Deck jolted out of his memories. He was laying in an unfamiliar yet at the same time familiar bunk. If you slept in one ship's bunk you had slept in them all. He blinked in the dim light, there were tiny sparks of light floating in his vision. They disappeared and he looked down at himself. Or tried too. It looked like his body was submerged in a dark liquid that moved like choppy waters. Then those dark waters receded rapidly. He lifted his arm just in time to see some of that dark substance sink into his flesh. 'Wait was that the nanites from before?'
"Yes, Captian. I was using them to treat you in the absence of a med bay." The ship's voice spoke sounding calm and reassuring as the lights in his room brightened.
"I thought you said you only read my mind during sorties." He sat up and rolled his shoulders. All the intense pain was gone.
There was a long pause before the ship spoke again. "A sortie isn't complete until debriefing is complete."
"Right. Since when have AI been able to skirt the rules?" Deck flexed his fingers.
"As I said before I am no basic AI. I am a Sigma Four grade AI." He got the impression of a reassuring smile.
"Right. I don't know what that means." He frowned. "Also, you performed operations on me twice now without prior consent. Some of those nanites looked like they went INSIDE me just now."
There was no pause this time. Instead, the AI answered almost too fast. "My most primary of objectives is to maintain the health and well being of the captain. I previously installed the key as part of standard protocol. I took action to repair the damage done to your body with the methods I had available. This again falls within a protocol."
"And the nanites you just injected me with?" He stood up glad to find everything working.
"Those actions were again within limits of the protocol." They didn't sound as sure as they had before.
"What action?" Deck twisted at the waist left then right before he was sure he wasn't still injured.
"I have used some of the nanites to reinforce your skeleton. Without a combat suit activating your implants can be potentially lethal. Based on the personality profile of the captain, there is a high chance of requesting activation of implants again. This is a preventative measure. Reinforcement of skeleton and replacement of some tissue was deemed necessary to ensure the safety of the captain." Her tone was perfectly bland without any inflection or emotion making it sound almost rehearsed as if an AI could do such a thing.
"Uh, what all are you replacing? I don't want to be a cyborg." He patted his chest then in a slight panic almost grabbed his own crotch.
"That part wasn't amongst the ones deemed needing improvement." He might have liked hearing that tone when discussing his more intimate parts from a woman, but coming from an AI made him nervous.
"Let's keep it that way. I'm not going to make a big deal out of what you have done. It makes sense, I guess. But I have no desire to end up some cyborg. Even if the military plugged me with more implants than is standard I like being mostly organic. Got it?" He couldn't get upset over something as small as skeletal reinforcements. After all, he had plenty of implants already plugged into his body. Many of which were experimental at the time of installment. Red Star always got the best toys, just sometimes they killed you before the enemy could. What was a little more hardware, just as long as it was only that. A little more. He didn't want to end up one of those mostly machine freaks. Might as well be a brain in a jar at that point.
"Understood Captain. Protocol's updated to adhere to the Captians wish. Will that be acceptable?" If he was dealing with a person he would think they agreed just a bit too fast. But this was an AI… Though he was thinking he needed to rethink his position on dealing with AI.
His stomach growled loudly. "Do we have any food on this ship? I didn't think about that before we left."
"I made sure to grab the various nutrient bases from the frigate we… borrowed mass from. Unfortunately, we lack a food processor and my ability without one is limited. Still, I have been able to produce a meal capable of sustaining my organic crewmates." The AI's tone sounded rather proud of itself.
"Er, good." He exited the room and glanced around. Before he could ask a set of lights lit up showing him which direction to go. Letting out an exasperated sigh at his lack of privacy he went ahead and followed it.
Nai was sitting at a table with a bowl in front of her. She was running a spoon thru the contents, her expression was one of disgust. She glanced up as he sat down. "Here have some lunch." She slid the bowl and spoon over to him.
Deck picked up the spoon and stirred the bowl slowly. The contents looked like congealed snot mixed with overcooked oatmeal. Nai was watching him with a hard to read expression. Deck just shrugged, steeled himself, and began shoveling the food into his mouth as fast as he could. He choked it down trying his best to both not taste it or to linger on the horrible consistency.
"Ugh, can't believe you are eating that slop. I thought the stuff we ate in the Grung Box was bad." Nai looked like she might puke but couldn't tear her gaze from the horror show going on in front of her.
Deck managed to swallow the last bite while only gaging slightly before he dropped the spoon noisily into the bowl. "N..Not that bad. Had worse in boot camp." He never thought he would miss the nutrition tablets they issued in the military.
Nai reached over and picked up his spoon. Stared at the little bit left on it before sticking it in her mouth. Her eyes watered and her throat worked as she resisted the urge to gag. "Right. I forgot. I was going on a diet."
Deck couldn't help but look her slender frame over again. When he looked her in the face she was glaring at him and pointing the spoon at him. "Don't get any ideas, I know." He said before she could. She glared at him then looked at the spoon in her hand then back at him, her pale cheeks took on a slight flush as she dropped the spoon back in the bowl.
"Ship… Actually, do you have a name?" Deck glanced around not knowing where exactly to look when talking to the AI. It was in theory everywhere around them.
"I have no official designation assigned. But my original creator did refer to me as Eve unofficially." There was an odd inflection in the ship's voice as it spoke, was that sadness or longing?
"Ok, Eve works for me if it works for you." Deck shrugged.
"It does. Thank you, Captian." The ship's demure tone caused Nai to raise an eyebrow. It seemed he wasn't the only one to find the ship's AI unusual.
"Eve, set a course for station N4D2. I have a contact there about a job. I'm broke and we need to get you a food processing unit ASAP." Deck spoke while eying the bowl.
"I am sorry captain. I tried my best." Deck found himself apologizing and reassuring the AI that he didn't blame her before he remembered he was talking to a ship AI. Nai snickered at him.
He glared at her. "Plus when we get there we can terminate your contract and go our own ways."
"Sounds great to me. The last thing I want to do is be stuck playing the first mate to a combat junkie while he is on honeymoon with his digital woman." Nai snapped back.
"Please first mate Nai, we don't act like a newlywed couple." There was a slight pause. "Do we?" The shy tone of the ship made Nai burst out laughing and Deck to frown.
"I'm not a combat junkie. I hate when people call me that." Deck growled. "Besides I have no desire to have a thief and a con artist as part of my crew. Oh and a whore."
"Screw you I'm not a whore. I'm the one that should be pissed I made it ten years then lost it to a combat junkie so stupid he got scammed by a puntz like Galg." Nai stood up and smacked her hands flat on the table.
"I said I'm not a combat junkie! Wait, lost what?" Deck growled back standing up to lean over the table in a similar manner putting his face close to hers.
Her eyes flashed and her cheeks flushed. "Nothing you need to worry about. Why don't you go rushing off into a fight? I've heard about your types. Get addicted to your own implants. Worst kind of junkies. Don't deny it. I saw how you were back on the station. Probably had to go change your underwear afterwords." She glanced down at his crotch.
"No, I didn't. Not that I could have. Since someone stole my underwear." He turned his gaze to his own boxers still rolled up around her waist and poking out of her shorts.
"And you aren't getting them back. I couldn't find my underwear." For a moment the two of them glared at one another.
The AI made a sound like clearing their throat. "Captian. I have set a course for the station in question. But I need to register with them. They also want to know the purpose of our visit."
"Work. Shipping and Recovery." He was still glaring at Nai.
"The station requires we register which company we are working for." Nai was matching his glare.
"I don't know. Just make something up."
"As you wish Captian… Registered as Red Star Recovery Inc. Will this be acceptable?" The ship's words broke him out of his staring contest with his first mate.
"Ugh did you have to put Red Star in the name?"
"Why not? Don't want them to know you're a criminal?" Nai sneered.
For a moment the two stared at each other then in unison turned away to walk in different directions. Only when he realized he was heading back towards the bunks and not the bridge did he turn around. He and Nai met halfway again, both eying the others as they passed but said nothing. 'First thing we do when we get to the station is ditch that pile of trouble. Stupid girl thinks just because she is hot she can act all stuck up.'
"Perhaps if you told First Mate Nai you found her so attractive you two could get along better." The ship spoke up in a helpful tone. He glanced back to make sure Nai wasn't close enough to hear the ship's words.
"You. You stop reading my mind damn it!" He headed into the bridge with a huff.