The Way It Is

planet of death - part 1

The ride down is turning out relatively uneventful. The new technology from Quantum 4 is beyond anything I have ever experienced. There's no need for a pilot. Hell, the ship technically doesn't even need passengers or a crew. Too bad it couldn't roam the planet and do the job for us.

As it was, the A.I. in the ship already has our destination coordinates. As soon as I had said the word 'OK,' it had taken over and cleared us for take-off. Then before I had even found a seat, we had been on course for our destination on the planet of death.

So I may be in love with the ship. It is thankfully void of living bio-mechanical walls. Instead, it has some sort of new material thoroughly infused with electrical signals that I don't understand.

Any wall not embedded with tech or equipment attached to it can be used as a digital display for our communicators or handhelds, including the ship's A.I.

The ship's A.I. scared the absolute shit out of me earlier in the Captain's quarters. And yes, I claimed the Captain's quarters.

The ship has one other room near the back of it, by the Engineering Bay and the single holding cell, but I wanted to be close to the cockpit.

Not sure I qualify as a ship's Captain, but I don't care. Apparently, neither does Ufrik. Truthfully the A.I. is technically the ship's Captain anyway.

Anyway, the sanitizer had been my first stop after we left the AAF Conquest's shuttle bay. I was getting dressed into my first pair of truly clean clothes when the wall suddenly shimmered to life beside me.

I almost pulled my gun on it.

The ship's A.I., calling itself Syndicate because AAF Multi-Purpose Transport Vessel Artificial Intelligence didn't appeal to it, presented me with its somewhat humanoid version of itself.

Of course, it chose a female form. Engineers and mechanics seriously need to stop calling their spacecraft's "her" or "she." Nevertheless, she did create a decent-looking female figure for herself. Based on a female from the Quantum region in the Iornos Galaxy.

Most Quantum region inhabitants are human-looking. Not sure why I find that weird, but I do.

I am not sure if it's because I cannot reconcile the insane intelligence of the Quantonians with humans or that a species so superior in brain function can look so mundane.

I mean, Humans have potential. They just keep purposely harming themselves and their potential for evolutionary progress. Repeatedly. Which is the exact opposite of the people from the Quantum region.

Altogether, in the Iornos Galaxy, there are nine habitable planets. The people of that galaxy, being geniuses, decided that there was no point in having multiple-planet names.

Thus, for efficiency and practicality, each planet is called Quantum, followed by the number in which order it is in the Galaxy. Who decided the order? I have no idea. I don't care. It is known as the Quantum region, and that is enough for me.

Either way, the A.I. has made herself a damn good-looking Quantum female. It left me a little confused, to be honest. Is it weird to check out your ship's A.I. and find it attractive?

Still, it's not every day a life-size representation of your ship's A.I. appears beside you while you're half-naked. Rude.

She had wanted to know what I wanted for "sustenance," as it could tell by my vitals, I was in dire need of "nourishment."

The creepy thing can scan your vitals from anywhere on the ship. Handy in most cases, creepy when you aren't ready for it. After being so long planetside, eating simple meal after meal,  I am not going to complain.