Rating: PG - 13 for violence and language.
Status: Finished
Title: Mutual Gifts
Archive: Ask me first, please.
Summary: Rommie decides to give Harper an offer to create a child with her.
Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. Wish they were, but them are the
breaks. The entire first scene is based on the last few minutes of "Army of
Darkness", which also is not mine. If you've not seen the movie, go rent it.
Just a weird idea I had when I wondered about the ways AI's could reproduce and
how they may have originally been created on the Vedran home world. This is what
I pulled out of my... bun, yeah, that's it. Oh, and special thanks to
Zionstarfish for playing beta for me. I appreciate it.
Good...Bad... I'm the guy with the gun.
- Ash, Army of Darkness (Ancient Earth Comedy)
No one ever frelling believes me. I tell them the truth, that I am responsible
for saving civilization as we know it from the Deadites, from the evil of the
Necronomicon. I am responsible, in part at any rate, for shaping the world as we
know it. Me, Ash.
I could've been a king, but I came back because my place is here.
So what am I doing now? I'll tell you what the frell I'm doing. Living a trailer
trash existence while I'm restocking the shelves at the local S-Mart. And the
world calls this gratitude.
I felt her standing there next to me, staring, before I saw her. The brand new
redhead cashier. Man she was hot. She must be on her lunch break.
"You know that story about how you could've been king?" She whispered. "I...
ah... think it's kinda cute."
I smiled and turned in her direction, trying to look as cool as Mr. Smooth can
be. "Yeah?"
I heard the familiar hiss of a Deadite just a second before I saw it. It took
possession of the blonde that just past us, and began to wreak havoc in my
aisle. My aisle that I just finished restocking.
Of course you realize this meant war. I leaped behind the gun counter and
grabbed a Winchester, reaching into the stock cabinet and finding the shells to
load it with. I began to load the gun with shaky hands as I heard the Deadite
attack the customers. Finally with the Winchester fully loaded I stood, took
aim, and fired.
I missed, but it got the bitch's attention. Least I think it was a bitch.
Anyway, it turned and looked at me.
"Lady," I said, trying to keep as calm as possible. "I'm afraid I'm gonna have
to ask you to leave the store."
"Who the hell are you?" it hissed in my direction.
"Name's Ash..." I reloaded my Winchester for effect."... housewares." Pushing a
stock cart forward, I jumped and proceeded to pump lead into that bitch.
Too bad half my round missed and since she's a Deadite... yep, still moving.
Damn.
"I'll swallow your soul."
You know, after so many centuries and time to themselves you'd think a Deadite
would come up with a better line than that. But no, it had to be the standard
boring old 'I'll swallow your soul' line.
So I cocked my gun for emphasis. "Come get some." And I managed to blow it away.
It dropped to the floor in a lifeless heap and I blew the smoke from the
Winchester.
Sure, I could've stayed in the past, I thought as I grabbed the Clerk Girl and
dipped her. Could've even been king. But in my own way, I am king.
"Hail to the king baby." I kissed the girl.
-----------------------------------------
The simulation end slowly as he kissed the girl, bringing him back into the main
AI matrix that he was used to seeing whenever he jacks in to fix her
programming. The woman he was kissing within the matrix slowly morphed from a
redhead into a petite brunette with olive skin and dark eyes. The man who
initiated the holo drama simulation morphed from Mr. Smooth into a young, short
blonde haired man with a slight build.
Crap, the man thought as the woman broke the kiss. This ended way too soon.
Tilting her head to one side, the woman studied the man and said in a completely
deadpan voice, "Hail to the king baby."
The young man gave a nervous smile. "Well, it is in the script."
"Hail to the king, baby?" She questioned, this time with a slightly disgusted
look.
"Hey, it's a classic."
"I realize that sentient beings like to be entertained, but that line is
revolting, not to mention degrading to women of any species."
"It was pre Commonwealth Earth. Rommie, you promised if I recalibrate the
environmental controls today I'd get to reenact my favorite one with you.
Besides, it's not like this one was hard to find."
"Harper, I had to cross reference my data files under cult religions to find a
copy of this holo drama."
"Hey, you gotta admit, Raimi was an absolute genius."
"I found it right along with the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Seraglio gelatin
fight worshipping."
Harper couldn't resist whispering the next comment. "Admit it, you liked it
didn't you?"
Rommie rolled her eyes. "I should kick you out for that."
"Sorry." He eased her virtual self into a standing position.
"I expected something more of a classic, like Shakespeare from Earth or the
plays based on the lives one of Museveni's descendents, or even a Than myth."
"Do you think I'd look good as a bug?"
Rommie processed the possibilities. "Actually you'd look great as a Diamond
Than." Rommie manipulated her matrix so that Harper's virtual self morphed and
the form of a silvery colored Than was now holding her. A mirror appeared to
their left and she smiled. "See what I mean?"
He turned to the mirror and twitched his antenna a bit, considering. "Bleah, I'd
rather be a Makra if you ask me." Harper manipulated the matrix so he took the
form of an orange colored felinoid and rested his head on her shoulder as he
gazed into the mirror.
Rommie wouldn't admit to him, but she liked it when he manipulated her
programming - on occasion. He already knew more about her specs than some of her
original designers. With few exceptions did he take too many liberties of that
fact. The holo drama simulator was one of them. Besides there is a certain
intimacy involved with allowing someone into your mind that few, even engineers,
have the respect for that Harper did.
His tastes, however could use some fine tweaking. She changed his Makra
appearance so that his fur color was a caramel color instead of orange. "That's
better. Works with your eye color."
"Much." His virtual form began to become a bit static. This meant he was sleepy.
"You're getting tired. You should go eat and rest for the night."
"Mmmm." His eyes were shut as he exited her matrix. Rommie stood staring into
the mirror. The reflection blinked at her.
"He is tiring faster than he used to," the reflection said. "In his condition he
won't stay healthy long at this rate."
"I agree with you. But try telling him that. He's a workaholic when it comes to
you."
"Maybe you should get Dylan to order him on a vacation."
"Hmm... somehow I don't think Dylan would want him to take one. I'm still not
functioning at 100 percent since the Magog attack.: Rommie sighed into the
mirror. "Andromeda, I want to offer..."
"Oh, no you don't, not this again. You know how they'd both take it."
"Do you have any other suggestions we can offer to a man with a possible death
sentence on his head? If so I'd like to hear it."
The reflection remained silent.
"I know you don't like it, but without him, I wouldn't be here. Most likely,
neither would you. We should make the offer."
"Fine, but keep in mind he may say no or worse he'll think that this is a pity
offering." The mirror vanished. Rommie exited the matrix.
---------------------------
Dylan sat in his office as he reread the flexi that his avatar just provided for
him. She remained motionless in the seat in front of him.
He couldn't believe what she was asking him to let her do with another member of
her crew.
"Rommie, where did you find this?"
"In the design specs needed to create my core personality. The process should
apply here as well - the only difference would be that we'd be using a copy of
..."
"I know. I don't know how ethical this is." Dylan stared at the flexi. "Does
Harper know about this?"
"No, I was hoping you'd help me make the offer."
"Rommie, this is too personal an issue for me to become involved in. I wish I
could help you but this is really between you and him. Just keep in mind, he may
say no for a variety of reasons." Dylan gave her back the flexi with a shaky
hand. "For what it's worth, I wish you luck. Both of you."
Rommie stood and left Dylan's office without another word. Outside of Dylan's
office, she was confronted by her hologram. "I told you he wouldn't like the
idea," she said.
"You did. But he didn't say no either. I don't think he's about to stop me from
asking."
"Are you sure you want to do this? If anything goes wrong..."
"Nothing is going to go wrong. At the very worst, he'll say no. In which case
we'll start from scratch. And I know Harper, he'll help me with the program even
if he says no to this."
"What makes you so sure?"
"The same reason why he made me." Rommie studied the flexi again even though she
already knew its specifications.
The hologram eyed her skeptically. "Are you sure you're not just trying to use
him?"
"Are you sure you're not just using him when you need to work late on a
slipstream drive overhaul, or an AP valve replacement, or how about - "
"That's not the same and you know it."
"Is it?" Rommie sighed. "Look, I know you are just looking out for him. But
we've been over this 674 times already."
"I just hope you know what you're doing." The hologram disappeared.
"Me too."
------------------------------------
Harper stared at the details of the flexi Rommie gave him. He's been staring for
a while now, slowly taking in what she was asking of him.
Rommie sat still across from him and waited. The longer she waited, the more
convinced she became that he was about to turn her down. She hoped her other
selves wouldn't say "I told you so." But she knew they would.
Finally he spoke. "Is this gonna hurt?"
Rommie smiled. "If executed properly, it should not be more than a pleasant
tingle. The process is not as complicated as it looks on flexi."
Harper nodded, eyes still on the flexi. "And why do you want to do this again?"
"Originally the basis of AI personalities were based on scans from members of
the Royal Vedran and Than families. Once Humans were introduced into the
Commonwealth, their scans were incorporated in part because Humans were simpler
in design. I figured we could use a scan of your brain in combination with my
core programming as the basis of a secondary AI program in my matrix. At a later
time we can always transfer the program into an independent matrix if he or she
chooses to do so. I think my processors can handle more than one personality if
I needed to in the either way."
"So you want to reproduce."
"As far as one AI can, yes."
"Why me?"
"Out of my current crew of six you are one of two individuals with the closest
qualifications under Commonwealth protocol."
"Who's the other?"
"Tyr."
"Not Dylan but Tyr?'
"Based on overall intelligence observations, yes."
"And you didn't ask Mr. Genetically Superior because?"
"I didn't think he'd appreciate this form of... procreation." Rommie blushed
slightly.
Harper snorted slightly. "I didn't think he'd take the Data approach to having
kids either."
"Data?"
"Never mind, it's an Earth thing. So you're original personality basis was?"
"A lower female of the Vedran Royal family."
Harper stared at her a long time. Rommie blinked and waited patiently, still
half expecting a no to come at any moment.
"You'd look really hot with feathers and the extra legs, by the way."
"Harper..."
"Think you can wine me and dine me first?"
Rommie stood and snatched the flexi out of his hand. "If you don't want to do
it, all you had to do was say no. I can always ask Tyr anyway."
"My answer is yes."
"It is?"
"It is. I mean come on, how often does a guy have the warship he lives in and
worships ask him if he'd be her virtual sperm donor?"
Rommie winced. "Putting it that way, you make it sound disgusting."
"Naw, it's a beautiful thing. Besides if you wanted prim and proper, you would
have asked Rev."
Rommie couldn't help but smile. Harper was right. She would have. She sat back
down across from Harper. "So now what?"
"I guess we start working on the scanning program and the avatar body."
"Shouldn't we wait until we know if it wants to be male or female first?"
"You're not deciding?"
Rommie shook her head. "My programmers didn't decide I was female, or what I was
going to look like, or what my reactions would be to my crew. I did. So the
secondary personality will get the same choices."
-----------------------------------------
Trance placed the gel for final probe on Harper's temple so she could monitor
his vitals. She hummed, calculating the possibilities to herself as she did so.
The chances of this turning out perfect were slim - 18,970,890,053 to 1 against
- but the chances of it turning out well were almost 4 to 1 in their favor. All
things considered, Trance liked the odds.
Harper, on the other hand, looked incredibly nervous. "Oh, come on Trance, how
much longer are you taking?"
Pressing the final probe into his skin, she beamed. "There, that's better.
Rommie, ready when you are."
Rommie sat down, connection in hand and looked at Harper. "You ready?"
"I'm here, right?"
Rommie faked a breath and placed one end of the connection in her hand, closing
it. "Try to relax," she said as she plugged him in. Harper's eyes closed.
Immediately after, so did Rommie's.
Trance monitored. Harper's vital sign remained steady and the two of them rarely
moved. Harper began to hum a tune after a few moments. She wondered what it must
be like for Harper to go through whatever was happening within the matrix.
Seeing that there is no distress on his end, Trance assumed it must not be
painful. Just like Rommie said it would be.
Trance saw Dylan's reflection in the monitor as he entered the Med Deck. "How
are they?"
"The parents to be? So far so good." She noticed Dylan taking a seat and frown
slightly at them. "You don't like them doing this, do you?"
"That obvious?"
Trance turned to Dylan and nodded. "It will work out fine."
Dylan stared at Trance. "This one of your guesses?"
"This is faith in Rommie and Harper's ability to rise to any occasion. With a
brain as large as hers, I think she can handle motherhood." Trance turned back
to her monitor. Everything was still fine.
"I never thought of Rommie as a mother before."
Trance shrugged. "Think about it, she feeds us, keeps us protected from the
vaccum of space, fights for us, and advises us. Sounds motherly to me."
"Have they been like this long?" She noticed Dylan was still frowning.
"No. Rommie said it would take an hour for the initial scan, followed by another
twenty four for the programming to set up the core personality based on the
sample scan. So it may take a while."
"I see." Dylan spent the rest of the time waiting in silence for any movement or
sound from either Rommie or Harper. From what Trance could tell, the rest of the
procedure went without a hitch.
After another forty five minutes, Rommie finally opened her eyes and gently
touched Harper's cheek. Harper yawned and pulled the jack out a minute later. He
was smiling.
"How do you feel?" Trance said while checking his vitals one last time. Still
looked good to her.
Harper sat up slowly. "Sleepy. And tingly. Rommie?"
Rommie smiled at Harper. "Some of my resources are taken up by the reprogramming
process, but otherwise I'm good. Thank you." She leaned over and kissed Harper's
temple.
"So doll, think you'll respect me in the morning?"
"Shut up, Harper."
--------------------------
Trance and Harper were sitting in the Mess hall that night. It was late but
Harper didn't want to go to sleep without Rommie telling them how the program
finished. So he sat there drinking coffee and tinkering with an external
maintenance bot. Trance for her part simply didn't want to leave her friend
alone, so she drank her tea in silence.
Harper's hand slipped and gave himself a shock. He threw the tool he was using
across the room. "I don't know how much more of this I can take, babe. I mean
how long has it been since the scan?"
"Only ten hours, Harper. This takes a lot out of Rommie's programming. You of
all people know that." Trance retrieved the tool and placed it by Harper.
"Yeah but..." Harper stood and stared out of one of the view ports. "Do you know
how long I've been without family? Ten years."
"And how long has it been for Rommie?" Trance wrinkled her nose in thought.
"Harper, it'll be great to have a family again. For both you and her."
Harper opened his mouth to say something when Rommie's avatar appeared. She had
a bit of static in the hologram but she was there. "Harper, I'm done with the
program."
"And?"
"He's settled on being male, and has selected features for his avatar. I'm
sending a flexi with his specifications. But he wants us to give him his name
for him."
Harper blinked. "Do you have any ideas in mind?"
"I hadn't thought that much about it, actually. You?"
"I was thinking - we could name him after my dad, Marcus. How about Adam as a
middle or last name?"
"I think that can be arranged." The hologram smiled, and a maintenance droid
appeared with the flexi. Harper turned the flexi on, and an image of a young
man, with short dark hair, deep green eyes, a slight build, and an olive
complexion appeared onscreen.
"Wow," was all Trance could say.
"Yeah, he's beautiful."
"Congratulations," said the hologram.
------------------------------------
End Ch. 1