Artificial Intelligence Alpha | Church
The ship docked smoothly inside the Mother of Intervention. There was a hissing sound as the seals around the door to the loading bay of this particular ship unsealed, letting in the stable atmosphere of the Mother of Invention, and Church's current host rose on wobbly legs. Jennifer Morrison, now Agent Pennsylvania, had been nervous about this idea from the start, but she'd been the only person in Blood Gulch with actual experience fighting in a war and the ability to hack just about any electronic device known to man. The brunette had ended up in the worthless little box canyon that had been Church's home for a couple years now by chance. She'd just happened to get demoted on the same day Private Donut had been set to ship out and the two of them had been dropped off at Red Base in Blood Gulch at the same time Caboose had arrived at Blue Base. That had been, quite possibly, the best piece of luck ever to happen in Blood Gulch, and that was including that fact that Caboose hadn't murdered more than one of his teammates.
"End of the road, kid," a familiar female voice said and 479er rose from her seat, leaning against the doorway that separated the cockpit from the rest of the Pelican. "This is your stop."
"Believe it or not, I figured that out for myself," Jenn replied dryly, not standing. Her mind was whirling a million miles a minute, coming up with a thousand ways this could go wrong, and Church was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed. The last body he'd shared had been Jimmy, and didn't he just feel fucking horrible about that, once he'd realized what he'd done. Jimmy had been quiet, brain dead really, so the flood of information that Church was getting now was overwhelming.
"That means I need you off the ship," the pilot pointed out, tone not all that acidic and arms folded over her chest. When Jenn still didn't move, the other woman frowned a little. "If you're going to be sick, you'd better say something now because I don't want to have to clean it out of my ship."
"I'm not going to be sick." Jenn's voice grated out between gritted teeth and Church was fairly certain that he was the only one who knew it was because the newest member of Project Freelancer was trying not to panic.
"Good," 479er replied gruffly. "Then get off my ship so I can get her cleaned up."
/Come on Jenn. The sooner we start this, the sooner it'll be over./
"You're horrible at motivation," she hissed, voice barely more than a breath, and stood, heading for the ramp that led on to the Mother of Invention.
/I never claimed to be good at it,/ Church snarked and Jenn snorted softly.
"Hey, kid?" 479er called after her and Jenn paused halfway down the ramp, turning her helmeted head back towards the interior of the ship.
"Yeah?" Jenn called back and Church could practically feel her stomach sinking down towards her shoes.
/It's okay. We haven't been caught yet. It's okay./ Church knew he was babbling a bit, but he was panicking just as much as his host was. Ever since he'd got his memories back, thanks to Caboose killing him with a tank, and he was still a bit mad at Sheila for targeting him, he'd become aware of just what was going on at Project Freelancer. That meant he also knew exactly what would happen to them if they failed. Jenn would be tortured for information and then quietly disposed of, never to be heard from again, while Church would be split again and again, mind fragmenting into further unstable AI fragments in an attempt to protect himself. It wasn't ideal for either one of them.
"Good luck," 479er said, cutting through their collective panic.
"Thanks, but I won't need it," Jenn replied, mouth on autopilot, proving that she had spent far too much time around Tucker. Then she made her way off the ramp and onto the Mother of Invention. A few pilots and maintenance workers glanced at them, but otherwise they were ignored, as if they were part of the scenery. It was, in all honesty, relieving after their brief moment of panic. It gave them a moment to calm to their thoughts as they waited for their guide. The message Jenn had received, once she'd passed all the tests set out before her and been admitted to Project Freelancer, had informed her that someone would be waiting to guide them through the initiation process.
/There's nobody here for us./
"I noticed, Church," Jenn murmured, voice barely more than an exhalation of breath. They couldn't risk her being overheard talking aloud to an AI that she wasn't supposed to possess or their plan would be ruined.
/Why don't we find our own way around?/
"I like that idea." Jenn crossed to one of the computer screens that helped control every aspect of the Mother of Intervention. Attached to her wrist was a specialized computer, the blue screen lighting up with a brief tap of her armored fingers. She slid a cord out from beneath the computer and she connected them to the correct ports. A few moments of tapping later brought her the attention of the AI that controlled the ship.
"What are you doing?" a slightly mechanized female voice questioned from the computer Jenn was hacking. If Church would have had a body, he would have flinched. He hoped that FILSS couldn't sense his presence in Jenn's illegal implants, which were courtesy of the creativity of Sarge.
"FILSS, right?" Jenn questioned, voice sounding more confident than she was. Church's ability to monitor her while he was implanted with her informed him that her heart rate had increased when the female AI had spoken up. "I'm Agent Pennsylvania. I am new to Project Freelancer and, since my guide is late I decided I would attempt to access a map of the Mother of Intervention via this computer."
"Transferring the map to your personal computer now," FILSS replied calmly, apparently unbothered by the intrusion now that it had been properly explained. "I have taken the liberty of marking a path in red that leads to your quarters."
"Thank you, FILSS," Jenn said, bringing up the map with a flick of her fingers and tracing the correct path with her eyes.
"You are welcome, Agent Pennsylvania," was FILSS's response. "I look forward to working with you in the future."
"So do I."
Jenn was unplugging from the system, tucking the cords back in their correct slots, when FILSS added, "Agent Pennsylvania, may I make a request of you?"
"Yes?" Jenn said, voice rising uncertainly at the end of the word to make it a question.
"In private, please call me Sheila."
/SHEILA?!/ Church couldn't help but shriek in surprise. He'd know that he had accidentally renamed the version of FILSS that was in their tank in Blood Gulch, but he hadn't realized that he might have renamed the full version of the AI that resided on the Mother of Intervention as well.
"I'll keep that in mind," Jenn told the female AI, voice calm despite the fact that her vitals were going crazy with panic. She stood and backed up a step, moving away from the computer as FILSS's standard interface screen shifted back to the regular computer options. "Church?" she murmured uncertainly and he forced himself to analyze the situation.
The memories that he had regained once Caboose had killed him were incomplete because he'd shed a large amount of them in an attempt to save his sanity while they were torturing him. Fortunately, he'd still managed to retain basic information about the higher-ups in Project Freelancer and about their AI. He knew that FILSS had been designed by Dr. Leonard Church, the same Dr. Leonard Church who Church was supposed to be based on, in order to help keep the project organized. The female AI was loyal to the director, but Church had conversed with her enough during his time as Alpha to know that she had strongly disapproved the course of actions that the director had taken. Dr. Church had likely been forced to use FILSS's embedded protocol functions to keep her from interfering as he'd split Alpha into little chunks of personality, though Church had no way to prove that without asking the other AI himself.
/I don't think she'll give us away,/ he told Jenn at last. /FILSS might be loyal to the director, but she was rather upset when he decided to split me in order to create the AI he needed for the project. Knowing the director, he probably hasn't even realized that he's annoyed FILSS and, therefore, hasn't apologized to her, so even if she knows that I'm implanted with you, she wouldn't tell him about it. Besides, Sheila is pretty fond of us in Blood Gulch, so I doubt she'll cause us any trouble unless she's given the proper override./
"Okay," Jenn said, voice still incredibly soft. "Let's find the sleeping quarters then."
/Just follow my directions, Sunshine. I've already laid out the route FILSS gave us in your HUD so all you have to do is follow the red line./ He could practically hear Jenn bite down the sarcastic response as she passed a couple of pilots, following the red line that Church displayed proudly on her HUD. /You know, I think I like being implanted better than I thought I would. You wanna know why?/ Jenn gritted her teeth together as she tried not to stalk around the corner. /I don't have to deal with everybody's smartass comments./
"You wish," Jenn murmured as she headed down a clearer hallway. "You're not going to get away from smartass comments so easily."
/Hey, I'm in your neural system now, so you should treat me with more respect./
"I'll treat you with all the respect you deserve."
/That's what I'm afraid of. Hey, turn left here./
"As you said earlier, all I have to do is follow the red line. I don't need..." Jenn's muttering trailed off as she rounded the corner and passed a woman in a white lab coat.
/Whatever you say, Sunshine./ Jenn snorted as if she doubted his sincerity and Church felt slightly offended. He was going to be stuck in her head for an extended period of time so it was in his best interest to avoid antagonizing her too much so that she wouldn't pull him just to be petty.
The brunette took a right turn and followed the path marked out to a white sliding door. Someone had painted the word "Pennsylvania" in black, block letters on the center of the door. A keypad on the right side of the door glowed blue with the impression of a hand. Jenn cautiously placed her hand over the outline only to have it flash red and the words "Access Denied" appeared. "Okay..." Jenn muttered.
/They might be set to recognize your handprint. Try without your glove./
"Whatever you say, boss," Jenn whispered in a tone that implied the complete opposite of that sentiment.
/No need to be rude./ Church watched Jenn pull of her glove and place her bare hand inside the imprint. There was a momentary pause and then the scanner lit up green. The white door slid open, revealing a generic looking bedroom beyond. A single bed, bedside table, and an empty, open closet made up the entire space. Jenn stepped inside and the door hissed shut behind her, leaving the two of them relatively alone on the Mother of Intervention.
"Home sweet home," Jenn said, sounding anything but happy as she removed her helmet.
/Hopefully not for long,/ Church replied, knowing that he wasn't the only one who was already ready to get off this spaceship.