The way some of the crew talked to them bothered me a bit. They weren’t rude, exactly, but there was something about the way they spoke that reminded me of the matrons giving orders to the bots at the orphanage. I frowned, and dug through the mass of data the ship’s enhanced reality system was feeding me.
The fox girls were all androids, but they were clearly marked as crew members rather than equipment. Their bodies were synthetic, probably so they could work in places that didn’t have life support without messing around with space suits. But they were so realistic you’d never be able to tell without running an active scan on them, so it was hard to believe there was some kind of prejudice about that. Besides, I was pretty sure their processors could be transplanted to organic bodies like Naoko’s if anyone thought it was a big deal.
They were listed as class three AI’s, though, and Naoko was a class four. Hmm.
“Do you have a black hole in your stomach or something?” Lina asked as she took my plate, and offered me another one loaded with something called ‘biscuits and white gravy’.
“I’m supposed to eat as much as I can,” I reminded her. “But I think this is going to do it for me. Even my trick stomach has limits.”
“If you say so, Alice. Just say something if you change your mind. We’ll be happy to make more.”
“Thanks, Lina.” I glanced around, and saw that things were slowing down again. “Say, um, if you don’t mind my asking. What’s the difference between a class three AI and a class four?”
“Oh, that. It means we don’t have that magic universal learning and creativity thing you humans are born with.”
“It’s total bullshit, the way you guys can just figure out anything whenever you want,” Jenna commented. “The boss is really nice about upgrading us with new skill packs when we ask, but I’m still kind of jealous.”
“Most colonies don’t classify us as people,” Lina went on, her eyes downcast. “That’s why we don’t leave the ship very often.”
I put my hand on hers. “Hey, sorry if I brought up a sensitive subject. But I think that’s stupid. I mean, if I thought that way I probably wouldn’t consider baseline humans real people. They’ve only got five senses, they can’t do math to save their lives, and they can only think one thing at a time. How pathetic is that?”
Lina smiled. “Thanks, Alice. You’re really nice. I hope you end up staying with the ship.”
“Me too. I have to get you to teach me how to cook, after all. Assuming you can put up with my totally unfair universal learning powers.”
“We’ll deal,” Mina assured me. “Here, have some more bacon.”
Naoko found me soon after that, and pulled up a stool beside me.
“Good morning, Alice,” she said cheerfully. “I see you’ve met the engineering crew. What do you think of their cooking?”
“It’s amazing! They never gave us anything like this back at the orphanage. I’m so stuffed I think I might explode if I take another bite.”
She laughed. “Somehow I doubt that.”
“Hey, I’m serious. I was going to stop when I started getting stress warnings from my stomach, but then Mina waved more bacon under my nose. Now it’s one more bite and kablooie! Alice bits, all over the mess hall. You’d better rescue me before I give in to temptation.”
“Never fear, my friend. I shall save you from the peril of irresistibly tasty food. Let me show you around the ship’s datanet, and then we’ll see about getting you a spacesuit.”
I’d already figured out some of the basics, but it was nice to have someone who knew what they were doing show me around. The ship’s datanet was way bigger than the little ones I’d seen on our occasional field trips from the orphanage, or even the one at the port. There was a com system that supported everything from text messages to videoconferencing, the latter function using the ER system to create virtual images of whoever you were talking to. There was a way to access sensor feeds so you could see outside the ship, or check out what was happening in any of the public areas inside. There was a huge database of details about the ship’s current status, describing everything from the cargo in the holds to the wear on the landing strut joints.
It was a little odd for a ship this size to even have landing gear, but I guess it made sense. If you want to get a lot of men on the ground fast you don’t want to mess around with shuttles, and a ship was probably more survivable too. That got me wondering how a planetary invasion would work. But the next thing Naoko showed me was the training system, which was a lot more important to my immediate situation.
“I’ve set you up with access to all the basic classes, so you can work through them at your own pace,” she explained. “There are VR scenarios for a lot of them, in case you want to get some hands-on experience.”
“Is that safe?” I asked. “I don’t want to end up turning into one of those VR addicts you see in the vidshows.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about it, Alice. These are training simulations, not games. Besides, don’t you have some insane level of enhanced senses? The sims are set up to fool normal humans, so I suspect they’ll look like cartoons to your eyes.”
“Oh. I guess you’re right.”
“Of course I am. Now, I suggest you try to get through Bot Supervision, Basics of Cargo Handling and Introductory Passenger Service as soon as possible. Those are all easy courses for humans, and they’ll let you start being productive quickly. Engineering is always looking for help supervising the maintenance bots, and we’re due to take on passengers at Takeo Station tomorrow.”
“Whatever you need,” I assured her. “I guess I’d better work fast, then.”
“I wouldn’t worry, Alice. Passenger service will be easy for you. Simply smile, be polite and let me handle any problems that arise.”
“I’ll remember that. Is it okay if I work on these engineering classes when I have time? I’ve always wanted to know more about how things work.”
“Certainly, Alice. It takes a long time to learn, but it’s a valuable job skill. Now, let’s get your suit squared away.”
I wasn’t surprised that there was a fabricator set aside for the crew to use, since that obviously made more sense than trying to carry anything that might be needed in a cargo hold. It was interesting, though, that the Square Deal turned out to have a big supply bay with a dozen different fabricators of all shapes and sizes. Little ones for quickly turning out clothes or personal accessories. Larger ones for making furniture or bots. A big one that looked like it could build a groundcar, and even a fancy biofab unit with a person-sized assembly bay.
“Don’t try to use that one,” Naoko said, pointing at the biofab. “Biologicals are finicky, so ask Dr. Misra for help if you ever need it. The others are all freely available to the crew, although of course the system will bill you for personal use.”