{"id":570,"date":"2014-02-25T04:55:20","date_gmt":"2014-02-25T09:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/universal-nexus.com\/?page_id=570"},"modified":"2014-06-15T08:59:56","modified_gmt":"2014-06-15T12:59:56","slug":"talen","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/universal-nexus.com\/index.php\/shannon-haddock\/talen\/","title":{"rendered":"Talen"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Electronic_Memory\"<\/a>Renata swore violently as the blast shook her ship.\u00a0 \u201cTalen, you okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTalen!\u201d she said again, more forcefully.<\/p>\n

\u201cTalen!\u00a0 Goddammit, answer me!\u00a0 This is no time for a joke!\u201d\u00a0 Fear was beginning to creep into her voice.\u00a0 She dodged the next blast with the ease expected of someone who\u2019d managed to live through being a fighter pilot for a bit over three decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cTalen!\u201d\u00a0 <\/i>There was still no answer.<\/p>\n

Having a moment to do so, she finally looked at the readout that would show if anything were wrong with her \u2018bot.<\/p>\n

The relevant section of the display was completely blank.<\/p>\n

Tears stung her eyes, but she wouldn\u2019t let them fall.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re dead<\/i>,\u201d she snarled at the ship that had shot hers.\u00a0 Flying recklessly, even for her, she caught up to the Kirid and brought all her ship\u2019s guns to bear on it.\u00a0 She fired them all at once, smiling savagely as the enemy ship exploded.<\/p>\n

\u00a0*****<\/p>\n

\u00a0Almost thirty-two years earlier<\/i><\/p>\n

Her ship neared the atmosphere of the nearest planet much too fast, it\u2019s engines having been damaged very badly.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpirits of Battle and Flight, if you guys could spare a miracle right now, I\u2019d really appreciate it!\u201d Renata prayed as she tried to maintain what control she could of her ship.\u00a0 \u201cTalen, do what you can little buddy, but I think this might be the end for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the ship fell towards the planet, Renata lost consciousness and was battered around, the safety systems that held her in the pilot\u2019s seat having failed.<\/p>\n

She woke up a few days later in a strange hospital\u2019s critical care wing.\u00a0 She was missing a leg, which was easily, if painfully, fixed, and had some nasty internal injuries, a support strut having pierced her torso, but nothing some kilhu and surgery couldn\u2019t treat.\u00a0 She owed her life to Talen, she quickly learned.\u00a0 After she\u2019d passed out, he\u2019d piloted the remains of the ship to as close to a landing as was possible, then improvised a comm and, showing that he had more first aid programming than anyone had ever expected from any shipbot, kept her alive until help arrived.<\/p>\n

\u00a0*****<\/p>\n

\u00a0Two days later<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cHe saved my life, and I can\u2019t save his!\u00a0 It\u2019s just not fucking right<\/i>!\u201d she yelled as she pulled yet another fried component from the \u2018bot that had been her companion in battle for so very long.\u00a0 She turned to pick up the replacement piece and found Darrien standing behind her, a concerned look on his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?!\u201d she snapped.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen was the last time you slept?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fine,\u201d she answered, taking a swig of coffee.<\/p>\n

\u201cRenata, go get some sleep.\u00a0 Talen will still be in the same shape in the morning. \u00a0 I promise no one else will touch him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fine!<\/i>\u201d she yelled, turning back to the shipbot.<\/p>\n

Darrien came over and put his hand on her shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cAm I going to have to call Viktor and have him lecture you?\u201d\u00a0 Her husband, Viktor, had very strong views on her periodic attempts to substitute caffeine for sleep and never hesitated to voice them at great length when given reason to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me work.\u00a0 Please,\u201d she said, glaring at her boss.<\/p>\n

\u201cFine.\u00a0 Be that way.\u201d\u00a0 He pulled his comm out and started to key in Vik\u2019s code.<\/p>\n

\u201cDarrien, if he were me, would you tell the medics to get some sleep?\u201d<\/p>\n

He sighed.\u00a0 \u201cRenata, it\u2019s been two days.\u00a0 You can\u2019t get any response from him no matter what you do.\u00a0 He\u2019s gone.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry.\u00a0 You can possibly repair the \u2018bot itself, but Talen<\/i> is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can\u2019t be.\u00a0 He fucking can\u2019t be dead!\u201d she yelled, the tears she\u2019d been fighting for the past two days finally escaping her eyes.<\/p>\n

Darrien comforted her as well as he could and then gently walked her to bed, promising when she started to go back to the workshop that he would<\/i> call Viktor if she didn\u2019t get some sleep.<\/p>\n

\u00a0*****<\/p>\n

\u00a0Thirty-three years earlier<\/i><\/p>\n

Jake greeted his daughter with a hug and a smile.\u00a0 \u201cGo look in the garage.\u00a0 There\u2019s a present for you in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Renata took off for it at a run.\u00a0 Jake followed along at a bit more sedate pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a shipbot!\u00a0 Or, most of one,\u201d she said, seeing that the poor little thing was a bit beat up.<\/p>\n

\u201cTook him off a pirate ship we confiscated last korva.\u00a0 Loreen\u2019s done what she could for him, but we didn\u2019t have many parts around for a model that old.\u00a0 Thought maybe you could fix him up and use him.\u201d\u00a0 Jake was smiling at his daughter, who he doubted was hearing a damned thing he said, so intent was she on examining her new \u2018bot.<\/p>\n

\u201cDaddy, do you have a one ilur\u0135a spanner?\u00a0 Oh, thanks, by the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0*****<\/p>\n

\u00a0Five days later, on The Asylum<\/i><\/p>\n

Darrien came into the sim room and his eyes widened at the (simulated) bodies surrounding Renata.\u00a0 \u201cWorking out some frustration?\u201d<\/p>\n

She glared at him in response, but did lower her sword and command the simulation to pause before asking, \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust checking on you.\u00a0 Alia said you didn\u2019t even complain earlier when she arranged your tools properly.\u00a0 It worried me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fine.\u00a0 Or, I will be, once the parts I\u2019ve ordered get here.\u00a0 Then I\u2019ll be able to boot Talen again, and everything will be fine.\u201d\u00a0 Or I\u2019m going to go kill neo-imperialist assholes until it quits hurting<\/i>, she finished silently.<\/p>\n

\u201cRenata, I don\u2019t claim to be an expert on \u2018bots of any kind, but from what I do know, the amount of damage he took when that blast caught him \u2026 he\u2019s gone.\u00a0 Even if his hardware works, even if, by some miracle, his personality module still works, his memory has definitely been erased.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you gave up hope that easily when it came to us flesh-and-blood Daggers, I would\u2019ve died on Yegio all those years ago.\u00a0 No one could\u2019ve survived that crash after all, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Darrien pinched the bridge of his nose.\u00a0 \u201cRenata, please be reasonable.\u00a0 This is more like if you\u2019d had part of your brain destroyed.\u00a0 Even if you can get him back online, it won\u2019t be Talen<\/i>.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry.\u00a0 I know how much that little \u2018bot meant to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u00a0 You don\u2019t understand.\u00a0 If you did, you\u2019d know why I can\u2019t give up hope.\u00a0 He saved my life; the least I can do is try to save his.\u00a0 Now, if you don\u2019t mind, I have some sword practice to get back to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0*****<\/p>\n

Twelve years earlier<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cOkay little buddy, just gonna hook you up to this new little guy and see if you can transfer some of the more interesting modifications you\u2019ve made to your navigation programs to him,\u201d Renata said, connecting Talen to the new — well, new-to-her — shipbot she\u2019d gotten for her daughter, Lyndsey.<\/p>\n

<<I have made no modifications.\u00a0 That is outside my programming.>> the display showed, in far more formal language than Talen ever used.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, you have too made modifications!\u00a0 I never programmed you to override half the safety warnings you do, and nobody else who I\u2019ve ever let touch you would do so.\u00a0 Everyone else is always going on about \u2018That area\u2019s marked DANGER:\u00a0 DO NOT ENTER for a reason\u2019 and such.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shipbot displayed <<I just have some glitches and need some repairs.\u00a0 I shouldn\u2019t be allowing you to risk your life that way.>><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, whatever.\u00a0 You do not<\/i> just have some glitches.\u00a0 You enjoy <\/i>playing \u2018dodge the asteroid\u2019.\u00a0 Don\u2019t worry, I won\u2019t tell anybody you\u2019ve been modifying yourself.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want them picking you apart to see how you\u2019ve developed something like actual intelligence.\u00a0 You\u2019re my buddy; I\u2019ll take care of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0*****<\/p>\n

\u00a0Three days later<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cSokonal and all the rest of the Spirits, please let this work,\u201d Renata prayed, squeezing a small idol in her pocket.<\/p>\n

She took a deep breath and powered on Talen.\u00a0 Please, please let this work! <\/i>she pleaded with the Spirits.<\/p>\n

Slowly, ever so slowly, the lights that indicated his systems were coming back online came on.\u00a0 Renata let out a breath she didn\u2019t know she\u2019d been holding.\u00a0 When the last light came on, she finally dared to ask, \u201cTalen?\u00a0 You still in there?\u201d<\/p>\n

The message crawled across the display slowly, but it was the best thing Renata had ever read.\u00a0 <<Of course I am.\u00a0 Backup memory seems more or less intact, but the main memory modules are gone so I\u2019m missing bits and pieces.\u00a0 What the hell did you let happen to me anyway?>><\/p>\n

She embraced the little \u2018bot as she said, \u201cI didn\u2019t let<\/i> anything happen to you.\u00a0 You<\/i> decided to make external repairs while we were still under heavy fire.\u00a0 I swear you\u2019re getting as reckless as me.\u00a0 Wait \u2026 what backup memory?!\u201d<\/p>\n

<<Figure that one out yourself.\u00a0 You\u2019re<\/i> the mechanical genius; it shouldn\u2019t be hard for you.>><\/p>\n

\u2018True A.I. is an impossibility,\u2019 my ass.\u00a0 This little fucker is making <\/i>physical modifications to himself now!\u00a0 <\/i>Renata thought as she closely studied Talen\u2019s innards and found the small, easily overlooked, but heavily shielded, memory module.\u00a0 \u201cTalen, I don\u2019t mind you modding yourself, but next time fucking tell me!<\/i>\u00a0 You scared the shit out of me!\u00a0 I thought I\u2019d lost you for good!\u201d<\/p>\n

<<Sorry.\u00a0 So, how badly did you break the ship without me to help you fly it?>><\/p>\n

Renata playfully smacked at him with a spanner and said, \u201cLet me run a few more diagnostics on you, then you can come see for yourself.\u00a0 It\u2019s not very banged up.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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