Loopholes

Ves recognized an important crux in this unexpectedly tragic outcome. "The AIs that govern the battleship shouldn't be that stupid, right? The people they shoved into the safe zone all consisted of genuine CFA servicemen. Shouldn't the virtual officers recognize their former human masters?"

"It's not as simple as that." Miss Calabast shook her head. "The executive officer goofed up because he developed Emergency Protocol Theta-Thirty-Seven in secret. As the nominal second-in-command of the ship, the executive officer is subject to a lot of monitoring. You have to realize that it's impossible to keep a secret on a ship where monitoring is pervasive. The captain firmly held the internal security department in his grasp. Someone as power hungry as the captain won't let the executive officer muck about out of sight."