Once the assault pod impacted the Cerva Reditus, Carter and Vanessa were launched out into the corridor. Carter braced himself for the inevitable fight, but when nothing happened, he paused a moment, assessing the situation. The ship seemed abandoned, and this was starting to feel more than a little anticlimactic.

  With a sigh. Carter relaxed his stance and looked over and down at Vanessa. It was a strange towering over the Vitexrā. She was usually so large and imposing, and his new stature threw him off for a moment. Looking down at his hands, it was also bewildering to see robotic hands where flesh and blood should be. In his days as ship security, he'd worn battle armor before, but this was different. Every sense was telling him these were his hands. Using pressure sensors, he even had a limited sense of touch.

  Logically, he knew this wasn't the case. He wasn't even looking through his own eyes; they were just sensors. He could even freely shift between normal, night, and heat vision at a thought. In reality, Carter was fully encased in a heavily armored box at the center of the machine he now piloted. Even his arms and legs were pinned to his side, and he had almost no room to move or even breathe because of the protective cushioning that kept him immobile. He knew he should feel claustrophobic, but it was impossible to do so when his sense of self was the robot body he now controlled, via the port in the back of his head. It was like interfacing with the Sybil, except, oddly, more relatable since his shape was humanoid...ish.

  Vanessa looked back at him, tilting her head to the side as she did so. "What now?"

  Carter took a breath to answer, but it was Epitaph who spoke up. "Find the nearest data port so that I can access their systems."

  Carter shrugged, and his new "body" was surprisingly articulate enough to pull off a reasonable facsimile of the motion. "I guess that makes as much sense as anything. Any idea where we can find one?"

  After a moment of assessment, Epitaph responded. "Most likely, any significant hub of activity would have an interface of some kind. Even most of the bunks, or at least an officer's bunks, would have one or more connections we could take advantage of."

  With a sigh, Carter asked, "I don't suppose you'd know where the nearest one of those would be?"

  Epitaph responded. "No. However, a little exploration should provide all the answers we need."

  Carter nodded and started walking down the corridor, his hulking form making the hallways seem much smaller than they were. "Alright! Opening random doors and hoping for the best! Sounds like a plan!"

  -

  After making their way down several halls, Carter was starting to suspect this ship really had been abandoned. After exploring yet another room that looked as if it had never been occupied to begin with, Carter was getting frustrated. "Seriously? How hard is it to find a simple data port? Or even a simple computer interface? It's like this whole ship was designed to be a facsimile of an inhabited ship, but no one ever lived here!"

  Vanessa watched him coolly. "Perhaps it was never inhabited. Not by humans, at least."

  Carter frowned as he turned to her in confusion. "You're not saying this is a vitexrā ship, are you? I thought your people used bio-organic tech?"

  Vanessa shook her head. "No, it is not of vitexrā design, but it may not be human either. Rather, it may have been constructed by the third sapient race in the galaxy."

  For half a moment, an image of Erik flashed through Carter's mind, until it dawned on him what she must be talking about. "You mean AI? But that's not possible. After the Human AI treaty, AIs aren't able to maintain a physical presence in the galaxy without an organic partner being paired with them. A ship made by and for AI without any humans or Vitexrā onboard would be a clear violation!"

  Vanessa imitated a human shrug. "Perhaps. However, I have enough experience with humans to know your people break the laws quite frequently and flagrantly. Are you suggesting an AI is incapable of such?"

  When Carter had no answer for that bit of logic, it was Epitaph who offered a suggestion. "Perhaps we should get to the heart of the matter and head directly to the bridge? If there's going to be an interface anywhere, that should be the location we'd find one."

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Realizing he didn't have any better answers to offer, Carter agreed. "Alright. To the bridge it is. Do you have any idea where that is?"

  After a moment, Epitaph answered. "Based on preliminary scans before we boarded the vessel, we are two cross sections away from a significant intersection that should give us a straight shot to the bridge."

  Carter looked to Vanessa, who nodded. Realising he had no better ideas, Carter agreed. "Alright, let's get moving."

  -

  Miles looked around and huffed. "Man, I thought being captain would be more interesting, but all we're doing is waiting..."

  John chuckled. "Aye, I agree, but in this instance I suspect that's a good thing."

  Hopping up out of his chair to walk around the bridge a bit, Miles huffed before asking. "Why's that?"

  John had a grin on his face as he watched Miled pace around for a moment before answering. "Well, lad, I may enjoy a good brawl as much as the next man, but right now we're damaged, split up, and vulnerable. Under these conditions, a proper fight might be a bit beyond our capabilities."

  Miles rolled his eyes. "Maybe so, but this is still boring!"

  This time, John laughed. "Aye! That it is!"

  Just then, an alarm went off, though it turned off almost immediately, even as John's projection frowned at the screen. Miles looked up at the man. "What was that?"

  John's furrowed brows indicated his confusion even as he explained. "It was the proximity alarm, but there's nothing there..."

  Another alarm sounded, only to turn off immediately, then another. John was switching between screens with a speed that left his motions appear as blurs to Miles, who could only watch on in confusion. However, that confusion turned into a lurch as his stomach felt like it was falling, only for Miles to realise he was floating. It only lasted the briefest of moments before the gravity kicked back in and Miles fell back to the deck, falling to one knee as he did so.

  This time, Miles' voice held a note of concern as he asked, "Uh, John? What's happening right now?"

  The pirate seemed focused as he spoke offhandedly over his shoulder. "It appears someone is messing about in the Sybil's systems. But if they believe they can beat me in my own corner of the void, they've got another think coming!"

  This time, a much louder alarm flashed. This one seemed to be linked to the oxygyn supply, making Miles sweat a little. "Uh...John. That seems...important."

  John was silent for a moment, standing in place without movement, then flickered and faded. Mile's voice was positively panicked now. "John? What's happening, John?"

  John's disembodied voice answered. "The attacks seem to be centered around you rather than me. I'm allocating more of my resources to your defence rather than projecting my image."

  A moment later, an alarm related to the inertia dampeners went off, and then the ship seemed to lurch forward, sending Miles tumbling. A moment later, the propulsion systems turned off, and Miles got back to his feet, but this time he quickly made his way over to the captain's chair and strapped himself in. He wished he had Carter's ability to link with the ship's systems, but as it was, he was virtually blind to the combat that seemed to be circling him. All he could do was trust in John to keep him alive. At that instant, he suddenly missed the boredom of moments before.

  -

  Acting Admiral Dobson positioned himself behind his chair, his pistol lowered but ready, as the boarders cut their way through the door to the bridge. A quick glance around him showed the rest of the bridge crew were doing the same, while the marines in battle suits were wielding larger rifles and waiting closer to the door, their rifles aimed forward so they could begin shooting as soon as the door fell in. The officers were well-trained enough not to shoot while the Marines were in the line of fire, but they were ready to do their job if it came to that.

  The tension was thick for several moments as all eyes followed the hole being burned through the door. Then, as the circle was completed, whatever had been burning through the door withdrew, and there was a moment of silence before something impacted the door, sending it collapsing to the ground.

  Immediately, the four marines opened fire, plastering the hole with indiscriminate fire. Yet, despite the oppressive firepower they were releasing, something pushed its way in, took several steps before collapsing to the floor, its carapace a charred and scored husk, beneath which several small fires seemed to still be burning. At a glance, it appeared to also be battle armor, but something was wrong with it. The suit didn't look like there was enough room inside for a person to operate it, at least not with any significant degree of protection, which defeated the purpose of a battle suit. However, in the time it had taken to be put down, two more forms had pushed their way in and were now advancing much more rapidly toward the marines.

  Soon, the marines had dropped their rifles and were engaging in close combat with the odd battle suits. However, it quickly became apparent to Dobsin that they would be overpowered in short order. Of course, a third form was already making its way into the room, and Dobson cursed as he opened fire on the unengaged target, any of the bridge crew that had a clear line of sight following his example. It didn't look like they'd hold the bridge for long at this rate...

  -

  Coming to the end of a hall, Carter was just about to ask Epitaph how to open the door when it opened on its own. Standing on the other side was Erik, his axes drawn.

  Carter smiled and reached out a hand as he went to take a step forward. "Erik! I should have known you'd be wrecking this ship from the inside! We came to get you and Scarlett out!"

  But just as he was about to move forward, Vanessa reached out and grabbed hold of his new frame. Carter could have easily forced his way forward, but the meaning was clear even before the Vitexrā spoke. "That's not my lady. Or rather, my lady is not in control..."

  Even as the words sank in, the berserker warrior leapt forward, his axes flashing down toward Carter.