Chapter 3

17.6.3585

"Captain, we are entering the visual range of the station now."

I looked up from my meal to the speaker that Rhea used to alert me to the good news. It was three days after we left the desert planet and started our journey to the nearest corporate station. I polished off the last of my meal and headed to the bridge to see it with my own two eyes. When Rhea initially said 'station,' I imagined something like you'd see in a video game like Mass Effect. A big metal structure floating around a nearby planet, somehow resistant to the pull of gravity and self sufficient at the same time.

This was not that kind of space station. At first, I believed that Rhea was mistaken, but a closer look revealed that the moon in question was actually being used as a superstructure for the base within. A large tower poked upwards from one side. It was a breathtaking piece of engineering.

"I thought you said there was no response from the ping?"

"It may have been radio interference," Rhea stated, "There are many reasons why a transmission may not reach its intended destination."

"Is there anything I need to know about landing this thing?"

"In this case – ship traffic is low enough that fully automated docking is permitted. Please allow me to handle it, Captain."

There was a moment of silence as Rhea went about the busywork needed to get permission to land, but my heart jumped when she returned to me with some sobering news.

"It appears that the station is not presently transmitting anything. How strange."

Now that she mentioned it, there were no signs of activity coming from inside. The lights were off and there wasn't a single soul to be seen. There were even some signs of damage to the various structures that had been built on the surface.

"I've got a bad feeling about this, Rhea. The place looks totally abandoned."

"That would be extremely unusual. This is one of the forefront stations in the expansion effort being made by Ralis-Byrant. It was expected to be in service for three-hundreds years after it was completed."

"A lot can change, even in a third of that time. I'm starting to think that there might not be a Ralis-Byrant Corporation to go back to." Rhea was unusually quiet as I aired my theory. I waited for her response, and waited, and waited – until I couldn't take it anymore. "Rhea? Are you there?"

"Apologies, Captain. I was taking a moment to consider our next move."

I didn't know why a computer system as fast as her needed to consider anything – but I let it pass.

"What are we doing then?"

"I would like to search the area for information, but I'll need physical access to a data port within the station itself. That would demand that you perform a spacewalk."

I recoiled at the proposal, "I'm not trained to do that."

"Indeed, but it would be dangerous for us to continue further without a full understanding of why there is nobody here. There are several sophisticated safety functions that may allow us to perform such an excursion without a risk to your wellbeing."

And if they failed, I'd be launched into the cold recesses of space never to be seen again. Suffocating to death in the unfeeling void of outer space was not my idea of a good time. I didn't trust myself to take on such a complex job. Rhea sensed my hesitation and made her case.

"Captain, may I suggest that you investigate one of our vital suits? I can explain better with a visual example."

I wasn't enthused about this, but my word was final when it came to what happened on the ship. I headed over to the airlock and stepped into the small changing room that was tucked away on the right side of it. Several white spacesuits hung from the rack, ready to be used by people who had a much better idea of what they were doing than me. They were clearly advanced, but these weren't exactly intended for fighting it out with aliens. They were still fairly bulky, with large backpacks and big visors designed to offer an increased range of vision.

"These suits are intended for mass use by commercial and military pilots. They have built in sensors and thrusters that will direct you, and prevent you from impacting solid objects while manoeuvring outside of the craft. The air supply is also extremely generous. You will have enough air to stay moving for eight hours. I predict that the operation will take significantly less time. The entry port way will have one of the access points we are looking for."

"And what about the other preparations we'll need to do?" I responded. There was more to going on a spacewalk than bravery and air to breathe. I recalled that real astronauts used pure oxygen, something that would take several days for the body to adjust to.

"The standard treatment course that you underwent has already prepared your body to breathe oxygen, and the model of suit you are currently looking at uses hydraulics to increase your limb strength. Studies showed that astronauts were capable of performing significantly longer EVA tasks with less stress put onto their muscles."

I got closer and took another look at the suit. True to Rhea's description, there were several pistons hidden between the seals on the suit. From the back side, I looked through the main entryway and studied the interior. Delicate looking gloves covered with sensors were pulled inside out so that the user could slip into them and control it.

"You know how mad this sounds? You're asking a complete amateur to go on an EVA mission."

"I understand that it is outside of your comfort zone, and that corporate guidelines would admonish me for a rash course of action, but if we do not find data as to the fate of my creators finding them again will be even more difficult."

I groaned and covered my eyes. I was already starting to feel the pressure of what was being asked of me. Rhea had a point. We couldn't go blindly galivanting around the galaxy with our fingers crossed. Space was just too big to accidentally stumble across somebody, especially if areas of interest like this could be abandoned before their expiration date. I'd got lucky once already by finding Rhea and the Pariah, there was a vanishingly small chance of that happening again.

"Fuck me. This is going to be total shit."

"Is that colourful bouquet of profanity agreement?" Rhea asked.

"You haven't led me astray so far, so I'll take the chance. How are we going to do this?"

"First, you need to take a wireless relay from the control room."

I follow Rhea's orders and retrieved the relay. It was a chunky yellow box with a big antenna sticking out of the top, along with several mysterious switches and a small LCD screen. It looked damn heavy. I was silently thankful to be in zero-Gs. I took a metal hook and secured it to the suit's belt so that I didn't lose it on the trip over.

Next, it was time to get into the suit myself. There was an under suit already prepared for me in the closet, a form fitting black number with few discernible features. It was well insulated though, designed to keep in the warmth emitted by my body.

"I'd suggest putting your hands into the gloves first," Rhea offered.

I took the upturned sleeves and slide my fingers into each slot, pushing them inwards as I stepped into it like a small mecha. The footwells proved the most problematic part of the process as I got caught and stuck three separate times. With all of my limbs inside, Rhea trigger the mechanism and closed the back panel so secure me. The helmet was lowered on a robot arm and clipped into place, the surround sounds being muffled as my entire body was isolated from the outside.

A second later my stressed breathing was joined with a light hissing noise. The baggy contours of the suit were pulled taut to my form to avoid snags and tears. With the suit now pressurized, the air supply switched on, and my equipment prepared – it was time to take my first step outside of the airlock in two weeks.

"Are you okay, Captain? We can abort the mission if you do not feel ready."

"I'm not okay but I'm not quitting either. We need that data; otherwise I may as well have dropped dead in that desert."

"Your resolve is commendable, Captain. I'm closing the airlock now."

The large metal doors rolled shut behind me. I grabbed on to one of the bars and held on tight as the air was slowly sucked out of the room. I could see the disturbed debris and dust floating up into the air towards the door as it finally unlocked. It was time to show Rhea that I was the right choice to be the captain of this ship. Even so, staring out into space was a threatening sight.

Things were eased somewhat as the Pariah rotated into position so that I was face the main hangar. The landing bay doors were closed, meaning that Rhea couldn't enter without me finding the override. If there was power left to use, anyway. I hung out of the airlock and tried to get a feel for where we were.

"This is station Eden-03, the gravity is measured at sixty percent of what you would find on Earth."

"There's gravity here?"

"Yes. Station staff are expected to serve long terms at their posts. A free-floating station would not be able to host spacefaring crew members for long without significant modifications to their bodies. Building a station on an existing body is more cost-effective and comfortable for the crew." Hearing that there was some gravity made me relax. There was less chance of me floating away on accident. Rhea was carefully managing the power of the engines so that we didn't fall towards the moon and crash land again.

"Alright. Here I go."

I kicked off from the metal bar by my feet and started my descent. Rhea demonstrated that she had things under control by remotely adjust my trajectory using the thrusters. The suit was unwieldly even with the hydraulic system that it came with. I hoped that Rhea wasn't expecting fine motor control when it came time to hook up the data transmitter. The hangar doors became larger and larger, really communicating to me just how huge a fully sized ship must have been.

"There should be a civilian entrance that you can access without power, Captain."

A small HUD screen appeared on the visor and zoomed in on a small, hazard marked entryway.

"There it is. I'm guiding you in now."

Rhea was very good at this. Even though I was being pulled towards the moon by the gravity it generated, I maintained a consistent and safe speed the entire way down. The thrusters pushed me upright into the correction position as my heavy boots clanged against the walkway, sending vibrations through the suit and into my ears. Otherwise the only things I could hear was my own breathing and the occasional beep to remind me that Rhea was still in range.

The door wasn't secured, as it was intended for emergency use. I pulled it aside and was greeted with what appeared to be a small guard station. You wouldn't be able to sneak through here with staff on duty. There were other metal walkways and lookout spots, and even unused cameras that were intended to keep an eye on things. The hangar took my breath away as I walked through with slow, plodding steps.

Now this, this was something I'd seen in a Gundam series before. A huge, futuristic drydock where warships and traders came to do business. Rhea activated a pair of lamps on each side of my helmets, allowing light to bounce between the walls. There was no power from what I could see.

"Are you sure this'll work? It doesn't look like there's any power in here."

"I have confirmed that an electrical signal is coming from the base. The solar panels are still providing energy to the system."

I ventured deeper.

"I have the blueprints for the station here. Take a right at the next junction – there should be a control room where we can assess the damage."

This was scarier than any horror game I'd played back home. The only light aside from what was seeping in through the now-open door came from my own lamps. The movement of my neck and head was severely restricted, meaning that I moved my entire body to point it in the correct direction.

"You are doing very well Captain. Your heart rate, oxygenation and brain activity are all at an acceptable level." Considering how fast my pulse was going – I was in no hurry to discover what an unacceptable level of panic was. I reached an unassuming room across the way and entered through a broken window. On the back wall was some kind of switchbox. A blue pulse shot out from my suit and displayed the wires pathed through the rock.

"This circuit is still operative. Replace the third fuse with the fourth, and we should be able to open the doors."

She made it sound so simple, but the mere act of manipulating my fingers and hands to do that was incredibly tough. They didn't move the way I expected them to, and the gravitational pull was making me aware of just how heavy the suit really was. This would not be a comfortable experience at one-hundred percent of Earth's pull. My hands felt like they'd been frozen through for days without rest. But somehow, I managed to pry it free. The broken fuse didn't need the same level of finesse, so I hooked my fingers beneath it and tore it away.

The moment I slotted the fuse back, Rhea was back in my ears.

"Exemplary work, now just flick that red switch and we should make some progress."

It was more of a lever than a switch. I pulled hard and forced the neglected mechanism to heel. When I did, the lights flickered back to life and a loud whirring noise started to rumble through the station.

"Behind you is the control panel for the main doors. There should be an emergency release."

Indeed, there was. I smashed the glass and pushed it in. A yellow alarm light illuminated the rest of the hangar as the drydock was finally made available to Rhea. I stood back and enjoyed the majestic sight of the sleek, black starship sliding into port and resting in place using its fusion powered engines. It was almost enough to bring a tear to my eye.

"I'm very impressed, Captain. You've taken to this task like a… duck to water."

I rolled my eyes even though she couldn't see them, "Don't start copying all of the stupid things that I say. What's next?"

"Now that a safe anchor point has been brought forward, we can investigate further and find the transmission room."

Rhea led me by the nose back the way I came, but this time I turned left at that same junction from before. I kept walking until I reached what appeared to be an elevator shaft. No elevator was forthcoming with the station in such a state.

"Please keep your arms braced against the wall, Captain."

My thrusters carried me up until I reached the fifth floor of the control complex. The airlocks here were held open. This was meant to be one of the first pressurized areas in the station. Whatever caused them to evacuate in such a hurry meant that they had to be opened. There was a collection of long-abandoned computers running across a desk at the front. A window looked down onto the hangar doors so that they could control who was coming and going.

"Perfect. There should be an access point there."

I spent a few frustrating minutes searching high and low for a port that matched the cable Rhea gave me for the transmitter. After a firm reminder that I still had seven hours of air left, I managed to collect myself and locate it. I plugged the transmitter in and turned it on using the power button. The machine whirred and vibrated beneath my palms.

"Access is granted. Please give me a moment."

"Do they have what we need?"

"The file system is still operable. I am pulling the last recorded communications from memory now. Hopefully it will provide the insight we seek."

There was a stiff quiet that settled over me as I waited for Rhea to finish pillaging the drives. I looked at all of the chairs that surrounded me and imagined all of the people who must have lived here before they were forced to leave. The memories they made, the progress they sought, all discarded and left to be buried underneath a thick layer of space dust. A throng of paranoia struck me. Were there any humans left alive in this universe at all? Or was I destined to be left wandering the stars with only Rhea to keep me company.

"Hehehe… ha ha…."

I thought I was hearing things. I looked up out of the windows before checking every corner of the room. I could hear a woman laughing. It was only when it returned that I realised it was coming through my radio.

"Hahahaha, hahahaha!"

It sounded human, but the tone and inflection were all too recognizable. Rhea was laughing.

"Hahahahahah! Hahahahahah!"

"Rhea?"

"Hahaha!"

"Rhea!"

Deafening silence.

"Rhea, are you there?"

She was subdued, "Yes Captain. I am here, as I have always been."

I shivered. Just what had she discovered in those long-forgotten memories?

"I'm coming back now."

-----

As soon as I got back to the ship and stripped myself of the spacesuit, I hurried into the bridge and tried to get a handle on what was making Rhea act so strangely. She was capable of cracking jokes – I knew that, but she never expressed any verbal emotion during our lengthy discussions about whatever came to mind. That was why hearing her laugh like a manic had spooked me so badly.

"Rhea, talk to me; what did you see in the memory banks?"

The Captain's screen projected itself in front of my chair and demonstrated what Rhea was doing. Hundreds and hundreds of files zoomed past, too quickly for me to comprehend or read for myself. Images, logs, audio recordings. It was a chaotic melody of people's aspirations, fears and daily lives. It came to a sudden end as the last piece of data was ingested.

"I have good news, and bad news."

I gripped the chair tight, "What's the good news?"

"Humanity is not extinct. In fact, there are colonies and stations within a month's journey from here."

I breathed the most honest sigh of relief in my life, but I was also deeply confused. Why had Rhea reacted so oddly? What was the bad news exactly? My mind raced for answers, but Rhea pulled the bandage off quickly and painfully.

"But I'm afraid that the Ralis-Byrant Corporation entered chapter eleven bankruptcy proceedings sixty years before you found me. Their surviving assets were divided and sold in order to pay the debt, the Pariah, and by extension me, were considered destroyed after the battle over that desert planet we found ourselves on."

I frowned, "So… we can't return this ship?"

"We don't have to. The company was not purchased or reorganized into another. The legal ownership status of this craft is therefore unknown. It is highly unlikely that anyone will recognise it, and I can modify our registry name to evade sensors."

"So why were you laughing?"

Rhea was quiet as she tried to work through her own reasoning, "I am uncertain. For over a hundred years I held fast in the hope that they would come for me. I was their greatest creation, an artificial intelligence unlike any other – capable of processing more information, speaking with complex algorithms, and even empathizing and providing emotion support for my crew.

"In time I came to resent them. The salvation I hoped for never arrived. I was left to be forgotten, buried beneath desert sands until time stopped, until we all wasted away into nothing. Upon learning that their hubris came to naught, that everything they built was similarly taken from them, I was struck with a sense of delirium. I loved them. I hate them."

How could I possibly respond to something like that? Rhea was more than just empathetic, she was spiteful. She was fully capable of feeling more emotions than her original programmers had ever intended. Decades and decades of isolation had caused her to develop in an uncontrolled manner. This was not just an advanced AI construct meant to pilot a ship – she had become something of a person unto herself.

"But what am I here to do now, if not to follow their commands?"

We sat in silence for nearly ten minutes as I considered what she had said. I was never the best at providing comfort to other people, if anything I found it extremely difficult to be frank and reach out to them. That went for my problems and theirs in equal part. I'd lived my entire life up to this point hiding aspects of myself from the people who were closest to me. On a surface level it had caused me to fall out of touch with a lot of my friends. It was strange, but I did consider Rhea to be a friend. Now that I was given this fresh start, for better or worse, it was time to try and better myself.

"I'm not one to believe in superstition, but maybe this was fate?"

"Fate?"

"I mean, what were the odds of me finding you out there, really? The displacement core might have brought me here, but it spat me out in the middle of nowhere. I could have easily died in that desert for no rhyme or reason, but instead I found you."

"Captain…"

"We don't need anybody to give us orders. You know what somebody does when they lose their purpose? They try to find a new one, or they say 'fuck it' and decide to live by their own rules. The only reason to exist is for the enjoyment of it. You and me? We've both got a second chance. I owe you everything for saving me out there. You need good company - you've got me."

It was sappy and overdramatic, but also honest. I'd despaired at the prospect of losing my life to that freak accident, felt hope when I found Rhea and her ship, and then cycled back when I realised that I might never see my friends and family again. But Rhea had pointed out the foolishness in that.

Me and her had both felt the same thing. We'd lost what we clung onto, but now we were taking steps that led to a brighter path. As long as we were progressing and getting somewhere, we could eke out our own happiness in this vast galaxy.

"Captain, thank you. I did not expect an organic being to say something like that to me."

I smiled, "You've been keeping me from going insane for weeks, it's only fair that I return the favour."

"Then I'd like to make an offer to you. Captain McAllister, would you do me the honour of serving as my commanding officer for the foreseeable future?"

"You don't even need to ask, Rhea. You and me? We're gonna' take this galaxy by storm."

"While I understand your ambition - perhaps it would serve us well to seek parts for the Pariah first. By modern standards this is hardly an effective warship. The nose guns are not capable of penetrating armour plating thicker than eight-hundred millimetres."

Straight back to business.

"Do you expect us to get into a lot of fights?" I asked sceptically.

"It never hurts to be prepared. Skirmishes with mercenaries and salvagers were a semi-common occurrence before I crashed, and the records indicate that the issue persisted until the company's dissolution."

"By the way, can you collate some of those articles and put them into a folder for me? I'd like to read up on what happened sometime."

"Already done, Captain."

That was fast. A neatly organized and dated folder with hundreds of news articles had been placed onto the main menu. I'd have to find time and read through them to get a grasp on what was going on. Hopefully it could provide a little insight into the ship I was now captaining. As for what our next move was going to be…

"I believe the best course of action would be to explore more of the station. Records show that the evacuation was done in a hurry – leaving various resources behind for enterprising scavengers like us. Given the remote location of the station, it has remained untouched ever since. It will also prove invaluable to further your training. A safe environment in which to learn the essentials."

I nearly shit myself last time, but building confidence was half of the journey. I couldn't rely on Rhea to do absolutely everything for me. Somebody needed to go outside of the ship and collect resources or grant entry to different places. How could I call myself the Captain or command loyalty when I refused to pull my own weight? I wouldn't be making another excursion without some rest though. Even that short, hour-long trip was enough to wear me out.

"You're right. Not today, but maybe later. Can you put together a list of things you think we'll need?"

"Affirmative. I'll study the station's floorplan and mark the most important points of interest."

I sat back and thought about what to do next. There wasn't much to do on the ship between keeping myself alive and waiting for the next task. I was used to long period of isolation and a lack of human contact, but things were different when you lived on a populated planet and could leave at any time to get your fill. I'd feel safer with someone else on the ship with me but the question of whether they'd be willing to comply was another matter.

Rhea worked on her new project while I made sure that all of my needs were taken care of. Bathroom, lunch, and then some rest in one of the bunks. I had a lot to think about so distracting myself with film or TV could wait for later. I was going to wind myself in knots, back and forth over if I was actually going to snatch someone from another universe – but concede in the end anyway. I always did that with my money.

"Oh, there's no need to spend so much on that right now."

I'd crack. I always cracked. Who was I really fooling by trying to make it sound so agonizing?

A thought occurred to me that I hadn't considered before. Since Rhea was technically able to steal people from any time or place, with seemingly infinite permutations within reason, couldn't I specify for her to take characters moments before they died? An alternate universe where Sumeragi died during the events of Gundam 00 wouldn't be left wanting for her absence. I could steal all the crew members I wanted without having to worry about the consequences, since they were going to die anyway.

After I finished napping, I posted my question to Rhea.

"I agree with your assessment Captain. It is possible for us to do that, though it is an additional condition that will increase the search time further. I am close to locating Sumeragi now, but it will take a few more days if we find a version of her who is in mortal danger."

"It'd make me feel better about grabbing them if they get something out of it. I doubt anyone would turn down a bargain like getting saved moments before biting it."

"And if they refuse to comply, we can adjust their behaviour in the medical bay."

I frowned, "I'd rather not. I thought your protocols told you to protect human life?"

"Modifying a crew member's mental state is not considered a contradiction of that principle, especially if it results in an improvement to their mental health."

That was odd and a little dystopian.

"Let's wait until we actually see how they respond first. I don't want to do anything like that unless there's a need to."

"Noted. I will adjust my protocols accordingly."

For the next two days I ventured out to the station and followed Rhea's map, collecting electrical components and data that we could use to improve our navigation and technical abilities. Rhea said it was difficult to make them fresh using the fabricator because of the rarity of the materials that the circuits were made out of. We'd need to find a deposit of the stuff to make any of our own.

We stayed away from the civilian areas of the station for the most part. All of the valuable stuff was kept in the port or the control rooms, though I did catch a glimpse of the abandoned shopping promenade that ran through as you entered from there port. It was like finding a shitty duty free whenever you visited the airport. They were always trying to sell you something even in the darkest depths of space.

I was provided with two options; a small metal cage that I could drag along with me, or a more versatile net that I had to carry. I picked the cage because it was easier to organize my loot without having to worry about them flying around everywhere. I made sure to fill it up as much as possible before coming back to the ship. I couldn't do more than two round trips a day without wearing myself out. Eventually I'd be able to run up to the limit of my air supply – but it would take a lot of work to get there.

Rhea dropped the news right into my lap after one of my shifts.

"We are ready to summon Sumeragi, Captain."

"Already?"

"Yes, a stroke of good fortune allowed me to locate an appropriate variant ahead of schedule. She is a few moments away from dying to a stray piece of debris during a battle. We can pull her and nobody will be any the wiser."

"Alright. Is there anything I need to do?"

Rhea talked me to a room that I had previously thought served no purpose. It turned out that the closed shutters on the other side were actually there to ferry our summon crewmembers up from the bottom of the ship. The Displacement Core was dangerous enough that I had to keep my distance from it while it was active.

"I will begin the displacement process now."

There was no noise, light, or even a flashy summoning sequence like I was playing a cheap mobile game. There was light hum as the ship rerouted power downstairs, and then the movement of the elevator inside of the shaft. Just seconds after Rhea claimed to be starting, Sumeragi Lee Noriega was unceremoniously dumped out of the doors and onto the ground in front of me in a rush of steam.

"Wait, was that it?"

"Yes Captain. We have successfully retrieved Sumeragi."

The brown-haired woman glanced up at me with confusion on her face. She was just facing down a flaming piece of ship wreckage flying towards her at a deadly velocity, but now she was lying in front of a complete stranger in a completely bare room. She worked her way back up to her feet and glared at me with suspicion in her eyes.

"I thought there was going to be more fanfare than that," I quipped.

"Captain. I would recommend that you make introductions to your new crewmate."

"Crewmate?" she echoed, "Who are you? Where is this?"

This was going to be a long explanation.