Lost Flyght – Chapter 16

I place my hand on my stomach for the entire ride into Cuidad Paloma.

“You gonna be okay?” Skylar asks, eyeing my vociferous belly. Gus looks up from his datapad.

“Yeah. All the cramping stopped a few hours ago. I’ll be okay. I can’t guarantee my stomach will be quiet, though.”

I spent the entire night in the bathroom. At one point, I had passed out in a pile of towels on the floor. I… Sigh. I’m beginning to doubt the seeds are a good idea at all. Maybe it’s me, maybe it’s my testing methods, maybe it’s bad luck, but I’m not having any success with them. Sure, I turned invisible last night, which was unbelievable, but the side effects were too grueling to bear again. I can’t make products out of these things as much as I want to.

Now, I really understand why research and development departments exist. If I thought Athens Industries would do good things with the seeds, I would just sell them and be done with it. There’s still Cosmas, Incorporated to consider, too.

“Hey, Gus?”

“Hey, Vivian,” he responds, looking up again from his datapad. Both Skylar and I smile, and so does he. “It’s moments like this I can tell you’re related.” He clears his throat and folds his hands over his lap.

“You ever work with Cosmas or know anything about them?”

He stares out the window of the car. “Hmm, yeah, sure. When I was in nursing school, their reps came to give demonstrations of the nanobots and how they work. You know, they were the first to advance that technology. Athens reverse-engineered the Cosmas nanobots to establish their weight loss Adonis program.”

“They’ve always been at each other’s throats, right?”

“Cosmas and Athens? Yeah. Cosmas has an empire that Athens wants.”

“How did Cosmas get that empire in the first place?”

“The military,” Skylar says, sitting forward, “and by extension the entire shipping and ship construction business. This is why ships always have med bays stocked with Cosmas supplies.”

Gus points at Skylar. “She’s right. I’ve heard this story from my parents so consider the source, but when all the ships left Earth, the ones that came to the Californikos system were all from an area in western North America called California. This area of the world had a powerful military before the wars, and they hung on by a thread until the Exodus. So, when they settled in this system, their first operations were terraforming and building an army.”

“As a military does.”

Gus nods. “That’s how we ended up with the Vir gene, et cetera et cetera.” He waves his hand in a circle to indicate the passage of time.

The story I learned in school was that the original settlers didn’t have enough technology to terraform, so they engineered men to father male children since men were stronger settlers. This got out of control within five generations, and soon, women were almost extinct. When the Duo Systems were finally linked up, and our governments realized just how far the Vir gene had spread, they enacted women-only land laws, compulsory screening for the Vir gene, and outlawed gene manipulation. Then Zelda Patterson took control of the military, and she changed it from the inside out. She’s often a favorite hero for young women, and I admired her as a kid like everyone else did.

“Anyway,” Gus resumes, “once the military was reformed, and they were no longer being funded by public taxes, they needed other ways to make money to survive. That’s when Cosmas was developed. It’s been around for two hundred years now, and so people forget it’s a military corporation, but yeah. That’s their major source of income. Other military income comes from contracts to terraform other planets in these systems and our eventual return to Earth if that ever happens.”

Well, shit. Do I want to give the seeds to the military? The very organization that fucked things up for us to begin with? A Lady and Lord of the military raised Gus, and he turned out okay. And it’s not like the military has fought in any wars lately. They fly between systems, keep pirates at bay, work on terraforming Neve and the moons around Rio, and maintain the gate system. Sometimes they get called into domestic situations like riots or demonstrations, but that’s about it.

“Any reason you’re asking?” Gus has turned his attention back on me.

“Just considering my options for the future.”

“We’re here,” Skylar says, looking out the window as the autocab comes to a halt.

The storefront we’ve stopped in front of boasts of high tech without even knowing what’s inside. The sleek glass windows stretch from ceiling to floor, and wall screens inside show demonstration videos to browsing customers.

Okay. Eamon’s shop is a lot more professional than I thought it would be. A check in the ‘pros’ column.

A tall, dapper man in a crisp suit meets us as soon as we walk in the door.

“Can I help you find a new AI today?” His smile is turned up to ‘proper,’ just a little haughty, enough to make me think he comes from money. “We have a wide range of artificial intelligences for business, home, school, and transport.”

Skylar steps right forward. “Please tell Eamon that Skylar is here to talk business.”

The man turns his smile down to the ‘polite’ setting. “Let me see if he’s available.”

While he’s gone from the showroom, Skylar, Gus, and I split up and wander to watch the screens. Having an AI in the home is a new concept. On Earth, before the wars, people put AI devices in their homes and didn’t care who was listening. That didn’t end well. Now AIs are all locally contained, and privacy is paramount. Unless you have an awesome hacker like I do. Thank you, Carlos.

But watching the AI control the home, make dinner, and secure the premises against intruders, I can’t help but be impressed. This is something I should consider for the Kawabata homestead if I get it back.

When I get it back, Vivian. Don’t be so negative.

“They’ve developed a whole AI system just for students,” Gus says at my shoulder. He jerks his thumb to a screen across the room. “I could’ve used something like that.”

“Me too. I was still a student only a few weeks ago.”

“I’ve been out of school for three years, and I still wake up in a cold sweat every now and then thinking I’ve missed an exam.”

I laugh. “Me too.”

I clutch his arm and slide my hand down to connect with his. He laces his fingers with mine and smiles. We wander slowly to the next display about AIs for businesses.

“You look much better now,” Gus says, pulling my hand towards him and scanning me from top to toe. “Your skin was gray this morning, almost deathly. But it’s got its color back. Both the berries and the fern worked fast, but the fern took a lot longer to metabolize.”

“I don’t like what it did to my stomach, though.”

“Yeah, that was unpleasant for you.”

“So were the berries. What do you make of that? After what we saw with Darmit and Ken?”

Gus looks over his shoulder to make sure no one is listening.

“In general terms,” I tell him.

“Hmmm, my guess is gene matching. That they work best for certain people and poorly for everyone else. Some, like the orange flowers we use in the hot sauce, are mild. Others are stronger. I bet there’s someone out there who eats the Happiest of Hot Sauces and experiences it stronger than everyone else because they match with that plant.” He shrugs. “But it’s only a guess.”

“It’s a good guess.” And now, I’m going to wonder about the person who has an emotional epiphany eating hot sauce.

Eamon emerges from the back room, he and Skylar chat for a moment, and then she waves us over. We join them in Eamon’s office, off the side of the showroom.

“You have an impressive showroom. I didn’t realize there were so many ways AIs could make our lives easier.” I drop into the seat next to Skylar, and Gus sits behind us.

“It’s almost a return to the ancient ways,” Eamon says with a chuckle. “We had all of this once, lost it, and now we’re doing it again. Better, of course.” He accesses his own data via his wristlet, swiping and gesturing in the air. “I studied everything about twenty-first and twenty-second century Earth and the rise of technology, then I tried to ensure I didn’t make the same mistakes they did. Not an easy task.”

“So,” Skylar interrupts, “Eamon was telling me he’s narrowed it down to two different AIs we would get custom built.”

“Right,” he says, gesturing to the screen to our right. “I have two base models I think would be good for you. Here we have Magda. She’s my more nurturing personality. Better for ships that will house families or children in the future.” The screen presents the face of an older woman, kind and serene. Her visage turns and shows off several styles of hair and skin color. I didn’t realize the newer AIs had a visual component. “And then we have Ian. We modeled him after an old Scottish ship mechanic.” The man who appears has copper-red hair and a full beard. “He’s perfect if you need an AI to concentrate just on ship functions. He’s a little cheaper since he’s not that great with people.”

“But they can both do all the basics, right?” Skylar asks, sitting forward. “I can’t be banned from landing in spaceports anymore.”

“Absolutely. All of our base ship models can do the basics and much more too. I am not in the business of hampering my software just to make more money.”

Skylar beams a stern look at him. He raises his hands. “That was in the past, I swear. I’ve hired the best of the best now. They’re all competent coders, and everyone has been happy with their work.”

The two AI heads turn on the screens, and I realize I should not be making this final decision.

“Can Skylar and I have a moment to discuss this?” I ask, and both Eamon and Gus agree to step out of the room.

“The Amagi is yours, Skylar, and I’m hoping that whatever we buy, you’ll have for a long time, longer than I’ll be your captain, even if I hold the purse strings right now.”

She reaches over and takes my hand. “God, I’m so glad you’re with me for this first year. I’ve been scared shitless of making big decisions like this.”

“You scared? I don’t believe it.” I wink at her.

“Like knee-knocking scared, Viv. I act aloof and like I have no fucks to give, but it’s all a mask.” She sighs. “This is a big decision.”

“Think about it. What do you want to do when I leave?”

She ponders this question while chewing on her bottom lip and staring at the AIs on the screen.

“I really want to continue to fly for Flyght, meet strange and new people, cruise the stars, and start my own network. Marcelo said he’ll help me, so… yeah. That’s what I want to do.”

I nod and consider both versions. “Let’s get Eamon back in here.”

Skylar waves Eamon back in, and Gus continues to browse in the showroom.

“We’ll go with Magda. Skylar plans to use her ship to build her network in the coming years, and I think a more motherly approach will be better.”

“Great! I just need a deposit, and we’ll get started tonight. Have it ready for you tomorrow.” He stands up and buttons his blazer.

Deposit? No way.

“Ah no,” I say, standing to face him. “No deposits. I’ve been down that road before, and I lose money every time.”

Eamon’s face falls. “I can’t start work without a deposit.”

I hold my ground. “Sure you can. Your prep work is minimal, and my ship is docked in Lee Shipyards, anyway. You’ll have to send someone to accompany us back there to install. Once I have your person working on my ship, I’ll be happy to pay, but not a credit before.”

Eamon looks at Skylar, and she lifts her chin to meet his eyes.

“Why should I break my rules for you?” he asks, and it’s a fair question. I’m nobody except a customer who’s willing to spend a lot of money on his product.

I grab my bag from the chair, open it, and pull out one of my saved bottles of the Happiest of Hot Sauces. As I set it on his desk, his eyes widen until I’m sure they’ll pop out of his head.

“Where did you get this?” He picks up the bottle and stares at it, tilting it from one side to the other.

I press my lips up into a devious smile. “It’s a little side business of mine.”

“Distributing or manufacturing?”

“Both. I hear it’s pretty popular now.”

“Pretty popular? That’s an understatement. Everyone this side of the Duo Systems can’t stop talking about it, wondering where it comes from and how to get more.”

“Well, now you have exclusive access to it, so there’s your deposit. Once we have the AI installed, we can talk about doing more business together.”

He considers it for a moment as he looks into the hot sauce bottle like it contains the secrets of the ages in its depths. Maybe it does.

“You drive a hard bargain, ladies, but we can work together. No funny business, though.”

I sigh as I eye the bottle of hot sauce. He wraps his fingers around it protectively.

“Ask around and see if I have ever shorted anyone. I always keep my word.”

He raises an eyebrow. “What about your brother?”

I harden my eyes. “My brother is no longer a Kawabata.”

We stare at each other, and Eamon is the first to back down. “Okay, then. I will personally take care of this account. Come back tomorrow to discuss specifics, and I’ll have a list of items to go over.”

Reaching out across his desk, I shake Eamon’s hand. “I look forward to working together.”