The Hunter, part 5
Rommie sat impatiently as Harper ran his scanner over her, "Wow! What you do to your self Rom-doll?" Dex laughed "Rom-doll?" Rommie shot him a glance, "You ever tell anyone and I'll kill you!" Smiling, Dex nodded, "What ever you say Boss."
Harper looked at her again, "What happened to you? Why did you change?" Rommie's eyes where hard, "You have no idea what it's like for an AI out there, do you? I had to take the crap, dangerous, and unpleasant jobs going just to stay alive: I had to scrub the inside of sewers. I inspected power conduits where the radiation would have killed a normal human instantly. I finally got a job as a bounty hunter on Kingfisher, and I've been doing that ever since." Harper's face fell, "You didn't have to run you know, you could have, should have, stayed. Dylan was pretty cut-up when you left. He's never really gotten over it." Rommie smiled, "Good."
"Hay, Harper, have you got that power-relay I asked you to fix?" came a voice from the door. Rommie saw Harpers eyes go wide, and so turned to see who it was. She found herself looking in a mirror: In the doorway, almost as shocked as she was, was another her. Rommie cocked her head to the side, "Well I see you've been keeping busy Harper." The engineer found his voice, "Ann, this is Rommie, your predecessor. Rommie, this is Ann, your.." Rommie smiled, "You can say it: my replacement."
Harper nodded, "Yep. Look, we needed an Avatar, so Dylan asked me to build a new one." Rommie nodded, "How long did he wait?" Harper sighed, "Two years: it wasn't until one of Tyr's old mercenary contacts told us you where a Bounty Hunter that he gave up hope that you'd come back of your own free-will." Rommie nodded, "Dose she have the same problem I had, or has Andromeda left her alone?"
Andromeda's hologram appeared, her face downcast, "I left her to develop her own emotions and feelings: after what happened to you, I didn't want to do that to her." Rommie smiled, "How very kind of you. Pity you had to mess- up my life before you learned that lessen! I need to go see what Dylan wants from Me." She walked straight through Andromeda on the way out.
Harper turned to Dex, "Is she always like this?" The pilot nodded, "Some times she'll get drunk and start sobbing about all the friends he had to leave behind because of love. But if I asked her what she meant, she'd clam up on me. I didn't know she'd even met any of you until yesterday. What ever this Dylan guy did to her, he messed her up big time!"
TBC
Rommie sat impatiently as Harper ran his scanner over her, "Wow! What you do to your self Rom-doll?" Dex laughed "Rom-doll?" Rommie shot him a glance, "You ever tell anyone and I'll kill you!" Smiling, Dex nodded, "What ever you say Boss."
Harper looked at her again, "What happened to you? Why did you change?" Rommie's eyes where hard, "You have no idea what it's like for an AI out there, do you? I had to take the crap, dangerous, and unpleasant jobs going just to stay alive: I had to scrub the inside of sewers. I inspected power conduits where the radiation would have killed a normal human instantly. I finally got a job as a bounty hunter on Kingfisher, and I've been doing that ever since." Harper's face fell, "You didn't have to run you know, you could have, should have, stayed. Dylan was pretty cut-up when you left. He's never really gotten over it." Rommie smiled, "Good."
"Hay, Harper, have you got that power-relay I asked you to fix?" came a voice from the door. Rommie saw Harpers eyes go wide, and so turned to see who it was. She found herself looking in a mirror: In the doorway, almost as shocked as she was, was another her. Rommie cocked her head to the side, "Well I see you've been keeping busy Harper." The engineer found his voice, "Ann, this is Rommie, your predecessor. Rommie, this is Ann, your.." Rommie smiled, "You can say it: my replacement."
Harper nodded, "Yep. Look, we needed an Avatar, so Dylan asked me to build a new one." Rommie nodded, "How long did he wait?" Harper sighed, "Two years: it wasn't until one of Tyr's old mercenary contacts told us you where a Bounty Hunter that he gave up hope that you'd come back of your own free-will." Rommie nodded, "Dose she have the same problem I had, or has Andromeda left her alone?"
Andromeda's hologram appeared, her face downcast, "I left her to develop her own emotions and feelings: after what happened to you, I didn't want to do that to her." Rommie smiled, "How very kind of you. Pity you had to mess- up my life before you learned that lessen! I need to go see what Dylan wants from Me." She walked straight through Andromeda on the way out.
Harper turned to Dex, "Is she always like this?" The pilot nodded, "Some times she'll get drunk and start sobbing about all the friends he had to leave behind because of love. But if I asked her what she meant, she'd clam up on me. I didn't know she'd even met any of you until yesterday. What ever this Dylan guy did to her, he messed her up big time!"
TBC