Ariel
Prospero laid a cover over his daughter Miranda's sleeping form, and went to pour himself a glass of rhum. Settling into his chair with a heavy sigh, he swirled the clear liquid in his glass before sipping it; pulled a face and set the glass down. He didn't even like rhum, but it was the only alcohol left on the ship. On the entire asteroid, come to think of it; not that anyone but Caliban ever usually ventured outside.
It had been months since they'd crossed paths with a merchant fleet, and Prospero had begun to worry that they were shooting into uncharted territory, when the ship's radar had shown him something so amazing, so great, so damn unlikely, that he hadn't believed his good luck: his brother's ship, the Tempest.
No love was lost between Prospero and Antonio. In fact, it was Antonio's fault that Prospero and his daughter were stuck here in the first place, and as soon as Prospero had recognized the signal, he had seized the opportunity to get his own back. It had worked: they had all felt the impact. Miranda had gone on about it for nearly an hour, until he'd persuaded her to take a medically assisted nap so he could figure out what to do next.
A new dot appeared on the computer screen in front of him. He turned on the mic and spoke into it: "Ariel, report to me." The dot moved until it was in front of the room where he and his daughter slept, and knocked. "Come in."
"Hail to you, master" said a low, quiet voice that was not quite human. "Ariel, at your service." Prospero turned in his chair to see what appeared to be a human child of about five years old and of ambiguous gender. Her flawless skin - Miranda was wont to pretend it was a girl, no doubt to compensate twelve years with no female company - and fluid movements were ever so slightly too perfect, but her once toneless speech had taken on inflections learned mostly from Miranda, which gave her what might be mistaken for a personality.
He could have sworn her voice held something like sarcasm.
"Report" he ordered, ignoring it.
"Hacking the ship's security was easy," she said. "I had access to the whole thing. It was the work of a second to overheat the computers; the ship went into autopilot and crash-landed 1.562 miles from here."
"Who was on board?"
"I've sent you the list of ID codes found on the vessel."
Prospero checked his computer and raised an eyebrow. "Well if it ain't my lucky day..." he muttered. "This Ferdinand, is he Alonso's son?"
"The genetics seem to indicate so, sir" replied Ariel.
"How old is he?"
"Seventeen, sir."
"Yes... I remember him. Cute kid."
"Sir?"
"Not you, Ariel" Prospero said. "Did he survive?"
"He was the first to head for the shuttles, sir." Prospero could have been imagining it, but Ariel's mouth seemed to be twitching into a smirk. "He landed close by. The shuttle was a Type A, it put him to sleep and is sending an SOS as we speak."
"Figures he's no pilot. You'll have to fix any broken bones - before you wake him up. I don't want him seeing you."
"Yes sir."
"What about the ship?"
"It's somewhat worse for wear, sir, but nothing I couldn't repair with the right tools."
"And the staff?"
"All seem to have survived, sir. Their captain managed to land the ship in a small lake, which softened the impact."
"Did anyone manage to avoid the asteroid?"
"Only a few of the staff, sir, in a manual shuttle."
"Good. Now, I need you to do something else for me."
Ariel didn't reply, and Prospero looked up. There was no mistaking it now, the android was sulking. "What is it?" he asked.
"If you please, sir," Ariel replied, and this time he could definitely hear the sarcasm in her voice, "may I remind you of your promise to free me?"
Prospero almost laughed. "Of course I remember."
"When will it happen, sir?" she asked petulantly.
"When I say so, Ariel. You are an android, and a defective one at that. Be grateful I keep you here."
"As a slave," she retorted. "I do everything you tell me to and more. I've been the only playmate of your daughter for years. Now that you are leaving, you might at least release me." She raised a small hand to the back of her neck, where he'd inplanted an obedience chip so that nobody could use her against him - he'd learned his lesson there. Nowadays, however, Prospero often wondered if that wasn't defective, too.
"I might remind you of the state you were in when I arrived in this hell hole. Don't you remember Sycorax?"
"I remember, sir" said the android. Of course Ariel remembered Sycorax. A female Thuldan and Caliban's mother, Sycorax was Ariel's first owner. Having been banished to the asteroid for hacking the Thuldian government's data bank, she passed the time doting on Caliban and experimenting on Ariel, adding more and more human features, such as the ability to feel pain and pleasure, and finally producing the defect which had given her a soul. When Ariel had attempted to run away, Sycorax had found her and half-destroyed her in a rage, then dumped her between two rocks so she couldn't move. By the time Prospero had found her, long after Sycorax's death, Ariel had been suffering continuously for twelve Earth years.
Another twelve had passed since then, though, and Ariel found her gratitude waning in favour of restlessness and resentment. Why was it that organic creatures were allowed to have feelings, but not her, she wondered? Even Caliban had more freedom than she did.
"Ariel" Prospero said, "I will free you. Soon. But if I hear, or even think I hear, one more complaint, you'll wish I'd never found you."
"Understood, sir" she replied tonelessly.
"Good. Now I want you to go to Ferdinand first, and administer this." He held up a seringe full of a clear serum.
"What is it, sir?"
"A concoction of my own making. Give it a minute to get to his brain, then I want you to dreamhack him."
"With what, sir?"
"I want him to see Miranda." Ariel hesitated, with a troubled glance towards her only friend, but nodded.
"Anything else, sir?"
"Add whatever details you might feel could endear her to him," said Prospero. "When he comes to, I want him to see her everywhere, so that when he does see her, he thinks she's a dream come true." Prospero's smile looked more like a grimace.
"Yes, sir."
"Once he's woken up, I want him to be able to find us. Find some way to guide him here. Then report back to me."
"Yes sir."
Ariel took the serum and left, but not before she saw Prospero take out a second seringe and kneel down next to his daughter. She could see what he was planning, clear as day, and Ariel wasn't sure she liked the idea of him practically pimping out his daughter - the only one who'd ever treated her like a person - in order to get them off the asteroid.
She paused outside the door, in some turmoil, but finally gave up. It was no use: the chip prevented her from acting against Prospero. She could do nothing to prevent him taking away his daughter's free will, and it enraged her. She could no more disobey him than she could switch herself off.
He'd promised to free her, she reminded herself. Perhaps he would keep that promise. It would be too late to prevent him from carrying out his plan, but perhaps she could tell Miranda of his treachery, and help her get her own feelings back. With that plan in mind, Ariel set off towards Fernando's shuttle, resigned to her task, a heavy place where her heart would be.