Fixing A Ship, Lady, Or Both.

The vessel had to think on that, as Aternity stated that his wife might not want others reproducing her abilities the Ry'leh was mildly confused by that assertion, was this another example of human xenophobia and personal boundaries? If so then perhaps it would be useful to point out the logical arguments.

"Again this vessel is curious, if your wife is a healer would she not want her abilities to be available to all those with injuries? If her abilities could be reproduced by this vessel and passed on to human medical facilities, would that not be a beneficial discovery caused, in part by her?"

A logical argument? Perhaps, but only if one born with the ability to heal wanted to use it for altruistic purposes, if they were just born with a gift then perhaps they didn't want to use it quite so readily, whatever the case the vessel understood the limitations of Aternity's current predicament, he was faced with alien technology, things he had never seen before.

"This vessels crystalline matrix acts in many ways like human silicon circuits, the difference in material and the order in which the panels are placed result in different functions, a suitable analogy might be a human microprocessor that can be rebuilt and rewired on the fly, the vessels organic systems carry electrical impulses to and from the crystalline matrices, and the additional conduits carry organic nutrients and compressed material streams to this vessels superstructure, these material and nutrient streams assist in the regenerative process as well as the organic functions of this vessels systems."

An explanation of sorts, even if it was... 'Dumbed down' for the human being, a summary and little more. The vessel was also conflicted by the offer that Aternity made, automating its diverse functions so that it could operate them all by itself was a violation of the vessels standing in Makosian law, it was a violation of all the safeguards that had been put in place.

"This vessel will monitor your input and will Berathian, ixcian valia, Korvalis terran mikasi nialvia"

The vessel stopped speaking for a moment and illuminated the node on the touchscreen of the interface that the human had just touched, it added a small indicator to the node a directional arrow that showed that Aternity should touch it and turn his finger in the indicated direction. If he did so the vessel would speak again, its words garbled but gradually clearing up.

"Error in translation matrix corrected, please don't touch that again unless you enjoy this vessel speaking in Makosian, this vessel appreciates your assistance but... Error detected in stabilization protocols, press that again!"

There was a momentary sense of... Hang time, the vessel suddenly dropping and a reverberating CLANG echoed throughout empty corridors and rooms, emergency systems however engaged quickly, preventing the vessel from damaging precious cargo and it held Cytus and Aternity suspended for a brief moment before...

"Ow

Perhaps you should avoid pressing any more control nodes for the time being, this vessel will prepare an English translation of its... Operation manual, software errors can be quickly repaired by this vessels organic processing cores, hardware errors however are the most prevalent, while this vessel appreciates the need for understanding its operation and its software random... Poking may cause a number of errors that can cause a number of conflicts within this vessels system that cannot be prevented, this vessel was designed to be crewed at all times and controlled, this vessel has a number of autonomous functions that cannot be controlled by this vessel consciously.

This vessel is property of the Makosian Dominion, with no Dominion this vessel is property without an owner, as such its systems are designed with failsafes and controls that can only be operated by a crew, one such failsafe is one you may have already noticed, this vessel is incapable of referring to itself in what humans call the first person, the use of I or me is restricted."

The vessel was surprised by the offer that Aternity made, perhaps it shouldn't have been, while it had seen human slavery on historical sites that seemed more in line with the way the Makosian Dominion had conditioned it it had also seen their movements of liberation, its sentience and intelligence could very well make them view it as a fellow life form, indeed that seemed to be what Aternity was implying.

But how could it decide by itself? How could it determine whether it wanted to have its systems automated so that it could control all of its own functions, warring neural systems conflicted with one another, passing through the filter of ethics that it had assembled from both the Makosian Dominion and its study of Earth, normally it shouldn't include the ethics of alien worlds, but this time it was alone, it had to adapt or this last link to the Dominion would be severed. The last 'survivor' would perish.

"This vessel is unsure, it is unused to self determination, however this vessel will consider your offer, in the meantime however it will not decide without reflection, the offer of assistance and the offer of shelter however is greatly appreciated, this vessel may just 'take you up on it' if you have the room of course, if not this vessel may be able to find its own accommodations on the island, however this vessel will still need to make its way underwater every now and then"

The vessel continued its work during its conversation with the human engineer, compiling a list of necessary systems and routines that he would need to efficiently repair the most damaged of its systems translating all Makosian protocols into their English equivalent.

"This vessel has completed its translation, do you have a device able to hold the data this vessel can transmit? A small device would be sufficient to create a data uplink, if you would prefer an offline version this vessel would require a larger storage device.

This vessel has also included a... Quick start guide, a compiled guide for primary navigation and propulsion systems, also included is an overview of life support systems. An additional copy has also been made for you Cytus, this vessel is unsure whether this information will be of any interest to you, however this vessel does hope you will enjoy visiting from time to time, and this information may be useful for you as well

For the moment however would you both enjoy touring some of the undamaged sections of this vessel? Until tomorrow when you have had a time to look over this vessels schematics and operating systems."

But for the time being it seemed it would just have to give Aternity the time to study the manual it was willing to provide. Once Aternity had specified where he wished the vessel to download its information the vessel would speak again! A rather surprising little piece of information.

"Warning! Aberrant life form detected in Auxiliary living quarters, Warning! Aberrant life form detected in Auxiliary living quarters, Warning... No Aberrant life form detected, my bad"

The vessel again used a colloquial human term, it enjoyed learning new things it seemed and it was building quite a vocabulary, even if for the most part it still contained itself, it was learning, but what was this about an aberrant life form? What aside from humans could be aboard this vessel?

The vessel was more than a little amused by the cheeky little comment about its internal design, no, that wasn't quite the look the ship was going for, but regardless it intended to show them every part of it that it could, every part of it that was still undamaged and still in a more presentable shape, the ship had let them see the damage and the problems the crash had caused, now it was time to let them see the more intact regions, the ship as it was supposed to be!

But in the meantime there were more important matters, matters addressed by both Cytus and Aternity, the speed at which they drew their weapons was impressive, it showed that they were trained and skilled in using those weapons as well!

"This vessel does not believe that there is any danger, it momentarily detected a trinary cardiovascular system in the Auxiliary crew quarters, this unique cardiovascular system is a mark of a Makosian life sign. In addition this vessel detected residual Subspace radiation and signs of genetic degradation, however this life sign disappeared quickly and this vessel can find no trace of it at the present time, this vessel suspects that this was simply an error in internal sensors, perhaps a sensory ghost from old scan data that was stuck within this vessels data buffer."

After all there was no way in this universe that any of its crew could have survived for this long, they had all gone either insane or dissolved into puddles of organic goo, how could one of her crew survived for so long and why would it show up now of all times? The vessel irised open the door to the regenerative nexus and began to illuminate a path through its winding, curved corridors towards the 'gardens' But it was curious too about what Cytus and Aternity would like to see.

"For the time being this vessel has illuminated a path towards its on board gardens, holding the last remnants of life from the Makosian home world, however if there is something you two would like to see please let this vessel know and this vessel will act as your guide.

This vessel will however keep its internal sensors running at all times in case this error returns, this vessel does suspect however that it was a one off glitch much like the others that have plagued it since sustaining such critical damage."

For the time being the vessel was at their disposal, it was their guide and it was their host! But for the time being it was letting them choose where they wanted to go, it was letting them pick what they wanted to see.

<div align=right><Localizing disturbance>
<Initial error detected in Auxiliary Living Quarters>
<Localizing>
<Localizing></div>

"Auxiliary living quarters, Violet sector, Habitat V-M030-1, Previously inhabited by Kalisin Vesi, Xenogeologist, Date of termination, Earth Calendar, fourth of January 1855. Location uploaded to mobile device and linked to real time mapping and localization algorithms, you will now be tracked anywhere within this vessel and you will be able to access a real time map of this vessels interior."

The vessel kept its sensors running, testing, checking on the internal environment, perhaps, even if it couldn't locate an errant life sign it could locate the signs of that life forms metabolism, by analyzing the atmospheric content it could try and detect signs of conversion as the life form respired.

"This vessel however does urge caution, if you do intend to examine the Auxiliary Living Quarters and you do locate one of this vessels original crew you will likely be in great danger, if this vessel is still inhabited by one of this vessels previous crew their mind will likely have degraded to a crazed and bestial level, they will be operating on pure instinct and driven to consume, ravage or kill anything that crosses their path. This extended even to their own people, they will likely not have any qualms about killing those outside of the Makosian species.

However this vessel does still maintain that it was most likely a sensory ghost, the likelihood of one of this vessels crew still being alive is negligible, this vessel could quote statistics, but it has often found organic life forms would prefer not to be burdened with overly specific information."

But the warning given and its doubts voiced the vessel illuminated a path towards the gardens, a soft, golden/white glow lighting the corridors for them, For Aternity the light would have seemed a little on the dim side, however Cytus would likely find it a bit more comfortable than the sun above.

The vessel showed the way, but it was up to both Cytus and Aternity to choose where they wanted to go, both the garden and the auxiliary living quarters would be something of a walk, but Cytus did know that there were mobile transports, and if Aternity looked over the mapping program the Ry'leh had provided he would notice a number of small icons to the side of its main display.

If he pressed a finger to each icon it would expand a text bubble next to each one, in order.

'Overview'
'Lifesign Detection'
'Inventory Scan'
'Remote Access (Scout craft)'
'Remote Access (Teleportation System, currently offline)'
'Transport disks (Summon)'
'Unlock Credentials'
'Communications Relay'

It seemed the vessel had given Aternity more than just a user guide, it had given him a link to its systems in a more robust way, with this device he was able to now look over the entire ship, he was able to scan the inventory of the ship, checking out what vehicles were still available and what tools were available too, these... Scout craft must have been the smaller vessels the ship had mentioned before, similar perhaps to shuttlecraft? And the transport disks, Cytus would be able to tell Aternity what those were, if he couldn't already guess based on what had brought him here.

These two people were the most helpful it had encountered so far, Cytus had helped it re-evaluate its own operations and now it was time to see just how far this 'friendship' would take it.

"However in addition, this vessel performed an analysis of the weapon lodged within its drive section. The results as matched to the information retrieved from Wikipedia and military archives are as follows, the weapon is a modified Tomahawk cruise missile, adapted to be fired from air craft, its yield is rated at One thousand pounds high explosive with an enriched Velirium ore, this vessel is unsure where Earth military would have acquire enriched Velirium, however results of this vessels scans are conclusive.

As for Urgency, emergency containment protocols are in effect, this weapon will not detonate without extreme conditions, if another explosion were to happen in this vessels drive section the missile could detonate, however the odds of this occurring are, for the time being very low."

Now that was truly an oddity! The vessel did not know what Aternity meant by the dangers his own daughter posed, but it could only guess that he was making an odd joke. The vessel did contemplate the question though and the Ry'leh considered what should be done to try and counter one of its own previous crew! While the odds were slim, the vessel did not intend to let its new friends throw away their lives trying to capture a degenerated and corrupted crewman.

"This vessel... Would not want any of its old crew harmed if it could be prevented, however if the scan results are proven correct this vessel will do all in its power to protect you both, if this vessel is unable to defend you then you must take the actions you deem appropriate. You must kill them, there is no way they would allow themselves to be restrained."

The vessel listened as Aternity gave his assurances that the weapon in its aft end could be removed without too much difficulty, the vessel was pleased too that Aternity was as unsure about the source of the alien ore within the warhead, if he didn't know then it was likely obtained from another downed, alien craft. And if that too were the case then the vessel felt a little better about the fact it had been shot down by a class zero species like humanity.

"To answer your question Aternity the Unlock Credentials button on the... App that this vessel has provided for you acts much like the access code given to Cytus, by touching your device to any door or secured system within this vessel you should be able to unseal it by providing those credentials, if you approach a door, sealed or unsealed you can also unlock it by accessing the Credentials."

It was also, in many ways, a gesture of trust, of faith in Aternity's skills and in him, after all if he lost his device, if someone else were to steal it or hack it and copy its information they could potentially access the Ry'leh.

"This vessel may at times be unable to assist personnel within it, there may be regions within this vessel that it cannot interact with, in the event of this danger your Unlock credentials and the code that Cytus has will unseal doors and awaken systems.

There may also be times that this vessel falls silent and unresponsive, while this vessel will always attempt to maintain itself there may be difficulties caused by errors in this vessels hardware, or potentially in this vessels software as well. While such periods of dormancy will be as short as this vessel can manage, this vessel would like to leave these safeguards in place to ensure that you both have ways to interact with this vessel, even if this vessel can't interact back."

It was also a slim chance, but the vessel knew that it was a bigger slim chance than finding one of the crew alive on board. For the time being the ship knew it had to safeguard its own interests, and it had to safeguard Cytus and Aternity too! It had new friends, new allies in them and it wanted to keep them safe and secure.

The pads arrived very quickly, especially considering the damage that the ship had sustained. They accepted Cytus and Aternity both, speeding them through the ship, through winding corridors and passageways, the fields created by the transport pads prevented the people within from feeling the wind as they carried Aternity and Cytus deeper into the ship, it carried them towards the aft section and on the Left hand side of the vessel as well.

As Cytus and Aternity were carried through the ship they would see that the vessel was marked with colors, much like a spectrum the vessel seemed to be divided from left to right according to a color code, from Violet to Red the ship was coded for easy navigation. It was also divided into three sections from fore to aft, if Aternity checked his map he would be able to see the ships divisions, he would be able to see each section and watch as they passed it by.

Science labs, research and engineering sections, they were passing by a wealth of knowledge interspersed with a small number of 'recreation sectors' these sectors were small in number and small in size, but they were peppered throughout the work areas of the ship, between the Fore and Aft sectors. Finally they passed into the Aft section, a semi-organic membrane affixed to the wall as they passed read

'Auxiliary Habitation, Violet Sector'

The ship began to slow the transport disks as the pair entered the Auxiliary habitation area, lowering them to the ground. The vessel let them descend, the internal structure of the ship not visibly changing all that much, although the halls grew slightly wider and each room seemed just a little more voluminous, allowing space to 'live' instead of just to survive.

"Welcome to the Auxiliary habitation area, here the engineers and many of the scientists were housed. This was where they had their families and relaxed between work shifts, here too a gymnasium with variable gravity allowed the crew to work out during extended missions, as you might be able to guess such missions could be taxing, but with their work and these recreation areas the work became much more bearable."