Heirs of Debauchery - Story 02

Story 2: Washed up villainess

The massive bulk of the long forgotten hulk loomed silently in the depth of space, and without the tiny beams of lights from the salvage vessel the whole of it would have been shrouded in utter darkness, the rest of which still are.

However, while the visible spectrum told little, the rest of the spectrum revealed a bit more. Slight deviations of temperatures, unaccounted for traces of radiation. The little things that mattered to no one.

No one saved for the crew of the salvage vessel, a handful of gynoids on a hastily converted generic pattern bulk cargo hauler. They did not stumble upon that location by luck, for interstellar archaeology requires more than just blind luck and determination. A horde of astronomers (shanghaied or otherwise) jotted down all the anomalies they could find through their telescopes, gaggles of historians and their flunkies cross referenced spotty bits of data for cross reference, and of course drones being pumped and yeeted in every which direction, the luckiest among them actually finding something to report back.

And the end result was still not all that impressive, for the passage of half a millennium was not kind to former cruise starliner, and the countless micrometeorites and other natural hazards of deep space had triumphed over the vanities of man.

Well, mostly. The exception was the reason that this otherwise forgettable hulk was being meticulously torn apart, to reach for the faint signal of an emergency stasis pod...

------

Dully painted and unadorned walls, a simple though comfortable bed, medical equipment so standard not even worth mentioning. Those were the sights and sounds that met Alexis Zelyonka. Basic, mundane, even a bit shabby. It was clear that the room, and presumably the rest of the hospital that said room is part of, is from one of the less developed worlds. Not the worst place she has been in her life, just not one that she was expecting, or had experience in a hot minute.

More worrying still was the utter silence on the holonet: nothing, barring the most menial noise of machinery on the maintenance subnet, greeted her. That. That is not normal, not even prisons were like that, except maybe those stasis confinement, but those are for the truly most heinous of criminals who still had connections.

And she only played one on a holonet serial. Not even a great one either, just a cheap one that by dumb luck really took off. Something about the villain with the massive scar and the willingness to do sketchy pervy scenes.

Her hand reached upward to her face, and she sighed a relief as her hand felt the familiar contours of the massive scar that dominated the right side of her face. In a world where physical ideals were merely a matter of money, a large facial scar was something of an eccentricity, almost an explicit rejection of established norms.

It did get her that silly little acting role, but it was there way before that, and she intends to keep it around long after her flash in the limelight fades back into the nondescript general population.

Still, there's the matter of her present circumstances, as she sat up and looked around at her surroundings in more detail. There wasn't much more though, with most of the actual medical equipment being tastefully hidden behind wall panels. Weirdly enough, there's even a smattering of telescreens mounted on various walls, all playing local news of little importance or interest.

Very low tech, primitive even.

She heard the hiss of the door opening, and watched with mild interest as a dozen or so MBM-400 series gynoids walked in. Probably, it's been a while since her engineering days and for some reason she couldn't access the general knowledge databanks. Their state of nudity was also slightly unusual, but nothing truly weird. There's a few worlds out there where female nudity was the norm, like her homeworld. Which was why she was on her way back: it's probably one of the few places where they wouldn't care about that dumb show, and thus a place she could ease back to her old life.

"How much debt am I in?" She asked, before any of the gynoids could even speak a word. It wasn't the most logical of questions, but given her observations it's probably the safest bet.

"What do you mean?" One of the gynoids, who the ID transponder identified as Julia Manara, spoke. Her expression being one of blank ignorance, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

"Then what reality show is this?" Alexis continued her guessing. Generally speaking, masquerade prank shows were usually done on celebrities much more famous than her, but those shows were also relatively easy to crank out, and it would be funny to... she shook her head, not really relishing the thought, or the indirect stroking of her ego. There's just something cringe about the notion. A taste of petty fame already going to her head... wait, why aren't the autoinjector stabilizers working?

"Nothing of the sort." Julia replied. "We're here to update you on the- situation- that you are currently residing in." The last words came out after a pause, a somewhat unusual behavior from that type of model, at least in the standard personality configuration.

"Noted." Alexis muttered, steeling herself in anticipation of the incoming bad news.

......

And the news was bad indeed. As centuries of horrors and implied horrors slammed into her in the span of a few hours, the buffering of her mind wasn't though to mitigate the sheer amount of data to be digested.

The big points were still bad enough as is: everything's gone, as far as anyone on this provincial colony could tell. No- they're not provincial, if only because they're now the most advanced civilization left. The one eyed king among the blind.

Yet she felt a vast emptiness in response. There were the standard emotions of shock, horror, and despair... and then nothing, as those faded away as quickly as they appeared. As the continued silence of the net dragged on and her mind was forced to focus for lack of distractions for the first time in- probably centuries and she had time to actually think about everything, and how the vast bulk of it didn't matter, and the few things that did were ruined by the rest. Her life was already kinda a rambling hot mess before being accidentally dumped into stasis for centuries.

Even the flashes of guilt, survivor flavored and otherwise, faded away after a while, with the cold reassurance that no one's around to hear any apology, or aware of enough to accept it on their ancestors' behalf... As if she was even notable even back then to be worthy of guilt, that she knew at least.

"So... what now?" She finally asked, after what felt like a lull in the conversation. Or rather, that they were veering on seemingly off topic trivia of the recent past.

"What do you mean?" Julia asked in response.

"I mean, I don't really have anything left, nor much in the way of useful skills. Heck, I'm butt ass naked!" Alexis said, the last part in half jest. Given the nudity of the gynoids, it's pretty clear that clothing is not an issue either socially or physically.

"What type of clothing would you prefer? We do have some of your financial records on hand." Julia asked, missing the point entirely. "While our catalog of-" Alexis hurriedly waved her off.

"Not the main point." She clarified. "Not even an actual point for that matter."

"Oh. I see." Julia nodded, the subtle changes of her posture suddenly giving an air of seriousness despite the lack of clothing present. "As a complete standard human of original specification, you are granted the privileges of a full colonist."

"Didn't you just mention that the original colonial mandate no longer applies?" Alexis pointed out, the gynoid cocked her head to one side, as if caught foot in mouth. In reality she's probably communicating with her superiors and peers on the matter.

After a moment of awkward silence she spoke again. "It might be better if you are speaking to someone of higher authorization."

"You know that's not reassuring at all." Alexis sighed sardonically as she got up and off the bed. "But I'm willing to listen regardless." She noted as the group of gynoids slightly relaxed their posture. An almost human behavior. Or something like that. Humans haven't been exactly humans for a long time even before her time.

As she followed them out of the room and hospital, she muttered under her breath:

"After all, what do I have left?"

------

Chancellor Caroline Anderson was an interesting personality, Alexis begrudgingly admitted as the discussion between the two began in earnest after the exchange of pleasantries. With the first generation of newborn humans still decades away from full adulthood and the baseline human immigrants adjusting to a lot of the basics, genuine democracy is still in its infancy, and thus the real governing is done by the bureaucracy, which the newly reorganized chancellery is the head of.

"I can assure you, that we have no ill intentions towards you." Caroline assured the human, who still doesn't seem to fully believe them.

"That I don't necessarily doubt." Alexis replied in a measured tone, well aware of the limitations of the model even if their programmed intentions were as they stated. "But I'm still not sure on what is going on, nor how I fit into this." Her original plans, or rather daydreams, seemed so far away now, replaced with the vast unknown of unknowns.

"Our situation is that we are limited in key personnel, and labor force in general." Caroline said bluntly without any fanfare or even emphasis on the bluntness of her words. "We would like you to take an active role in the rebuilding of the known worlds."

"What?" Alexis replied in surprise. "I'm not sure if I have any useful skills. Most of the data banks that engineers relied on aren't even around anymore." Although she was reasonably sure that the chancellor, or rather, whatever collective the gynoids are in, probably knows that better than herself.

"We do also have a deficit of engineers and such." Caroline waved off the concern. "I was thinking more of your career as-" Alexis quickly cut her off.

"That was acting. Make believe." She stated. "Nothing was real- well, except for some of the sex scenes." She clarified, though she was pretty sure that part is not relevant to the discussion at hand.

"So this is, in a way." Caroline smiled, a grim but also defiant smile. An oddly human gesture and something certainly not of her original programming. "None of this is by the books. There are no books. We are playing make believe, acting."

"And you want a washed up 3rd rate amateur actress?" Alexis asked, not really believing that's what they actually want. It just sounds insanely stupid, almost like one of those masquerade prank shows... the fear came biting back before she swatted it out of the way again.

It doesn't matter, there's simply nothing else to work with.

"We want someone who remembers the old days, how it was before, and how it can return to that." Caroline explained.

Everything finally clicked for Alexis. The craving for stability, for something, someone, to assure them that everything is going according to plan. Even if they have to make up such a figure themselves. Even if they have to dig out a trashy idiot for the role.

"I see." She finally said, nodding slowly. "It's a good plan." She wasn't even completely insincere either, as it wasn't as she could concoct up a better plan to rebuild the galaxy.

Still absolutely batshit insane though.

"So does that mean you will join?" Caroline asked, holding out her hand.

"Yes. I suppose." Alexis said, taking the hand with a firm handshake. It's simultaneously a lot more and less sketchy than all the previous contacts she had ever agreed upon, but once again, that old world is long gone...

... and one that probably won't return in her lifetime, however long that will be, and whatever her efforts at the ill defined goals.

------

"I really should apologize." Alexis blurted out, seemingly out of the blue. The two of them, she and Julia, had been meandering about in the city streets of Arcadia-12, a moderately sized city rated for a million though the current population is a mere fraction of that. Like every city on the planet, it is a blend of urban and rural, of steel and trees, of the inorganic and inorganic. The contrast of the two mixing seamlessly with each other with a mastery designed by those long dead and gone, but whose legacy lives on.

It's been a few days since that fateful meeting, and since then she had been settling into her new life. A life that's a lot quieter, slower paced. One that allowed her a lot of time for her mind to contemplate a lot of things without distractions and unasked for suggestions.

"For what?" Julia asked.

"For disparaging this place back then." Alexis clarified. "It really does have its own charms, and the metropole, in hindsight, wasn't all it's cracked up to be."

'I hope you are not having doubts as to the cause for the restoration of galactic civilization." Julia remarked. Alexis shook her head.

"No problems there." She said, "But I do believe we can improve what came before-" She suddenly cut off her train of thought as she noticed a new sight.

It was of a group of male youths, who looked to be- wait, they must be baselines she realized with a start. That would make their age, uh... probably young, even if physically they look very adult, facial hair, body shape, and all. More surprisingly, they were hanging out outdoors, a sight that she realized that while normal in this day and age, was something that's... primitive, to put it mildly. Something that people do before the technological base to be plugged into the virtual space.

"Oh yes," Julia nodded as she noticed where Alexis's attention had turned to. "A lot of the cultures we discovered have a tendency for physical socialization, and most immigrants still carry those traditions with them. I can assure you that everyone is afforded the basics of holonet access. At least in terms of external devices."

It was at that point that the group of youth also noticed Julia and Alexis, and after a brief moment of hushed discussion amongst themselves they started walking towards them, slowly and with some trepidation.

"Oh, um- uh, Hello there?" Alexis greeted the group with a weak wave as they closed within distance. More than just not being used to physical interactions, she was slightly spooked by their behavior. Based on the information she had just received, they should be far more used to physical interactions than her. Julia of course greeted them with the smoothness of someone very skilled and seasoned in such interactions.

"Um, uh. That's a really nice costume." One of the guys shyly said. Alexis was puzzled at first, as she's dressed the same as the gynoids: in the buff. Then she noticed that he, and the rest of them, were subtly pointing at her scar.

"Oh, that. That's not a fake. That's an actual scar." She said, blushing a little. It's the first time since she had been awakened from stasis that anyone had commented on that part of her.

"Oh. Then, um, I'm sorry." Another of the guys said. "It must be difficult looking exactly like her."

"Who?" Alexis asked, wondering who they could possibly be referencing. Doesn't exactly sound like anyone nice though.

"The destroyer of worlds." A third one replied, the rest followed suit, with a number of descriptive names and phrases that painted a picture of a brutal warlord, conqueror, and war criminal.

Moreover one that Alexis was rather familiar with as the blood drained from her face as long dormant memories resurfaced and her brain started connecting the dots. This is worse than being recognized by some cringy fans of that long forgotten show, more like some rabid anti-fan or something.

"You know she's not real right?" She finally said after the group calmed down a bit. "None of that was real."

"And how would you know?" The first one asked.

"Because I was her." Alexis simply said, putting her hands on her hips in the signature stance of her character so many centuries ago. "Or at least, I played the fictional character." The cheeky last bit was to break their belief as much as the first part was to convince them of her identity. She might not have the clothing part of the costume, but her presence of character was enough as is.

"Good grief- it is her!" The second of them muttered under his breath. Similar words of acknowledgement were heard from the rest of the group as they shuffled back a few steps by instinct.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Julia whispered to Alexis, more out of curiosity than anything. The woman shook her head.

"Nope." She admitted. "But you kinda want to see their reactions to the truth, don't you?"

"Perhaps for data analysis reasons." Julia shrugged, denoting her and her kind's opinion of indifference towards doing spontaneous things. "But you might want to actually observe those reactions." She pointed a finger at the group, which Alexis followed.

The youths, after initially shuffling back a few steps in fear or at least concern, had somewhat recovered from their initial shock.

"Are- are you a robot?" the third one finally asked. Alexis looked at them in puzzlement.

"Why would you ask that?" Alexis asked as she scratched her head. It's both strange that they're asking that now and towards that particular direction. It seems baselines are just weird at times.

"Well, you- we thought you might be human like us at first. Because every robot has been perfect. Not to say that you're ugly or anything." The string of words stumbled out of his mouth as he tried to explain himself while not trying to cause offense. "But then you were also there, back in the ancient times. That's not humanly possible."

"Ah, I see." Alexis replied, giving a warm smile to show them that she's understandable of their confusion. "There's a lot of stuff we had back in the day in our bodies, among other things."

"Things that we are reintroducing." Julia chipped in. "For additional explanations please reference the planetary database's general knowledge section."

"Wait. Shouldn't you teach them all these basics?" Alexis turned towards Julia in mild shock and disturbance. She wasn't expecting the gynoids to withhold any information, either intentionally or accidentally. That's the kind of scummy move that she would have expected out of the old powers that be...

... the same powers who did the original colonization admittedly. In hindsight this is not the most ideal of a crew to rebuild civilization.

"Good point. Very good point." Julia agreed, without any hurt feelings. "This is an important matter." She turned around and began walking away. "We must act upon this immediately."

"Wait, hey- Bullshit!" Alexis called out to the gynoid to no avail, knowing that there's no need for her to physically go anywhere to spread the newly acquired information. However, trying to catch up to the gynoid was all but impossible, as she quickly disappeared into a decent sized crowd that had formed around them. One she didn't notice due to her conversation, and a false familiarity of crowds from times long gone.

However, this isn't a shitty fan club of a trashy series, and moreover these are all flesh and blood humans, most of them baselines even, if the primitive physical devices they're holding in their hands are any indication. She quickly tapped into the holonet, and after a few moments of searching, found what she's looking for in a few rather obscure channels: She's the gossip of the hour, and all of it cringe if it weren't for the fact that they're all apparently serious and sincere about it.

Finally there was a real face to be pinned on the calamities of the past, and it happened to be hers, again. Yet it was not a witch hunt, as she also noticed the myriad of different opinions, quite a few concerning the rest of her body, and how some of them are totally fine with following someone with a body like hers. It was almost embarrassing enough for her body to instinctively cover herself up, not that there's a point.