Page 13 of Bonded

“Affirmative.”

“How in the world would you have been able to predict that they would accept?”

A swirl of images, including computations and probabilities, seemed to explode in front of me. As the ship explained its logic and deductions, it all boiled down to the conclusion that it would be met with a positive answer.

It must be nice to know that you can predict an outcome that had an infinitesimally small probability of being rejected.

If that were the case, I would be confident in the way the world worked as well.

“I guess it’s nice to know that you could find a heart and mind. But a soul? Why do you need one of those?”

“The soul binds the heart, mind, and Ship.”

I bit my inner cheek. “And what was the possibility that you came up with to see whether I would accept?”

The ship went blank. It answered, “There were too many variables to input. Too many unknowns. But given the archives regarding Terra Prime and the subsequent colonies that have grown due to influence from both the Legion and the Intergalactic Republic, the outcome is erratic. And so, I will rely on a common Terran phrase it was a 50-50 chance. Even though that kind of conclusion is fallacious.”

The Ship’s choice of words made me giggle, but the underlying truth of it was that it didn’t know. “If I don’t choose to bond with you, would that make you more or less effective at doing your duties?”

“The line of questioning is hard to follow. Future actions cannot be quantified. However, if nothing changes, the conclusion would be that nothing changes. I function as I have done before because before you did not exist. But now that you are part of the variable, the possibility of what might come after is infinite.”

It shouldn’t have made me feel better to hear those words, but it did. They were probably the most comforting words I’d heard in recent memory. That they came from a ship, though sentient, was essentially a machine, I found highly ironic.

When I had gone to the doctor’s office and discovered that I faced a terminal illness, the doctor basically said good luck, be comfortable and sent me on my way.

I had nothing and nobody to comfort me. And even though I’d been looking forward to a nice soak in my bathtub and possibly a movie marathon, I found myself in a series of events that led me to research what could be wrong with me and had colony agents at my door accusing me of a crime. Within hours, I didn’t even have a trial, because it was supposedly treason, and traitors didn’t get trials.

My appointed lawyer couldn’t appeal the decision that skipped the possibility of staying in a local jail. Instead, I went from the courtroom and straight to a transport vessel that would have hauled me to a triple max prison on one of Jupiter’s moons.

I didn’t even know where Jupiter was in relation to the colony.

“Well, here are some things that you need to understand regarding your variables, Ship. I am not long for this world.” I couldn’t even get the words out because I started crying.

I heard a knocking and there were things banging against the shield and I realized it was the heart and mind of the ship. They were trying to gain entry. It was probably frustrating for them to be locked out, considering they must’ve had complete access to the ship.

The Ship’s surveillance streamed what was happening on the other side of the barrier. Dash and Minion were swirling around the two males while Gizmo waggled its robotic appendages. The larger of the males growled at Gizmo, and the robot made its own noises back at him.

It was all so surreal to see large warriors who could exert their physical dominance trying to reason with things that looked like toys with the social intelligence of children. It was almost endearing.

“If you are worried about any health issues, you do not need to fear. I had already analyzed your blood samples while you were in stasis, and I’ve already created a remedy for you.”

I rolled my head around and realized it wasn’t as if there was an actual person, but it seemed polite to address the glowing specter over the hologram pad.

“You found a cure? I don’t even know the name of the disease.” Chalk that up as another way my doctor failed me.

“It is because you did not have a disease, necessarily. You had a mutation in your DNA. The source of the mutation is indeterminate—either environmentally or medically induced or a direct experiment. However, my data has detected that there has been both genetic experimentation and also spontaneous awakening of genetic expressions based upon deep space travels.

“Essentially, there are cases, especially in human females from earth, which have allowed for more of the omega strain to be expressed. When on Terra Prime, also known as Earth, the omega strain is usually dormant.

“There are more races, especially those that are Legion-controlled, and many who are part of the Intergalactic Republic that have those dynamics in advance numbers.”

“Why in the world did someone tell me I was going to die?”

“You had a dormant illness; however, I could switch the gene expression off in the affected cells. That is one benefit of being part of a Cephela vessel.”

I was floored. Not only did they help me and shelter me, but they also healed me.

“Tell me about your pilots from before. Before you found a heart and mind, you had a pilot, right? What happened to them?”

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