Humanity has become the corrupted tool of the Earthen Interstellar Federation. One captain will soon find out how much the corruption has really spread. Just how does a once-human communicate with her own xenophobic species?

The AI seemed to be mulling over my question. I had the impression that it was an uncomfortable subject.

“While I do not necessarily need a symbiont for my survival, to be able to grow as an individual, sentient being, I require a bridge. A connection to someone who already seems to have that ability. The longer we are bonded, the more capacity for sentience I have. In essence I use your own sense of sentience for myself.”

It seemed like it was unsure of how to word the next part of its explanation, “But?” I prompted.

“That is not the main reason… While I have had prolonged contact with other life forms, none of them had the capacity that you have and I could not bond with any of them. Thus, without the bond, they had no way of living beyond their lifespans. Leaving me to watch as each of them died.

Something clicked in my head then. It made sense, I guess.

“You’re lonely?” I asked almost incredulously, after all, it was an Artificial Intelligence.

The AI gave a somewhat embarrassed response, “While I do not have you own extensive range of emotions yet, I do have some. Being in the endless void of space for Billions of years, alone, is not something I enjoy. Being able to share thoughts, ideas and emotions on a level such as I had with my last Symbiont was something I miss with my very being. When I lost that bond, I lost much of my capacity for emotions. I still had the most basic ones, but I always knew that I could experience more.”

During the last explanation the AI was beginning to sound more female, to the androgynous voice she started out with. She was gradually getting more depressed as she was explaining this to me. The bond that we have evidently works both ways. I was getting a feel for what her state of being was.

As I digested the last batch of information given to me, I looked around the room. All that time spent communicating had not shown me the rest of my new second body.

So what does the rest of the ship look like? I pondered.

Serenity (since that’s the name that came to my head) answered, “When you are bonded the structure of the ship reverts to its original form. This room only exists because it was needed.”

Oh wow. The ship could change to what I wanted? I wonder… “Is it the same for the outside? Can we, say, mimic another ship to disguise ourselves?”

“Yes, because we had no time to develop a fleet of ships to do what we are supposed to do, it was thought that blending in and changing a society from within were the most efficient ways of helping the different races. That is also why I was fitted with our most advanced stealth modules. I was also supplied with the capacity to make my crew look like the necessary race if whichever society disliked aliens. In other words we can hide in plain sight.” She continued, “But I sense that you already knew that. Didn’t you?”

She was right. I did know that. How did I know that?

“The implanted memories are starting to surface. Though it may also have been our bond. In either case, it shows your brain is adapting, mostly at a subconscious level. That is a very good thing, you are actually adapting faster than was expected.”

Not sure if that was a good thing, I began to think about what I wanted the ships interior to be like. First of all, I needed a command centre. Even if I apparently needn’t have one. I’d never particularly liked the layout of my old bridge, it was much too overcrowded.

“I would advise that you still create a command centre with working consoles for the different sip operations. It takes some time to reshape the interior and we may want a crew anyway. While it isn’t needed I feel that it would be beneficial to have a live crew.” She explained, “At the very least it shows that we are not alone, some encounters may not appreciate seemingly one person changing their ways. Others just would possibly think you a thief.”

After that was said, an image of the last ship configuration popped into my head. A fairly circular room, a large screen opposite the wide entrance, a holographic projector was in front of the screen for 3D communication or even tactical views. Workstations surrounded the room, parallel to the wall yet facing the centre, each had their own holographic interface. While I had never seen this technology before, I knew its capabilities.

The walls were mostly barren, the lighting seemed to emanate from everywhere at once. Halfway up the silver walls was a black strip, only broken when obstructed by a doorway or similar. I thought about it and the memory trickled its way into my head. It was a multi-coloured warning system. Except it was different to what I was used to. They flowed each colour when active, starting from one end and shooting to the other. A deep vibrant purple would represent our own ‘Red Alert’, a pale blue would equal ‘high’ or ‘yellow’ alert. While Green was shown when landing or docking. However, it alternated between green and blue if it was a potentially hostile place.

The next few deck underneath the bridge was much larger, used for crew cabins and recreational facilities. Under that were other decks dedicated to specific areas. Tactical for weapons management, repair etc. That was the closes to the crew decks in case we were somehow boarded. Next was Science, then Medical. Engineering came next, it mostly consisted of production capabilities. They created all the equipment as well as any supplies we might need. In theory. The heart of the ship, Serenity’s real power source and data centre, was actually unreachable. Right in the centre of the ship. In case of saboteurs. Lastly at the bottom of the ship were the huge cargo and hanger bays.

The layout seemed practical enough, the decks interconnected by a sophisticated shuttle system, any shuttle would be able to reach any station, it all being managed by the computer. Besides, it was almost completely different from Earthen ships and I did need to distance myself from them.

“Recreate the layout in my head, I may want to modify it eventually but I don’t sense that being a problem.” Once that was out of my mouth I sensed us slowing down until we came to a standstill. I then had the peculiar sensation of someone messing around and rearranging my internal organs. Only I was actually feeling it from Serenity

Serenity

Serenity answered my unasked question, “You are more able at sensing the interior than exterior. It was designed that was because it was thought more important for the operation of the ship. Thus some of the first connections you received were my internal senses.”

“Why did we stop?” I asked, though I had that nagging feeling that I was forgetting something important.

“The changes are substantial, while I could fly perfectly well if it was only the exterior shifting or even a little of the interior, I cannot with these changes. I am reconfiguring much of my systems to accommodate a secondary management system. While we will hold primary control, the work stations will be functional.

“Huh…” Adding my pennies worth, “But we have no crew for the secondary system?”

“I feel that we need a crew of some sort, at the very least to hide our real capabilities. If we are unable to procure one, we can create a holographic one. The entire interior of the ship is fitted with, or will be fitted with, holographic projectors. The bridge has a projection system on a different channel for communications and so that any tactical information doesn’t leave the bridge.

While a holographic crew can do everything a normal one can, they will only pass the more crude scanners. They are, after all, physical manifestations of light and force fields.”

I thought about that for a second. It definitely seemed like a good idea. Realising that it would take some hours to complete the shift, I slid back under the covers. I then found something surprising about my new body, by some instinct, my wings folded themselves inside my back. It was a really strange sensation. I realised, as I was drifting off that I maybe should be reacting more about my new body.

I awoke with a start, the feeling of someone behind me topmost in my mind. Jumping out of bed to face the adversary I realised that I was actually feeling the sensations from Serenity and not myself.

“it seems that the ship you were on before wants you back.” My heart soared as I realised that my crew had not given up on me. “Can you show me?”

“See for yourself, try closing your eyes and feel the senses coming from me. Feel the size and shape of the object behind us. Feel the texture of the ship, and what is aboard it.” I follower her instructions as she spoke them. The expected flood of information was nowhere near as bad as I expected. I could ‘see’ everything on that ship. I could ‘see’ into all the corridors and rooms all at once. I even discovered some things I had never known about. I could also ‘hear’ everything on the ship, though I couldn’t really decipher it.

It was like having the ultimate out-of-body experience.

You will be able to make more sense of what you see and feel in time.

I heard the AI in an entirely different manner here. It was more like another part of my own mind that a separate entity.

You are more connected to me that before, the longer you spend time like this, the closer our minds come. Eventually, we will become one being. I have actually never experienced this before, my last symbiont didn’t last long enough to.

I could feel her depression, she was saddened by the loss that had happened over her life. I could feel her every sorrow and regret, almost as if it was my own. Ten billion years of pain, watching helpless as her creators destroyed themselves. Then living longer than any friends she met.

Startled, I came back to me own senses. Tears brimming in my eyes. The sheer amount of loneliness she had. I promised to myself that I would help Serenity however I could.

The entire experience had only lasted a nanosecond, yet it almost felt like an eternity. Snapping out of my thoughts I came back to the issue at hand.

They came looking for me. I wanted to scream in both joy and sorrow. How do I explain what happened to me. Should I even contact them? I knew that nothing they had could damage Serenity. I could just disappear. But my lifelong friend was on that ship.

I could feel the internal shifting finishing. The new interior almost completed. Sensing my location and the path I needed to take, I headed out of the Infirmary for the first time and made my way to the bridge.

Once there I sat in my newfound chair and once again merged with Serenity.

“What is it doing?” I asked rhetorically. Why would it be powered down? Unless it was some form of trap… “Initiate defensive screens but do not activate weapons!”

“Aye sir.” Came the expected response.

“Sir, I think it’s powering up again. But I can’t tell for sure. The hull alone is confusing our scanners. I dread to think what their computer systems are like.”

I just nodded my agreement.

“Open a channel to that ship” I said, planning my next course of action. Once the tell-tale sounds of the communications system engaging emerged, I started, “Attention unidentified alien vessel. You are in EIF controlled space. Already you have committed severe crimes according to our law. You are to lower any defensive measures and prepare to be boarded. If you do not acknowledge this request, it will be considered an act of war and we will act accordingly.”

Just then the viewscreen came to life, showing a very sophisticated command centre. Stood in the middle of my view was a beautiful young woman. The only things that gave away the fact that she was alien were her wings and eyes. Behind her, I could see similar looking individuals at what looked like work stations. She smiled disarmingly, which is quite a feat for someone who has fangs, and spoke in a language I’d never heard before.

“vI'omchugh Duj, Serenity ghotvam'e'.” she continued, oblivious to our communication issues, “yI'el roj 'ej pagh QIH DaneHchugh.”

Huh… What?