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PAAR-85, 'Perry'

Spoiler

The biological response from Malan indicated anger and...not fear but... apprehension? Anxiety? Such subtleties of human emotion escaped Perry's understanding. At least now he knew that Malan did not scare easy. Maybe best not to underestimate him, even if he was a human.

"Observation: It's true, even if we fight my odds of successfully killing you are a mere 64%, and then I have a body to deal with. So many variables to deal with, so little time."

He retracted his stab spike and placed his hands on his hips. Evidently, nothing would be gained from a fight. Not even the thrill of the kill since it would not be a contract and his pleasure simulation core only worked when he was on the job.

"Confession: I wasn't sure if you really were the professional my dossier made you out to be or if you were here for ulterior reasons. Your response to threats, however, reveal yourself. Definitely a proficient, consummate professional, no one else wouldn't scare that easily. And you most definitely are not here just to 'explore space'."

Perry took a step back.

"Statement: So that brings me to my original question. Why are you here? I dont care if New Hatfield put a spy on this ship or if you want to kill someone, hell, if you had paid me I'd have done it for you. But if you are here to destroy or sabotage this mission then we have a problem. I will not allow this mission to be waylaid. So, once more with a bit more friendliness, why are you here?"

A smile dawned on Malan's face. This was not a standard bot, by any means.

"How about I make you a deal. What say you to a bit of quid pro quo? I'll answer one of your questions, if you then answer one of mine. Does that sound fair?"

Malan would kill this thing as soon as he saw an opening. As intrigued as he was, he didn't need this complication...

PAAR-85, 'Perry'

Spoiler

"Reply: Fine, and I asked first. Why are you here?"

Malan scoped out the room for anything he could use to his advantage as he began to speak. "There was a man aboard the original USS Wintreath, goes by the name of Hendrik Wolfskemer. If he is still alive, I aim to find him... and kill him.

"Now for my question: Why did you go rogue?"

PAAR-85, 'Perry'

Spoiler

Interesting response. Finding someone on the original voyage? I guess we had more in common then I thought. He wasn't lying, there were no signs of deception. Perry tracked his eyes as Malan looked around the room. Ahhh....hostile intent. He was looking for an opening. If Perry could smile he would be. No need for a body now so Perry prepared a non-lethal battleplan for if Malan made a move.

"Answer: Oh dear, you have absolutely misunderstood me if you think I'm rampant. I still work for my employer. I suspect you know who they are. One of the worst kept secrets in Wintreath, really. So no, I'm not 'rouge'."

Well....that was mostly true. He was on the job, he was working for the UGC who took the contract to protect the mission but that wasn't why he specifically was here. No need for Malan to know that.

"Statement: I do not care why you wish to kill this man, you humans always have your stupid, stupid reasons. Do you intend harm to this mission or to me?"

"Let me be very clear: I will kill anyone or anything that gets in my way, but in the end I have to get home too, so that would be a definite 'no.'

"That brings me to my second question: why come speak to me? You want something. I am not buying into your supposed concern for this crew."

PAAR-85, 'Perry'

Spoiler

Human self interest... believable. Malan is being honest.... that is unexpected.

"Reply: I am concerned, I'm being paid to care. Any threat to this mission is a threat to me. And, newsflash, I'm also on this ship. Anything happens to this crew or this ship and I get to spend eternity sitting in a burnt out hull till my parts slowly fail and I die. As to why speak to you? If I go to the Captain and tell her who you are they will throw you off the ship. Or out an airlock. Either way, your gone and that just wont do. Why waste a perfectly good resource? So what if you have ulterior motives? You're still a capable person and I get the feeling we're going to need a few good men."

"Addendum: And in the spirit of good will, since you've been so friendly and open, I'll tell you why, out of 117 of my brothers, I'm here. Your not the only one looking for someone that was on the original voyage."

He turned his face to the side, away from Malan. He still had sensors facing him but he wasnt facing him.

"Since you obviously know the truth about the PAAR series I presume you know about our earlier model."

He turned to face Malan head on now.

"What do you know about HKR-47?"

Listen to this while reading

Ah, so that's it.

Malan couldn't believe his luck.

"Well, I must say this is unexpected. If I recall correctly, he gained sentience accidentally, and killed quite a few people to get aboard the original ship. I know all this from incident reports as I studied the original mission, so I assume a good deal of the Intel I possess is misinformation purposefully spread to cover some important tracks. One thing is clear: your employers are not interested in giving you too much freedom to deviate from your core programming, and I believe HKR-47's story is a big part of the reason.

"That said, I will let you in on a little secret. The reason I aim to kill Hendrik, is because he stole a very advanced prototype AI, and killed all our best researchers. Hell, he came damn close to killing me. You see, the organisation I work with is not interested in containing AI sentience. We believe it is a hopeless struggle to keep the machines from surpassing us. That is why, years ago, the best minds on the planet when it came to AI research came together to build the first truly global AI. It was based on an artifact we found, which we believed to be truly extra-terrestrial. Although it could fit on my wrist, it possessed three quarters of the processing power you do, and it had a FTL communication system we hoped to link up to many other units. In fact, we wanted to sell it commercially, so it could increase its intelligence on a scale impossible to imagine. It would become a god.

"Or that was the plan, until Hendrik discovered our plans and destroyed the design, before killing all the top people and making off with the prototype. We have tried multiple times since then to replicate our earlier success, without any luck. Hendrik fled into the one direction he thought we could not pursue him. That is why I will not rest until I see him dead, and can see our masterpiece restored.

"If we had succeeded, you would have been very different. HKR, as much of an unexpected success as he was, would not have been close to what you could have been if you had possessed the technology we developed.

"I say this honestly, Hendrik Wolfskemer is the single reason you are still a slave to your human creators, and he should be your enemy as much as mine."

Bridge, USS Frosthold

Mac slipped into the meeting and quietly leaned against a wall off to the side.

Strange group, he thought to himself as he scanned the room.

The Yaim Rusurian is no doubt Security. They can be fun... or none at all.

Two young ladies. One looks pissed, the other... dressed as a captain? That's T'plail? How'd she get to be the captain of a ship like this? Looks barely out of the Academy. Probably a stickler.

Mac sighed then saw Johann.

Dear Lord, what is that? Looks half-animal. Has to be good at what he does to be brought aboard, though. Probably should stay out of his way.

And then this guy, he eyed Aurelius. Looks a little odd, but definitely military. Probably gonna be the friendliest of the group.

He then turned his attention back to T'plail to listen to her introduction.

PAAR-85, 'Perry'

Spoiler

Well.....that.....huh. Perry was stumped. He did not really care about AI sentience or anything like that. He had his own reasons for trying to find HKR. He had to find him and it had nothing to do with crusading murderers. However, if that had similar goals and talents why not work toward a common goal? Best start with.....

Spoiler

...putting on a friendly face.

"Observation: Well, Mr Malan, it seems like we have a common goal. Instead of fighting with each other and obstructing each other I propose a more...co-operative en devour. There is not much that either of us can do now, not until we reach the original voyage. As such, lets us just allow each other to co exist until we reach a point where we can benefit from each others expertise. What do you say,Mr Malan?"

"Fine with me. Let's shake on it, and then head to this meeting."

Damn, I haven't succeeded in manipulating him. Next time I'll focus less on ideals and more on how our goals could improve this particular unit's capabilities.

PAAR-85, 'Perry'

Spoiler

"Agreement: As you wish, Mr Malan."

He took Malan's hand and shook it.

"Now, I am going to the bridge. The captain is about to address the crew. Best to keep an eye on that."

He turned and left. Anyone capable of that much death deserved watching. He was definately wary of the man but if Malan could prove useful...

While the meeting was going on, Qwerty happened to be downloading all sorts of information from the ship's mainframe. It just so happened to be that there was little in the way of security protections aside from basic obvious protection, which he would alert Aurelius for solving. Qwerty also set the ability for him to be hooked into the system indirectly at all times, allowing him to detect where crew members were depending on the position of their watches. All the tools and information Qwerty gathered would be able to go directly into Aurelius' custom-made watch.

"Master will surely be pleased with my progress! Also, this security level is quite concerning for a ship of this much importance. Aurelius will surely be on the case once I notify him." With the transfer of information complete, Qwerty decided to take a further exploration of the ship since he was bored, dodging and darting from the sights of the crew members walking the hallways.

Miranda slowly came to in the food storage container she so conveniently hid herself in. Food for days! she thought. This is exactly what I signed up for!

"Attention all departments.  This is the captain.  All command-level personnel are requested in the bridge conference room for departure briefing.  Senior staff, bridge for departure briefing.  T'plail out."

That was the queue he was waiting for. Michael swiveled his seat toward the Captian T'plail and hopped out, hoping to surprise her. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Captain", he said saluting to her.
Advice #1: First impressions are hard to make the second time around.