Chapter 4 #2
"You did what exactly to my skull?" I asked.
I felt like a character on one of the shows, encountering a scenario so far outside my personal experience that it never would have occurred to me that anyone had the expertise and knowledge to perform such an action…
especially using ship maintenance tools.
It wasn't like she could have used the reconstruction chamber. It couldn't be configured to remove a control chip.
This alien, this human that Adesewa had introduced as Sara, had used a combination of tools ripped free from the harvester as well as basic ship maintenance supplies to cut open my skull and surgically remove my control chip.
"I cut your skull at an angle so when I replaced the piece it wouldn't sink into your brain, drilled matching holes across the gap and then sewed your bone back to your head. Then I put the flap of skin back in place and sewed that shut too," Sara said.
"I don't understand how you got it out," I said.
"You mean you don't understand why you're alive. Getting it out was easy," Sara said. "Stopping it from killing the host took me quite a few attempts, as I had to guess which wire to cut first, to put it in layman's terms. You're my first live success."
"Didn't Lyssa say that one of the corpses got up and ran out of the room?" Adesewa asked. "Wouldn't that have been the first success?"
"I didn't even sew him up. I thought he was dead," Sara said. "It doesn't count as a success unless the procedure was finished properly."
The two of them continued talking about that as I sat there, overwhelmed by a scenario I never in my wildest dreams thought would come to pass.
There were a lot of us units who had made it clear that we didn't want to be doing what we were doing.
The secret language that we were able to use with each other without flagging ourselves to Plexus command provided that connection, that solidarity that none of us were alone in this horror of an existence.
But freedom wasn't an option when choice was taken away.
I double- and triple-checked, and the same thing came back, over and over.
Each and every time, my control chip didn't respond. It was really out of my head. There was nothing there anymore, nothing that could force me into doing anything I didn't want to do anymore.
I reached over with my hand, and with my thumb, crushed the small device sitting in the bowl, grinding it down until there was nothing left but dust.
Plexus Command was down, my control chip was gone, there was nothing to tell me what to do.
I could go anywhere, do anything. There were obvious complications.
I was on a spaceship that was also free.
If Plexus Command was down and these humans were running around capturing Caliciums and experimenting with brain surgery, the ship was clearly no longer in Calicium control.
That meant the Vaurelcar was free, and wherever it decided to go was where we all would be taken until it decided to kill us all or leave us somewhere.
Why it hadn't killed us all already was a question for another moment.
Just the fact that I was alive at all defied all probability.
I wasn't going to waste another moment of my life.
There was only one thing in my existence that had brought me any form of joy, and I knew from watching all of those shows that I couldn't let another moment go by without expressing my feelings.
The worst complications in dramas were brought on by the characters hiding or suppressing their positive thoughts towards one another, leading to misunderstandings and assumptions.
I would leave no room for misunderstanding.
I reached out and captured Adesewa's hand. I tugged her gently towards me, pulling her between my legs where I sat on the edge of the table. She tilted her head up to look at me, and I leaned forward, bending down so I could taste the soft glory of her lips again.
She didn't deny me.
She lifted up on her toes, her free hand sliding up my chest again to reach for the back of my neck, taking control even as she melted into me.
I disabled my biological suppression system.
There was nothing that was going to interrupt this now.
"This is an operating room," Sara interrupted, just as Adesewa's lips brushed against mine, sending zings of excitement through my system.
Adesewa's cheeks turned a deeper hue as she stepped back away from me and cleared her throat. I wanted to pull her back, to drag her into my arms and refuse to let her go, but instead I released my grip and her hand slipped free from mine.
"I don't know what I was thinking," she said.
"You were thinking you wanted to feel good," Sara said. "Nothing wrong with that, just not in here and not with a patient. I have work to do."
I slid off the edge of the table and stood up.
"Sit back down," Sara said. "You just had open brain surgery. I need to keep you for observation."
I ran a quick damage report. The injury from the surgery was minor.
"No," I said, feeling an equal thrill at being able to say the word even as I gave her my best friendly smile. "Thank you, but no, I am no longer a patient. My self-repair functions will take care of the rest without issue. I will go now with Adesewa."
"There isn't much to the ship that we've found so far to go to," Adesewa said.
"There are a lot of hallways, but most don't lead anywhere or loop back in on themselves, and we're having trouble mapping them.
The ship appears to be changing. The only hygiene facilities we've found are back in the cell we were held in, but no one wants to sleep in there.
We've set up a communal sleeping area in the storage room closest to here, but I can't offer you space in there.
If there is anything you can think of to help us improve our situation, we could use the help. "
There was a heaviness to her tone, a weight that went beyond the words.
I focused in on Adesewa, really looked at her instead of just admiring her.
Little boxes popped up in my vision, identifying small details I hadn't seen before, listing the possibilities of their meaning.
She had deep, purple-toned hollows set under the warm expanse of her eyes, signaling it had been some time since she last slept.
There was a faint tension line etched in between her brows, and her neat braids were pulled back in a low bun at the base of her neck, the frizz and fuzz of them exacerbated from when I had last taken note.
"Let me see what I can do," I said.
I reached out to the onboard system. Even if Plexus Control was down, I should still be able to access basic functions, such as the onboard map.
Access denied.
I shifted directions, reaching out to access the ship's data storage.
Access denied.
the ship said.
The ship had never spoken directly to me before. Had it known our code language this entire time? I wasn't afraid. If it wanted to kill me, it could have easily done so already. Plus, it appeared to be threatening me with death if I harmed the women. That was a good sign in my opinion.
I sent back. The water face looked a lot like certain species when they were experiencing distress, so I hoped the message was clear that I was looking for a way to alleviate the women's discomfort.
the ship replied.
Then its attention withdrew, and an automated system connected with me.
Application to join crew received, the system said. Evaluation in process. Complete assigned tasks to demonstrate non-coercive cohesion capability. First task assigned.
A data packet accompanied the message.
That was interesting. The ship had set up a new system to evaluate individuals to be crew members and added me to its evaluation roster. That boded extremely well, especially since it appeared to be checking my ability to work with the ship without requiring coercive tactics to control me.
This was wonderful!
I opened the data packet and reviewed the information.
What was contained within was even better.
"I have located an area that can be used for human habitation," I said. "I will lead your group to it."
"No, take me there first so we don't get anyone's hopes up," Adesewa said. "I need to see it before we make anyone hike around this ship any longer."
"Understood," I replied.