6 .

The old Jack had been fairly ignorant about matters in space. Mechs were much more interesting than space politics. But even he knew the horrors pirates would do to all those defenseless humans they caught.

The ship had been attacked on a lone star system. Having no one else other than himself and a previously normal ship Ai.

They had no means of escape. He had nothing to fight back with. A vacuum suit or two but those were not useful even in baseline human versus human, no machine combat.

They only served to protect humans from space radiation. Mostly…

That was everything they had on this shuttle. Along with some food.

Important stuff. That...

He didn't know what else was aboard, being blind and all. However, he knew that there existed no weapons in these shuttles. Only permitted personnel could have those low load-out rifles.

'Wait a moment. Shipping companies can't let their ships transit around with no way to protect their crew'.

This seemed like a clue only he could miss. He felt like smacking his forehead.

'Wait…'

He had touched the tubes about him. One detail. Touched.

'I can feel things. That means my hands…'

He slowly moved them until they clasped each other.

"…"

'What is going on with me? Why would I forget to check stuff as important as this?!'

He panicked a little. These were not details one was supposed to miss. Was there a problem with his mind?

'Let's think about that later.'

Ships that large couldn't be left on their own. This was the rim of the galaxy. Pirate attacks happened almost every week!

'They must have means to protect themselves '.He thought to himself as his right hand caressed his chin.

'There's no intensive care medication systems aboard a shuttle. Growing a cloned part should take about two to three days '.

His expression turned strange.

'It couldn't be my natural healing. Could it?...'

Ai's could do a multitude of things. One of them being healthcare. They, however, could not control the 3d printers. You could imagine a simple glitch causing the printing of a hundred arms, which could not be used. Different arm lengths and all.

'This Ai can move though. I don't know how but it can.' He thought to himself.

The chances that the Ai had stitched his arms back together was too low. But not impossible.

Cloning would have taken about a week for both his hands.

'My feet. Ugh…' He had also forgotten about that.

There had to be something wrong with his brain.

He moved his hands over the next second. His thoughts would have to wait.

"…"

His feet were also healed. He could confirm that the Ai had nothing to do with this.

Cloning both the hands and feet of a baseline human would take about a week and a half in a fully stocked and functional third-rate state hospital. Only three days had passed.

There was also another way to confirm this.

"Silver... did you clone my hands and feet?"

[Negative]

He took a deep breath. How was it possible for him to heal this fast?

[Estimated time of contact two hours]

He was jerked out of his thoughts. They must have noticed the shuttle.

'Curious are we…' he thought as a self-deprecating smile crept on his face. He would have done the same if he was in their situation.

Who would be crazy enough to be in deep space with a shuttle not capable of storing lots of fuel? Not to mention the lack of an FTL drive.

He felt the room buzz.

'Deep scans…'

[Deep active scans detected]

This was rather offensive. Anyone who dared to do an active deep scan of another vessel was simply looking for trouble. Considering they were not the authorities.

'I guess we're getting boarded. I'm not that important but a perfectly fine and functional shuttle can't be left behind '.

He could also be sold as a slave. Whatever happened, he was utterly f*cked.

His hands worked on the straps keeping his legs restrained.

'Why restrain only my legs?' he thought in puzzlement.

His feet were freed soon after. He turned to his right, He was about to alight when a strong hand suddenly clamped down on his shoulder.

Hiss!

His breath hissed as he took a sharp breath. His body trembled then froze.

"W-who are you?" He could even feel the edge in his voice. He was horrified, a person had watched him throughout his conversation with the Ai without making a sound. There was no other term to describe such actions other than messed up.

[My sensors indicate heightened adrenaline, high blood pressure and heightened stress levels]

'You think?! Wait why is her voice sounding from this direction?'

"S-silver, how did you move me?" his voice trembled slightly. He couldn't stop himself from asking again.

[Armored suit]

'Armored suit…' The thought reverberated through his mind.

"You found an armored suit and downloaded your core into it?" he asked.

[Affirmative]

He had pretty much guessed it.

"…"

"It allowed that?"

[…]

No answer.

'As expected. What was I even asking?'

"You can fully control the armor?"

[Partial control is allowed full control requires an administrator]

'Ok… An Ai that can control an armor?'

'Psht sounds normal nothing strange there at all '. he though incredulously.

Other than being virtually impossible.

"Who's the administrator?" He just had to ask.

[Information not available]

'Of course'.

Things would never be that easy.

"How long till they get to us?" He asked as his hand reached out to clasp the armors'. He used it as a form of support. He had never used his feet since his 'rebirth'

[One hour Forty five minutes]

'Can I even use it?'

He decided to reserve that question for a little while.

His feet transmitted something strange to his brain.

Modern technology could fix just about everything. He wasn't sure if they could recreate eyes. He had never met anyone who had. It's not like they'd have a badge identifying them.

Essential reproduction parts were also a mystery to him. They were some very important organs, it would be troublesome to repair or replace. If it was possible at all.

He could see waves spread out from him as the epicenter. They crashed onto objects and came rushing back. The strange image they formed was the issue for his confusion. The feedback disoriented him. His knees turned weak.

He was about to drop when the strong arm clamped onto his shoulder again. His heart skipped a beat. It appeared he would have a phobia of darkness for life.

A similar image formed when he touched the armor. It was as if everything he came in contact with would send strange images to his brain. The armor wasn't as disorienting though.

'I have to get into it don't I?' he smiled bitterly.

"Can I use the armor?"

[Affirmative]

Phew!

"Sure. Is there a command for opening it up?"

[No, would you like to temporarily assign one?]

"…"

Jack suddenly had a strange thought.

"What permission does one require to permanently assign a name?"

[…Administrator…]

'As I thought '.

'However, why does she suddenly sound exasperated?'

'There's something wrong with this…'

He ignored that too, he would have time to question whatever creature he had been strapped with. that would only be possible if he survived. And was free.

The events leading to his survival sounded convenient. Too convenient…

"How many administrators does the armor have?"

[Information not available]

'Hmm..' He stood straight as he thought.

"Unlock, let's use that for now. We will change the term when we get a cooler sounding one".

[Request acknowledged]

Red lights flashed all over the armor as lines formed from spot to spot. It had a mystifying theme to it. He unfortunately couldn't see that.

Shh!

A sharp sound spread around the room as it automatically opened itself up.

'Wait does she even have a name?'

"Do you have a name?"

Silence greeted him this time. He could feel the question hang in the air.

'Why do I feel like the armor is asking if that's a serious question?'

He could almost feel her rolling her eyes. Except, of course, something like that should be impossible. Right? Right?!.

'Maybe my mind is still clogged. Also, I have to stop forgetting Important stuff!'.

"How many minutes to contact"

[One hour twenty six minutes]

He could feel it inch closer to him.

He felt something embrace him, the feeling was warm. Pure contrast with what he had expected from coming into contact with metal.

His head felt free. There was currently no helmet. He felt the servos tilt him to one side.

His hands picked something. The servos raised his hands as they slowly fit the helmet.

Humm!

A thick hum sounded within the dark visor as various projections appeared within it. Blue light lit within lines all over the armor. It looked awesome. Too bad the user couldn't see it.

[Operational status: functional]

The hum turned deeper as the whole suit vibrated slightly.

[Reactor status: active]

'Ok, the feeling is quite good '. He made some simple movements to get accustomed to it.

'Ok, time to study... the user manual'. He was both lucky and unlucky in this regard. He couldn't read the manual, good stuff. He couldn't see where he was going, bad stuff. Terrible.

He tried more movements. The armor was capable of making some of its own, so he let it. Besides, he had an important task to accomplish.

He relinquished control to the Ai, he needed to plot for his survival.

"This feels awesome" " he said in a deep metallic voice.

"…"

"Could you make my voice a little less robotic?"

[… request acknowledged…]

…

"Time to come up with a plan". His earlier panic had been forgotten. Maybe this armor had something more than met the eye?

"Any ideas, silver?"

[…]

And then there was silence…

****

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