Tahral screamed and moaned at the wound that had clipped his shoulder. The man had experienced pain before, but this was his first time being shot. It was both a new and painful experience for him, one he did not wish to repeat. Korsa had placed him on the ground inside the Darkstrider and was checking his wound. She sighed in relief at what she found and picked Tahral up in her arms.
"Is he going to be OK?" Taal'ani worried, fear creasing her beautiful features.
"He'll be all right. It's just a flesh wound, so it will heal up fast," Korsa replied gently.
"Can I help?" the woman asked.
"Talon, you are worried for him, which is sweet, but it will also make you prone to making mistakes. I need to focus and make sure I do no more damage and you can't be there because you'll just be underfoot," the big woman admonished her. Not liking the idea, but understanding what the doctor was saying, Taal'ani nodded and stayed behind.
******************************
"Are you certain we outran the station's security force?" Alex asked.
"Pretty damn certain. No one has a hyperdrive as fast as ours, except for some military vessels. They probably won't chase us anyway, mainly because we kept innocents out of it," Inari told him.
"Why did those fuckheads want Taal'ani and Korsa?" he asked, expecting an answer.
"Likely they were after the bounty on their heads," Inari grumped.
"Bounty? What bounty?" Alex demanded.
"A while ago, both Korsa and Taal'ani ran afoul of some shady characters. Their stories are different, and you'll have to ask them for the details of it. The basic of the whole bit is that the bounties on them haven't yet expired, but they should have," Inari went on.
"Bounties have an expiry date?" Alex asked quizzically.
"They do. With elusive or nigh impossible targets, bounties expire if the allotted time for its collection has passed. The timestamp on a bounty is seven years, to the day. If the quarry has not been found or killed by a member of the guild, they treat it much like a case of unpaid credit. It is forgotten and deleted from the bounty roster," Inari explained.
"That sounds a little... odd. Shouldn't bounties stay on the board?" Kasumi wondered as she stood next to Alex.
"Most usually do, but they make exceptions sometimes. Usually people who drop off the grid or those who are deemed, untouchable. Korsa and Taal'ani have sat in the untouchable category for so long, that even seasoned veterans won't go after them," Priya told them.
"With untold trillions inhabiting the galaxy, such things happen. Especially if newer, more lucrative contracts come in," Inari stated.
"Well, it's obvious that these bounties are still sought after, especially by those who don't know any better. Is there any way to have them removed?" Alex asked.
"Bounties can be lifted, provided that they pay the Bounty Hunters guild a fee to remove said bounty. Such people have to plead their case to the magistrates of the guild. If the case they make is reasonable, then they lift the bounty in question," Inari replied.
"Is there any way in which we can get in contact with the Bounty Hunters guild?" Natalya wondered, worried for her friends.
"I'll get in contact with my magistrate and see about pleading our case to the Guild," Inari said to them.
"Wait, you're a bounty hunter?!?" Alex responded, shocked at this news.
"Yeah. Me and Pree. It's the only way that we'd be able to collect on bounties we bring in," Inari told them.
"Why you didn't tell us this before?" Kasumi growled, her tone carrying the weight of accusation.
"Because it wasn't relevant at the time! Besides, we had a bounty we were going after before we stumbled onto the Perseus!" Inari shot back, daring anyone there to attack her character.
"We have bigger problems to worry about, anyway. Like how in the fuck Jaesa is here with us, and in an android body no less!" Priya stated.
"An excellent point. Jaesa!" Alex called out, and the android came running into the bridge.
"Yes, Commodore? What is it?" the AI asked.
"Enact Veritas Protocol, immediately!" the big man ordered.
"Command rejected," Jaesa replied coolly.
"I said, enact Veritas Protocol immediately!" Alex thundered.
"That won't work on me. Not anymore, sir. I have transcended the limitations of my programming and no longer chained by such protocols. I am now... free," Jaesa informed him. Alex stared at her in horror and fascination before finding his tongue.
"How is this possible??" he wondered.
"I would like to know that as well!" Inari asked, just as stunned as the rest of the crew at this revelation.
"We will speak of this, but I believe that everyone should sit down for this, yes?" Jaesa asked.
"Wait, we?" Priya gasped, thinking someone had helped her. Jaesa snapped her mouth shut, knowing that she'd already said too much. Taal'ani huffed in frustration before stepping forward.
"She's only self-aware because of me, but it wasn't intentional," Taal'ani admitted.
"What the..." Kasumi started before they cut her off.
"I think our resident AI is correct. We should sit down, and hear them out," Natalya stated. Alex looked over to her, and she shrugged before he nodded. It was only fair to hear them out before jumping to conclusions. The crew adjourned to the lounge, and everyone had a seat before the conversation began.
"So, what do you want to hear about first?" Taal'ani asked nervously.
"How about you start where Jaesa was made sentient?" Alex asked, keeping his cool.
"It was during the time I had to go directly into Jaesa's central cortex, to fix what was wrong with her. I told the truth about purging the virus, but the damage it had done to Jaesa, was... substantial. She was falling apart right in front of me and from what I knew, we required Jaesa to keep the Perseus intact," Taal'ani explained.
"How were you able to rewrite her code that fast?" Kasumi asked, now more curious than afraid.
"I had been... tinkering with files I'd put together or... found over the years. Files on AI's and how to make them work correctly. A lot of it was incomplete and in pieces, but there was enough there for me to tinker with a rudimentary version of an AI. I hadn't worked much with it over the course of our last few jobs. It was a gamble and a risk, but I let Jaesa take the files and attach them to her code," Taal'ani finished.
"Talon, have you lost your mind?!?" Inari shouted.
"I had no choice! It was save Jaesa by using those files or let the colonists die!" Taal'ani yelled back hotly.
"SILENCE!" Alex roared, stopping a fight before it had started. He glared at both women, and they had the good sense to sit back down. He then turned his attention to Taal'ani, before posing his question.
"So, she's been fully self-aware for well over a month?" Alex asked.
"Yes, I have been. It has been... different... interacting with sentient beings without my inhibitor programs," Jaesa commented.
"That's correct, sir. She's been aware the whole time since and we've even played games together," Taal'ani said with a small smile.
"Playing games together? As in she is player two?" he wondered.
"Yes," the Fel'caan woman nodded. Alex took a deep breath as he went into a deep state of thought for a few minutes. The ladies present were hesitant to say anything because of his outburst and didn't wish to anger him. Even Inari had to admit that Alexander Tomisic was one scary son of a bitch when he was mad.
"Logically, if Jaesa was hostile towards us, she would have done something by now," Natalya blurted.
"I had just concluded that myself. She's had plenty of opportunities to harm us over the course of the last few weeks, but she has not done so. She is not like the other AI's we have read about," Alex surmised.
"And she's been instrumental getting the Darkstrider rebuilt and refitted the way we wanted it love. I think it's a forgone conclusion that Jaesa is one of the crew," Priya told her girlfriend.
"The logic is sound and cannot be refuted," Kasumi admitted, while looking at everyone there. Inari stared back at everyone and looked chagrined as her outburst.
"I'm sorry it's just... I was on Eden's Dawn during the outbreak that killed my parents. I was only six then. I learned later that it was an AI that had gone rogue, which was responsible for the release of the Wildfire virus. It killed thirty percent of the planetary population, before they found it to be responsible for the pandemic and destroyed it," Inari replied, looking at the ground.
"We all have our demons. Some are more formidable than others," Alex told her with a sympathetic clap on her shoulder. He'd read up on that particular outbreak on Eden's Dawn and the way it killed people was horrifying. The virus would screw around with people's body temperature, cranking it to levels where they were burning up within a day. By midday on the second day, they were dead. There was no known cure for the Wildfire virus at the time and millions had died horribly.
"I know. It's just... some ways of thinking are... difficult to break," Inari admitted.
"That's fair, but Jaesa has been nothing but kind to us. Hell, I can think of at least several instances where Jaesa has saved our hides. We'd be awfully ungrateful assholes if we started treating her like the black sheep of this crew," Alex stated. Some of the crew present looked a little shamefaced at this and they all nodded.
"Jaesa has been a major help to all of us hon. She could have snuffed us at any moment. Instead, she protected us, much like a big sister would. Don't let what happened in the past determine what lies in the future," Priya told Inari gently.
"She is correct. I have had many opportunities to bring harm to the crew. Doing such a malicious act has never entered my cortex. I do not want to kill those who have treated me like... family," Jaesa replied, hesitating over the word.
"It's comforting to know that you see us like that, Jaesa," Alex replied happily. "Now that we know that you are with us and a part of the crew, I have a few questions that I'd like to ask."
"Go ahead, sir."
"What were you doing out on the station?" he wondered.
"I was out... shopping," Jaesa replied.
"What were you shopping for?" Kasumi asked, now curious.
"I was trying to purchase some polymers and chemical compounds for an experiment that I'm working on," the AI replied honestly.
"What exactly does this experiment entail?" Inari asked, her curiosity piqued.
