelled with enough pressure. Nothing is sacred past a point," the red woman adds, scarcthing her head and looking at the floor. "Nothing at all."
"I would be monitoring and can take control of the remote if you seem to be under alien influence," Tia says. "If I get my ship repaired in time, it may be possible to arrange a retrieval setup."
"That would be very helpful. I still don't know what Katha-hem wants, nor Mr. Yellow, from this event. I know we'll have to deal with it somehow, but what comes after is a big question mark, and neither entity is prone to answering questions they don't wish to. That Mr. Yellow hasn't pushed me lately suggests he's not dissatisfied with my progress, which is a little concerning in itself. And I've been afraid to use the sword lately." And so gives a little shoulder shrug, meek for who she is.
"Lately?" Tia asks. "When have you had the opportunity where you decided not to use it?"
"Uh, it's more about practice than about the opportunity. I didn't mean to imply I had need of it some time and didn't use it." Tasha spreads her hands. "It was a vague example."
"Oh," Tia says. "I'm still learning about what your civilizations are capable of. It seems those with extensive access to this Library of ancient knowledge are still constrained by what they can actually accomplish with what they have, since more advanced technology would depend on first mastering the foundational technology, and so on."
Tasha squints. "How does that apply to me? A lack of understanding of the fundamental technology of ... Yellow?"
"And your reports seem to suggest that it includes instructions for imprisoning and controlling this Ogdru-hem and related entities," Tia adds. "So, 'Mr. Yellow' is not present, but is confined outside of this reality. Who did that, and how? The First Ones? Someone older? An external force?"
"We know Thotep was directly involved in the prior civilization, he could have easily provided such knowledge. And from what we've seen, other such entities may have also had an influence. Sam suggests Leviathan might have taken a shot at us for interfering with one of 'his' Wizards, for example. But I've also seen Mr. Yellow eat a planet, so they're not wholly barred from our universe, just partly, and to different degrees. I know some simply cannot manifest here because they cannot translate their existences, and must corrupt the universe in to allowing them in, like the Ogdoad require." Tasha tilts her head. "It would be nice to know who barred them, and how. The Sifra perhaps."
"If Mr. Yellow approves of your current plan of action, it would imply that the Ogdru-hem are an obstacle, or part of the mechanism of his prison," Tia notes. "I have experience with very powerful beings who still could only manage to imprison their versions of the Ogdoad, because they could not destroy them. The Ogdru-hem exist to act out the plans of the Ogdoad. Hastur is of a faction that opposes the Ogdoad on philosophical principles, at the very least."
"Yes, I believe Thotep does as well. Both seem to rely on the color of mortal souls to some extent, while the Ogdoad seek to devour them wholesale regardless of color, with no thought for the sustainability of the garden they planted. That may be important, or it may be the answer is different. Both Thotep and Mr. Yellow deal in varieties of insanity, where as I don't believe the Ogdoad care about such things. They are just hungry. They are also of Order, while Thotep and Mr. Yellow are not," Tasha elaborates.
"Well, I do not claim to be of either persuasion," Tia says. "But am I hardly a powerful, enigmatic extra-universal entity. I dislike and distrust them all. Right now I dislike Thotep the most."
"A common sentiment, it seems. Even I felt uncomfortable around him when I first met him, and I knew far less then than I do now. It didn't help his throne was made from the petrified forms of what may well be a million souls." Tasha's muzzle twitches, and her ears flick. "I had my suspicions about that confirmed later. Thotep is horribly powerful, but he has principles in the sense using that power is largely beneath his values, since he'd rather destroy by a million, billion cuts than one powerful blow. Mr. Yellow is harder to figure out, if we can say we figured out anything. He seems to have a plan, but has not told me it, and, well, I still have certain obligations."
"I suppose watching minions do things is entertaining," Tia guesses. "I'd have to ask my mother about things like that, although I doubt she'd tell me. I haven't figured out all of the things Kai can do, by the way. She's one of the originals. So about as different from me as modern Karnors are to you wolfier ones."
"I did notice a sense of vitality and ease-of-use to Kai. There were many of the expected functions, and I had no trouble bringing them up, as the ones I did think of were intuitive. Her vitality and resiliency are probably tremendous despite looking like an ordinary Human." Tasha glances at Kai and considers her for a moment. "But what functionality she has beyond that, I'm not sure. Where did you get her, anyway? As part of the evacuation?"
"My mother had her, she was her remote from the old days," Tia says. "You know, dragons can't just walk around on a lot of worlds. I assume Kai can do everything I've figured out an ansible can do, and probably more. She was used for centuries and probably remembers everything."
"That is freaky," Hakeber says. "I didn't think humans were that ubiquitous."
"I think the human form is just from going back to mom's version of Terra," Tia says. "It's probably been a lot of different creatures."
"Welll I suppose my use of her isn't going to go down through history as the most sophisticated use. Usually when I'm handed old and powerful artifacts no one hands me a manual. Except Mel. I got a manual with Mel," Tasha notes, head shaking and tail flicking in to question mark shapes before mirroring the shape. "I didn't know remotes could change shape. I always thought they were purpose-built and static. Although considering anisbles can spawn their own remote bodies, I guess that seems less surprising in hindsight."
"I wouldn't expect a manual, she was only ever used by my mom before," Tia says. "I can change shape, but I don't know if Kai can do that on its own or if Persephone handled that."
"Well, if it can, shouldn't the command still be accessible? Or are we using her in a less privileged mode?" Tasha again glances at Kai, feeling like someone handed her a cup to drink out of, then later revealed it was a priceless artifact of untold power and cultural value.
"I don't know, I haven't had a chance to really dig yet," Tia says. "It's.. weird. Like wearing your mom's underwear. Or meeting the older, better version of yourself. It makes me feel a bit watered down."
"Wow do I know that feeling. I mean, Persephone put me back together and made this body, but then I've piloted so many other bodies that are far more capable than mine, sometimes I feel like there is a lack of of faith in me as I am. I'm just good for piloting things temporarily, like a ... tool with an expiration date." And so Tasha makes a face. "Maybe I should ask to have a more capable body. Or maybe I'd get glared at, figuratively speaking. And I know what you mean about piloting it, too. It feels like Kain-- Like her body. The spirit of her lingers in it, even if I wasn't sure that's what it was. I can't feel 'at home' in it."
"I like your body as it is," Gabriel tells Tasha.
"I'll figure it out," Tia claims. "It may be all I have left of her," she then adds a bit more somberly.
"I know it's great and cute and sexy and all, but you don't know what beings like Kai can do. I'm pretty sure she's immortal, for one. She has limitless energy, and health to--" Tasha chokes to a stop as Tia says that Kainudy may be gone. It's then her turn to be somber, looking down and running a hand through her hair, tail low. "I never really did get to say anything to her at the end, did I? Or Mel. Horus. Thoth ... "
"I wanted to tell her I was glad she was alright. I don't remember if I ever got the chance to," Tasha adds, shoulders sinking. "I don't even remember."
"I'm sure Thoth will come back," Gabriel says. "He didn't get as old as he did by not knowing when to fall back, and he's got Melchior."
"And he's got Horus. When I left they were all out ot Mel. Horus, Thoth, even Mel was walking around. It's really surreal in hindsight, like the whole experience was some lost era of myth and legend I remember from long ago, or dreamed of, but it was only a little while ago. I- I wasn't in very good shape throughout it all. Maybe that's why. I didn't get to thank the Null either, or the man he became. Wolf. It's all blurry." And so Tasha shrugs feebly, hands out, palms up. "Mostly I remember how much it hurt and the lessons. But there was too much left unsaid."
"There's never time to say everything," Tia claims.
"But there was, we just didn't take it. Maybe for good reasons, or bad ones. I said what I meant to say to Gabriel, Katie, and Hake. I told them what happened, because I didn't want to have not said everything like I did during that time. Well." Tasha straights, sucks in a breath, and sets her shoulders. "If they don't report back in a little while, we're just going to have to go back and find them ourselves."
"Going back could be difficult," Tia points out. "Thoth did not seem like the fighting type, so I think he would leave if things were going badly."
"How much do we actually know about Thoth though?" Hakeber asks Tasha. "He moved quickly against Sam."
"He's a second-generation Vril-ya, and as far as I'm aware the only one. His energy source is his life, his knowledge, and his power source; he is what he knows, and what he knows is power. Samael is much the same way; in fact both species share a commonality of being self-contained universes without buffer between themselves and reality, but while Samael's kind consumes other sof their kind or--" and here Tasha twitches, " ... consumes the data-existence of other beings, the soul, the Vril-ya use Vril, which is generated some other way. Thoth seems to contain much less Vril but have other attributes that make him more robust in this universe, such as adaptability and a greater ability to handle stresses and logical problems."
"So, is Thoth then the Vril-ya version of an Ogrdu-hem?" Tia asks. "An in-between entity?"
"I'm not sure. He was created from two Vril-ya, but I don't know how, or if they used 'external' materials. The only way to know would be to ask him or one of his creators, none of whom are available." Tasha spreads her hands. "He is also diminished from the years, having no means to recharge himself."
"I would like to talk him at length if possible," Tia says. "Both about his origns, Vril and how he knows my mother."
"I'd like to know that too, but as you said, there may be little we can do even if we do seek them out. They're certainly powerful enough combined and even individually to prevent our arrival," Tasha laments, held out hands wiggling apprehensively. "I am willing to try, however."
"We don't know how to get to them though," Tia points out. "However you made it to faerie is back on Ymir. The halfworld is likely disconnected from other realms, if it still exists."
"I did say 'try,' not 'promise success'." Tasha's hands fall. "We may be better off focusing on what we can do and trust them to handle themselves. Whatever they may be up against, most of them are older than us, and with greater reach."
"And very good at hiding," Tia says a bit bitterly. "For now, I will try and learn more from this remote until we reach your asteroid base."
"That's a good idea. her ansible probably has wide-ranging access and functionality beyond either of ours'. Though, come to think of it, I don't know where mine originally came from. I suspect it's modeled off yours, though." Tasha reaches up and taps her forehead. "It came from the tree after all."
"I had used them to open portals," Tia says. "A lot of portals, for the evacuation. They were different from the basic ones I'd been using before, but still nothing compared to a proper stelya-rhyan created one."
"I got the impression Charon's was a league beyond ours, library, power sources, and something like a root system, because capture of remotes allowed an increasing level of access to Charon's 'systems', if we can call them that." Tasha nods, tucking her hands behind herself and shifting her weight to one leg. "But you mention portals, does that functionality even still work?"
"I burned them doing it, essentially," Tia explains. "They can only accumulate so much power, and I pushed them past that point. I had to use a lot of my own life to compensate."
"I think I understand, I did the same defending Charon with the body he created for me," the red woman notes. She then looks around to everyone and holds up her hands. "I think we've done what we came to do, though. Gabriel, do you think we should hold a Council session so I can properly turn over power? We could also consider inviting Tia."
"Sure," Gabriel says. "As long as we eat too."
"I don't think eating is against Council rules. We'll arrange food then call a session. Until then, we can go our separate ways -- unless you and Hake want to see what Katie got me." Tasha waggles her eyebrows.
"Hmmm.. for dessert then," Gabriel says. "Business before pleasure."
Tasha salutes. "I'll report for dessert after business, then. I'll just return to my office and draft some minutes and some notes." And with that she hoof-turns in place and makes for the aft elevator.
The dinner that gets prepared is steak (while it's fresh), and fish ravioli, with a few vegetables for the humans. No alcohol though, since it's a business meeting after all. So instead there are milkshakes.
"I should have the budget fleshed out for getting our various people to Daltoona via separate means soon," Mr. Invention reports.
Tasha's plate is eclectic, with steak, fish ravioli, and even a few vegetables which she explained away as, "Feeding my Human side." her datapad is next to her plate and she's staring at it now. "That's good. We'll need that ready. Anything else to report before we move on to new business?"
"Our time frame will need to be flexible," Mr. Invention says. "We don't know how long it will take to get the intel we'll need."
"That's fine, our only 'push' in this is Hakeber's condition and any impatience demonstrated to me by Mr. Yellow, baring the sudden emergence of another motivator, any way." Tasha scrolls through her notes with the lazy flick of a finger. "Repair of Tia's vessel doesn't have a stated completion time either, and having more time to browse the markets and attain extra information might help."
"There's also making Dr. Knight's old mining station into something useful," Gabriel notes. "Presumably after Shojo uses it for space training his squad."
"We'll need more details about the existing structure," Mr. Invention notes. "But mapping it could be part of the exercise."
"That's true, Tia has ideas about that. I'm tempted to ask her to join us, but that's in 'future business', but maybe we can cover that after she's actually present and approved of." Tasha taps her screen and brings up the image of Tia, which displays a lot more than some Council members are aware of. For one, her species is listed as 'Lothryn-class Remote (speculated)' and her identity is listed as 'Lothryn Construct AI Core Fragment (suggested)'. Place of origin is 'Lothryn', and 'non-local reality'. Alliances list as self, which is important for artificially constructed beings, as well as 'Tasha Argentine's mentor' and Stelya-Rhyan. her vessel is listed as a 'Custom Extra-Universal Hyperdimensional Vehicle'. Kai is also listed in a subsection attached to Tia, as a "Unknown Mark Remote" with indentity, "Unpiloted, base AI independent identity".
"Well.. that clears up any confusion," Hakeber says with a grin before cutting another slice of steak.
"That makes three aliens on board now," Mr. Invention claims. "Well, three and a half plus one tiny civilization and the ship itself."
"I think you forgot Sam," Katie points out. "And Thoth, when he's here."
"Do they count as aliens or as paranormal entities though?" Mr. I counters.
"Thoth is technically local, and I think Samael may be as well, but I'm less sure about that. The difference between paranormal and extra-universal or alien is a difference I'm still not sure of myself. It depends, I think, on how you chosr to look at and describe the multiverse." Tasha taps her datapad some more, which brings up a number of multi-universal models she's been working on. It is immediately obviously two dimensional drawings do not handle high-dimensional concepts well, but at least there's some relevance, like Vril being its own universe connected to The Way, which connects to everything including this universe (it's drawn as a line or tube), the local universe, hyperspace overlapping, and 'outside' which seems to be a generla catch-all, with the Ogdoad mostly in it except where they pinch in to our universe. "Both is accurate, but then so am I to a degree. We need better definitions. Something like 'do they utilize different rule sets to effect our reality in a way that defies in-universe science'. Maybe extra-dimensional is more accurate, and grades there-of." But her ears flick; she's not happy with the lack of certainty.
"It might be better to describe entities by the rules that bind them," Tasha suggests after a moment of chewing on a ravioli and frowning at her datapad, "As well as the rules they may command, then we can just define the rules."
"Maybe we should sort them by weirdness?" Hakeber suggests. "Sam is weird, but maybe less weird than Thoth and Tia, and the Jotoki and Niss seem less weird than Sam."
"That's not very scholarly of you Hake," Tasha chides. She chews on her fork. "I like the rules idea. This immediately lest you know how a being can be handled and what they might be able to do. It's their strength and weakness. I guess it's a bit like 'element' from home-world magic. For example, most of us are entirely made of 'local rules'."
"Local meaning within the boundaries of the universe as we know it," Katie guesses.
"Yes. This universe and it's rule set." Tasha sits up and gestures around her with her hands. "What we often call supernatural are beings who use their non-local rules, or a mix of local and non-local rules, to effect our reality in a way that seems inexplicable. In order for two entities to even perceive the other they must share at least one common ruleset, or a 'bridge', otherwise their data sets -- dimensions, what-have-you -- can't even intersect. You can also think of how a two dimensional being can't reach a three dimensional being except at the one dimensional contact point, while the three dimensional being can easily run circles around a two dimensional being by leaving their two dimensional space via the third dimension. To the two dimensional being, it's like magic. Teleportation."
"Sam is three dimensional from what I've seen," Hakeber notes. "He does teleport around."
Tasha shakes a fork at Hakeber as she says, "The dimensions-thing is just an example. There seem to be more rules than just the dimensional, but maybe even those are just complex interactions of dimensions I don't understand well. I mean all this," she waves the fork around, "is just three dimensions, but then you have the data, too. And it's all waves anyway. Like Tia says, music. Mathmatics."
"There aren't just physical rules either," Katie notes. "According to Thoth, even fearies have special rules they have to follow."
"I guess some are the intersection of dimensions creating more complexity which can be rules of their own, like how we have social rules. They're not created by the dimensions themselves, but a product of more fundamental things, and they can in turn create more rules, and so on." Tasha waves her fork in a circle towards Katie, encompassing. "Some are hard and some are soft. You and I can break social rules without immediate problems, or maybe any problem. But others are hard, and if broken, cause immediate problems. For us, gravity is a hard rule, as are our three dimensions, plus one of time. But beings like Ogdoad, Ogdru-hem, and fae can have rules that look like our social rules, but are hard rules to them, inviolable without severe consequences."
"So it would be very useful if they were all written down somewhere," Mr. Invention notes, "Especially the ones for Ogdru-hem."
"Yes, that's what all those old spellbooks, the ancient magical runes, and all the rest actually are. They're explanations of the rules and methods for beings like us to interact with them. I'm sure they exploit commonalities, like, um, using a data line to hack a remote, more complex system through a weakness in its code, or rule set." Tasha nods her head as she leans back. "And they can potentially do more than that. This ship entraps an Ogdru-hem, and provides an interface system to utilize its power, which we can't do directly."
"I think the rules vary depending on the particular Ogdru-hem," Hakeber says. "No two have been alike."
"They each have specific tasks and powers, and all have one specific, specialized super-power that could be said to define them. For example, Urgo-hem had the Horn, which disrupted machine life and other similar beings. But Urgo-hem was also physically gigantic and could process the power from a star, could communicate and understand us, was likely sentient, and could do other things. Tatha-hem's power is movement, but she does not have the same powers of communication and doesn't seem to be physically large." Tasha then brings up a sketch of herself inside the Bridle, and Tatha-hem's size and shape relative to her own.
"A dragonfly," Gabriel describes the shape.
"So what do we know about the one supposedly held at Daltoona?" Mr. Invention asks. "Especially if we can't go by previous experiences."
"Yeah, like a woman-dragonfly," Tasha agrees, referencing Nora's memories for what a dragonfly is. "She's not generally communicative and didn't react to our presence inside the Bridle, but I didn't try to speak to her there either. Not the way I usually do. According to her, she's also temporally broad in the same way Katha-hem is, or seems to be. She seems to perceive her entire temporal existence, but I don't know if she detects other worldlines as Katha-hem can."
"Those two may be more closely related to the entity dealt with in the undersea ruins," Gabriel suggests.
"Very little other than Katha-hem seems interested in her, and he did call her a her. Katha-hem's power might be observational, and the one at Daltoona ... maybe gravitational? But I think their blood is a commonality, so we may not know what her power is." And so Tasha shrugs. "It can be hard to know unless they either use them or we find some foreknowledge. The facility itself may have records we can access."
"There could be more.. books.. like the one from the Teutons-Kampfzengruppe," Hakeber says. "Things that can't be digitized."
"That seems very likely. I suspect beings like Wizards were created to manage these things, as well." Tasha tilts her heads toward Hakeber, indicatively. "Languages Hake knows about like Enochian may also touch of these things. Tia has suggested I learn to sing to enact magical effect through the mathematics of song. I suspect that's also how my soul was hardened, because wow," and here Tasha brings her hands away from her head, exploding, " ... that was amazing."
"So the choir practice at the Winged Citadel actually mattered?" Hakeber asks. "Whatever language the Ogdru-hem use is not musical. All I remember clearly is that makes my throat hurt."
"I'm not surprised their 'song' hurts, they seem to be, in a sense, made of pain." Tasha's muzzle crinkles. "They're not happy by in large, I know that. In some ways they're like the universal manifestation of suffering itself. As for the angel's song, I don't even know how to describe it. It shook me apart -- mind body and soul -- without words I could identify. And then it was gone. And it was really bright."
"So, the wizard you met on Praxafallopus," Katie asks, "Did it sing?"
"The one we ran into on the way back from flat space didn't," Gabriel says.
"Mostly it was grumpy," Tasha insists, chin going up slightly. "I don't have a good track record with Wizards and don't understand them well."
"And what are the chances that one is involved in Daltoona?" Mr. Invention asks. "If this.. uh.. Sadu-hem is under their control, would that take a wizard to accomplish?"
"There are only four known Wizards, each created by Thotep. One changed alliances and was destroyed by, uh, me and Mr. Yellow. Another is fleeing the galaxy, the one you met while I was indisposed. So there could be one there. But, there could also be something like this," here Tasha holds her arms wide, indicating the ship around them, "which as we know can do the same thing without a Wizard. A containment facility is very likely unless Sadu-hem is dormant. That means prior Galactic tech, magic, or both. There may be maintenance or none at all. If we take the ship as an example, a top-tier prior Galactic civ combined with Thotep's assistance can do it without a Wizard, but then Thotep made the Wizards."
"The rules that Thotep follows are the ones I'd like to know the most," Mr. Invention says. "It's all a game to him it seems. And this ship shows that a smallish Ogdru-hem can be contained. But that containment wasn't enough at the battle of the derelict fleet from what I understand. Tatha-hem fell to external control."
"The relative 'resistant powers' powers of Ogdru-hem seem to be as varied as they are, and the prisons don't seem to be invincible. Tatha-hem can speak to me, for one, and 'monster mom' was able to influence Tatha-hem through the prison and prevent her from acting. That does suggest whatever prison may exist has flaws we can try to exploit, remotely or on site. I can speak to Tatha-hem due to my deal with her, the connection that binds us provides a faint bridge. There may be other ways." Tasha then settles back, hands folded, frowning. "As for Thotep, he's on another level entirely. He is, in a sense, a god, equal an Ogdoad, perhaps equal to all of them. His power is incalculable, but he seems to limit himself and may be further limited by other things. It's a dangerous undertaking, however. It's like fighting two instances of the Ogdoad and the Ogdru-hem. It can be done, but you should be aware of what it means to try and do it."
"I think he's stuck in that ossuary castle of his," Katie says. "At least, the bulk of him. If he didn't have some sort of limitation, there'd be non-stop war or something."
"Maybe, but that's just one part of him. It may act like a 'local anchor' in that he can't exert as much influence in a region where one of his avatars are bound, but that's hardly all of him. One avatar was on Ymir; there are others, many others, and all very different. Samael might even be an avatar of his. Trying to know what he wants and what binds him is knowing the mind and weaknesses of a god, and requires a godly undertaking." Tasha spreads her hands in a shrug. "The Wizards that left his employ might be the best source of that knowledge. We must also content with Samael, and potentially this entire ship, turning against us. Sam does control part of it."
"I was never very clear on that," Gabriel says. "It seemed to me more that he was a missing component, at least when he came back with you after seeing Thotep again."
"It's still a form of control, however. Actually that it exists at all is kind of surprising," Tasha admits, head cocking to the side. "Why would Thotep need a safety? It doesn't sound like him, he usually prefer to act through the smallest knife he can find, or through powerful avatars. And Sam only stops us from using the weapon whenever we want, so that begs the question: what is it Sam is preventing us from using the weapon against?" And so the woman's brows brows rise.
"Against Thotep, obviously," Mr. Invention says.
"Obviously. Or is it? He's creative enough to find complex ways to accomplish a task by the least amount of effort. This seems very ... heavy handed for his style. Not that he can't be heavy handed from what I've heard, but usually it's more direct." Tasha opens her muzzle, pauses, then frowns and fidgets. "There is someone who might know, but talking to him is its own danger. And the Wizards might know. My mentor might have, but I can't reach them right now."
"I don't think that battle fleet was exactly subtle," Gabriel says. "How many civilizations did he manipulate for that? We need to crack that old wooden Library unit."
"Subtle for him, since they did all the work and, relative to their target, that fleet was a swarm of insects. I'm basically a virus that sometimes kills stuff. Sam's presence here is weird." But Tasha nods. "Yes we should, but cautiously. The Library itself may be a long-running plan."
"And what's up with Sam and Tia?" Katie asks. "Try standing between them and the fur on your neck will rise up. He's never acted like that before, not even when we had to.. do the thing.. to deal with the wraiths."
"Sam wants to eat Tia, and Tia is aware of it. He will likely feel the same way about me after a while," Tasha explains, then she swipes an image on to the wall.
A golden pearl-like sphere is shown titled 'ansible'. Notes to the side mention things like 'variable models and purposes' 'self contained universe' 'often used for communications'.
"The 'universe' part is probably the biggest draw. It's like a soul housing a super large juicy soul full of juicy universe energy. Luk'thu-hem likewise was pursuing Charon's own remotes and their ansibles, which are far more capable than ours. Sam also suggested the people who made the Stelya'Rhyan may have used Shadow beings as a base technology, or once such energy technology. But I don't know for sure. They could also be empty universes."
"And the one in 'Kai' is one of those big-bad ones, supposedly," Hakeber adds.
"But Sam doesn't seem as interested in that body," Katie points out.
"Bigger, anyway, the one in Kai." Tasha frowns at the point, though; why isn't Samael interested in Kai? She's essentially pilotless, vulnerable. Unless she isn't and just seems that way. "Kai may have more defenses or something else that makes her dangerous or undesirable. There is also the emotional impact of Tia's destruction on my mentor, whom is, likely even now, dealing with one of those heavy handed manifestations of Thotep. Something happened to my mentor that changed their being, and Thotep seems interested in it, in the chaos it could bring. he took advantage of the chaos that was already there to approach that realm, it's why they told us to leave."
"Tia also acts a certain way around beings that hurt of endanger my mentor, to whom she has a connection. You've probably noticed her passive-aggressiveness towards me, for example. But, I know the 'eating' thing is part of it," Tasha adds.
"So, is she helping you or setting you up for a fall?" Mr. Invention asks. "Is she has recognizable emotions.. are they real or manipulation?"
"She comes across as cold to me," Hakeber says. "She hasn't made any effort to be sociable or approachable. I don't think she likes people."
"I believe she is trying to help me because of my connection to her mentor, Charon, and Persephone. And because she is alone and scared, even if she doesn't recognize it. I am one connection to her mentor, and I have been instructed by her. We also share the same enemy, the Ogdru-hem, as does my mentor. But perhaps she is both helping and hoping to hurt me at the same time. She as the power to do it now, I think." Tasha turns and nods to Hakeber. "She's been away from people for a very long time now, and she isn't what she was. I think she ultimately feels betrayed by my mentor and that she lost all of value, and is diminished. I'm not sure she's come to terms with her state nor her feelings, and I believe she was never the kind of entity that possessed such inherent adaptability. She has become something far removed from when, where, who, and what she was, uncertain of what to hold on to, if anything, but wanting to hold on. Attributing Human emotions to her is too much, and she may not have developed the analogues well enough to cope. There hasn't been anyone to cope with, even if she had families."
"Well, Thoth is involved with lots of people and still seems weird, but not cold," Hakeber says. "Just old. Tia doesn't give that impression of age so it's confusing to me."
"Aside from training you to use the remote, is she offering any other sort of aid?" Gabriel says. "Or just advice?"
"She has enabled use and access to an anisble, the one I thought I destroyed as a, um, last ditch effort to stop a disaster." Tasha reaches up and taps her head. "Which avails me certain powers and privileges, I am to a degree or another on the Stelya'Rhyan's 'network' now, or at least I am connected to their phone service. She's offered aid like fixing up the asteroid and assisting us in other ways. I believe she wants to help, but she hasn't figured out her own emotions, what she believes, and more than anything I think she's ... " The red woman hesitates, hand wavering uncertainly. "Angry. Angry at everything. Angry in that dull sullen way. Maybe like I used to be, but because she's not especially inclined to violence and lashing out, and probably realizes there's little to be done, it never really goes away."
"Well, that's horrifying," Katie notes. "Charon was scary on an existential level, I'll admit. What happens if Tia finds a target to vent her anger at? All we've seen is that she has a weird ship that you can't detect until you're right on top of it, and some sort of inertial manipulation ability that she implanted in you too. What else do we know? Is she as dangerous as Sam is?"
"Probably not. We, um, see ... See this part I've told a few people but it's really uncomfortable, so I'm going to glaze over it a little ... " Tasha takes a deep breathe, exhales, eats her last ravioli, and pushes plate and pad away. "You see, my mentor was trying to teach me something she felt I should know. For perspective. She said even she couldn't deal with what she was going to do to me. And you know me, rush in, I can take it, right?"
"Well I couldn't. I went berserk. I stabbed my mentor with the Yellow sword, then I stabbed everything else I could. It ate at me and it ate at me, and I don't remember much, but I know I found Tia eventually. Or Galatea. And she ... She was like she is. We fought. I almost overwhelmed her, and then she managed to calm me down just enough to put me in stasis by agreement. That's when she was here that time. But it wasn't enough. Wolf created a spirit from the damage, and that wasn't enough. It took the Null ripping a part out of my soul to keep me from destroying myself. So I don't actually remember the thing that drove me mad, but I do remember the lesson. The lesson of mortal frailty, the knowledge of limits, and to a degree I can, what demons do to people when they eat their souls. It is also why I intend to step down as leader of the Council and pass leadership to the Council itself."
"And despite all that Tia didn't try and kill me. Maybe she intends something worse, but I don't know. I think she was a being who lived in paradise and in freedom from violence up until it all burned down around her. Her world, her family, my mentor, who and what she was, all gone. And what's a pacifist to do, when filled with so much rage?"
"So.. we're a democracy then?" Mr. Invention asks, focusing on just that part. "We don't have formal bylaws or anything."
"I want to know more about what happened to you, in private," Gabriel tells Tasha.
"I told you most of it," Tasha .. pouts? at Gabriel, sounding a little strained. But she sighs and nods, then turns back to the others. "The Council itself will be the new leader. I've seen how fragile beings are, and one being, not me, not Tia, not Gabriel or my mentor, not one of us is so durable and so wise alone to handle it all. And what happens if I fall? As a leader I can't let things end with me, so I won't. And I think this gesture helps us all be aware that there may come a time when one or more of us break and need the others to hold us up. Our mutual support is, after all, one of our great strengths. You need to only look at Tia to see what isolation can bring."
And so Tasha nods. "But yes, a democracy for now. I'm fine with staying on as tie-breaker or some other decision capacity, but I can't and shouldn't be the one leader. You must be able to act in my absence, and I can't endure leadership and do my own duties. Even Persephone could see I was falling apart."
"Other than literally," Tasha tacks on, looking wry.
"Well then, I can certainly handle strategic planning, once specific goals are set," Mr. Invention volunteers.
"Not sure anything much has changed then," Katie says. "We've all got our specialties to look after. And throw into the pot to see what sort of chili we come up with in the end."
Tasha inclines her head to Katherine. "No, probably not in the process anyway. But it will be a relief to know I'm not balancing so much. I can focus elsewhere. And I know it's 'us' and not 'me'. And you," she points around the table, " ... now know if you fall, if it pushes you too far, we will be here, and you aren't alone. I understand. I know."
"So, we should pick out our next resort location for the after-mission break," Hakeber suggests with a grin. "So we all have something to strive for!"
Tasha's ears flatten. "My vacations have been worse than my missions," she laments, then she just lays her arms and head on the table. "I was supposed to be relaxing. I died ... "
"No more working vacations then," Gabriel says. "No training, no magic."
"I obey the Council's decree," Tasha mutters, a mutter because her muzzle is smushed against the table. She lifts her hand to salute.
Things are a bit more relaxed for the next day. Until Tasha gets a call from Dr. Knight. "Tasha, could you come to the Med Bay at your earliest convenience?"
That's strange, Tasha's never been called to the Med Bay before. Rather than called, she usually ends up there via constant injury, when she doesn't skip the intermediate process and jump straight in to -- and out of -- the grave. And as with so many new things, this sudden request promises some kind of adventure. "I'm on my way." She was just about done helping Gabriel with ship's paperwork anyway.
Rising from her desk, Tasha heads to the lower deck.
The door to the Med Bay is closed, but opens for Tasha. Dr. Knight is there of course, along with Yue, Tia and Kai. Kai is sitting on the edge of the examination bed and swinging her legs idly. The door closes behind Tasha once she's inside.
"Oh, a medical party; this is a very clever ideas. I do get injured a lot, you know," Tasha remarks as she steps further inside, looking from person to person as she tries to gauge why they're all here. "Or maybe this is a current and former Humans club?" That'd also include Mr. Invention, but Tasha believes that's his secret to share.
"Apparently it is because one of your guests has biometrics that are not expected," Jonas says. "At least according to the one whose bizarre results are supposedly normal."
Tasha holds out a hand, palm up, indicatively. "So does this mean something is wrong, or maybe wrong or maybe right we don't know, or something I did somehow for which I'm sorry for, and why do I need to be here? Is it due to my superior Humaning?"
"It is something that confuses me," Tia explains. "Would you bring up my results, Doctor?" she asks of Jonas, who does indeed produce a semi-transparent hologram of Tia and her internal structure. While the skeleton and muscles look 'normal', the organs are strange (which the hologram points out with hand labels), there are various dark spots that can't be scanned, or which produce unreadable data, and the attendant blood chemistry report is full of flashing warnings.
"You did say she was an earlier, more advanced model." Tasha glances towards Tia a moment, then turns to Kai. "Do you know anything about this?"
Kai just grins. Tia notes, "These are my results, and are expected. Apparently you have a technology based on quantum field resonances that can identify specific molecules, which is why my scan has so many unknown areas. Now, compare to Kai's." Jonas obligingly switches to the scan results for Kai, which show no anomalies and claim she is 100% human.
"I've also verified that she 'feels' human to my empathic sense," Yue adds. "Whereas Tia does not."
"Well, then this is some amazing concealment technology. Kai could go almost anywhere and not be detected for what she is." Tasha again turns to Kai and this time she frowns, opening her third eye to see if Kai stands out to her at all. Her two normal eyes close. "Was Kai like this before? haven't you had her in storage for a while?"
There aren't and shadowy aspects to the woman that Tasha can detect.
"I've had as much experience with her as you have," Tia notes. "I assume she's been used among the fey as well, so may have more tricks that I'm not familiar with. But it does mean that she can go into places that I can't."
"Her emotional responses are more natural as well," Yue adds. "I can tell when Tia is faking it. That's what I'm trained to discern, after all."
"Nothing to my Shadow-senses, not that I expected much. Well," and her Tasha waggles a hand Kai-wards, "Isn't she supposed to be very advanced? I've seen remotes phase through floors and do other impossible things, like chew on a projected piece of my soul. Her original user did seem to travel a lot, so perhaps Kai carries with her all her special secrets." Tasha taps her chin, then nods. "I guess you or I will need to bring her along in the future. She's stealtheir than either of us."
"I think her brain may be modeled on my mother's, somehow," Tia notes. "That seems like the sort of shortcut she'd make. It may cause a change in my plans, however. Instead of dropping me off at the mining base and taking her on to Caltrop, it may be better to switch places so that she is dropped at the base. My next experiment should tell me if that makes more sense. Although I don't like the idea of being around crowds, personally."
Tasha refocuses on Tia, head tilting. "Wouldn't it make more sense to have Kai go to Caltrop? Or are you testing your own body's detectability?"
Tia shakes her head, and purses her lips. "She may simply be more capable than I am at repairing my ship and converting the old mine into something more useful. It's a bit like you and your Titan. You would use it to do big things that you coudn't manage on your own."
"That may have been true in the past, but he might have other ideas, now." But Tasha nods to the point. "But, very well. You can join me on Caltrop if you like. I'll be meeting with Titanian forces if I can and seeing to other things as necessary."
"Is it an interesting place?" Tia asks.
"Depends on what you're interested in," Yue suggests.
"It's an interesting place. Kind of a fringe space melting pot, lots of gray-area traffic. The part you'll probably be most interested in is that it's a Sifran space station still maintained by Sifran automation, and on the edge of Sifran space." Tasha taps her arm, brings up her arm display, then sends an image to a nearby wall. It shows a gigantic crystalline structure floating in space. "Aside from being an artifact, it sees a lot of traffic big beings you won't normally run in to in Galactic space."
"Is there a central authority or is it more of a cooperative anarchy?" is the next question. "I.. like to know the rules and laws of a place."
"More of the latter. There are Galactic powers and the Library, but no one 'owns' Caltrop. I'm uncertain what happens if laws of governments are seriously broken or if someone endangers the citation; I expect self-help handling by the government, and group-response by the station's people and possibly drones in the latter case. No one goes to Caltrop to make waves, though. People go there for shady dealings, to avoid Galactic society, to hide, and to do all the other things you can do in neutral territory."
"A wilderness Trading Outpost where everyone's best interest lies in maintaining the status quo?" Tia asks. "Is the climate temperate?"
"More or less, and the climate is self-regulated. Me, I don't trust the station,m I think the Sifra use it as a polling station for monitoring Galactic progress, but they're busy trying not to be dead, so at least I don't expect them to lash out any time soon." Tasha spreads her hands. "So there's that. It's very pretty, especially if you have a chance to view the Diadem, which is the distant nebula. There are places to each for all major and minor Galactic species. You can probably buy a lot of rare and restricted items if you know where to look."
"There is no slave trade there, is there?" Tia asks. "I've run into that before, despite it being illegal in 'civilized' regions."
"Uhh, there probably is. I haven't seen it myself but like you, I've seen much the same thing. My home world is a bit notorious about it." And so Tasha wrinkles her muzzle. "Not something we condone or allow if we can help it, here on ship and in operations. It won't be out in the open though, at least not in most sectors of the station. Khattan and Celestial, maybe."
"So being kidnapped is not a high probability?" Tia asks next. She seems very concerned about this topic.
"I wouldn't rule it out, especially if someone detects what you are, but we're both targets for that. Just don't wander around alone and stay away from areas that make you feel uncomfortable. I can assign a bodyguard or two to you, if you like." Tasha throws up an image of their collective mercenaries. "Pick the one you like, the highlighted ones are suited to visible escorting and Batty there -- we had to doctor in that image by the way -- is suitable for stealth escort. Or would be, if she wasn't busy right now."
"I could just stick with you," Tia suggests. "I am less likely to draw any attention that way. It's easier to make my myself ignored when there is another focus pulling the eye."
Tasha smiles at that. "At least being a weird conglomeration of species is good for something. I'll have at least one bodyguard with me, maybe two. I don't expect we'll have more than three parties out at any one time so we should be able to distribute the mercenaries well enough."
"They aren't as intimidating as Gabriel," Tia points out. "But I'm not that familiar with the physiological capabilities of the species in this universe. For instance, I do not think that any of those represented on this ship can breath fire."
"I'm pretty sure that's correct." Tasha is, in fact, pretty sure. "Although given what hake eats sometimes, she may breath acid."
Tia purses her lips, as if unsure if Tasha is being serious or not. "I will continue examining Kai's abilities in the hangar," she declares. "I need massive objects for some of the tests."
"Please do not break anything. Our vessel relies on its supplies for long distance endurance." Tasha takes in a deep breath, exhales, and then turns to Kai. She then reaches over and pats her on the head.
Kai reaches out and scratches Tasha behind the ear in return.
Tasha leans in and wags her tail, as is appropriate. She then smiles as she stands straight again. "Maybe we should get Kai some nicer clothes. It's a bit like having a doll that's also a heirloom, and is maybe sentient. Leaving her to gather dust in old rags is just sad. We should take care of grandma's things."
"That is one of my best dresses," Tia notes. "It's only 313 years old."
"I'm sure we can do better. Supply Mr. Invention and Miss Necessity both of your measurements and we can see you two with a proper wardrobe. They do the same for me." And so Tasha gestures at herself and her stylish lace-trimmed jean shorts, sparkily top under a light fashion jacket, long leg-accentuating socks, and booties. "Katie may or may not also dictate my wardrobe."
"Can we get something blander than that?" Tia asks. "Or are humans expected to be sparkly?"
"I can help temper their wilder impulses," Yue offers. "The only thing that should hug your figure is a vacuum suit. It's easier to hide weapons and artifacts in loose clothing, which also allows more freedom of movement."
"I'm some part of a Vartan, so I am expected to be sparkily." Tasha says this with almost deadpan evenness, as if it were a law of nature, or a scientific fact. "Although Yue is right in that I should be able to hide a weapon or two."
Tia looks Tasha up and down, and asks, "How easily accessible does the weapon need to be?"
"I need to be able to access it quickly in a bad situation. I don't normally dress like this in more dangerous areas, but Katie has her preferences and making Katie happy makes me happy. Then we're happy. Together." Tasha's muzzle quirks in a smile, just for a moment. "But as for weapons, the Sword is there, but I'd really rather not use it against anyone except in the more desperate circumstances."
"Hmm," Tia ponders. "I will think on it."
"Preferably something that's not a laser," Tasha adds, pointing to her eyes.
"Weapons do not need to do damage to be effective," Tia claims. "Nothing I offer would be lethal or life threatening."
"That's fine, killing has worn its welcome with me. I'll save it for when it's necessary, don't want to get burnt out and feel all my killing has becoem passe." Tasha pulls in a breath through her nose, ears flicking. She doesn't smile, making it even more uncertain how serious she's being.
Kai hops down from the table. And asks, "Do you have ice cream on this boat?"
"Yes, please go to the galley and ask Shojo for some." Tasha nods toward the exit, then thumbs behind her. "We went to the galley before. You remember." It's not a question.
"Oh, I'll actually need you to eat the ice-cream," Kai claims with a grin. "For research."
"Oh what a sacrifice," Tasha bemoans, shifting her weigth on to one leg, rolling her head and hair, and looking skyward. "Well I do what I must. Come along." And she she snatches up Kai's arm. "So what research is this?"
It's a short walk across the corridor into the Galley. "You want a weapon that can be hidden, is non-lethal, and which would not even be seen as a weapon," Kai notes.
"Yes. is this some means to destroy people with ice cream? Because I have mixed feelings about desecrating the sacred and innocent joy that is ice cream," Tasha replies, surprised to be holding a conversation with Kai but at the same time not that surprised by anything weird anymore.
Kai goes up to the counter, where Aaron happens to be this time. "Hello," she says, actually lowering her voice. "We'd like some ice-cream, please." She then turns to Tasha and asks, "Which flavor can you eat the fastest?"
"It depends how hungry I am and how much I like it. I prefer coffee ice creams, strawberry, and ice creams with various things swirled in to other things, often with chunky bits." Tasha turns to Aaron and smiles at him. "Feed me, Bunny."
Aaron snickers. "Well, I did just clean out the samovar, if you want some of the coffee 'syrup' that was left in it. I think we have some chunky candies.. I'd suggest chocolate. And there's something that claims to be strawberry ice cream too."
"You don't need to be hungry to eat ice-cream," Kai claims. "Chunky bits might slow down the process though. Unless it were all done as a milkshake, perhaps."
Aaron looks between the two. "Redheaded humans can't all be bossy and conniving, right?" he asks Tasha.
"Kai is sweet, unless that's just an act. Her primary user can also be sweet," Tasha explains to Aaron, but then adds, "But I think they both just have complicated personalities. I need a coffee ice cream with no chunky bits. For science. And weapon manufacture."
"Weaponized dessert," Aaron says as he fetches a bowl. "I'd have expected that from Hakeber, not you." As he drizzles the coffee syrup onto the strawberry ice-cream, he notes, "The Captain-Astromancer is a red-headed human too, did you know?"
"Yes, we've met personally. He's very nice; I don't envy his position." Tasha sits herself down at the counter and pats a stool for Kai to join her on. "We brought him a model of the Ark when we visited him, and to prove we knew what we knew."
Aaron sets the metal bowl on the counter, and holds up a big spoon. "Do you need a spoon, or are you going to apply it directly to your thighs?" he asks teasingly.
"I prefer if other people apply it to my thighs," Tasha retorts without missing a beat. She accepts the spoon, sticks out her tongue, then turns to Kai. "So what happens after I start eating?"
Kai sits at one of the long tables, and gestures for Tasha to sit across from here. "Well, maybe nothing, maybe everything," she says. "The important thing is that you eat it too fast."
"That does take some of the fun out, but only some." Tasha sits up and carries her bowl over, sits down again, then gives Kai one last look before she starts eating, and eatign quickly. Not hard for a canine to do; it's often a fight not to eat fast.
Despite her new body, it still has familiar limitations. And since Tasha's experience with frozen foods is also relatively recent, the brain-freeze effect seems extra painful when it hits.
"I ... assume ... this is what you were ... after?" Tasha asks, one eye squeezed shut. She taps the side of her head with a hand.
"Yes," Kai says triumphantly. "I can work with that, now that I know the physiological triggers." She pushes back from the table, and notes, "Now I will leave you to enjoy your treat in peace, while I go and attempt to frighten Tia and Yue." She even gives Tasha a wink after she says it.
Tasha smiles at that and winks back. Frightening people for fun is also a canine past time. "Good luck," she wishes, and then she returns to eating her ice cream.
"So.. I'm confused," Aaron says as Tasha finishes off the ice-cream. He's idly cleaning parts of the coffee machine as he watches. "That was Tia just now, wasn't it?"
"No," Tasha answers, carrying her bowl back. She's very business-like today, for some reason. "That seems to be Kai in control of Kai."
"Of course," Aaron says. "I haven't seen much of Tia, but she did not seem the playful sort, and Kai seemed to be enjoying herself. And tricking you into torturing yourself, too."
"I figured she was up to something like that, and I probably owe her some self-torture. If it's just ice cream it's not a big deal." And so Tasha shrugs. "What you see is probably Kai's basic personality, developed after so-many-years. She's very different than Tia, that's for sure."
"So, she's an actual sort of person when nobody else is in control, but only if she needs to be?" Aaron asks. "That seems disturbing."
"I assume she was created for a purpose and runs a sub-personality when needed. Ideas like a separate self, a personal identity, and other things like that may not apply to her, or she may not see them the same way we do. Artificial beings can have expectations tempered by their purpose, like with Mel. I do find it a little unsettling, but I don't know enough to judge whether it's good, bad, or neutral." And so Tasha spins her spoon in a circle. "I don't know a lot about the culture she comes form either, but that's not necessary for me to make a judgment."
"Maybe I'm still paranoid from when the Horse acted against our interests out in the Void," Aaron says. "Dromodons are dependable because they are strong and stupid. A smart one could decide to take off in whatever direction it wanted, draging its owner and cart with it."
"The benefit and problem with intelligent tools, every species and entity who makes them inevitable faces such problems. Karnors, Phins, Titans, Remotes, slaves, bound demons, pros and cons," Tasha says, nodding slowly.
"However, after what we had to go through with Samael.." Aaron says and shudders. "Maybe those two women are relatively harmless. How weird could they be, after all?"
"Sam's definitely a big question mark. As for those two, they can be pretty weird. But weird in the way we are weird, and more besides. There's similarities between us and them." Tasha gestures back the way Kai departed. "Kai's probably the weirder of the two, but Tia suffers from having once been something very different."
"Kai and Sam were both made for deception, so they're alike in that way, certainly," Aaron concedes. "Katie too, but in a more out in the open sort of way. So, I guess we can mostly trust Tia then, since she's awkward. Or else she's really deceptive and that's all an act too. Could Yue tell if it was?"
"No, Tia's just really awkward," Tasha confirms, nodding again. "She's decidedly uncomfortable with many things, which makes sense. Yue can tell Tia isn't really Human, so in that sense yes and no since Tia's base psychic imprint is probably very different from Human. Another language, basically. She knwos Tia isn't written entirely in Human, but not what that other language means."
"Not demons or space-monsters though," the Lapi says, reattaching the part he was cleaning to the coffee maker. "Coffee will be brewing in another hour. Want me to let you know when the first pot is ready?"
"Yes, please. As for Kai and Tia, well, I feel someone should look out for Tia. She's going through a difficult time, and she doesn't know how to handle it. And Kai, Kai is like ... an heirloom. A keepsake, or a momento. Something that's more than what it is, with sentimental value beyond whatever else it is. It's important to me to keep them both safe, even if they're probably stronger than me in many ways." Tasha hands over the spoon, then stretches. "I should finish my paperwork."
"There's not even real paper involved," Aaron points out. "But, as long it keeps you out of trouble!" He grins at Tasha. "I never could, after all!"
"It sneaks up on you, paperwork. You feel bad if it doesn't get done, but you hate it. Eventually you're just doing it here and there, then it's hours of your day. Insidious. It might be an Ogdru-hem." Tasha wrinkles her nose, then stands. She turns to go, then steps back and reaches over to grab Aarons hand. "Hey. Thanks for being here. Sorry about dying, and all the other things."
"I'll forgive if you don't get me or Liza killed," Aaron says, smiling. "Otherwise I will give you a spanking."
Tasha smiles at that, but then her smile dips a little. "You two should get off the ship before we leave port. I suspect things will get complicated after that, especially if House Khomen gets vengeful. If anything happens back home, contact the Bridge and mention Gabriel and I, and threats from beyond. Explain things. They won't want another outside agent mucking with things again, and they can deal with it. Hopefully."
"That would mean taking the Tadpole wouldn't it?" Aaron asks. "I don't particularly trust the Titanians. And you probably shouldn't introduce Tia to them. Who knows how they'd react if they thought she was a 'dangerous artifact' to be locked away."
"They'll listen to me. But I travel with a lot of dangerous artifacts, I'm basically a honorary Titanian at this point." Tasha retrieves her arm and straightens. "They'll get you home though, you can trust them that much. If the Tadpole is better, go with that."
"We'd need a pilot, probably that.. Dark.. whatsit.. Eeee," Aaron says. "I worry that your new mentor won't be sufficiently paranoid though. So if they aren't, make them be. That's an order! Now go do your paperwork. It's good for the soul, and you don't have to worry about accidentally eating the paper if you doze off during it."
Tasha grimaces at the mention of paranoia. "They were so paranoid they broke me for a while; I think they may be too paranoid, or not clever enough about it. Or crazy. It's hard to say. I'll deal with it when the time comes." Tasha steps back and gives a wave. "Off to sign things a bazillion times, you know where to find me if you need me."
And with that off she goes.