The US Army, no less, has said that we shouldn't fear killer robots. Well I for one have never harbored a fear of killer robots. This dates back to even before the first Terminator movie 35 years ago. I want one. I've always wanted a killer robot. I think they are a bit too expensive at the moment so I'm delaying until they become a lot more mainstream. Then I can buy one on Amazon. The way technology is moving along it shouldn't take too long. Siri and Alexa can suck it. They are useless for anything I want a robot to do. I know I don't want it answering back, that's for sure. It needs to strike fear into the heart of my enemies. Most of whom won't know they are my enemies until "Instant Death" turns up on their doorstep and melts their face off. Yeah I'm having lasers as well as rockets. After waiting so long to buy one I'm not going to skimp. The name Instant Death might change though. I don't think it's scary enough. It'll have high definition video and audio obviously so I can watch people being crushed and hear their screams of terror. I'm getting on now so I need a helping hand in delivering terror. Which is a shame in one sense, but a blessing in others. I've got a very long list of people I hate. Plus there are all those I would like to seek revenge on. Especially that guy who wears those really offensive patterned shirts. No idea what his name is, therefore I'm going to need a killer robot with facial recognition software. I can't wait.
(The copyright to this image is the property of Getty Images.)
The fleet was stopping over in Palamar for a few days. Why Jake hadn't known this before was a mystery to him. There was a strong possibility it was because he hadn't been listening. It was a near certainty he had to admit. There were things that needed doing. earning a living being top of the list. It was one of those rules of life that food and other supplies had to be paid for. A few of the crew members came from here originally. They had family. Scarlet was one of those woolly liberals who thought her staff should be allowed time off after working 7 days a week for an extended period. The other captain's had similar views.
There was an understanding now that he shouldn't be allowed out on his own. Given his talent for accidentally stumbling across things. Things that would escalate into adventures. Shit storms was a better word. Now he himself understood this he decided that walking about ashore, unaccompanied, might not be such a good idea. Besides which he had duties he'd shirked. His mind veered away from dwelling on that dereliction of duty. Thanks to Poppy, the victim of his stupidity, he was now able to do that quite efficiently.
It was now three days since her brush with death and his extermination of every assassin in the city. This had the unfortunate result of possibly making them the target of revenge of every Assassin's Guild on this continent. A message had been sent to them though. As Scarlet so eloquently and often put it "Don't fuck with me". News had seeped back that there was a temporary truce for the moment. They were content to deescalate for now. Meaning they were desperately looking at ways to prevent the same happening to them should they decide to take revenge.
For the last couple of days, Jake had stayed on board. Except for venturing out to buy some delicious food he'd never seen before. Each morning he visited Poppy and Norbert. The hermit genius was straying out of his hermitage. In that he would go for walks within the enormous hold. Pushing his limits a bit further each day. He'd almost made it to the garden where Pettifer and Priscilla lived. That had had to be over 20 meters. In order to occupy himself Norbert was going over the original scroll given them by the Simbri. Refining his algorithms to see if there was more he could extract from their multilayered 4 dimensional message. Anything that would give them more insight into the Newkind. That was his main project. He had others he dipped into. Including those blueprints Jake had produced for his super gun. The range of which, according to the nerds formulae was potentially infinite. Scarlet had been correct. It was over powered. On any planet it would have shot off into space. Which was impossible. Apart from the bit where it could.
Gungthor and Ursella had accompanied Daisy into the interior shortly after they'd docked. News to Jake. Why hadn't anyone told him? They had. He'd been distracted and not listened. The People had a small settlement a few hundred kilometers inland on one of the many rivers the continent possessed. They were doing a long term study of the nomadic peoples of this area. Listening, it turned out, was a skill. One that had eluded him most of this life. That partly explained his interest in history. It was written down for idiots like him.
This morning he found Poppy was up. Surprising to say the least. Her spine had been severed after all. Nerves took a long time to grow back completely. With multiple organ failure the recovery period increased as the medibot worked on that priority. The prognosis had been that she'd be confined to bed for at least a week. After which she'd need intensive therapy to relearn the use of her legs. Yet there she was standing on the other side of her bed, as Jake entered.
"You're up?" He stated, another no shit Sherlock observation.
"It would seem so." Poppy responded. Holding the bed while staring down at her feet. "Let me see if I can make it round to you. Don't help me. I need to do this on my own."
With that she clunked a pace. very nearly falling flat on her pretty face. Jake reacted. She looked at him fiercely. A warning that he should not interfere. Another step and a half. More clunks and a whirring sound. Still clinging to the bed. It took a bit, but eventually her lower half came into view. She was wearing some leg devices. That would do for now. There was probably a special name for them. It reminded him of Grundel, the organic human shaped AI. Only nowhere near as good.
"Those look fancy." He quipped. "Is it really a good idea? You prancing around with mechanical leg braces?"
"Well I was getting bored. Morag and Tamsin said it would be okay. Stop me loosing muscle tone from inactivity. I was bored, as I've said, so it looked like a great idea. Now I'm not so sure. Don't move. I'm going to come over to you. Stop twitching."
"I can't help it. I keep thinking you're going to fall. I might need to get out of the way."
She chuckled at that. It made him feel good. The humor he'd used to express his own dissatisfaction with the world in general, could be used for good.
"Okay. If I do fall, you're allowed to catch me. In fact I insist on it. I am shitting myself here."
"I don't know. You're pretty slim, but how heavy are those mechanical legs? It might be like trying to catch a tree."
She laughed so much she almost feel. That look of consternation on her face as she grabbed onto the nearest support.
"Stop it. Please Jake. This is very serious. It means the difference between staying in bed and getting up and about. Promise me you won't move."
"I promise."
"You will catch me if I fall though."
He brushed off her concern.
"Goes without saying."
"Not with you it doesn't. So I've heard."
Somebody was telling the truth about him behind his back.
"Who from?"
"The captain mainly. She drops by regularly. Almost as often as you. And she's got an actual job."
He crossed his arms.
"That was a low blow. I'm inclined to take offense at that. It's true. The truth hurts though."
"Right. I'm coming."
Poppy took two rapid steps then over extended. Stumbling into his arms. Her legs half a meter behind her torso.
"You might want to rephrase that next time."
She blushed. Her green eyes avoiding his.
"Keep hold of me. I'm going to get this. I hope."
The legs shuffled forward. Bringing her up against him. He stepped back as soon as she had her balance. Keeping hold of her hand.
"How do they work anyway?"
"It's quite simple really. A bit like you. There are sensors on my back. See."
The nerd lifted up her top exposing herself to his view. She'd blushed at the orgasm joke. Now she was flashing him without a care in the world. Her torso twisted, altering her balance enough to make her wobble. He stood ready to come to her rescue.
"That looks... impressive. A lot smaller than I thought it would be. Your boobs look nice to."
Still holding her top at her neck she looked down critically.
"Really? I suppose they might be acceptable on the earth you're from. Here they are barely adequate. I'd like them to be much more impressive. I'm not greedy. I don't need Morag sized ones. I wouldn't know what to do with them. Scarlet's are just right."
"I'm not a boobs man myself. I like a nice ass. Fetu's is fantastic."
"I know." She eagerly agreed. "Mine's not that bad. More peachy though." Poppy lowered her jersey. "It's weird how you linked my boobs to smaller."
This perturbed him.
"Did I?"
"Yes. You said smaller with regard to the sensor box. Then knowing about my complex about my breasts, you complimented them. Trying to be nice I expect. You and Scarlet had sex last night."
That was a sharp turn. Given the levity of their conversation.
"Whoa. What makes you think that?" Then he remembered something similar from a while back.
"Well she has the look of a woman who had enjoyable sex. While you have the look of a man who had sex. It was your joke about phrasing and coming that really gave it away. It was on your mind. You really went at it last night."
He gently took her by the upper arms. His face all innocent and concerned.
"Is this really a suitable subject for conversation Poppy? I know we're friends, but there are limits." He gazed into her eyes."Oh no. You can read my mind can't you?"
"No. I've been bored. Sex has been on my mind a lot stuck in here. Do you know how long it is since I've had an orgasm that wasn't self inflicted?"
He couldn't help grinning.
"I'm not even going to guess. Self inflicted though?"
"Don't pretend you don't understand what I mean. It's not the same is it? Nowhere near as good. At least I think so. It could be that I'm glamorizing it in my memory."
"No. It's so much better... Unless.. Did Scarlet say anything? Damn. I'm getting insecure now. I don't think she'd fake that kind of enthusiasm. We did do it a lot though. So she might have been substituting quantity for quality. I'm awful at a very long list of things. Sex might be one more."
She punched him playfully in the shoulder, he had to catch hold of her as she fell backwards.
"No she definitely enjoyed it. I'm an expert on how you look and feel after it's a dreadful disappointment. Anyway let's go for a walk."
He broke himself out of his depressing self examination. Almost.
"You aren't just saying that are you? You know, like you thought I'd linked smaller with your breasts. Oh God I don't think I even want to know."
"Stop obsessing. Let's get out of here."
He pulled himself together. This wasn't about him. It was about Poppy.
"Okay, where do you want to go?"
"Up on deck. Get some fresh air in my lungs."
"Is that wise? Shouldn't we stick to something less tiring? You don't want to over extend yourself. You're quite petite, but I don't want to end up carrying you back."
She slapped the leg braces.
"I'll be fine. These are self powered. I can't feel a thing below mid spine."
It took some time. The journey was far from uneventful. The stairs were difficult at first. As they moved further her confidence grew. Sort of. The two of them stumped out onto the deck. Where everyone still aboard acknowledged Poppy. Cautiously the couple moved across the ship to the rail. At this point he could see her balance was returning. really she was adapting to the legs. her own would be different. Easier to. Jake let go of his charge. She clutched his arm painfully. Driving her nails into his bicep. If he'd only known about this before hand he'd have donned his protective gear instead of a shirt. Stifling a cry of pain he patted her hand. Hoping she might take the hint and release him. It didn't work. Her fingers dug deeper seeking out the bone beneath. He spoke through gritted teeth.
"You really don't need to hold on that tight." He insisted.
"Yes I do."
"I'm sure you don't. You've got to have confidence in yourself." Actual meaning, ow, ow, ow. Let go.
"I have got confidence in myself. That's not what I'm worried about."
If it was going to get his arm released he had to ask. Then he could assure the nerd her anxiety was unfounded.
"What are you worried about then?"
"I'm worried about the fact these leg braces were built by Norbert. He's a great scientist. Not that practical though. There's a good chance that if I do anything wrong or there's a malfunction due to his work, I could go shooting off the edge into the water. Or slam into a mast at high speed. I don't want to spend any more time convalescing than I have to."
That made a lot of sense. The more he looked at it, the more sense it made. Now he was getting worried.
"Ahhh." Jake drawled. "In that case. Hermes be a darling and up the pain relief for me would you. While you're at it have turbo mode on standby."
Nothing bad happened. That was unexpected. They moved around the main deck with extreme care. Scarlet waved to them both. He assumed it was both of them. It was hard to tell. The Captain was looking at that huge statue of him with his adoring companions gazing up at his handsome magnificence. It was a massive insult to everyone on board. Thankfully they didn't now that. One of those smaller, less significant companions had to be a version of his patient. Not much he could do about it. Jake settled back against the railing. Poppy beside him. The lady kept casting glances towards the door to the decks below.
"Would you like to go below?"
"No."
That was a bit sharp.
"Something's bothering you. What is it?"
She turned to him her face burning with anger.
"He's been at my workbench."
That had to be Norbert.
"I'm sure he won't have damaged anything."
"I don't care about that. I can repair anything. He's an obsessive compulsive. A tidy freak. I like mess. I know where things are in my mess. There's a structure to it. He might have tidied up. Things will be laid out in order. He'll have organised my disorganisation. There's a danger he might have alphabetized my stuff. There's no telling what he my have done. Him and his fucking straight lines." She banged her fist.
"That seems like a bit of sore point. I don't think I've ever heard you swear before. I like it. I think there's every chance you're going to make a very quick recovery. Which will free sick bay. I've got a feeling that Norbert might be in need of it very shortly."