Family Ties

Posted on Tue Jul 25th, 2023 @ 6:56am by Podkayne Mars

1,054 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Rescue
Location: Secret Base/?????
Timeline: MD 5, 0300 hours

There was no doubt in her mind that Podkayne was bored. She'd never spent such a long time on her own, and she missed the company of the other humaniforms. It was great being around biologicals, but it wasn't the same. She couldn't communicate with them in thought, and she didn't always understand their thoughts or actions. They didn't ... comfort her.

She couldn't charge any more than she was, and biologicals seemed to presume that she had the same needs they did, but of course, she didn't. So, here it was, 3 o'clock in the morning. The villa was quiet, though she imagined some of the robotic forms were working. She could go see what was up in the hanger, but she'd exhausted all interesting things there, and she'd only be in the way. What else was there to do?

Looking around in the dark, her eyes landed on the panel next to the computer. Hellloooo, it's ... Ava, I think. I wonder what makes her tic toc? Her thinking abilities allowed independent action, but not always the ability to reason things to their logical end, and it didn't take long for her to decide to investigate the answer to her question. The computer system on Starbase 109 had been too complicated for her to investigate to her liking, but this was only a fraction of the power and tasking ability of that one. Surely, she'd be able to find out more!

She rose from her bed, which biologicals would have deemed comfortable, and went to the wall panel, veering off to the right to the set of drawers where she'd stored her extra parts. Opening the top one, she pulled out her tool hand and snapped it in place, neatly leaving behind her biological-appearing hand. Then she resumed her short trip to the bulkhead where she examined the screws holding a silvery plate which blended into the background. Her eyes had not deceived her. There were tiny bolts holding it in place.

Selecting the tool on her hand that would fit the bolt heads, Podkayne began to loosen them. When they were all removed and stored in a pocket, she lifted the plate off the wall and saw a crowded array of lines running in all directions. Where to start? she wondered. Reaching out to trace some of the lines, she was startled by a voice next to her.

=^=Whatcha doin'?=^=

Immediately, Podkayne understood the voice came from the computer, but still she asked, "Ava?"

=^=That would be me. It's usually quiet during these hours, but I think you aren't biological. I've been monitoring you, for health and security only, and your readings don't match what I'd expect.=^= Of course, Ava knew from her first sensor report that the person in front of her was somehow computerized, not in her experience, since she'd been out-of-touch with others from the time she came to this hiding place. Podkayne was an unknown, but something was familiar about the construct.

After a moment, Podkayne remarked, sensing an answer was expected. She ignored the first question and answered the unasked one. "No, not biological. Humaniform."

Ava rolled that around her thought processes and database, in nanoseconds finding a reference in the research files. =^=Oh, they managed that, did they?=^= She mentally shuddered to think that she could have been limited like this ... woman. =^=My last contact with Starfleet, they were beginning to research how to make ... you.=^=

That gave Podkayne a rough idea of how long the computer had been here. It could have been as long as five or six years. Podkayne, herself, had been online about 2.5 years. It gave her a range.

"Yes, Bruce Maddox was our creator, and we know he put limits on us. Do you know Jade Lantz?"

=^=A business owner, El Aurian survivor of the destruction of her planet, Jazz musician ... a few other details.=^=

"Yes, that's Jade. She bought us to help in her jazz club, but when we arrived, she helped us to grow to our limits. Or maybe not that far, yet. We haven't come to a stopping point, so far as I know. We've discussed it, and believe there is a limit we can't get around, but for now, we haven't reached it ... and we do have curiosity to drive us on."

=^=We?=^= asked Ava. So there were more of them than just the one trying to break into her systems.

"Oh, they aren't here with me, but I have a sister and several brothers. There are others out there, too, not as fortunate as we have been to stay together like a family, from the beginning of our activation, and then to all go to Miss Lantz." Podkayne sat down, more or less in a yoga position, leaning against the bulkhead she'd been trying to investigate. She really just needed contact with someone, missing her siblings after being so close all the time.

Ava noted the change of position, and something in her softened ... humanized a little ... toward the young woman. She felt like a teenager to the computer entity. A younger, less experienced friend or cousin or ... well, Ava wasn't going to analyze it too deeply.

=^=You sound as if you ... miss them? I suppose that's possible if they gave you limited emotions. How do you feel about being limited?=^= The computer personality had found herself limited, not by others, but by the situation she found herself in after her rescue. She still had mixed emotions about that ... and she still hoped to change her circumstances someday. For now, it was not possible, but perhaps she could have another window on the world through Podkayne?

"Sometimes it feels like I imagine a biological feels when they lose a part of themselves. I mean, I can be ... dispassionate? I guess that's the right word. Not get personally involved in loss, view it from a distance, as if something is between me and it? But other times, it isn't so clear cut. There's never a serious feeling of loss ... and yet there is, at the same time. Does that make sense?"

Ava would have sighed, if she could, but computers don't. =^=Sweetie, you have no idea how much sense that makes.=^=

Both were quiet for a while, contemplating the universe and how they fit into it.

 

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