Hermes Ch. 05

"Yes, you told me you paid to remove infringements from your records. Maybe we can do the same for me?"

"Hmm, I don't think that's possible." Pyra frowned, "I only had a minor infringement, but for you, it was in the news everywhere. No one would or even could remove that from your record."

"I might have an idea," Nea interjected.

Pyra looked startled, but I shrugged it off. "Please tell us."

"I don't know much about criminal activity, but would it be possible to stage Chris's death and create a new identity for him? This way, he would no longer be searched for and has a clean record."

I looked at Pyra with disbelief, but her expression was tamer than I had thought.

"This might work... There is only one problem. Chris's identity is linked with his DNA, but you said they researched gene editing here. We can get this to work if we find a way to edit Chris's DNA." Pyra said.

I was stunned, "You can't be serious. Even if we could edit my DNA, how would you stage my death?"

"Oh, that's simple," Pyra smiled, "We just make it look like your ship destroyed itself while you were testing the core. But for that, we must also have the core onboard to stop them from still searching for it."

"Hmm, that would make the station useless and kill Nea. We need to replicate the core or at least a nonfunctional version."

Before Pyra and I could continue our discussion, Nea interjected again.

"If you really want to do this, I have a room that would be better suited to discuss and plan such an operation," Nea said. She added with a cold undertone, "Also, please refrain from killing me."

"Alright, no more killing Nea," I chuckled and stood up. "Would you kindly show us the way to this room?".

---

As it turned out, the room Nea meant was on one of the administration decks. It looked like a meeting room with a giant table in the middle. A massive display was mounted on one wall and lit up as we entered.

I was pretty impressed by the room and, while looking around, asked, "Nea, what is this?"

"This room was designed as the central administration room. Where the Admin crew could monitor and control the whole station. Suffice it to say that it became obsolete as soon as I was enabled."

"This is so cool," came from Pyra as she touched the desk's glass, which turned out to be a big console. A small part lit up beneath her fingers and displayed the station logo.

"It looks more like a meeting room than a workplace for the staff," I said.

"Better now?" came from Nea as the display on the wall switched to showing different graphs and statistics about the station's function. "Even while in use, this room was massive overkill as the admin crew consisted of only a handful of people."

"Ah, now it looks right," I smiled as I sat in one of the many chairs. "Is there anything other on this deck?"

"Not much. A toilet area, a small kitchen, 2 dedicated offices for the head and vice administrator, and some smaller meeting rooms." was her response.

"And the other admin decks?" I asked, feeling my exploration spirit returning.

"Chris!" exclaimed Pyra before Nea could respond. "We need to concentrate on our plan and not get lost in exploring."

"Yes, yes. You are right. So, where do we start?"

"Well, the first hurdle we must solve is the core. We need a copy or at least something that looks like it."

"I might be able to help with that," came Nea's voice from the main display. As we turned to look at it, a female face appeared on it.

"Woa!" I shared a surprised look with Pyra. "I that how you see yourself, Nea?"

"Yes, this face resonated the most with me. But I also choose this form to better interact with you. My observations suggested that it would be easier for you to have an avatar to talk to instead of a disembodied voice." Nea said, her facial expression perfectly matching her voice.

Her face had faint Asian features, mostly on her eyes and nose. The sleek dark brown hair was formed into a neat bun. Her expression was warm and full of determinism. If I had not known better, I would have never guessed that it was not a real person.

Pyra turned to me and whispered, "Did you tell her to do this because of me?"

I just shook my head and shrugged.

Pyra turned back to Nea and said, "It looks very realistic. But back to the matter, you said you could help?"

"Yes, one part of the research done on Hermes could help recreate the core. The main goal behind it was to create a machine or 3D printer, if you will, that could recreate any solid object, given the correct blueprints." The desk started displaying a few information pieces about the project. "This project was in the final functional tests before the consumer testing would be started. If we scan the core with an ultrasound and a radiological scanner, we could create a model and print it."

"I think I have heard of those." I said, looking at the information on the desk, "If I remember correctly, it was said to take only 5 more years before it hit the market. But they also said the same 5 years before that."

"Oh man, it gets weirder and weirder. But before we go into more details, we must lay out a rough plan. Let's say that we can create a copy of the core. How would we tackle Chris's DNA? Even if the authorities believe he is dead, he can't claim salvage without a new identity." Pyra stated.

She was now in her element, as she did on multiple occasions before, taking control of our operation's planning. I stifle a small chuckle as I remember when Pyra and I sat in a dimly lit hangar and planned the next smuggling job. She was good at planning, I was good at finding things and having contacts, and we both were good at flying.

Most smaller jobs only required a little planning. Still, a couple of bigger ones needed a careful organization of distractions so we could slip under the authorities' radar, metaphorically and literally.

The only times we nearly, or in Pyras case, actually, got caught was when something external interfered with our plans, like the one time when a computer virus blocked the whole fright dock for over 3 hours, and the authorities decided they could use the time to inspect every vessel.

"Chris, you still here?" Pyrpa's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Yes, sorry. Would it be so bad if I didn't have an identity for a couple of months until we find a solution?" I asked. Half expecting Pyra to get angry at me, I quickly added, "I don't plan on leaving Hermes anytime soon, and nobody found the station in the last 100 years. I don't think someone will find it now."

"But you found it!" Pyra exclaimed, concerned.

"Yes, but that was an accident," I tried to de-escalate the situation. Hoping for Nea to support me, I asked, "Nea, is there any way to make Hermes harder to find?"

"Yes, and I have already activated the necessary systems. I activated them shortly after you restored the power. They mask and reduce all signatures of the station, redirecting them as infrared light in a vector that simulates them as being from the sun. This is a secret outpost, after all. And with your power core, it's much easier, as the heat signature of the reactor is no longer a concern."

"Ok, fine," Pyra said while throwing her hands up, "I guess you can stay here without an identity for a while."

With that cleared out, we started formulating the plan. Nea reminded us early that cloning the core would take some time, so I headed out to scan the core in my ship's hangar.

---

"Max, connect me with Nea," I said through the mask of my radiation suit.

"Connection established, Sir," he responded.

"Nea, I have completed the scans. Uploading the data now," pressing the corresponding button on my tablet.

"I have received the data. Computing the model and generating a blueprint will take a couple of minutes. But the data looks good so far. I don't think we need any more scans."

"Good, I hate this suit," I said while putting the radiologic scanner back into the toolbox. "Max, scan for radiation in the hangar."

"Radiation levels within normal parameters, Sir," Max responded.

Relieved, I removed the suit's helmet and began opening its body. At least it was only me who had to wear it. Pyra was still in the admin room, planning the next steps with Nea.

After I had stowed everything back in its place, I made my way back to the admin room. Out of curiosity, I asked Nea how Pyra was doing.

"Good, her initial reservations against me seem to have faded. My avatar seems to make it easier for her to interact with me."

"That's nice to hear," I was relieved they got along better. And also because if Pyra were to leave, I would be forced to hide here forever with no one to do the legal in-person parts. In short, without Pyra, I would be screwed.

"The blueprints are done. You should meet up with Pyra at the lab. The printer still needs some manual inputs."

"Alright, lead the way," I said as I entered the elevator.

The deck the lab was on looked similar but not quite like the Quarters. It was much less colorful and had more metallic elements. It also looked less sterile than the consumer testing area. The walls were off-white, and the floor was made of rubber instead of polished plastic, all illuminated by ceiling tiles.

After a short wait, Pyra exited the elevator, and we walked to the lab together. She told me about the progress of our plan. While not remotely finished, we now had some corner points and critical elements to work with.

The lab was unremarkable, except for the giant printer, just some desks and consoles. That thing took up most of the room. At least 3 meters wide, 2 meters deep, and reaching up to the ceiling. All sides were made of simple metal plates, but a small console was next to a door handle on one. Multiple pipes and wires exited one corner and made their way into a hole in the wall.

"That thing is massive," I said as I tried to pull on the handle, but the door won't budge.

"Please, Chris, be careful. If you break it, we can't continue with our plan." Pyra said, "Nea, what should we do now?"

"There should be a power switch next to the cables. Turn it on and navigate to the network storage with the console," Nea said, "The blueprint you need is named 'Casimir core v1'"

"Casimir?" I asked while I waited for the printer to boot up.

"My analysis has shown that the core is based on the Casimir effect. The printer cannot recreate a functional version, but a close enough replica to hopefully fool the authorities. The tolerances needed to make a working version are tighter than the printer can currently produce."

"Too bad, I would like a second core," Pyra said, looking over my shoulder while I navigated to the blueprint on the console.

After I had selected the file, the console showed some stats and a big start button.

"The print time is a bit more than 4 days," I said, "That's faster than I expected."

"That's good. It leaves enough time to finish planning and prepare some stuff," said Pyra.

"After you start the process, please leave the room quickly so I can seal the door," Nea said.

"Will do, but why?" I asked.

"The printer needs a vacuum to work. This is made by exposing the print chamber to space. It has been some time since the printer was last used. If the seals do not hold, we might also lose the atmosphere in the room. I can contain it, but you need to leave."

"Understood," I said, then I pressed the button. Pyra was already at the door, and we quickly left.

While we walked back to the elevator, I looked at my bracelet. I had been awake for nearly 18 hours by now and could feel the exhaustion slowly take me over.

"I'm tired. Let's call it a day and continue tomorrow." Pyra said.

"Funny, I was just about to ask you the same," I smile at her.

"Let's meet again in, let's say, 10 hours?"

"Sounds good to me," Pyra confirmed, and we both retreated into our rooms.

"Nea, can you copy my sleep pattern analysis and schedule from Max?" I asked after I finished preparing myself for bed.

"Of course. Good night Chris." She said. Somehow her voice sounded motherly, but this was probably only my tired brain playing tricks on me.

"Good night, Nea," I said as I closed my eyes.

---

"Good morning Chris," Nea's wake-up call was much more subtle and sweet than anything Max could do.

After finishing my morning ritual and visiting the mess hall for a small breakfast, I still had more than one hour before meeting with Pyra. Knowing she likes to sleep in, I decided to do something independently. Maybe ask Nea to fill the pool and swim a bit?

Maybe do a small workout in the gym?

Maybe watch a movie?

So many possibilities, but somehow my mind wandered back to the LiveDream. I walked to my desk where Pyra put the device after she used it yesterday.

"Nea, since you are active now, I should be able to access the whole library of recordings, right?" I asked.

"Yes, but most of the recordings are damaged. Playback of these files may lead to brain damage or seizures." She said, "I have hidden these files. The recordings were deemed 'non-critical' and therefore did not receive the protection the research documents or most internal files got. 100 years of cosmic radiation and bit-rot irreparably damaged around two-thirds of the library."

"Oh, that's not so nice. Thanks for looking out for me." I said as I put the LiveDream on and lay back on my bed. "How many recordings are left?"

"14 recordings. 3 educational, containing training material for maintenance personnel. Sadly they are for demonstration only and do not serve any other purpose. 5 of recreational activities, such as swimming, playing sports, or watching live sports events; most are also short demonstrations. 2 short test recordings. And lastly, 4 sexual recordings." Nea listed, "Strangely, the sexual recordings were all created onboard Hermes, and the rest, except for the test recordings, was made off-station."

"Strange. Thanks for the list," I said as I pressed the start button.