Birds of a Feather

Posted on 05 May 2020 @ 3:32pm by Ensign Kat Walker

982 words; about a 5 minute read

A shadowy presence sailed into the fighter hangar. Was it a bird? A lizard? All four limbs feathered and used as wings, with a long, feathered tail to steer with. A lizard's head and clawed hands and feet on the four wings. The creature, body the size of a cat but with long limbs, circled the hangar bay lazily, once, twice, before turning over in the air to head to the ground. Once almost there the creature shimmered and shifted, becoming a young humanoid woman, with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. She seemed particularly fascinated by the Valkyrie Mk IIIs that were parked in the bay.

Quinn walked over to this section of the flight deck because he thought he'd heard something...odd, like the flapping of wings? It was strange in the familiar din of this vast space, so he went to investigate. Instead of a bird or a bat or something with, you know, wings, he found an unfamiliar woman. "Can I help you?" he asked politely, putting on his best smile as he took a couple steps closer and then paused and waited for her reply.

"Lieutenant Romanov, it is very nice to meet you. I hope I'm not interrupting anything important," She turned to face him, that soft smile of hers ever present on slightly too flawless skin. "I am Kat Walker, an AI. The Captain gave me clearance to visit the fighter bay and look at the machines. Could you tell me a little bit about them?"

"Ah," he said, getting over that initial surprised reaction that she'd known his name. Right, he'd heard about the AI they had aboard suddenly. This should be interesting. "Sure. We got the valks and the hornets. Interested in one in particular?"

"The Valkyries, I think," Kat replied, motioning to a nearby one. "Their form is pleasing and they seem the more powerful machine."

"It is, although that's as much in the fact that it simply has more functionality," he said, nodding for her to walk with him over to his own bird. "This one's mine. I'm SCO for the Warriors. The valks are able to fly in both atmosphere and space, which the hornet can't. That's one of its big pluses."

Kat followed Quinn, then walked slowly around his personal Valkyrie, examining it. It was almost uncanny how she seemed to know exactly where to step to avoid banging her head, walking into landing gear or tripping over a generator cable even with her full attention seemingly focused on the shapes of the ship. She took specific interest in the cockpit area, though she couldn't see much of the actual cockpit, having to look up at it. "How many Valkyrie pilots do you have?" she ventured after a few moments of just silent inspection.

That sobered him up quickly. "A few less than we used to," he said quietly. "Several of us died during...everything the ship has gone through lately."

"The Captain asked me what I want to do. I could pilot a Valkyrie," Kat turned to Quinn with that soft smile of hers. "It would require a cockpit rebuild and me designing an interface cradle for my AI core to interface with the Valkyrie's systems. The fighter would no longer be able to accept a humanoid pilot while I am built in. Is this something you would agree to?"

Well, that was unexpected. Quinn looked at her for a moment as he mentally processed the suggestion. Unmanned craft was hardly unheard of, but a craft like the Valkyrie... "I think I'd have to talk to the captain about that," he said. "I can't say this is an idea I've had to consider before. But then, we're experiencing a lot I haven't considered before." He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I would imagine you have questions of me as well. Please feel free to ask, and I will answer to the best of my abilities." she offered.

"Yeah," he said with an almost self-conscious laugh. "I fear I don't know much about you, just what I've heard going around. I feel like I haven't left the flight deck much lately. So whatever you can, you know, just tell me about yourself is a good start."

"Of course," Kat offered, contemplating for a brief moment, considering what to tell him. "I am an Evo 3 type Crystalline AI, purpose built to operate light and medium sized vehicles. I am a fully adaptive, learning, neural simulation intelligence with optional personality suite installed. Currently I am installed in a damaged and time-worn Model 2501 urban pacification walker," she held up her hand, palm up, projecting a miniature version of the bipedal mech, in a simulated walking cycle.

"My design specifications allow for the simultaneous monitoring and control of up to five hundred and twelve systems in true realtime, with an additional five hundred and twelve threads available for personality simulation and tactics," she explained. "I am, to my knowledge, the only one of my kind still functioning, and seek more than anything to have a purpose. A reason for being."

Quinn nodded knowingly. "Hence asking about the valks," he said, waving at the craft behind him. "Well, I assume if you're roaming around the ship, the captain figures you're not a threat risk to us."

"To an extent," Kat admitted. "I have limited access to the ship, but am not allowed in high security areas. In fact, I had to specifically ask for permission to enter this bay before I could. But I believe the Captain is coming to trust me, after recent events."

"Alright," he said. "Well, I'll talk to the cap and see what she says about you and valk, sound good?"

"That sounds very good to me, thank you," Kat agreed.

Quinn nodded. "Sure thing," he said. This had turned out to be an interesting afternoon.

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