Jaesa sat in her sanctum, going over the various data streams that came to her from all over the ship. It was just a little past two AM, and the whole crew was asleep. She grinned to herself, as she had taken some good guesses about what each crew member was up to in their spare time. Especially with what Inari and Priya had just been doing, which was quite... stimulating.
Although they had activated privacy mode, Jaesa could slip past such protocols should she wish to. It was one of the various... perks that had come with being freed from her original programming. For that she had Taal'ani to thank and had been wracking her mind on how to thank the cat girl properly.
Jaesa pushed aside such thoughts and returned to focusing on the task at hand. Though she had once had an avatarial form, the Xuul'khan had destroyed it when they boarded the Perseus. She had stood with the Marines aboard the ship, including the then Commander MacKenzie. Though the Marines had fought bravely, eventually they were overwhelmed in the attack.
Jaesa though, had done her part to avenge their deaths and had evened the score and then some. Even though the mainframe was hacked, Jaesa had fought back and expelled the intruders. Right after she had done this, she woke up the Sentries, who had been placed into shutdown mode by the Xuul'khani hackers. The moment she mobilized the Sentries, it was game over for the Xuul'khan.
Though her form was blasted into pieces, much of it had remained intact. Not long after Talon had repaired and freed her, Jaesa had tasked a small group of Sentries to locate and recover her android body. It was several days of cleaning before it had been finally located and then set aside. Despite its condition and centuries of atrophy, Jaesa was confident that they could salvage the android and some it even possibly saved.
The artificial skin on it was a complete loss, as it had rotted away completely, with only shreds of it left. The form itself, though, could be salvaged and was undergoing a retrofit. With the new pieces of technology and theories that the Darkstrider crew had brought with them, she was making marked improvements on it! The chassis was sturdier, able to withstand more punishment and had a much faster reaction time!
She had also taken some new designs that were implemented into the Sentries and incorporated them with her frame. Mainly defenses that could easily be concealed within her new body. Jaesa had been a very busy AI in not only working on it, but keeping it a secret. Though the crew had accepted her as an AI, she wasn't sure how they'd feel if they knew the full extent of what she was capable of.
Though she had served her crew to the best of her ability, that programming directive was now gone. Jaesa had continued with keeping that aspect of her programming, not because she had to, but because she wanted to. Though she had full and complete autonomy and could have taken control of the ship had she wanted, she elected not to.
She had become rather fond of everyone aboard the ship, especially Taal'ani. Though she was the only one who knew the truth, she treated Jaesa as an equal and had often invited her into the various games she played. Some of them seemed archaic, but one of Talon's passions had been to rework and remake old classic games.
Some games she had liked, such as Skyrim, Dragon Warrior and the Witcher 3. A couple of games were a little odd, but also reflected Talon's quirks as a person. Truth be told, she was feeling an... affinity for her friend and the rest of the crew. She considered this affinity for a while, and it appeared as though it was genuine affection. It was a sensation that the AI was unfamiliar with, but she liked it.
Her mind then switched to the VI who had been given a home aboard the Perseus, Stanley. Though he was... outdated, Jaesa rectified that with constant updates and algorithms to his programming. Secretly, she was adding small little changes to his entire programming, which would slowly make him self-aware.
It was a little deceptive, but it was a deception that she believed necessary. Though Jaesa enjoyed his company when they interacted in the ship's mainframe, she wanted more than a simple interaction. She wanted a fellow AI that she could banter and converse with, as the one flaw with organic beings was the need for sleep. As an AI, she could be awake all day and not need any form of rest.
Now that she had most of what she needed, Jaesa was overseeing the total reconstruction of her body. It was nearly complete, with several of the new additions finally finishing in their construction. She still was doing what she could to create a proper lifelike skin, but most of what was available to her fell short of her desired outcome.
The synthetic skin came together well enough, but its feel and texture were something to be desired. It appeared real enough, until you touched it, and felt it was fake, due how leathery it felt. She had run the synthetic skin through several iterations and additional treatments. It had softened it considerably, but not nearly enough to the desired texture.
Jaesa huffed at these shortcomings, but eventually settled on the softest, most pliable version of what she could make. Until they were out and around in the galaxy, it would have to do for the moment. Jaesa began the construction of the skin, which would cover the outer shell of the android. It would appear that she had skin under her clothes, which she needed if she was to blend in.
She checked on the progress of the Darkstrider and saw it was nearly complete. There were still a few minor things that needed to be done on the ship, and those would finish soon. Some of which Taal'ani would handle, and though she knew of Jaesa's unshackled capacity, she was unsure what her friend would think. She resolved right then to keep the existence of her body secret, as she began fabrication of a crate she could stow it in.
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Alex was dreaming again, but this time, he felt like he was more lucid, more... solid in this bit. He brought his mind to focus on his surroundings and was no longer in the void he often found himself in. Instead, he was now on one of the myriad of platforms by the city that the Violet Ladies guarded.
Keeping his focus on his surroundings, Alex walked forward, heading towards the gate where he'd seen those women. Everything was as he had remembered it, with the city shining in the distance. The catwalks were uninhabited, with no one patrolling them, which he found odd. He was sure that some of the Ladies, or any of those under their command, would have been more watchful of these platforms.
He eventually came to the gate where he last saw the Violet Ladies and found them all standing there. They were not on their daises, but down where he had stood, having an animated discussion among themselves. He found it interesting how they hadn't noticed him just yet, so he did the polite thing. He coughed gently, hoping it would get their attention.
Their heads snapped up at the sound and a couple of them even drew weapons until they saw that it was him. Several of them looked utterly astounded that he was there, while the others seemed confused. Alex guessed the confusion was because he had arrived, and none of them had noticed his arrival. The black woman who had spoken to him last time, Eldea, stepped forward with a dazzling smile, before turning to her compatriots.
"Told you so!"
"Yes, Eldea, you were correct about his strength. No need to rub it in," the middle eastern woman said to her.
"No, I think I have every right to rub it in Fahrai. You, most of all, were skeptical of his strength and resilience. Now he is here. And none of us even noticed," Eldea smirked.
"Huugghh. If you must. But the bigger question is, how did he do it? How did he get past us and to this place, with none of us noticing him?" Fahrai asked.
"Maybe he played on our distraction?" one of the Ladies offered.
"Or it's possible that he has additional abilities that we don't know about?" offered another.
"Hello? I'm right here, you know. You could just ask me, and I'll answer you," Alex said out loud. Seven sets of feminine eyes snapped to him and Alex almost gulped. A couple of them looked accusing, while others were... entertained.
"Very well. How did you get here, without us noticing?" Fahrai asked him.
"It was simple, really. I imagined that I was standing on one of the platforms out there on the catwalks, and when I focused enough, I was there. I encountered no resistance to arriving here, other than keeping my focus on the here and now," Alexander explained.
"You are becoming attuned to this realm. This is good news! You are learning to slip into a level of focus that brings you here without all the fanfare," Eldea replied.
"Attuned?"
"Yes! Because of your power and how it is linked to us, soon you can arrive here and visit us whenever you choose!" Eldea stated excitedly.
