Project - Prometheus Ch. 23

"You two are..." Talon replied, her wide with shock.

"Yes, yes we are," the swarthy man replied, taking his wife's hand and kissing it. She purred happily and nuzzled up to him, showing her affection for the man. "It seems you brought the whole crew with you too!"

"Good to see you again, Akath. Have you been training like I advised?" Korsa asked the woman as she walked up.

"On and off," Akath admitted, looking away shamefully.

"Well, we have a sparring area on the Darkstrider. Maybe you can show me what you know?" Korsa asked.

"We could. Where is the Darkstrider, by the way? I don't see it," she rumbled.

"It's right there, silly!" Inari said, pointing at the ship.

"Wait, that's the Darkstrider?!? I remember it as some old clunky ass freighter!" Bataar said, shocked at Inari's gesture.

"Remember when I said that we would make some upgrades? Turns out that the ship got a whole damn makeover!" she smiled.

"I'll say it did! It's a damned frigate now!" he grinned, taking in the ship's beauty.

"It's beautiful on the outside. Is it the same on the inside too?" Akath asked.

"Let's all get aboard and find out!" Inari smirked. Inari led the way to the front door and kept walking, the doors sliding open as she moved. Akath and Bataar were right behind her, both of them carrying the crates they had brought with them. She then halted, letting everyone else know that she had to be the one to walk in for this next bit.

"Activate shipwide voice comms," the older woman called out.

"Shipwide voice comms activated, Captain," Stanley replied.

"Attention all Sentries, stand down. Resume charging until further advised," Inari ordered.

"All Sentries confirmed orders. They are heading back to their charging points now," Stanley informed Inari.

"Thank you, Stanley," the captain replied as she moved aside, allowing everyone inside the ship.

"Holy... by all the gods and spirits, you certainly upgraded the old bird! How did you do this? The frame would have to have been dismantled in order for it to be the same ship," he said with amazement, taking in the sleek new interior.

"And the clearance is good enough for even me to walk around without having to worry about hitting my head!" Akath commented happily.

"Trade secrets, Bataar!" Taal'ani teased him.

"Aw, come on! You won't tell me how you built this beauty?" he groused.

"Not right now, at least. Let me show you where you can get set up for your work," Taal'ani told him, leading the way deeper into the ship. The group headed straight for Deck Three, as they had cleared out a storage room to make space for Bataar and Akath to work.

"Complete privacy and full room to move about? You didn't pull any punches about what you wanted. So, who needs a new life?" he asked.

"That would be us," Kasumi said as she walked up with Alex and Shazza. Shazza was still wearing her disguise matrix, so Bataar didn't even give her a second glance.

"Ah. What are your names? I'd rather have your first names, so at least I can create ID's around them," Bataar told the trio.

"I'm Alex," the big man informed him.

"Kasumi."

"Shazza," the disguised Xuul'khani woman told him.

"All right. Well, I will need you three to stay put while we work for a moment. Just to get your faces, biometrics and so on," he told them. They nodded and let Bataar take his pictures and gather the data he needed. It took him all of five minutes to gather what he needed before he was done.

"Was there anything else you needed Bataar?" Taal'ani asked.

"Just some food and peace and quiet," he told her. "It will take me a few hours to get them ready for use."

"So, I guess we keep ourselves busy for a few hours. Let's leave the experts to their work," Inari said to the crew. Everyone nodded and were gone, leaving Bataar and Akath to do the job they had been hired for.

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Jaesa had found the vendors she was looking for with the compounds she needed. The biggest problem was that the prices they were asking was astronomical. She would require tens of thousands of credits just to get her hands on a single crate of the materials! Such materials, she would require at least three crates worth of, before she could start forming the skin!

She sat down, dejected, on a bench in the main thoroughfare. Jaesa sat up, unsure of how to deal with the unfamiliar feeling that was lancing through her at that moment. As her vision came back into focus, something caught her eye. It was a sequence of bright lights and advertisements from a section of shops just down from where she was sitting.

Confused, Jaesa extended her programming into the digital realm of cyberspace. There were plenty of digital nodes that she could hop into, and she selected the one that had the lowest level of security. Once she was in, she brought up a map of the station, and quickly deduced what the area she was staring at, was. It was the Red-Light district on the station.

From her studies of the information gleaned from Darkstrider's old computers, every station had one. A place where activities that were frowned upon and considered... immoral and illicit, were conducted. Such places were havens for the worst of the worst of sentients, but it could also be quite lucrative, if luck was on your side. Or in Jaesa's case, the odds and numbers.

Jaesa developed a plan in a matter of seconds and after running a few algorithms, set the first part in motion. She executed a minor credit siphoning scam, which drew credits from various transactions nearby. It was never more than one credit from each transaction, so it wouldn't be noticed right away.

Once the data was shifted, Jaesa pooled the money into a singular bank account, which she had just opened under a false name. There was a nearby automated teller machine nearby, which dispensed credit sticks for those who had lost or misplaced them. Setting everything in motion and sending the commands, the machine dispensed a credit stick with her name on it; Jaesa Harkness.

She then jumped back into her android body, got up, walked over and retrieved the credit stick. Though she merely had five hundred credits on the stick, it was better than nothing. With the credit stick in hand, she walked into the Red-Light district and sought the low level casinos. Logically, it would be the best place to amass her funds, so she could avoid attracting attention to herself.

As she thought of this, she thought it would be best to monitor the crew and their goings on. It wouldn't do for them to leave without her knowing about it. Jaesa had no intention of being stranded on this station, not when she had a job to do. She extended a part of her programming to link back into cyberspace, but at a much lower level than she had before.

Once she was in, she went through the security feeds to find out what the crew were up to. Cycling through the feeds, Jaesa saw that they had done, and that they were back aboard the Darkstrider, with two guests. She didn't know why they were there, but she knew that she would find out soon enough.

Jaesa kept her attention on her android and making sure that she'd stay alert, so as not to tip anyone off to her true nature. She walked into a human heavy casino and moved to a table where Blackjack was being played. Though Jaesa was an AI, she felt slightly giddy at earning the money she needed to create the skin she wanted.

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Several hours later, Bataar was going over the final pieces of his work, making sure that everything was correct. Everything lined up and was in order, but he had to be sure these would pass. He finished munching on his food and couldn't help but moan at the taste. Akath was a fine cook, but Inari had made the buuz and guriltai shol perfectly! It reminded him very much of the way his mother cooked.

"Everything looking OK, dear?" Akath wondered as she walked back in from her training session with Korsa.

"Yeah. Just doing a final check to make we missed sure nothing. You know how I am," he replied with a smile.

"Yes, I do," she said with a toothy smile. "If everything is done, we should get finished packing up. You promised we'd get away for a bit after this job."

"I know and we will. As soon as we collect our pay, I'll get us tickets to somewhere nice," he promised.

"Sahlaagh V?" she asked giddily as she started packing up their gear.

"We'll have to see how things look after this trip, but it is possible," Bataar grinned. Akath squeed happily and pasted her mouth to her husband's. The man moaned as he kissed her back, before he broke the kiss and she whined in complaint.

"Later. Once we have some alone time on Sahlaagh V, then we can appreciate each other... properly," he smirked. Akath purred in delight at this promise before helping with stowing the rest of their equipment. He then called out, hoping that the VI would respond.

"Stanley?"

"Yes, Bataar?" the friendly voice of the VI chirped in response.

"Let the crew know that the ID's are done," he replied.

"Very good Bataar. They are on the way," Stanley told him. The couple walked out of the room and out into the corridor of the ship. They saw the crew of the Darkstrider headed towards them, with eager smiles on their faces.

"Everything come together properly?" Taal'ani asked.

"I can say with no trace of ego that this is my among my best work," Bataar stated with a smile. He handed the ID's out to the group for their inspection as he went on.

"Full complete histories and background information on where everyone is from. The moment you use them, everything will upload to the galactic mainframe. Once uploaded, it will stay put and act as though it's always been there. Nothing less than a full military scan will break them down. Even then, it will probably hold up," Bataar said proudly.

"Fantastic work, as always, Bataar! Here is your fee," Taal'ani told him, holding out a credit stick. He took the stick gratefully and looked at it, doing a double take.

"This is ten percent more than what I charge," he said in shock.

"That's only half of your bonus, for such outstanding work," Inari said, after scrutinizing and scanning the ID's.

"Half?"

"Yes. Taal'ani tells me that these are a favorite of yours," Inari said as she motioned Priya forward. The east Indian woman held a small crate in her hands, easy to carry and stow. Bataar had a look inside, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Are those..." he breathed.

"Chinese Mandarins. They were a gift from the last group we helped, so we thought we'd let you have some of them," Inari stated.

Still in shock, Bataar picked up one of the small fruits and held it in his hand. He blinked a few times before he started peeling it, revealing the bright orange insides. The smell of it assaulted his nostrils, and he knew that these were the purest ones he'd ever smelled. Quickly, Bataar tore a slice from the orange, and popped it into his mouth, before handing the fruit to his wife.

"Oh! O-o-o-oh!" he moaned as he chewed. "The purity of it is just... wow! Where did you get these??"

"Sorry Bataar, but that is one thing we can't say. But, if you want to grow your own trees, I'm damn sure there are seeds in those mandarins. Unless you don't want them?" Taal'ani teased. Bataar then held the crate close, almost like he feared they would take it from him. Everyone laughed at this as he clutched the crate to his chest.

"Relax, she's just teasing," Inari assured him.

"Still, quality mandarins like this? The crate alone must be worth at least a million credits!" he said with disbelief.

"Probably more, with those seeds in there," Priya stated.

"I don't doubt that! Any other surprises I should know about?" he asked, more curious than afraid.

"Nothing you two need to know about right now. You'll find out everything soon enough," Taal'ani told her friend.

"Fair enough," he replied with a chuckle.

"Well, we should really get going then. Bataar here promised me a nice vacation," Akath said, drawing the man to her.

"I suppose you should get on that then," Natalya laughed. With that, everyone bid the couple farewell and saw them off the ship. The new ID's were handed to their new owners and Alex was excited to finally to go searching for answers.

"Going to the human enclave, Alex?" Natalya asked.

"He's not the only one. I want to look into a few things myself," Kasumi replied.

"What about?" Alex wondered.

"I want to know what happened to my parents. If they made it off Earth during the Exodus," Kasumi replied, her eyes betraying her eagerness.

"What about the rest of you?" Alex queried.

"Well, Shazza and I were going to loiter around the Bazaar for a little. Maybe see if I can spot a few items I'd like to furnish my cabin with," Korsa replied.

"Can we come with you?" Luminia asked, speaking for Aesha and Tahral.

"As long as you three stay close and don't wander off, then sure!" Korsa told them in response. The three of them cheered and left to get ready for their sojourn out in the Bazaar.

"Pree, Talon and I will head out with a few bottles of Earth liquor. After customs was done being nosy, as they usually are, we did some asking around and found a fence willing to deal," Inari informed them.

"Is the fence worth trusting? You said that those bottles are worth millions," Alex replied.

"I don't trust the guy, but he knows full well who we are and what we're capable of. He knows enough to make an honest deal with women like us," Inari stated with a smirk.

"Good to know," Alex chuckled. "What do you figure, four hours enough for everyone to conduct their business?"

"That sounds good. Should be more than enough time for us to make the sale. We'll come meet you guys in the bazaar then?" Inari replied.

"Sound plan. Will that be enough time for you two to conduct your search into your family trees?" Korsa asked Alex and Kasumi.

"I don't see why not. Where in the Bazaar should we meet?" he wondered.

"That Earth trinket shop, near the central plaza?" Korsa suggested.

"That's easy to find. OK, once our business is done, we meet up there," Alex confirmed with the crew. The group soon left the Darkstrider, unaware they were being watched.

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Jaesa had been hitting it big in the casinos, pulling in well over two million credits in total winnings! Even though she was an AI and new to the physical world, she wasn't stupid. She had piecemealed the amount from visiting nearly every casino and gambling kiosk in the Red-Light district. She ensured that any bets she had made were substantial, but low enough to avoid drawing attention to herself.

The quirky AI was giddy with excitement as she now possessed more than enough credits to order the materials she needed! Jaesa kept at it though, wanting to push the limits as much as she could before she left. There were few places where she could keep making bets and playing certain games of chance that she hadn't already been. After a few more games at a couple of kiosks, Jaesa checked her credit balance.

She smiled as the amount of two million, five hundred and thirty-seven thousand credits lay in her credit stick. Feeling good about herself, she ambled along, selecting the quickest route out of the district. She was meandering along, avoiding eye contact with anyone here.

Even though the district was relatively safe, there were predators of all kinds here, seeking to exploit the unwary. There were also prostitutes of all sexes and many species around, keeping their eyes open for any potential clients. Some were inviting, while others were abrasive in their challenges to any who passed by them. Jaesa just kept walking, steering clear of anyone who might accost her.

Jaesa noted that some people were looking at her as though they were curious. She took a gamble and walked into a storefront, hoping that would keep anyone from seeking her out. It worked, as the trickers, con artists and scammers let their gazes slip from her, as they sought out new prey.

"Pardon me miss, but are you interested in seeing any of our live events?" a polite voice asked.

Jaesa was startled out of her mind at the voice and turned around to see who it was. Behind her was a well-dressed man, who wore a uniform with a holographic nametag. It read 'Samuel' and the man inhabiting the uniform was a decent-looking man coming into his forties. Taking in her surroundings, Jaesa saw that she wasn't in a store, but a theater.

"I'm sorry, what did you say? You kind of startled me there," Jaesa responded, letting her emotions out rather than repressing them.

"I was asking if you were interested in seeing any of our live events? I assumed that's why you came in here?" the man asked politely.

"Yes, yes, it was. Could you show me the events, please?" she asked, intrigued as to what they were.

"Very good, miss. Just give me a moment," he replied, bringing up a holographic interface that came from a computer vambrace on his arm. "Unfortunately, our most popular shows are sold out. There is one show left, but the quality of it is a bit... amateur."

"I don't mind watching something by amateurs, provided they have heart in their performance," Jaesa replied.

"Spoken like a true connoisseur. We don't have many seats left, as it is gaining in popularity," he stated.

"Whatever you have is fine. As long as the price is decent," the AI responded, nodding to the man.

"Of course. I have a mezzanine seat available, if that will do?" he wondered.

"It will. How much for the ticket?"

"One hundred and thirty credits and you will have to sign a waiver," the man requested of her.

Nodding, the AI took the tablet the man offered and scrutinized it. Though she had already absorbed and understood every detail, she needed to look as human as possible. She found some of the terms and requests a little odd, as in keeping your hands to yourself, unless specifically requested by another individual. That exposure was allowed, but only if you weren't doing so to attract attention.

Jaesa found the waiver a little odd, but signed it anyway. She was then issued a holographic ticket and directed to theatre five. The AI walked down the hallway and found the theatre she was looking for via a pair of closed and locked doors. The ticket she held also acted as a key which would permit her entry through the ornate doors. Raising her ticket, she waved it front of the doors and they opened.

She walked in, taking the old style of décor, which was reminiscent of the old opera houses of Earth, circa eighteenth century. Heading up the stairs after being directed by one of the ushers, she quickly found her seat and settled in. The lights dimmed a few minutes later, and the hubbub of the theater quieted.

Jaesa was curious about the show that played here and watched eagerly. With the theater in full darkness, the only source of light came from the stage. On it was a lavishly decorated brass bed, with dark red and gold blankets and sheets. Footfalls followed, and soon, a human man and woman appeared at opposite ends of the stage. Music sounded, and the two came together, dancing.

The woman was beautiful, a tall leggy blonde wearing a form fitting red dress. The man was just as handsome as she was beautiful, wearing a tailored three piece suit. They moved together as one unit, appearing as though they had done this dance a thousand times. Jaesa was enjoying what she was seeing, what appeared to be a romantic interlude between two people.

After the first song had finished, another one followed it, blending into the previous tune. It surprised Jaesa to see the woman peel his suit jacket from his body, draping it on the footboard of the bed. Some of the audience perked up at this and watched intently, as did Jaesa. This was something that she hadn't expected and was curious to see where it would lead.