S-23. Creepy Stalker Space Bugs!!
After returning to Eros, I wasted no time getting back into my Doll body, whose battery had been topped up while we were out facing certain death. I wanted to pick up right where I had left off with Miette, but Captain Savitskaya convened a videoconference debriefing almost immediately. I settled for clinging to Miette's arm as we sat in my cockpit, while secretly pouting just a bit. Laria, Captain Skelton, Teles and Zehra were present in video chat windows.
“Firstly,” Captain Savitskaya began, “Let me introduce the captain of the newly arrived Telesthesia II, Monica Skelton.”
“Yo! Nice to meet you all. So long as you follow my orders, I’m not too big on formality. You can call me ‘Monica.’ I promise I don’t bite, although I do punch pretty hard.” Monica’s greeting was casual, in contrast to her high-ranking position. Her style of command was clearly the opposite of Captain Savitskaya’s. I wondered if anyone would have the courage to use her first name, outside of her (apparent) ex-girlfriend Genevi.
Our squad had interrogated Genevi relentlessly about her ex. Thanks to that, we had a fairly good read on her personality. With the way Genevi breathlessly described her, I wondered if there was still a spark there. It was none of my business, of course, but you can’t stop a girl from speculating! Regardless, it was valuable information on our new comrade in arms, so I don’t regret being a busybody in this particular circumstance. Monica’s breezy introduction matched exactly what Genevi had told us about her.
Somebody once told me there were two kinds of leaders; dictators and consensus builders. The former preferred total obedience and handed down orders that were absolute. The latter instead sought input from their subordinates, working with them as equals to create a plan that suited everyone. This was probably an over-simplification, and no one person fit either description to a T; however, if I were to categorize Captain Savitskaya, she was about 80% dictator and 20% consensus builder. She sought input and made concessions when it was important, such as when she had won over Zehra, but she still made it clear she was in charge. Monica, on the other hand, seemed like mostly a consensus builder; she was clearly trying to build an equal camaraderie with us from the get-go.
What an interesting person. Captain Savitskaya had said she would get along with Teles, and I understood why now. Monica’s attitude suited Teles’ sloppy personality well, and was a definite improvement over the stiff arrogance of her old commander Vicky. Indeed, Teles wore a large grin as she studied Monica, who smiled right back.
“Pleased to meetcha, Monica! I’m Teles, the AI presently uploading myself to your shiny new Gravity Frame carrier. Let’s get along, ‘kay?” Teles smiled and waved, seeming like nothing more than a peppy, innocent girl. I wondered if I should warn Monica about Teles’ dark side.
“Nice to meet you as well, Teles. I’m looking forward to working with you, and not just because running a carrier without an AI is a royal pain in the tuchus.” Teles giggled at that little joke.
With the introductions out of the way, the Captain moved on to an analysis of the battle. As we went over the timeline, the troubling nature of what we’d encountered became readily apparent.
“A completely new enemy unit just for us, gao~n? I’d be flattered if they weren’t trying to eat us alive.” Zehra studied the scans we had taken of the Bladebugs with great interest.
Captain Savitskaya frowned. “I’ve checked the most recent battle records I have access to, and no other units have recorded these Bladebugs. Nor are there any reports of rapid tactical adaptation. Whatever we’re observing, it’s purely a local phenomenon focused on us.”
“That’s not all.” I added. Everyone turned to face me. “Look at this timestamp in the recordings. When the Telesthesia II destroyed the enemy cruiser, the Bladebugs froze for a moment. There was nearly a two-second interval where they stopped moving completely.”
“That’s when we got the chance to take out a bunch of them.” Miette added.
“Hmm. But what could it mean?” Captain Savitskaya asked, tapping her chin thoughtfully.
“Simple, gao~n. It indicates a centralized chain of command. The bugs were taking orders from the cruiser, gao~n. That’s how they adapted to the changing circumstances so quickly.”
Everyone looked disturbed at that thought. One of humanity’s only advantages in this war had been our ability to think tactically and creatively. Up until now, the Sarcophage had reacted on mere instinct, like ravenous animals. They did adapt to their circumstances, and even evolve new forms to counter human tactics, but it took years. Now it was happening in minutes instead. That sort of paradigm shift had apocalyptic implications.
Laria spoke up next. “I’d almost describe these as probing attacks. They’re trying to gauge our strength, and test out new weapons and tactics to see how effective they are.”
“Hmm. But why here? Why are they so interested in us?” Captain Savitskaya asked. The it was a rhetorical question; everyone turned to stare at me once more.
“Gah? Why are you all looking at me?! I didn’t do anything, I swear!” I protested, even though I knew perfectly well what they were about to say.
Laria explained the obvious, and I squirmed as I listened. “Our recent success against the Sarcophage has been because of you, Sveta, and your unorthodox tactics. Alongside your pilot, you have been responsible for the destruction of three cruisers and a Beelzebub, despite our severely limited resources. From a cost-to-performance perspective, Radiolaria’s squadron has suddenly become the deadliest human unit in the whole war.”
“I don’t know if the Sarcophage have a hive intelligence,” Zehra added “but clearly you’ve caught their attention, gao~n.”
“Hurk! I could do without being stalked by ravenous cosmic horrors, thank you very much!” The very thought would have caused me to retch if I still had a human stomach.
“True of us all.” Captain Savitskaya chuckled dryly. “Doctor, what countermeasures do we have available?”
“Hmm, that’s difficult to say, gao~n.” Zehra folded her arms and shut her eyes, thinking for a moment. “The Impact Fins seemed effective, but if we use one against every Bladebug that comes against us we’ll run out of resources really fast. I’m going to build a few dozen additional racks of them for the time being and mount them on all the squad’s Frames, gao~n. It shouldn’t take more than two days.”
“ALL the squadron’s Frames? Can the other pilots even use them?” Miette asked.
“Of course not, gao~n! But Sveta interfaces with everyone’s Frames in battle, so it gives her a bigger arsenal! My guess would be she can control about twenty at a time, gao~n.”
“That’s about right.” I confirmed. They were simpler to remote pilot than a Gravity Frame, so I could handle controlling more at once.
“Six times six gives us 36 fins to work with, gao~n. It’s a good stopgap measure. In the longer term, the superior maneuverability and acceleration of the Velocipede units should outclass the Bladebugs, gao~n. What worries me is our positron weapons aren’t effective against their chitin. I’m hoping I can find a solution studying the corpse of the Beelzebub we’re dissecting, gao~n.”
Captain Savitskaya frowned. “We’re still about a week and a half out from taking delivery of the Velocipede units. Let’s hope the enemy doesn’t decide to attack in force in the meantime.”
“Indeed, gao~n. Also, as it relates to Sveta, I’ve currently completed the blueprints for her new Frame and I’ll begin building it soon, gao~n. It should be ready within a few weeks. I’m going to integrate polymers from the Beelzebub’s chitin into the new armor plating to dramatically increase its durability, gao~n! And it will have several new weapons systems that will really give the Sarcophage a fit!”
Ugh. I had strongly protested the bug armor idea at first, but now it seemed essential. The thought still creeped me out.
“Hmm, excellent thinking. If the Sarcophage are truly as focused on Sveta as they appear, increasing her power should provide us with the best counter. We need to think tactically and adapt quickly to counter whatever is happening here. For better or worse, we seem to have entered an arms race. Doctor, your skills are absolutely critical to our survival.”
Zehra nodded at Captain Savitskaya’s assessment. For the expectations placed on her shoulders, she seemed entirely unbothered. “Don’t worry. I’ll build Sveta the strongest possible body so she can blast those bugs to smithereens, gao~n!”
Ugh. It sounded like I was getting a powerup under the worst possible circumstances. If it wasn’t for the camaraderie I had developed with everyone here, I would be fervently praying to go back to my old, peaceful life.
Seriously! Why are they so interested in ME?!
*****
After the briefing concluded, I turned to Miette. “Okay, now where did we leave off?”
“Huh? Oh, the shoulder massage. Honestly, Sveta, I think we should focus on post-battle maintenance…” Miette tried to brush me off, but I wasn’t having it.
“ABSOLUTELY NOT! Those creepy alien stalker bugs interrupted me once, but I’m gonna see this through, damn it!” I clenched my fists. Miette sighed and gave in, removing her inertia suit and kicking back in her cockpit chair, presenting her bare shoulders to me. It’s a good thing my android body couldn’t get nosebleeds or would have made a bloody mess of my cockpit. I flexed my fingers and got to work.
As I suspected, there was a lot of tension in those shoulders. I booted up Laria’s algorithm and let it guide me, pressing my fingers into her muscles and tendons. I sought out the tensest parts and attacked them with the intensity of a positron cannon; as an android, my grip strength was nothing to be trifled with. Miette gasped in surprise at the pressure I was applying, and it wasn’t long before she was moaning sweetly as I kneaded.
Bwhahahaha! Laria was right; this is incredible! And what improper noises you’re making, my dear pilot… I was careful not to let my imagination run wild, although I did wonder what kind of noises she would make if I cleaned her ears out with a q-tip. Please let them have q-tips in this world!
As my fingers worked their magic, Miette practically melted. She became more puddle than human. That’s how good this massage algorithm was; Laria hadn’t been playing around when she created it. I couldn’t wait to tell her about this later.
I nestled up to the completely relaxed Miette, and she absentmindedly began petting my ears. This was the perfect opportunity to pop the question.
“Hey, Miette? Can I ask you something?”
“Hmm? Sure.” she said dreamily.
“I have it on good authority you’ll be getting leave on Christmas Eve.”
“Ohh? Will I? Where did you hear that?” She was a bit confused, but her state of total relaxation dominated her mood.
“That’s classified!” I said firmly. I wouldn’t betray Laria’s trust, especially not after she did me such a huge favor. “I’m also told 433 Eros puts on a Christmas festival on the 24th thru the 26th, with lights and food stalls and everything.”
“Ohh, that sounds nice…”
“Doesn’t it? So, since you’ll be off on the 24th, would you like to go to the festival with me?” My voice sounded cool and casual, but my (metaphorical) stomach was in knots while I waited for her response.
“Hmm? Are you gonna be off that day too?”
“Ahh, I don’t think AIs get leave.” Certainly the ship couldn’t function well if Laria took the day off; about myself, I wasn’t so sure. “But I’m getting pretty good at running multiple instances of myself! Even if I’m working, my Doll body can go with you.”
“Oh yeah, huh? In that case, sure. It sounds like fun.” Her positive response caused my heart to race, one again metaphorically.
On the outside, I simply smiled and thanked her. On the inside, I was jumping with glee.
ALRIGHT! SCORE! I’VE MANAGED TO ASK MY DEAR PILOT OUT ON A DATE!
Romantic Christmas Eve, here we come! What a PERFECT setup for a sincere confession of love! And then, under the mistletoe, a tender kiss…
A bubbly joy filled my heart, chasing away the sour mood the battle had left behind.