The Starlight Lancer

Chapter 115: Malfunction

"A day spent in bed is a day wasted. There's so much out there waiting for you."

—Famed Explorer Jeana Legran

Boredom wriggled like a worm in Zaina's brain. She was back in her little hut in the woods at least, but this was still only her second day of bed rest. She'd already exhausted most of her favorite vis-films and now mindlessly watched a comedy show she'd seen at least twenty times over the years. Every punch-line and story arc were ingrained in her head; sometimes she found herself speaking along with the show.

Today her thoughts turned to where she'd be in ten years. Either dead as a lancer or renounced and alive, but still marked—she honestly didn't know which option suited her.

Her attention drifted back to the vis-screen. Zaina's recital of the lines was interrupted by a mumble and a few roiling bubbles from her stomach.

How long has it been since I ate something?

She sighed. Bed rest sucked. "Hey, Gizmo? Buddy?"

Her little glyph friend, a floating mass of light and metal about the size of her head, hovered over. "Yes, Master Zaina?"

She shook her head. "It's Zaina. That's it—Zaina. I'm not your master, I'm your friend."

"It is polite for a glyph to refer to their sentient operator as Master," Gizmo chirped in reply. "I would not like being impolite to you, Master Zaina."

"Well, I don't like being called master. Sentient operator doesn't exactly have a ring to it, either. Can you think of something else to call me?"

Gizmo chirped, then gave a strange, low-pitched whirring noise for about a second. A completely different voice came from it and said, "Reset complete. Hello, Master. May I have your preferred name?"

"Are you fucking with me or something? You know my name."

Gizmo beeped twice. "Input complete. Hello, Master Aryufa. Would you like me to go over my functions and performance schedule?"

"No, I—why did you reset? Did I do something wrong?"

"I'm not sure what you mean, Master Aryufa. There is no wrong way to interact with your personal glyph."

Zaina thought for a moment. "Did I do something to trigger the reset? Is there even any way you would know that?"

"Of course, Master Aryufa! A log is kept of every reset, and the sentient operator who initiated said reset is listed in each instance. Would you like me to retrieve that information?"

She glanced over at the show she'd seen over a dozen times, then back to Gizmo. Yeah, she didn't have anything better to do. "Sure, go for it."

"Affirmative, Master Aryufa!" Gizmo whirred and clicked, then chirped and said, "It appears one Girxorgian of Clan Ra-Folgoth, the previous sentient operator, is the one who initiated the reset."

A twinge of sorrow struck Zaina's chest. "Buddy, I—I'm sorry, but Gir's gone."

"Affirmative—however, the reset was initiated by him."

Zaina shook her head. "That doesn't make any sense. Are you okay, Gizmo? What's going on, little buddy?"

"Yes, Master Aryufa. I am—" it was interrupted by the same low whirring as before, and then Gizmo said, "Reset complete. Hello, Master. May I have your preferred name?"

"Zaina," she replied. Then she continued, "Did you get too hot on the last mission or something?"

Gizmo whizzed and whirred. "Retrieving memory from mission databanks." It spat out the same whir as before and said, "Reset complete. Hello, Master. May I have your preferred name?"