Book Five, Chapter 28: Bitten

“Hey, you’re awake,” said Rudy, the only other named NPC on the ship besides Flannery. There were three others, but they were named Ship Assistants 1, 2, and 3.

Rudy was something of a captain, but it was hard to tell what his actual rank was until he said it later. I didn’t even know if he would have lines in the actual storyline or if he and Flannery were just here to guide us to where we needed to be.

“We’re having a little bit of trouble here with the IBECS,” he said.

“Here we go,” Antoine said. “What kind of trouble?”

“Nothing big. They’re not putting out a mayday or anything like that, but we can’t get them to respond. The IBECS itself is responding, but it would appear—well, here, let me just call again.”

“Why would you show us the message? Aren’t we supposed to be reviewing you or something? Why would you want us to see you fail?” Isaac asked under his breath.

Luckily, Cassie was there to elbow him. I didn’t think Carousel would punish him for mocking it Off-Screen, but it might. He was a Comedian, so it wasn’t exactly unexpected, but I sure wished that he would vent his frustrations without his little jokes.

As someone who felt they had a disturbingly personal relationship with Carousel, I didn’t think he wanted to poke that bear, but I couldn’t quite get him to stop completely.

“Here’s the IBECS,” Rudy said.

“Hello, you can call me IBECS. Is there something I can help you with, crew of the Helio?”

“Yeah, IBECS,” Rudy said. “We’ve got a rendezvous with you coming up, but we can’t seem to signal Captain Marlin. Can you help us out with that?”

“Of course. Would you like me to send him a personal message? He can read it when he wakes up.”

“Is he not up?” Rudy asked. “Is he still in Deep Sleep?”

“While I appreciate your concern for Captain Marlin’s health, information about KRSL employees, especially officers, is private. I’m sure you can understand.”

Rudy hit a button on his control panel, which appeared to mute his mic.

“Oh, these damn things,” he said. “Computer, is the IBECS running an outdated artificial intelligence?”

The ship we were on, which I had not yet heard speak, suddenly spoke. “No, Captain. The IBECS has been updated with the latest compatible artificial intelligence. Its central computer could operate under strict KRSL operational procedures.”

Rudy looked back at us and said, “You gotta learn how to speak to these things. They’re really smart out-of-the-box, but then corporate goes in and gives them parameters and limitations. You never know what you’re gonna get.”

“It’s not going to tell us about what’s happening on the ship?” I asked.

“Well, hold your horses,” Rudy said. “We just have to find somebody with clearance to tell it to wave them. These old AIs can be a pain in the butt, but they do respect rank.”

Wave must have meant ‘message’ in this context. He would go on to repeat it a lot.

He tapped the button on his control panel again.

“IBECS, this is Captain Mills of the Helio. I’m commanding you to wake your captain.”

“Hello, Captain Mills,” the AI said. “As you are captain of the Helio and not captain of the IBECS, I am not beholden to your orders unless commanded to be.”

“Can you send a wave to any high-ranked officer aboard so that I can talk to a human?” Captain Mills asked.

IBECS seemed to think about that for a moment. “Unfortunately, I am restricted to act under the authority of Captain Marlin or any of his officers acting in his stead.”

“Yes,” Rudy said. “I’m asking you to let me talk to one of those officers.”

“Tell me what you would like to say, and I will send it to them as a message,” IBECS said. They can read it when they wake up.”

Was everyone asleep?

This went on for an embarrassing amount of time before we realized that it was just happening on a loop. Rudy Mills would never be able to break through the AI.

That was our job.

“Just a moment, Captain,” Antoine said. He looked at me and shrugged his shoulders as if I was supposed to have something to say.

I thought for a moment, and that’s when I remembered the Plot Cycle had been moving without us. It wasn’t because of anything that we were doing; we were still Off-Screen.

I held up a finger as I thought. If the plot was moving forward, that potentially meant that someone was doing something On-Screen.

“IBECS,” I said.

“Hello,” IBECS responded. “May I ask who I’m speaking to?”

“Riley Lawrence,” I said, not knowing if that would mean anything to the supercomputer.

“Mr. Lawrence, you are one of seven prize winners with KRSL’s spacefaring initiative. I have been given direct orders to engage with you on any matter you have clearance for. You have the rank of Ambassador. What would you like to discuss?”

“I’m an Ambassador?” I asked.

“Okay, Ambassador, what would you like to ask?” he responded.

I rolled my eyes.

“Can you give us a wave to any person on the ship that is awake?” I asked. I didn’t know if I was using the word wave correctly, but who cared?

“I can try, Ambassador Lawrence. However, it is customary that ships be within hailing distance before a wave can be sent.”

“How far are we from hailing distance?” I asked.

“Not far at all,” Rudy said.

Right on time, the giant porthole in front of us started to close in on a ship that would make the Titanic look like a bath toy. I had played with it as a little holographic projection, manipulating it, trying to remember basic layouts and architecture, but seeing it in person really put things in perspective.

It was huge and incredibly confusing. The modular design prevented it from looking anything like a spaceship I recognized from most science fiction.

Pathways, arches, and entire portions of the ship were connected by one thin hallway. It was ridiculous and labyrinthine. Buried underneath tons of different modules connected this way was the core ship, which was just a giant rocket. But then, at certain places, other rockets were attached to the modules.

It looked like something someone had built in a video game and less like something that would be built by a serious engineer.

“Are we at hailing distance yet?” I asked.

“We should be any moment,” Rudy said. “Just about there.”

It felt like he was going to tell us the moment we got close enough, but he didn’t need to because as soon as we were close enough for hailing distance, the IBECS appeared on the red wallpaper.

IBECS—the artificial intelligence and the ship itself—was an enemy. It was beginning to look like we were facing off against a rogue AI.

Sure would have been nice to have a Scholar.

Because we were Off-Screen, I just read off all the tropes.

The NPCs ignored me, and my friends absorbed what I was saying with a mixture of confusion and dread. There was nothing outright terrifying about its tropes. It didn’t sound evil, but it didn’t have to.

If our enemy was super intelligent and vastly more capable than us, it could be very difficult to save the NPCs we had to save in order to rescue the downed players.

“So the AI killed everybody?” Isaac said.

“We don’t know that yet,” I said.

I turned back to the control panel where I assumed the microphone was and said, “IBECS, can you please wave anyone on board who is awake?”

“I’m sorry,” IBECS said. “Can you specify who you would like to talk to?”