Chapter 21 #2
"But if the one we both serve is now gone, I am sorry to hear it.
Most certainly the kikai will fall into a very different pattern.
" The AI shook her head. "Given that Akari has not contacted me"—her eyes turned into ones and zeros scrolling through as she glanced into the far distance—"in over ten years, I suspect your claim that she is dead to be true.
In which case, I happily transfer all authority to Akari's disciple, Violet. "
"What do I do with that?" Violet asked, and the AI tilted her head in the same cute floppy mannerism of most kikai.
"Well, unfortunately, I am a ship that is unable to fly. Akari buried me well over two centuries ago," the AI reported.
I coughed. "Looking good for two centuries."
"Thank you." The AI curtsied. "This image was Akari at 841. She often thought those were some of her better years."
"841…" I stammered and gave Lily a double-take.
She was, of course, more interested in Violet at present, looking at the kikai as if she might be a delicious snack.
"Sorry." I held up my hand. "How old would she have been recently?"
"Well over a thousand years, if she were still alive today." The AI turned to me. "After all, Akari was a divine." As she said that word, her nine tails splayed out, radiating a bloody red light, and the lights dimmed dramatically. I glanced up at them, raising an eyebrow.
"Really?" I asked. The lights dimmed again.
"It was far more impressive in person." The AI's tails swished behind her.
Violet cleared her throat and avoided my gaze as I squinted at her. She focused on the AI instead. "Then what's the purpose of the ship, and why are you surprised at ten years' absence?"
"Akari functionally used me as a journal," the AI answered.
"Damn expensive journal," I muttered.
"Yes, well. She decided that I represented an era of blood and war, depositing me on this planet and building me into a geothermal vault so that I may stay powered and present. It was a location for her to store important items," the AI answered.
"Such as?" I perked up.
The AI crossed her arms. "You are not my captain."
"Please…" Violet hesitated. "Do you have a name?"
"You may call me Aikari," she offered.
I frowned. "Like AI-Akari?" The apparently ancient and terrifying kikai's image bobbed her head.
"Just so. It's only fitting," she said, and I worked to suppress a laugh before turning to Violet.
Violet nodded and turned to Aikari. "What of value has been stored? Unfortunately, there are enemies heading this way, and we must protect what was valuable to my master."
"The Musume lies within my armory," Aikari said, "as well as several other famous weapons.
But given that it was Akari's favored sword for a long time, I believe it should go with you.
Second, I myself am the most valuable item stored.
I contain a large amount of information that could be useful to you—or anyone you wish to trade it to.
I know many people's dark secrets, leverage points, and more.
Though I suppose now much of it is ten years out of date.
" Aikari frowned, all nine of her tails swishing against the ground before they perked back up.
"I can also recount many tales of your master and her journey to prominence. "
"Do you have a drive?" I said, frowning, unsure of where all her data would be stored.
Aikari smiled, and in the corner, a large block that was perhaps the size of a mini-fridge popped out of the wall.
"And how are we supposed to—" The words died on my lips as Violet picked it up as if it weighed nothing. "Oh. That works, I guess," I commented dryly as it seemed Violet wasn’t going to hide herself any longer.
Aikari ignored my comments. "That contains a collection of my personality, as well as heavily compressed files of my entire memory history. Though imperfect, it's definitely the crown jewel of the ship."
I frowned. "But you're still here?"
"Of course. I'll be here till the day I run out of power. But if enemies are coming, I assume some more unfortunate end might be on the horizon for me." The AI shook her head. "I will not allow some ruffians to tarnish Akari's legacy."
Violet nodded along, seeming to have found a friend in Aikari. I was still reconciling with the fact that we were talking to something so old, with as much depth and information as it held.
"Should we get to this armory?" I asked.
"Oh, yes. If there are people coming, you absolutely want to go there first. In fact, take all the weapons," Aikari said merrily, spinning around with her arms in the air. "Take me, and then we can get you out of here." She winked, and I looked around for a map or something to tell me where to go.
"This way," Aikari said, though it wasn't the one we'd been talking to up till now. Instead, two more images of her appeared by the doorway into the bridge, shown from projectors I could now see tucked away in the corners.
"Projectors?" I asked.
"There was a fad of giving AI assistants full roam of the ship," the AI said, though she waffled her head back and forth. "Some people found it annoying, and the fad stopped." She frowned. "I'm certain that's not why your master buried me." Then she skipped along with us as we walked down the hall.
"These are just crew quarters, now completely emptied out. Oh, but that one was a trophy room. From your master's more vicious years."
I glanced in the direction she'd pointed. It was a room with dozens upon dozens of fox tails hanging from clotheslines strewn across the ceiling.
"Are those tails?" I asked.
"Divine tails, to be exact," the AI said.
"You know, I don't know what a divine kikai is." I frowned, then glanced at Violet.
"Oh," Aikari said, pausing. "Well, it's a divine. You know—" She gestured at the tails behind her, and I glanced down at Violet's single tail.
"Aikari, do not speak of the divine to those who are not one," Violet said sharply. "It has been the rule."
The talkative AI hesitated, glancing at me while talking to her, "You know, I do think the tail’s already wet."
"These are the rules of my master. Even if she is no longer here, I will continue them." Violet held her head high.
Aikari mimed zipping her lips, then clasped her hands together and bowed toward me as if trying to convey her apology. "Apologies, Violet's captain. I’m unable to answer your question.”
"I'm surprised Akari didn't bake that rule into you, if it's so important," I offered.
"I suspect she never thought anyone other than a divine would be in here. After all, this place is under like a bajillion tons of bedrock." Aikari shrugged.
"Is that a technical count?" I asked, earning a chuckle from the AI and from Lily, who was stalking behind the digital woman and sticking a finger into her, breaking up the projection. The AI spun around, swatting at Lily’s hand uselessly.
"Stop that. A lady deserves some privacy." She spun through the air to escape Lily. "Okay, the armory's right up here."
Aikari swirled around an entrance, winked out, and reappeared inside. "Now, for today, I have a wonderful collection of items for you to peruse." She spun around and began gesturing at things wildly.
I frowned, pointing around. "What are the tails?"
The place was almost more of a trophy room than an armory. Beside many of the objects hung clusters of tails.
"That's the number of tails the original owner had. Well, most of them are the actual tails with some fakes mixed in," Aikari said proudly.
Violet scowled.
"What? It's answering the question," Aikari said.
"And how do you get more tails?" I asked, glancing between Aikari's nine, Violet's one, and the five or six similarly colored tails mounted beside many of the weapons.
The AI hologram mimed zipping her lips and throwing away the key. Violet's expression told me little beyond a pained grimace.
"I think you should remove this limit on information," Lily said.
The AI kikai nodded rapidly in agreement, her mouth still zippered closed.
"And why should I share vital information with you?" Violet said. "This is no small secret."
Lily crossed her arms and stared at the other woman. "You have on multiple occasions held back, and I wish for that to stop."
"We aren't killing everyone." Violet frowned.
"No," Lily snapped. "I mean the fact that your speed and strength occasionally go well outside what I believe is normal for the kikai species. You hold back enough to show you are attempting to hide that fact. Continuing to hold back will only put the captain's life in danger at critical moments."
Violet's jaw clenched. "How long have you been holding that observation?"
"Long enough." Lily waffled her hand. "You really weren't doing the best at hiding your true ability. However, I respected that you were hiding it."
"Is that so?" Violet chuckled and shook her head. "Here I thought I had you all fooled.”
I glanced over my shoulder at their conversation and looked away from the weapons rack. "You peeled open a metal wall with your mind. I wouldn’t call that hiding, at least not very good hiding."
Violet's eyes pinched in pain. "I guess I'm not doing a very good job of hiding it, am I?"
"No. So, how do you get more tails?" I pressed.