25. Nyaa?

‘Uwah?! What is this?’ Abyssal yelled out internally.

In front of Abyssal was a young girl in her younger teenage years looking at her with curious eyes. She wore a half-zipped black hoodie with a white singlet underneath it. Her bottom attire consists of a thigh-length skirt with long socks and a futuristic-looking pair of shoes. The girl had long black hair and so did her ‘ears’ and ‘tail’, her blue shimmering eyes looking at Abyssal as if she just found a gem.

“Nyaa?” The ‘Catgirl’ brought out one of her arms outside the cage in order to grab Abyssal— an attempt that failed as Abyssal was quite a distance away from the cage.

It seemed that behind the S.A.S. Abyssal, inside Abyssal’s ten degrees blindspot, was an assortment of cages. All but one of the cages was empty. In the only cage that wasn’t empty was a girl who was chained to the bars— a chain that was connected to a collar on the girl’s neck. The girl herself was fine though, seemingly well-fed and looking healthy. Abyssal could tell that in a few years, the young girl could turn into a beauty.

‘What is this? A slave? This confirms the two guys are baddies, huh. But what is that… ears and tail? Cosplay?’ Abyssal thought to herself as she observed the girl in the cage, identifying her features.

Attached to the girl's head were two pairs of ears, one normal human ears and the other a more feline pair of ears with black fur. She also had a long fluffy tail that seemed to be wagging left and right as the girl tried to reach for Abyssal through her cage.

‘Is she some sort of humanoid alien species? Cool! This is the first time I’ve seen a real-life alien!’  Abyssal thought to herself as she committed an image of the catgirl to memory.

“Psst psst psst. Over here talking drone. I won’t hurt you nyaa,” The girl called out to Abyssal once she figured that she couldn’t reach the drone with her short arms.

Abyssal didn’t respond though, just keeping still as she stared at the girl. ‘What am I supposed to do now? Do I make contact? Or do I just leave her be for now. Or maybe I need to silence her? She has already seen me walk around the ship and talking to myself, after all...’

“Psst psst psst psst. Come here little drone, come here. Psst psst psst.”

However, the girl's call disturbed Abyssal thoughts. She was repeatedly calling out to her like some sort of cute toy and Abyssal felt a little annoyed.

"Psst psst psst psst. Come here nyaa," the girl called out again.

“Stop treating me like some sort of pet please,” Abyssal said out unconsciously.

‘Oh crap!’ Abyssal who realised what she just did, moved her imaginary arms to cover her mouth, her drone mimicking her.

“Oooohhh. Talking drone! Amazing!” The girl clapped her hands, her ears perked up and her tail wagged harder.

‘Ah well… make contact it is,’ Abyssal let out a sigh before moving closer to the girl in the cage.

“Shhh, keep quiet. I don’t want them to find out,” Abyssal said to her.

The girl nodded and moved her hands to her mouth, imitating the motion of zipping her lips.

Abyssal took another look around the area to make sure there were no cameras or other people in the area before speaking out to the girl. “Are you alone? Is there anybody else?”

The girl nodded in response. “Alone. Been here for days. Haven’t seen anybody else other than the two pilots."

"What happened to you? Why are locked in a cage like this? Actually, what exactly are you? Oh, I'm Abyssal by the way."

"Meica," she said before pointing to her ears and tail. "Meica is a Nekomi. Was walking around and suddenly woke up in ship, in cage. Nekomi is rare in this sector. Two pilots say I can fetch a good price."

'Nekomi? Like Nekomimi*? Also is she what the goons were referring to when they say they got two great loots?' Abyssal thought to herself.

"Abyssal is what? Person controlling drone? Sentient drone? Movement and speech so realistic, like real living being. Drone come from ship? Ship is antique, drone is antique design, Meica is interested nyaa!" Meica asked, her voice with it a hint of curiosity and awe.

'Aren't you being too relaxed for a girl in captivity?' Abyssal thought to herself.

"Well, technically I am the ship, not the drone— wait no! Forget about me! What about you, did you just say that you woke up one day and ended up in this cage? That's basically kidnapping!"

"Drone is ship?! Tell me more, tell me more!” Meica asked loudly, ignoring Abyssal's remark.

'Does this girl not care for her self-being?' Abyssal thought to herself as she let out a sigh.

“Alright, listen here, kitty. I'm going to—"

"Don't call me kitty!" Meica yelled back before Abyssal could finish her sentence.

"Eh?"

"Nekomi! Not kitty! Also, not a child, Meica is a full adult!" she yelled harder.

"Shhhh! Alright, alright! I understand! Just keep it down!"

"Ah!" Meica responded before covering her mouth. She then gave a few small nods.

"Geez… I'm not sure if I should tell you this, but yeah, I'm the ship. Or at least I am the thing that controls the ship, I guess? I'm not too sure on how it all works yet.."

"Ohhhhh. Abyssal is A.I.?"

"A.I. huh… I guess you could call me that. Yep!"

"Ohhhhh!" Meica clapped her hands in amazement. She was beyond elated to see Abyssal.

It was during this conversation when Abyssal felt a familiar sensation. The feeling of eating something and the feeling of having an assortment of information flowing through her brain. She was in the middle of assimilating something; although this time, it felt like the rate of information was slower than her previous attempts. She wondered if this could be the result of assimilating something far away from her core. On a side note, it tasted like strawberry milkshake.

“Life Support Systems assimilated. Possibility of detection: low. Search for reactors still ongoing,” Abby sent out a message to the top of Abyssal’s consciousness.

“Nice,” Abyssal muttered.

“Nice?” Meica asked.

"Oh, nothing. I'll explain everything later. Let's get you out of that cage first. I have a plan and I don't want you to get caught in it."

"Nyaa? Plan?"

"Like I say, I'll explain later. Hold still, I'm going to bust you out of there."

Upon hearing this, Meica stiffened up and stayed still. Seeing this, Abyssal motioned her robotic arms towards the cage and released a cloud of nanomachines towards the bars and the collar that chained Meica to the cage. The nanites ate through the metal bars, deconstructing it.

Meica who witnessed this was greatly astonished at the scene. “Ohhhhhhh. Ship is cool!” she said, clapping her hands.

“He he he. I know, I know. I’m pretty great. You can praise me more,” Abyssal, who had her ego boosted, nodded as she said that. The scene of Abyssal deconstructing the cage and Meica clapping her hands in amazement continued for a good few minutes.

*Clang

The chains that trapped Meica dropped to the ground when the collar on her neck disappeared. The bars of the cage soon deconstructed as well, leaving a small opening that was big enough for Meica to pass through.

“Alright, I’m done. You can get out now,” Abyssal declared.

Meica nodded to Abyssal before trying to go through the gaps of the cage.

“Is the opening too small? I can enlarge it further,” Abyssal asked.

Meica shook her head before saying: “Cage no problem, can escape at any time. Collar was more problematic.”

At first Abyssal didn’t quite get what she meant but she understood well enough when Meica bent her body in such a way that allowed her to squeeze through the cage. She was able to move and twist her muscles and joints in such a way that she could fit through the small gap between the bars. In order to prove her point, Meica exited the cage through a section of the cage that Abyssal didn’t deconstruct. It was as she says, she could escape from the cage if the collar wasn’t attached to her neck.

‘It’s like she’s made out of liquid… like a real cat,’ Abyssal thought to herself as she saw Meica exit the cage without any difficulties.

Once completely outside the cage, Meica went and stretched her body. She then moved closer to Kaon to observe Abyssal even further, her eyes showed amusement and curiosity. The two stayed in that position for a few seconds when Meica suddenly pounced onto the drone.

“Uwahh!?” Abyssal let out a shocked yell.

“Hey, hey, Ship-drone. What is that blue cloud? How did you deconstruct that cage, nyaa?” Meica asked as she hugged Abyssal tight, not willing to let go of her. She rolled the drone in every direction, inspecting every inch of it.

“Wait! Stop doing that! I’m getting dizzy!” Abyssal yelled.

“Yes, nyaa,” Meica replied before letting go of Abyssal, allowing her to float in peace.

“Urgh… Look, I’ll explain everything later alright. Just tell me something for now.”

“Um um! Ship-drone freed me, will try my best to answer!” Meica said before sitting in front of Abyssal with her front hands in front of her legs, her tail wagging left and right on the ground.

‘I know she said not to call her a cat, but she’s exactly like one…’ Abyssal thought to herself as she saw Meica’s actions.

“Other than us, are there only two people in this ship?” Abyssal asked.

“Yap. Only two pilots in ship. At least Meica only saw two pilots during the past week.”

‘So it’s just Smuggler A and Smuggler B, huh. That makes things easier for me.’

It was at this moment that Abby sent out another message to Abyssal: “Assimilation of the reactor was successful. Possibility of detection: low. Awaiting further orders.”

“Oh, that was fast. Heh, this will be like taking candy from a baby,” Abyssal muttered to herself.

“Nyaa?” Meica tilted her head, unable to understand Abyssal.

* * * * *

“...Master… this is…?” Kuon stared in disbelief at the sudden appearance of the Nekomi within the S.A.S. Abyssal. Said Nekomi was holding Abyssal within her arms, carrying the drone around like some sort of treasure.

“Ohhh! Another ship-drone! Amazing, amazing!” Meica yelled out in excitement as she saw Kuon. She tried to reach out to Kuon, but Kuon backed away quickly. Meica's ears swooped downwards when Kuon did that.

“I found her in the Cargo Bay. It seemed that the two guys earlier put her in a cage. I kinda released her and now she’s going to be with us for a bit,” Abyssal said to Kuon. Meica who was holding Abyssal nodded happily.

“...” Kuon kept quiet, unable to give a proper response.

“Anyways, Kuon. I need you to help me out with something.”

Snapping out of her bewilderment, Kuon immediately gave a bow to Abyssal. “Understood, Master. What is it that you require assistance for?”

“I’ve assimilated a few parts of their ship already and so far have been able to avoid detection, I think. I’ve also found out that there is a big possibility that there are only two people in this ship. I want them out of the picture before I start to assimilate the whole thing.”

“So you want the two hooligans disposed of? Should we gather them up and eject them into space?” Kuon asked.

“Why is your solution always about ejecting things into space?” Abyssal commented. “No, I need you to construct me a room.”

“A room?”

“Yeah, something like a prison. Completely enclosed. Maybe a small hole near the bottom to slip food or water, I guess.”

“Understood. If you don’t mind me asking, what will be the purpose of this room?”

“Oh. It’s to lock up those barbarians, of course. Life support was turned off a while ago. They should be running out of oxygen right about now. I’ve also assimilated those large drones outside and are carrying those barbarians here right as we speak.”

Abyssal then let out a small chuckle. “Those two meanies are not so tough when they have to fight a large drone while gasping for air.”

If Kuon had an arm and a face, she would be facepalming right now.

“Ohhhh! So that’s why ship-drone brought me here. Small ship have life support on! Amazing, amazing!” Meica said out loud.

“I know, I know. You can keep praising me. He he he,”

And so, the two smugglers were quickly gathered and locked within a specially constructed metal room made by Kuon. With the smugglers out of the way, Abyssal was free to assimilate the rest of the ship.

The entire process wasn't as fast and smooth as Abyssal wanted it to be, but she'll take a free ship.

Living Core Summary:Name: S.A.S. Abyssal.Consciousness: ActiveCurrent Setting: Emotion > LogicComputational usage at 4.6% (Power Insufficient)Assimilation/Control of Ship: 100% (Fierca Class fighter-corvette) 18% (Smuggler’s freighter)Nanomachine Usage: 1024m³ nanomachines in total.

Living Core: Kuon. Known Summary:Name: S.A.S. Kuon.Consciousness: ActiveCurrent Setting : Unknown.Computational Usage: Unknown.Assimilation/Control of Ship: 0%. (100% control of Kuon)Nanomachine Usage: Unknown. Estimated Nanomachines controlled : 64m³

New Systems added:- Hydrogen-moderated Nuclear Reactor. Unknown brand, custom fitted. Energy output = 1700 MJ/s - Labyrintelligence Systems Life Support Systems. Frigate Sized. Energy usage = 65 MJ/s- Large Construction Drones x 4. Unknown brand. Energy Usage = 12 MJ/s per drone.