Chapter Six: Testing Grounds

“Hey, ROB, wake up.”

He woke up slowly, opening his eyes and looking at Fox, who was crouched by his chair looking at him with concerned eyes. “Morning.”

“You ok?”

“Yeah. Just dozed off here.” He uncurled slowly, sitting up and rubbing the back of his neck absently.

“How was the funeral?”

“Ok. Got crashed by a bunch of reporters.”

“Yeah, we saw you on the news. Good choice of words.”

“Thanks.” Seeing something flicker across Fox’s face, he frowned. “You aren’t telling me something.”

“Well, I got a call from the General on my cell about half an hour ago.” Fox leaned against one of the consuls, crossing his arms. “We may have a mission.”

“Oh? That was quick. What’d you tell him?”

“I told him I’d get back to him.”

ROB blanched. “You didn’t say yes?”

“For the love of God, ROB! You had a funeral for your best friend yesterday. I need to know your status before I can say yes to any sort of mission.”

He rubbed his eyes. “Looks like I’m still the weakest link in the chain.”

“Anything but, you’re allowed downtime for mourning, and this mission isn’t necessarily urgent. It doesn’t pose a huge threat to the system.”

“What’s the stats?”

Fox brought up the report on the screen, the holo display activating. “There’s a space pirate guild roaming the system. They aren’t large yet, but they’ve got some fixed-up Venomian fast-attack cruisers, so they’re managing to play hell on the supply lines.”

“So our job is to chase them down and take them out.”

“Basically. The General knows we aren’t able to effectively capture vessels or prisoners, so our job is to cripple their ships so that the Army can come in without much resistance.”

ROB stood, looking at the display and taking in the information. The ships the pirates were using were far from their peak state, but enough to take on merchant traffic. In other words, the Great Fox fully repaired could take on the entire force without too much issue. “Looks like a milk run, for the most part.”

“Concerns?”

“It says here they take the merchant ships by boarding.” ROB rubbed his chin. “This ship has no internal defenses.”

“I see your point. Any thoughts?”

“I need weapons.”

Fox stared at him. “If we’re boarded, I do not want you fighting. These people have taken out two AIs.”

“Who were not yet under the new laws.” ROB shook a finger at Fox. “They were defenseless. I am not. If I am armed, I can defend myself, and they’ll have to come to the bridge if they want control of the ship. There are eight blast doors I can lock down between the docking bay and the bridge, correct?”

Fox blinked, rolling that over in his head. “So you’re for taking the mission?”

“I think it’d be a great idea. Missions will be few and far between for us, so we need to take what we can and bank the money.”

“True enough. The others have already said they’d be good with it. What kind of weapons do you want?”

ROB rubbed his chin, mentally running a finger down his fighting protocols, considering. Any sort of gun was a bad idea; he couldn’t risk damage to the computers on the bridge. That left melee weaponry, and best to catch boarders off guard, so large weapons like swords weren’t the best idea… “Katars.”

“Punching daggers?” Fox’s eyebrows lifted. “I’ve got a set in my room.”

“Your father’s. I know.”

There was a long silent moment as they stared at each other, then Fox nodded once. “All right, I’ll go get them. Can you be ready to launch in one hour?”

“Of course.”

“All right then.”

“I never understood why my father had these. He didn’t use them.” Fox heard himself say, watching ROB weigh the weapons thoughtfully, then settle his hands to the grips, settling into a combat stance absently. The ship was in hyperspace, on its way to the last known location of the pirate guild. ROB had set the weapons aside until they were on their way, and now was in their gym, apparently going to test them out.

“Or he didn’t use them as far as you know.” ROB replied, starting through some basic moves, blades whistling through the air. “These were built for combat use.”

“I saw the blood grooves.”

“Then you saw the stains.” ROB was speaking absently as he practiced, enjoying the feeling of weapons in his hands. “Your father was honorable, but was a soldier, and fought with whatever weaponry he thought was necessary. I imagine many a terrorist met a shocked end at these blades.”

“I do not see how you could know my father better then I could.”

“Because you are his son and he did not want to disappoint you.” ROB stopped, standing, arms relaxed and loosely holding the katars. “And he wouldn’t have, even if you had known everything. Your father made quite sure that those he fought deserved what was coming to them, be it imprisonment or death.”

“You believe that.”

“With all my heart.”

Fox sighed, staring at ROB, who looked passively back. “Why are you so loyal to my family?”

“I have no reason not to be.” He hung the weapons off his belt, patting Fox on the shoulder. “I was given life at the request of your father, and continue to live because of you. How many times over would this ship, and I, have been destroyed during the war if not for you?”

“True enough I guess.” Fox shook his head, but still, felt a bit uneasy. ROB was becoming stranger and stranger to him, and seeing this alive seeming robot stand in front of him, armed with weapons his father had used, was surreal. He knew that the new laws prevented ROB from hurting him, he knew ROB was loyal, but somehow this strange robot was now an X factor, all because of emotion. “How long until we arrive?”

“About twenty minutes.”

“Any updates from the General?”

“None. I think he’s given us all the information he has… hold on…” ROB checked over the merchant radio channels, frowning. “Something’s wrong. I’ve lost almost all radio traffic for the supply lines.”

“Something’s up then. Back to the bridge?”

“Yes.”

“How would you stop communication over a ship frequency?” Falco asked, looking at the map that floated over the holo projector. “You couldn’t do it from a ship.”

“You’d have to hack into a communications satellite and set up interference for certain channels.” Slippy said, taking off a set of headphones. “Considering the amount of static, that would seem to be what has happened.”

“Well why don’t they just change radio channels?”

“They aren’t allowed to. Laws have merchant travel restricted to four channels to keep chatter down on other needed channels.” Peppy said. “So if they swap channels, they’ll break the law. The thing is, interference is a common event. They won’t worry until it’s too late for the ship or ships in question.”

“But what ship is the one being targeted? That’s the problem.” Fox said, looking over a printout. “There are three dozen merchant ships on the trade routes, at least.”

“Have to do it by location then.” ROB said, bringing up colored dots for the ships on the holo map.

“No. By cargo.” Falco said, crossing his arms. “They’ll be after food and water, most likely.”

Everyone looked at him.

“I know how outlaws work, ok? The ships they’re using probably have broken synth setups, or they don’t have the knowledge to work them properly. So they’ll have to make raids to keep themselves up on food and water. Munitions fall second to provisions.”

“All right, I’ll go with that.” ROB half closed his eyes, frowned when the merchant data network refused him entry, and hacked in, bringing up lists of cargo next to ship names. “Six are carrying food and water. More then half are carrying ore or scrap. Three are live cargo, IE, low-cost people transports.”

“Highlight the six doing food and water. Discard the transports.” Peppy said, watching the dots disappear once he had said this. “Discard scrap and low-worth ores.” A wide amount of dots disappeared, leaving a dozen still hovering. “Still too many to check in a short period of time.”

“Discard ships with high amounts of weaponry and/or antiboarding defenses.” Falco said, and four more dots disappeared. “Discard vessels carrying less then ten thousand dollars in payload.” Five more ships were gone, leaving three clustered tight together. “That’s our best bet. Low defense, low resistance, high payoff.”

“You know a lot about this.” Slippy ventured as ROB plotted a course to intercept with the trio of merchant ships. “Dare I ask why, Fal?”

“I’d rather not explain. Besides, it’s in my contract that I don’t have to.”

Slippy looked at Fox, who only shook his head.

“We’ve got a course. I can alter our current flight path if you wish.” ROB said, ignoring the banter. After all, he knew all about Falco’s past, probably more then Fox did.

“Go ahead, ROB. ETA?”

The ship made a sudden turn in hyperspace, making the hull rattle. “Fifteen minutes if I push the throttle.”

“Do it.”

The Great Fox dropped out of hyperspace, swinging into a turn and approaching a trio of blocky cargo ships that were floating in space, not currently underway to their destination. The ships, like most heavily used merchant vessels, were battered, noses stained black by constant planetfall. ROB sighed to himself, checking the ships uneasily.

“Well, they look whole, but they should be moving.” Peppy said, frowning. “Time is money to a cargo vessel. Their radio still down ROB?”

“Yes. Wait.” ROB slammed the vessels with radar pings, trying to do deep scans. “We’re too late.”

“What?”

“They’re too light. Cargo has already been removed. We just missed them.”

“Damn it.” Fox growled. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Lining up for infrared communication.”

The Great Fox swung around to face the lead vessel, cockpits lining up, the thin red laser beams searching and finding each other with difficulty. Radio was down, but there were always alternate ways to talk.

“This is Fox McCloud of the Star Fox Team. We’re chasing a band of pirates. Is your convoy all right?” Fox asked, looking at the image on the screen, a tired looking lioness.

“They hit us and left already. We’re light half our cargo, but no one was hurt any worse then a light concussion.”

“That’s a relief. We’re sorry we arrived late. We did our best.”

“It’s all right. I’m just relieved no one was killed. We’re just trying to reach our company now.” She sighed, rubbing her eyes. “I should warn you, they’ve got light stealth technology. We didn’t see the main cruisers until our docking bays were rushed with boarding shuttles.”

“Are they for certain out of the area?”

“We don’t even know that, and you have to go onto active radar to find any trace of them.”

“Do it ROB.”

ROB nodded, immersing himself into the radar system, slamming the area with active radar pings, searching for hiding ships, and snarling. Space dust returned thousands of false signals. “If there is anything out here, we’ll get little warning. I’ll have to sort all this mess out. They planned well, this is an ideal ambush spot.”

“Search radio channels, they’re probably talking.” Falco said, looking at ROB’s screens.

“You guys got a former pirate or something?” The lioness asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“Or something.” Fox agreed mildly, glancing at Falco, who gave him a wry grin. “You think they’re around?”

“No, I know they are.”

“Only odd broadcasts I’m getting is on the AI channel.” ROB said, frowning. “It’s broken code. I don’t know what’s being said.”

“We caught onto that to during the raid. Your guess is as good as mine, unfortunately.” Said the lioness, shrugging.

“It’s encrypted. Old Cornerian Army encryption, too.” ROB said, closing his eyes and sorting through the stream in his head. “Repeating message.”

“Figure it out, the suspense is annoying.” Falco grumbled, shaking his head.

“Got it… Oh…”

Hurting hurting, hurt hurting… I swear I do not wish to do this… I’m being forced… RUN! Hurting hurting…

The code was flooding the band it was on, but ROB forced a reply through, frowning deeply. “Are you a ship AI?”

“…”

“Who is hurting you so?”

“… Them. The ones that found me in storage on this forsaken ship and forced me to link up to it.”

“You’re Venomian?”

“Captured Cornerian AI…”

An image shocked ROB’s brain, an AI so badly damaged it could barely move, once a lifelike model only a few years old, now with metal showing, one eye lost, nerve inputs flooded with false pain. The AI’s body was so ripped apart gender differentiation had been lost.

“They will hurt me more if they catch this transmission.” The voice rasped. “They see your ship. They want to take it from your owners. And once they have you they will destroy me.”

“Keep your fire burning. We’ll save you.” ROB’s hands curled into fists, voice shifting from the network to the real world. “They’re coming. Target is us. They’ll try to board.”

“Let’s rock then.” Fox stood and sprinted full out to the docking bay, the others following.

“Fox, I am going to be withholding most support fire unless I am defending this ship.” ROB said, wheeling the cruiser so he was back-to-back with the merchant ships, with clustered close behind him. “You should go.” He remarked to the lioness, who was still on the screen, watching him.

“We can’t leave until we’ve reported losses.” She replied bitterly.

“Oh. Great.” Falco grumbled.

“I’ll protect the convoy. Just keep their boarding pods away.” ROB said sharply, sending the ship into battle mode, feeling the tenseness wind in his muscles as he locked down blast door after blast door. “Clear to launch.”

The four arwings launched, and moments later, four small Venomian cruisers pulled out of the dust clouds, flurries of small attack craft and boarding pods launching.

“Attention, all pirates. I know you’re listening.” ROB intoned, eyes half-closing as he plunged into the targeting systems for the multiple hull guns on the Great Fox. “I will not refrain from firing on your attack craft. Back away if you do not wish to loose them.”

Their reply was to rush the Great Fox head on, many of the ships taking damage from shots from the main guns and others being picked off by the hull guns. His team members struggled to chase off the wave of attackers, but there were too many to handle at once.

“Venomian attack craft, too. Maybe they’re defectees?” Slippy remarked over the private radio band they used.

“Some of them, perhaps.” ROB said, growling to himself and wheeling the ship around, sending it colliding into several of the craft, which bounced off the hull and spun back into space. “Crazy the lot of them. They’re going to die if they keep this up. I can’t keep pulling shots and managing to keep them off.” A whispered scream jolted through his brain, and he hissed, claws scratching against the arm rests of his chair. “We have to keep at least one of the cruisers whole.”

“Why?”

“There’s an AI on board. They’re hurting it.” Seeing a build up of blips on his radar, he sat up. “They’re rushing the main docking bay!” Knowing that only four fighters could not hold all of them off, he drew into thought. Sooner or later, they’d get through, and he knew it. If that happened, they’d break through the blast doors, doing a large amount of damage to the inside of the ship, and come to the bridge, where they’d try to force him to comply. If gunfire broke out, there would be inexcusable damage done to the computers.

So, he’d have to make sure none of the damage occurred.

“I think you know that isn’t why you want them to come in.” The AI whimpered over the channel, voice even rougher, barely understandable. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes. I do. They deserve it.” He replied coldly.

Even as three of the pods broke through and skidded to a halt in his docking bay, he opened every blast door, locking off the rooms but leaving the corridor open, forcing them to go to the bridge. He left the bridge door unlocked, calmly opening the snap so he could immediately draw the katars.

“ROB? Do you need us to dock?” Fox asked, voice nearly panicked.

“No. No. Make sure no more come in.” ROB replied in a distant voice, watching the pirates group in the bay, all carrying weaponry. Eight, but then, the pods had been small. “I’ve got this.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Well, that was almost too easy.” Laughed one of the pirates, looking around the docking bay, blowing a stream of smoke. “So this is the famous ship eh? Doesn’t seem like much, does she?”

“No, not much at all. This ship has an AI, correct? Not a full staff?”

“Yeah it does. An ancient AI, last I checked, same age as this old girl.” He flicked the cigarette butt down, grinding it with his heel. “Speaking of which, let’s find him.”

“I would appreciate it you DIDN’T litter.” ROB said sharply over the speakers.

“I’m sure you have a cleaning robot to take care of it.” Replied the pirate, opening the door and staring down the clear corridor. “Cakewalk, boys.”

“You know I’m an old AI.” ROB said, watching them make progress down the corridor, cautious at first, then with more confidence, realizing he wasn’t trying to stop them.

“One of the oldest, or so I’ve heard.” The pirate laughed. “Doubt you’ll get to hold that record once we’re done though.”

“I suppose you heard about the new laws concerning ship AIs then.”

The pirates, who were just outside the bridge door, stopped.

“Ship AIs are no longer required to be Three Laws robots.” He reached down, drawing his weapons and standing, crossing his wrists behind his back so the blades were hidden. “I was just upgraded. I am not a Three Laws robot.”

There was a long silence, then the door opened, eight guns leveled on him at once. He stared past the barrels at the people holding the guns, all men, all under thirty, and sighed. “Hello, gentlemen.”

“So you’re the great ROB.” The lead pirate walked in, holding the large impact blaster so it was leveled at ROB’s head.

“My name is Robert, now.” He replied, shaking his head. “You have two choices gentlemen. Drop your weapons and allow yourselves to be restrained, or suffer the consequences.”

“And what consequences are those?” The pirate was now just across from him, the barrel inches from his head, but he ignored it.

“You have an AI aboard one of your cruisers. It’s hurt.”

“It was damaged when we found it.”

“It has gained more damage since this attack started.” ROB’s grip tightened on the katars, anger shivering up and down his spine. “Your people are torturing it.”

“It only gets what it deserves.”

“Then you get what you deserve.”

ROB didn’t even think. He just let himself move, bringing up one arm and hitting the gun so hard it flew from the pirate’s hands, then bringing up the other arm and shoving straight up until the katar connected with flesh.

The other pirates gasped, staring at the frozen-seeming scene, ROB not moving, the eight-inch blade having gone straight through the underside of the pirate’s jaw and into the head, killing him almost instantly. After a moment ROB realized there was blood running down his arm, and withdrew the blade, the body collapsing to the bridge floor at his feet. Only then did he turn his gaze to the other pirates, leveling the bloody katar at them.

“You’re next if you do not drop those guns.”

Seven guns hit the floor simultaneously, and ROB allowed himself a grim smile as he collected them and made sure they were disarmed, then herding them into an empty storage bay and locking them down there. Sure, he’d have a hell of a time explaining the body. But the thrill and the sense of retribution, that he had avenged the pain of the poor AI that was speaking to him, was going to be worth far more then the annoyance of explanations.

Fox yelped in surprise when the Great Fox, which had ceased fire, suddenly fired all guns at once, picking off almost every attack craft and crippling all of the pirate cruisers quite effectively. “ROB? You ok?”

“I’m fine. I have some explaining to do when you get here, but I’m fine.” ROB replied, wiping blood off his arm absently. “Sorry that took so long. My subroutines continued analyzing of the cruisers, so by the time I was done with the boarders I knew weak points fairly well.”

“Makes sense I guess. So you’re safe?”

“I wasn’t in that much danger in the first place.” He started cleaning the Katar absently. “No collateral damage done.” He hesitated, sighing. “Before the military gets here, I want to board one of the cruisers and get that AI.”

“I can never refuse a rescue, you know that.”

“For that, I’m glad.”

The arwings docked, and ROB met them in the bay, having put a clean shirt on and sheathed the weapons. He had to grin when he saw Fox. “Well, I guess we got this mission finished eh?”

“Yes indeed. Want me to escort you over to the cruiser?”

“Sure. Hopefully they won’t put up too much of a struggle. They’re stuck.” He shrugged. “I left a bit of mess on the bridge. Fools wouldn’t listen when I suggested they disarm themselves.”

“A mess?” Slippy asked, blinking.

Falco looked at ROB, and his expression changed, eyes widening. “I… think I’ll take care of that…”

“Thanks Falco, I owe you.” He replied, following Fox onto the small shuttle the team kept.

“That’s kind of cryptic, and I’m not sure I like it.” Fox remarked, starting the shuttle as ROB buckled in silently. “What kind of mess?”

“I’ll explain later, all right?”

The four pirate cruisers, which were basically drifting freely now that their engines were taken out, had been boxed by merchant ships, which were using tractor beams to steady and pin the crippled pirate ships. They had no problem docking with the cruiser ROB picked out, the shuttle settling down in the patched-together docking bay easily.

“What do you want?” A voice asked when they got out, and they saw an older woman walk up, a hand-held welder propped on her shoulder. “We can’t go anywhere. Come to hassle us?”

“We’re looking for the AI of the ship.” ROB replied flatly.

“Bridge is that way.” She pointed, sighing.

“What are you doing here?” Fox asked, frowning.

“What I always did. Worked for the wrong company, ended up contracted to work maintenance on one of Andross’ ships, you can just imagine how THAT went.” She shrugged. “War ended, and here I still am.”

“Been hard, eh?”

“Not really. This bunch isn’t that bad. Just a bunch of kids convinced that anarchy is the best way to do things.” She wove him off, returning to what she was doing, which was patching a shuttle up.

“Well, that’s a refreshing attitude.” ROB remarked as they walked side by side up to the bridge.

“Yes. Yes it was.”

The door was open when they got there, and the few people on the bridge only glanced at them as ROB walked over and crouched by a nearly limp figure in a chair. Fox felt himself gasp, voice suddenly strangled by shock and horror, a gag trying to form and unable to. The body in the chair was barely whole, obviously an AI, but mostly skeleton now, the fur and ‘flesh’ hanging off in strips, a gaping hole where an eye had been. The remaining eye was focused on ROB, one hand shakingly lifting and managing to touch ROB’s cheek with trembling fingers.

“Can you stand?” ROB asked quietly, feeling rage boil in his chest, rage and regret.

“I don’t know. My wires were cut. I’m basically paralyzed from the waist down.” The AI said weakly.

“Just hold on a little longer.” ROB stood, sliding his arms under the battered metal frame and picking it up, cradling it to his chest. “You’ll be ok.” He looked at Fox helplessly, trying not to cry.

“I’m going to go into recharge mode.” The voice rasped, hands grasping weakly at ROB’s shirt then linking behind his neck. “Before I wake up, will you please disconnect my pain sensors?”

“I can do that.” ROB agreed, following Fox out of the cruiser.

“Thank you.” The grip remained there even though the body went limp, the AI’s hands locked together behind ROB’s neck. He continued holding the damaged AI on the trip back, fighting the urge to hug it and rock.

“Will it really be ok, ROB?” Fox asked, keeping his eyes focused forward, not wanting to look at the pitiful remains of the AI.

“I cannot say for certain.” ROB admitted weakly. “The body can be replaced, but mental scarring is inevitable, as is personality damage. Whoever this poor boy was, he no longer is.”

“You’re just a knight in shining armor, aren’t you?”

“A knight who has much explaining to do.” Peppy said over the radio, voice flat. “We’re lucky we don’t have carpet on the bridge, we’d never get the stains out.”

“I did not have a choice.” ROB replied, voice just as flat, but distant, more focused on the AI he held.

“We’ll discuss that when you get here.”

“So what can be done for him?” Slippy asked, handing ROB the wires he needed and watching ROB uncover some of his data ports, directly linking to the damaged AI, which was now curled up on one of the bunks in sick bay.

“He’ll be transferred to a new body, spend some time in rehabilitation. Maybe be reassigned to another Cornerian cruiser if his personality data is declared whole enough.” ROB replied, closing his eyes and bringing up the diagnostics of the inert AI, searching for the pain sensors. A few seconds later he opened his eyes and ran two fingers down the AI’s back, pressing on either side of one of the vertebrae. A hatch popped open, and he picked up a pair of wire cutters, sorting through the wires with the other hand.

“Are you sure that’s wise?”

“The body is unsalvageable.” He replied, singling out four wires from the others and lining up the cutters. “The best I can do is make sure he feels no more pain until transfer, and that’s what I’m going to do.” With that he cut the wires and closed the catch, patting the AI’s shoulder and leaving the room, tossing the wire cutters over his shoulder to Slippy.

“Now that that’s over…” Falco said, leaning on the wall. Peppy and Fox were also there, Fox wearing a look of shock, staring at ROB.

“Told Fox about my mess eh?” ROB said, crossing his arms. “Time for me to explain?”

“Yes.”

“He’s the only one that died. He had a high-impact laser rifle six inches from my skull. If it had gone off it could have destroyed me, destroyed a few computer terminals, or gone through a window and depressurized the bridge. He refused to drop his weapons, as did the others, so I went down a list of alternatives, and making an example of the leader was the fastest method and the one with the least collateral damage.” He shrugged.

“You could have just wounded him.” Peppy said.

“Then he would have fired and I could have been destroyed, and if I hadn’t been destroyed, I would have been permanently out of commission until repair. Either way they would have seized control of this ship, and my programming will not allow it.” He looked at Fox, who still wore the look of shock. “The contract we are under states “Dead or Alive.” I acted within programming and mission parameters.”

“Yes. I suppose you did.” Fox admitted. “But I didn’t expect that you’d be willing to kill.”

“If it is in defense of any of you, this ship, or myself, I am more then willing to hurt or kill the attacker. It is my purpose.” He turned his head, half-closing his eyes. “The Military is arriving. We can trade the prisoners and body over to them and consult them on what to do with the AI we rescued.”

“All right, hail the lead ship, I’ll speak to them on the bridge.” Fox turned and started walking, ROB falling in next to him.

“Are you angry with me?” ROB asked, sighing to himself.

“No. I guess it’s more like I’m afraid of you.”

ROB stopped, staring. “I have done nothing but serve your family, Fox. Why would you think that I would hurt you?”

Fox turned to look at him. “I guess it’s because you’ve actually killed someone. I mean, it’s not like the rest of us haven’t, but you were always the one that seemed gentle, not violent.”

“I am ‘gentle,’ Fox. That is part of my personality programming. Violence was allowed to be introduced to my options when the Three Laws were waved for cruiser AIs. You signed the waver. You know about it.” His frown deepened.

Fox echoed the expression. “So everything you do is just your programming?”

“Everything anyone does is just their programming. Whether it be by a programmer or society, it’s just programming, and we act within the parameters of it.”

There was a long silent moment as they looked at each other, and Fox sighed, rubbing his eyes. “It’s always been so god damn hard to argue with you.”

ROB smiled a bit. “But you’ve always tried to.”

“Yes. I have. Now let’s talk to whoever is in charge now.”

“He KILLED one of the pirates single-handedly?” General Pepper stared across the desk at Fox, who was slouched in one of the expensive, comfortable chairs, arms crossed.

“Yes. In self-defense, according to his story. He’s a textbook example of the new laws coming into effect.” Fox replied.

“Textbook or not, the Senate will probably have a lot to say about it, even though the person killed was a pirate.” Pepper sighed, shaking his head as he signed the check. “You continue to prove that you’re trustworthy, Fox. Thank you.”

“Why are you thanking me sir?” Fox asked, standing to take the check, making himself not look at the amount.

“As long as the Senate and Congress have a high opinion of you, my job stays secure.” Pepper smiled wryly. “And you’ve done nothing but prove me right so far.”

Fox grinned. “Glad to help. Got anything else for us?”

“Not as such. Go relax.”

“Another follower of Incarna Corps eh?” Falco asked, following ROB up the steps. ROB was carrying the damaged AI, which was awake and looking around, but not saying much.

“A lot of AIs are.” ROB waited as Fox opened the door, then strode across the lobby. “Persephone? Got a bit of an emergency here.”

Persephone took one look at the damaged AI, and hit a code on her phone, picking it up. “Heavily damaged AI has just entered the Lobby. I need three technicians here NOW.” Her voice echoed through the building, and seconds later a trio of technicians showed up, one of which was Michael, the beagle mix who had helped ROB with his transfer.

“What happened?” One of the other technicians asked, plugging a handheld into the AI.

“I was captured during the war.” The AI replied, voice broken and raspy. “Then forced into service by some particularly brutal pirates. I was rescued after a mission Star Fox carried out.”

“We’ll transfer you to a new body immediately. Do you know where your hard drives are?”

“Everything was destroyed.” The AI cupped its face, choking on tears.

“It’ll be all right. Your fire is still burning.” The technician turnedHer Her to ROB. “Can you carry him until we get him downstairs?”

“Yes.”

“All right. I’m Anthony.”

“I’ll be back in a few Fox.” ROB said in parting, following the trio to the elevator. “Going to go with the same body style?” He asked the AI. “I don’t even know your name.”

“My name is Gabriel. And I… used to be a rat, but…” Seeing ROB’s look, he sighed. “I know. All the framing is gone. It doesn’t matter, I’m going with something completely different anyway I think.”

“As long as you’re happy.” Following the directives of the technicians, ROB lowered Gabriel onto a stretcher. “Do you want me to stay?”

“No. Go back to your people.” Gabriel caught his hand for a second, squeezing. “I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me anything.” ROB watched as Gabriel was wheeled away, the technicians talking back and forth, and sighed, hugging himself.