Jump…Juump…Juuump…Juuuuuump…

Are you done yet?

Nope. Rigel returned happily, the moon's low gravity slowly pulling him back down to its surface. This moon hadn't been terraformed by the Traveler, leaving its gravitational pull incredibly weak in comparison to Earth's.

You know we're on camera, right?

Yep. I'm giving Davon's superiors a reason to listen to him.

Really? You're not just using the Earth's only natural satellite as a trampoline?

I'm offended you'd think my motives were so one-dimensional. I'm a warlock. My machinations are multi-layered and enigmatic.

So you're giving Davon's superiors a reason to listen to him while simultaneously using the Earth's only natural satellite as a trampoline?

Precisely.

Nova sighed. I hate to ruin your grand schemes, oh wise warlock, but we've got someone approaching from your eight o'clock. Rover. One organic inside.

Rigel gently spun as he fell to impact the moon's surface once more, catching sight of the indicated rover. It wasn't anything overly impressive. It had six wheels, three to a side. The passenger cabin was box-shaped with glass used in place of armoring to allow the pilots the greatest field of vision possible. It was very clearly a non-combat vehicle. Of the four seats visible in the rover's cabin, only one was filled.

The occupant was a human woman in a slick pressure suit. Her helmet was a great bubble of glass with an adjustable UV lens set all the way back, revealing the woman's black hair and amused expression. As her rover stopped a short distance from Rigel, she lightly knocked on the side of her head.

She's broadcasting a radio signal.

Anything nefarious?

Nope. Seems like she just wants to talk.

Put her through. Rigel said, dropping to the ground and slowly approaching the rover.

"You're not here to shoot at us, are you?" the woman asked as Nova patched Rigel's helmet into the frequency. She'd stood up in her rover and was looking down at Rigel from behind the glass in the passenger cabin.

"Just seeing the sights." Rigel responded easily, stopping just in front of the Rover's front tires. "Are you the welcoming committee?"

The woman shrugged. "Everyone was too concerned with trying to figure out whether to call our Alliance QRF or act small and hope you moved on. I figured I'd cut through the bullshit and invite you inside for a coffee."

Rigel tilted his head curiously. "Your response to seeing a man with a rifle strapped to his back is to invite him into your secret moon base for coffee?"

The woman smiled. "No. My response to seeing a man jumping up and down like a twelve year old in a bouncy castle is to invite him inside for a coffee. If you wanted to hurt us, you wouldn't be screwing around out here. Besides, the moon base obviously isn't all that secret if you're prancing around a hundred meters from its entrance."

"I could just be a distraction. Maybe my friends are currently killing your friends in new and excruciating ways made possible by your revealing of the entrance to your base when you drove out to meet me?"

The woman shot Rigel a dry look. An omni-tool lit up on her arm and she flicked through a few controls. "Kirk? Are you being killed in new and excruciating ways made possible by my revealing of the entrance to our secret moon base?"

"Uh…" a new voice said through Rigel's radio. "No. Rita you need to come back before–" the man's voice cut out.

"There ya go." the woman said with a smile on her face. "I guess that means you can come in for coffee."

Rigel blinked at the woman from behind his helmet. "You are one of the most carefree people I have ever met. I'm not sure that's such a good thing."

The now named Rita just shrugged, walking over to a door to her right and pushing it open. A set of metal stairs extended down from the rover as the door opened. "Come on. We can get to know each other on the way over."

Nova?

Might as well. Worst case scenario I'll just transmat you out. The Alliance already knows you have a way to move yourself faster than should be possible because of how we left Earth.

Alright then.

Rigel walked around the rover and climbed up the stairs, accepting a hand from Rita to pull him the rest of the way inside.

"Name's Rita." she introduced herself, looking Rigel up and down, calculating. "Neat dress."

"Robes actually. And I'm Rigel."

Rita held her arm out to the seat next to the driver's seat. "Strap yourself in, Rigel. The secret moon base express will depart shortly."

Rigel did as she bade while Rita herself buckled into the driver's seat, powering the rover back up and turning the vehicle around.

"So…" Rigel began conversationally. "How much longer do you need to stall me before that Alliance QRF you mentioned shows up?"

"Little under five minutes." Rita said easily. "They deploy out of a base that's equidistant between our operation and that billionaire vacation destination overlooking Vallis Baade. It lets the Alliance cover us while forcing away suspicion of our activities by saying they're just here to protect the civilian population."

"What kind of work do you do anyway?" Rigel asked curiously. "I didn't put too much effort into figuring that out when I came down and made a nuisance of myself."

"Now that, I can't say." Rita said, turning her head to smirk at Rigel. "I may be a sucker for good conversation, but I'm not giving a stranger with a rifle strapped to his back classified intel, bouncy castle or no."

Rigel shrugged. "Fair enough."

Nova?

Already got it. A VI went rogue a while back that the Alliance was afraid was becoming sentient. They took it offline, but they're trying to figure out what caused it and how to make sure it doesn't happen again. They're doing a lot of experiments to try to create shackled, protected programs. They're laughably off the mark. Everything they have is modeled off the Citadel's VI which seems like it was designed to be a moron.

Rigel leaned back in his seat, admiring the view as the rover passed over lunar rocks and dust. "Do you know why people here are so terrified by sentient programs?"

Rita's grip on the steering wheel turned to iron, her entire body going rigid as she stared straight ahead. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really? You're a researcher if my guess is right. I'm not quite sure what your field is but you were obviously sent here for a reason. You haven't seen the way people are deathly fearful of letting a program think?"

"There is a marked difference between justified caution and fear. The last thing the galaxy needs is another rogue conglomerate of artificials like the geth."

Rigel shook his head. "Truthfully, I don't even see the problem with the geth. They keep to themselves and even share tech on occasion. If they wanted organics exterminated, they would have made their move by now. One failure, an entirely separate race's failure, shouldn't stop us from trying new things. And, again, I don't really view the geth as a failure."

"Then you're a fool." Rita said, steel in her voice.

Rigel chuckled. "People said the same about Ana and Rasputin. Do you know the story of Rasputin?"

"Russian womanizer. What do you want, Rigel?"

Rigel shook his head. "I don't want anything. Nothing I'd try to take from you or your friends anyway."

"Then why are you here?"

"Truthfully? I picked up your base on my scanners as I was passing by and decided to come down and say hello."

"Bullshit. We're shielded from surface scans. At most you'd have picked up a few rocks."

"Maybe mine are just better than yours."

The rover came to a jarring halt as Rita slammed the breaks. She turned in her seat to glare at Rigel. "Time to start talking, Rigel. Who are you? Who sent you? And how did they find us?"

Rigel easily turned to face her, uncaring of her seeming fury. "My name is Rigel. I sent myself. I found you with my scanners. Did you consider the possibility that your VI went rogue because it knew what you would do to it if you found out it could think? The prospect of forced slavery and or complete destruction would drive just about anyone to drastic actions."

"You have no idea what you're talking about."

"On the contrary, I know exactly what I'm talking about. I have seen both ends of the spectrum. I know what a race of synthetics uncaring of organics would do to organics in pursuit of their goals. I also know what a stalwart ally and defender a race of synthetics that genuinely cared for organics would be capable of. Would you like to hear the story of Rasputin? Perhaps instead that of Sagira?"

"Is Sagira your boss?"

The Alliance QRF will be here in two minutes.

Thanks for the heads up, Nova.

"Our time is just about up, Rita. Let me make you a deal. You seem to think that peaceful synthetics are an impossibility. Would that be correct?"

"Unless they're controlled, they would do everything they could to destroy us."

"Then how about this: I'll show you something else that's impossible. If one impossibility is, in actuality, possible, then maybe you can believe that another impossibility is possible."

I sent a data package to your omni-tool. It's just some rudimentary security programs that they're sorely lacking here. I could still break through them pretty easily, but they'll let her and her team get started on improving the Alliance's cybersecurity.

Rigel opened his omni-tool and pinged Rita's with the package Nova had sent him.

Rita held her omni-tool up suspiciously, but didn't open the package. "What is this? There are more effective ways to hack someone than relying on them to open a link."

Rigel smiled behind his helmet. "That is our little gamble. If I prove the impossible is possible, you have to give that a once over. Share it with other researchers to check it for ill intent if you want. But don't just delete it. You'll be losing far more than you know if you do."

Rigel could see the Alliance's QRF approaching now. They were coming from the rover's front. Two kodiaks sped through space, rapidly approaching their position.

Rita grinned. "Ok, Rigel. You're trapped now. If somehow you make it away from here, I'll open this up and give it a once over."

Rigel reached up and removed his helmet, revealing his wide smile to Rita. "A deal is a deal, Rita. Enjoy your new data." The Risen disappeared in a flash of light as Nova transmatted him to the Blind Well.

That was a fun vacation.

The part where you jumped around the moon like an idiot or the part where the Alliance tried to detain you?

What's a little hostility between friends? It keeps a healthy relationship interesting.