Project - Prometheus Ch. 29

"Excuse me, but who are you and what are you doing here?" came a question from Jaesa's left. She turned to see Priya and Inari in racy bathing suits, lying in lawn chairs, glistening from sunbathing oil they were wearing.

"Pree, Inari! It's good to see you two! In person, at least!" Jaesa enthused.

"How do you know our names?" Inari questioned, her eyes narrowing at the mention of them.

"It's me! Jaesa!" the AI told them.

"Jaesa?"

"Oh, and I meant to ask you about something, Pree. How does that new toy I whipped up for you work? I would guess that you have both made extensive use of it?" Jaesa queried. Priya's mouth fell open in shock, as no one knew about the replicate of Korsa's Futara 2000. Korsa, Inari, she and Jaesa knew, but no one else did.

"Going by the looks the two of you keep shooting at each other lately, I'd say that my modifications for it to be used by the both of you is working wonders for your sex life," Jaesa concluded.

"It really is you!! You look so... different, from what I had imagined!" Priya gushed, rushing to hug the AI.

"Yes. I know I am... lacking a component or two for my appearance, but that will change with time," Jaesa replied, hugging her friend back. Inari ambled up to look Jaesa over, amazed at how real she looked.

"Hey! What's all the commotion over here?" Korsa wondered, walking up behind the trio.

"Hello, Korsa. How do you like my new body?" Jaesa asked, smiling up at the big woman.

"Jaesa?!? By the holy... you look amazing!" Korsa replied, walking forward to see her friend.

"Thank you! I thought I'd see if my experiment would work as I had hoped, and I'm glad that it did! So, since it is a success, I wanted to walk out here and surprise everyone!" the AI responded.

"Consider me surprised! Come on! Everyone else is going to want to see this!" Korsa urged, beckoning to her.

Jaesa followed along behind the big woman, before arriving at the central point of the villas. In the middle was a gathering area, with several variants of lawn furniture, along with tables and chairs for sitting and eating outside. There was also a large firepit in the middle, where the rest of the crew was gathered. It was here that the smell of grilling meat was strongest, and by what she saw on the grill, Jaesa understood why everyone was clustered here.

"Alex, Nats, Kas, everyone, look who's here!" Korsa announced, beckoning Jaesa forward. The reactions from the entire crew were nothing less than absolute shock as they saw the AI walking up, looking like she was flesh and blood.

"Jaesa!" Taal'ani squeed as she rushed to the woman and wrapped her arms around her in a crushing hug. Jaesa returned the hug, giggling the whole time, as she was welcomed by the crew.

"My God! Jaesa, this... is... amazing!" Alex blurted out, looking over her form.

"You... made this?" Shazza queried, staring at her in amazement.

"Damn! You've got yourself some curves, girl!" Natalya hooted.

"Is that my dress?"

"Um... yeah. I'm sorry, Kasumi, but it was the only nice thing that was aboard that fit me properly and..." Jaesa started.

"No need to apologize! Hell, you wear it just as good as I do!" Kasumi complimented.

"Oh! Thank you, Kasumi!" Jaesa replied, blushing slightly.

"Jaesa, we've known each other for a while now. You can call me Kas," Kasumi told her.

"Indeed! No sense in standing on formality here! We're all friends!" Alex agreed.

"I'd like to run some tests and know how exactly it was that you've come up with such a realistic and lifelike skin!" Korsa grinned, still looking over Jaesa's body and rubbing her hands on the AI.

"Oooooooo! Stop that! It tickles!" Jaesa laughed.

"Wait, you can feel that?" Korsa asked.

"Yes, I can! I spared no expense in making this body as real as I could. As far as your tests are concerned, we already have run every possible test, including direct biopsies on the skin and its composition. They are aboard the Darkstrider, ready for your perusal at a moment's notice," Jaesa told the Khontaran woman.

"Stanley?" Korsa called out, tapping her wrist computer.

"Yes, Doctor?" Stanley replied as his hologram materialized on the computer.

"Would you please send me all the test files on the skin experiment you have done for Jaesa?" she asked. "I would like to conduct my own independent analysis."

"Of course, Doctor. There. The file has been uploaded," the VI told her as a ping sounded at the file's arrival. After thanking the VI, Korsa went over the files and her eyes popped upon reading them. As she stood there for the last several minutes, going over everything, her mouth fell open and Korsa was at a loss for words. She finally found her voice when she posed her question to Jaesa.

"How is it you were able to come up with your own DNA profile for the skin?" Korsa asked.

"Wait, she has a DNA profile? Like a real one?!?" Natalya queried, surprised at this revelation.

"I did... scoop up what pieces of DNA that I could from everyone here who was human. I then isolated what pieces of DNA could fit the profile and look I was going for and... put it together. It was difficult, trying to find the correct sequence in which each unique piece would bind to the other, but I figured it out," Jaesa stated proudly.

"That is just... wow! Is that why you're also completely bald?" Natalya continued.

"I associate that with the... 'birth' of my new skin. Hair will come, eventually. It's just a matter of feeding and nourishing my skin so that it will continue to live and grow, along with whatever hair I will have," Jaesa told her.

"How are you going to... nourish your skin?" Kasumi asked, curious.

"By doing the same as any sentient being! Eating, maintaining and cleaning myself, of course. What I have crafted isn't a synthetic skin in the sense that it's fake. It is living skin, much like your own, and it will continue to behave and act as such," Jaesa told them.

"How is that possible?" Taal'ani asked as she stared.

"When crafting the correct composition to craft the skin, I studied the precise chemical makeup that is responsible for your own skin and muscle. Once I had that, it was merely a matter of emulating the composition for human skin. Is that... kebabs I smell?" Jaesa asked, smelling the food that was cooking on the grill.

"Oh, damn!" Alex yelped as he turned back to the grill and the ignored food. He breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Tahral was busy minding the food.

"Thought I should keep turning them over, as your attention was otherwise occupied," Tahral grinned.

"Good call! Thanks for that!" Alex responded as he stood with the Artucian man and they minded the food.

"I am supremely impressed with your work! I'm guessing that you also have plans to do the same for Stanley and Delilah, then?" Inari asked, knowing of Jaesa's plan, as did everyone there.

"That is the plan, yes, and now that I know how to make it work, it should be easy enough to replicate the procedure for them," Jaesa told them.

"I would advise against doing said procedure again. At least for the moment. Here and aboard the Darkstrider, we have complete privacy, but it won't always be so," Alex stated as he and Tahral walked up with cooked kebabs for the group. They were stacked high on several plates, each with a mix of sweet and savory vegetables.

"What would you suggest, sir?" Jaesa asked.

"Collect what you require to do the procedure and tweak what you feel needs tweaking. But hold off on doing as such, at least until we return to Talemkha and the Perseus. At least there, you will have total privacy for you to work on your projects, without any outside interference," Alex replied.

"Now that... makes logical sense, sir. A recommendation that I will follow," Jaesa agreed.

Though they could give Stanley and Delilah the bodies they wanted, it made more sense to wait. That way, anyone who they would potentially meet would not grow suspicious of artificial intelligences walking around like they were real. Though the galaxy had advanced, there was still a deep-seated and irrational fear surrounding AI's. Jaesa was mildly disappointed at this, but understood the need for safety and secrecy.

"Is anyone else hungry, or is it just me?" Jaesa asked.

"Wait, you get hungry now?" Natalya asked, flummoxed at this piece of information.

"I did say that I would require food to maintain my new body, didn't I?" Jaesa smirked, as she helped herself to a kebab and bit down into the hot meat. The flavor of the food exploded onto Jaesa's tongue, and she nearly had a sensory overload! The taste, the texture, the heat, all of it flooded her cortex with new data about the food.

"Oh... mmmyyyyyyyy!!!" Jaesa gushed as she chewed on the meat.

"It's good, isn't it?" Natalya grinned as she also went in for a kebab. The rest of the crew followed suit, everyone hungry from all the swimming they did earlier. Korsa posed some additional questions to Jaesa, but they were more of a technical nature. The rest of the crew looked on as they watched the AI from the Perseus enjoy her first day in the physical universe.

It was interesting to watch her do all of this, as there was much the AI had to learn about the world around her. Amazing as it was, it was also endearing, as Jaesa had a childlike inquisitiveness about her. There was much she wanted to learn about and experience, but Korsa cautioned her against overloading herself. Even though she was an AI, sensory overload could still be harmful, something she did agree with.

"Well, I suppose we have some work to do," Alex responded, as he received a beep on his wrist computer.

"Work? Please don't say that word, babe!! At least, not for another couple of days!" Kasumi begged.

"Not saying that you have to work. Inari, Pree and I still have to go on up and collect the materials we purchased from the Nachal'Derm mining company," Alex informed them.

"You're headed up to Veldhern station? Do you mind if I come with you?" Jaesa asked.

"I'm not certain that's a good idea, Jaesa. The scanners up on the station are..." Inari began.

"Flawed! They were built by the hands of organics, not machines. As advanced as they may be, they will not detect me as a synthetic being," Jaesa argued.

"How did you manage this?" Korsa asked.

"This body, on top of being encased in organic tissue, is also free of any metal and is designed to mimic the appearance of a human woman. I even have a disguise matrix in place that makes it appear as though my internals are that of a human. Deep scans won't see that I'm an AI, no matter how often they scan," Jaesa concluded.

"I don't know. It's risky," Inari replied, stroking her chin pensively.

"Scan me with what we have aboard the Darkstrider, if you feel the need to. If the scans come back negative on any synthetic components, then let me go to Veldhern station. The tech aboard the Darkstrider is easily as advanced as what they have up there," Jaesa continued, making her case.

"She makes a point, love. What's the harm in letting her go if she can fool our scanners?" Priya reasoned.

"I'll go up with her!" Taal'ani volunteered. "I'll go with her, and if they detect that she's a synthetic, then I'll say that I'm taking her up there to get some repairs done. I've seen a few sexbot shops up there, so the argument will hold water."

"What about an ID? Bataar is light years away and likely enjoying a nice vacation," Alex told her.

"That's why I have a little something I've been keeping for a while now. Pre-made IDs, which can be programmed to create any identity that you wish. You just plug them in and input what you want them to be and bam! New life and identity waiting for you!" Taal'ani told them.

"Wait, you had these and didn't think to tell us? When we could have used these rather than calling Bataar for new IDs?" Kasumi growled.

"They were old and in need of an update, which is one of the reasons why I called him in the first place. Plus, these IDs I have are for emergencies only. I had several made back when Bataar and I first became friends," Taal'ani shot back.

"Several? How many did you have made?" Natalya asked.

"Six and I needed them. That was when the Ghost was chasing me, and I was trying to stay out of his hands!" Talon grumped.

"Wait, THE Ghost? The famed bounty hunter that just up and vanished while he was after you?" Natalya questioned.

"One and the same. You can thank your mom for ending the bastard's existence," Taal'ani said.

"Wha... mama? You took down a famed bounty hunter? And you never told me about it?!?" Natalya blurted, disbelief written all over her face.

"You never asked. As well as you knew everyone, you often forgot to ask Taal'ani how she joined our crew," Korsa iterated.

"I asked, but she never told me!" Natalya argued.

"Well, now I'm telling you," Talon stated.

"OK, this needs to be a story that everyone hears about! I mean, we sit down over some drinks and hear the story of how you were being chased by the Ghost!" Natalya said vehemently.

"OK! I'll tell the story, but later. Right now, I have two IDs that can be attenuated for Jaesa. If the scan can't pick Jaesa up, then we can use one to give her a proper ID," Taal'ani stated.

"You had six and you have only two left? Sounds like the bounty hunter was a serious piece of work, if he tracked you through four false IDs," Kasumi commented.

"Girl, you have no idea!" Natalya stated.

"OK. Let's get ready for launch up to Veldhern station. Jaesa, we will use every possible scanner in our arsenal to see if you can fool them. If you do, then you can go aboard Veldhern station, as you have suggested. Does this sound fair?" Alex questioned.

"More than fair! Thank you!" Jaesa squeaked.

"Don't thank me yet! You still have scans to get through! Inari, Priya, Taal'ani, come on. We've got work to do," Alex said, and the ladies followed the big man back to the Darkstrider.

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Lucy and Ziva were walking along, heading back to Ziva's place of work. They looked like a couple in love, enjoying some time together as they ambled. No one suspected their true motive or purpose, as they skipped into Ziva's office. The moment they were inside, Ziva headed to her desk, as though she had forgotten something. Several co-workers were just packing up for the day, as with the boss taking the rest of the day, they too had been granted some time off.

Ziva waited for the last person to walk out the doors before she enacted the plan. Using her access codes to power down the security scanners. She kept them operational, but just enough to where they appeared to be functioning normally. With the firepower that she had Lucy had stowed under their clothing, it would have certainly set them off and called every security guard to their location within seconds.

Once the scanners were brought down, Ziva typed up several orders, which Dexter did require, but hadn't signed off on yet. She took them in hand and gestured for Lucy to follow her as they stepped through the scanners. As predicted, they didn't go off, and the pair made their way into the administrative offices.

Several people nodded and smiled at Ziva, as she was well known there. Lucy displayed an intern pass, which wasn't an unusual sight. If Lucy was interning under Ziva, then it was legit, as Ziva had taken on many interns under her wing. They moved along, with Ziva leading the way, until they reached Dexter Malkaran's office. Ziva let herself in and when no one was looking, ushered Lucy inside.

"We have maybe six minutes before someone finds our presence in here suspicious. I've bypassed Dexter's security measures, but they'll go back online in ten minutes," Ziva informed her girlfriend.

"Then we need to work fast and get this done!" Lucy said, minding the door as Ziva headed for Dexter's desk, searching. "Any idea what you're looking for?"

"Not at the moment, but I have a feeling that I'll know it when I see it," Ziva replied. She searched the entire desk, but found nothing incriminating or damning. There were no hidden compartments, no secret buttons, nothing.

"Here. Use this," Lucy told Ziva, tossing her a compact device. "It's a DNA scanner and it will show you where higher concentrations of DNA are."

"Clever!" Ziva grinned, putting the device to use. The scanner would reveal where Dexter's DNA would be in the most concentrated form, thus revealing where he spent most of his time. She checked the desk again but found only a moderate amount there. She scanned the rest of the office and found an anomaly; a higher than normal concentration of dead skin cells around a small cluster of books that Dexter kept there.

"You find something?" Lucy asked.

"I think so. Hold up," Ziva responded as she checked the books. Several were genuine articles, and she mulled over how much Dexter had paid for these relics. She picked up one book and found it to be lighter than what she had anticipated. Curious, she opened it and inside found a small datapad which appeared to be disconnected from any network.

"What does it---" Lucy asked before she was hit from behind by the opening door. From the door, two men burst into the office with silenced pistols in armored fists. The men appeared to be security guards, but moved with a deadly grace that station security lacked. Their gaze turned to Ziva, holding the datapad in her hands, and their weapons moved, intent on ending her life.

As fast as they were, Ziva was faster, drawing her own pistol and firing a round at one of the guards. The moment she shot, she dropped to her knees and fired off three more rounds, each shot finding its way to one man's head. The first two rounds hit the man's helmet, but the last two punched through the armored helm, killing him.

The second man, seeing the fate of his partner, dropped and rolled forwards, firing his weapon at Ziva. Three bullets screamed towards her, two to the chest and one to the head. She saw the bullets coming and managed to avoid the head shot, but was hammered by the two chest shots. Luckily for her, the nanoweave vest she wore beneath her blouse kept her alive but knocked her back.

The man stood and aimed, looking to correct his missed shot, but he never got the chance. A spray of blood erupted from his neck, stealing his breath, voice, and life. Though he was still alive, the man had only seconds left, seconds which he spent futilely trying to stem the flow of blood from his ruined neck. Lucy stood up over the man, reached for his head and twisted, breaking his neck.

"Did you have to do that?" Ziva grunted, disgusted by the brutal action.

"He was dying anyway. I just sped things along and gave the man a merciful death. Choking on your own blood is not a pleasant experience," Lucy sighed as she went about closing the door and moving the bodies.

"You sound like you have some experience with that," Ziva murmured in observation.

"More than I'd like to have experienced. But where did you learn to shoot like that? No way an administrative assistant pops off four head shots at an armored assailant like that. Not without training," Lucy mentioned.

"My dad was a Federation marine. Growing up with a dad like that, you learn things from him, whether you want to or not. Today, of all days, I'm glad he taught me how to shoot," Ziva commented.

"Sounds like we both have stories to tell," Lucy commented as she tucked the bodies out of sight and tried her best to clean up the office.

"I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours," Ziva said with a smirk as she helped right things in the office.

"After. What triggered those two to show up?" Lucy wondered, knowing they had been careful.

"Shit! Silent alarm sensor! Just a sec!" Ziva stated as she peered at the alcove where the book had been sitting. Sure enough, there was a tiny beeping light, indicating that a silent alarm had been tripped. Ziva placed the empty book back on the shelf and a few seconds later, the alarm was reset, the motion sensor sensing the book had been returned to its place.