TO WORRY NO MORE. TO SLEEP FOREVER, UNDISTURBED. IS THAT NOT PEACE?
“No. Not even close.”
It was too late. By the time Iris realised what was happening, by the time Yan and Jesi realised what was happening, it was already finished. Ishtan lay in a spreading pool of his own blood, the back of his head missing. It had taken him a fraction of a second to bring the barrel to his face and press it just beneath his chin. It had taken even less to pull the trigger.
Jesi screamed. Her top half lurched towards Ishtan, but her legs wouldn’t move, and so she simply slumped forwards and wailed.
Breathe, VIFAI reminded Iris over Jesi’s muted cries. Breathe. You have seen this before. Breathe. Do not attribute more emotion than you need to. Focus on the task at hand.
Iris forced his lungs to expand. He could hold back the shock, he could hold back the wave of emotion threatening to engulf him whole. He didn’t dare look at Yan or Jesi. One wrong move, one wrong word, and everything would be lost.
I DID NOT EXPECT THAT.
He had failed as a Vessel and as a friend.
Ishtan had been so excited to meet him.
Ishtan had been so curious, so enthused.
Ishtan had already been slipping out of grasp, and Iris had done nothing to pull him back from the edge.
No.
Away, away, all the emotion had to be put away. The feelings. The impulses.
Away with all of it.
There was nothing to be done for Ishtan now. No Vessel, nor any monk of the Starlit could undo what had transpired. Ignoring the trembling of his voice, Iris called out to the ship. “You don’t need the girl, do you?”
NO.
OK. Iris could play this out. Carefully. “Then let her go. The engineer and I will stay.” He didn’t dare look back at Yan.
AND YOU HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO DECIDE ON THE LIFE OF PROFESSOR FUKUI?
It was such a monumental fact, one that had slipped by Iris unnoticed: Yan was a professor. The title finally landed with its full weight. Yan had students and classes and alife. Vessels were many, and professors were few. In the Northern Temple alone there were dozens of Irises. Many more novices who would be ordained in the coming months. Someone could already be sleeping on Iris’s mat, dressed in their own set of pristine white robes. Yan was probably the only one in his institute to study early AI formation. Yes, Iris remembered Yan’s field of study. He dragged the memory from the protected corner of his mind kicking and screaming and faced it. Yan was important to someone. Iris couldn’t possibly answer for someone like that.
“Fine by me,” Yan said, voice level. “Let Jesi go and give me proof that she’s safe, and we’ll do whatever it is you want us to do. Easy.”
So, that’s the sort of person Professor Fukui was. Iris dropped his head to his chest. It was such a shame they didn’t have more time to learn the depths of him. But no one ever did.
I CAN JUST AS EASILY KILL HER RIGHT NOW.
“Then I’m afraid I will not give you permission to hijack my construct.” Iris had to play this carefully. Could a ship AI be suspicious? Had it absorbed enough human experience to know that people lied, that people double-crossed one another on a daily basis despite whatever idyllic image they presented to the world? The fungi around them flickered at random, like the ship was using more than its usual resources to process this interaction.
THE GIRL STAYS UNTIL IT IS FINISHED.
Not good. Iris glanced back at Yan, who gave him a reassuring nod. Trust.Oh, that made it far more painful to execute the next part. All Iris wanted was more time, more time to laugh about the most inappropriate things, more time to drink warm water from the thermos. It was all coming to an end so abruptly, without proper goodbyes, without sweet nothings. “Then, as a gesture of good faith,Nicaea, could you show me the computer that serves as your brain? It’s in here, I know that much.” It was probably armoured too, but nothing that was made on First Earth could stand against his pulsar blade. “Show me that I can trust you.”
Iris was grasping at straws. His ploy was a long shot. But in the time Iris had spent by Yan’s side, he was certain he had a good enough read on the engineer. There was also the telling flinch that Yan made towards Eli’s gun, now holstered at his side. Nothing good came from untrained people handling firearms. Now, of all times, wasn’t the time for rash action. As a reminder, Ishtan lay dead with half his skull missing, and, somehow, it didn’t seem poetic or just.
“I am unarmed.” Iris slowly raised his right arm and rolled up the sleeve. There was no holster there, just as he had planned, a small act of misdirection. He reached out towards theNicaea. “My faith teaches me to respect all living things, and I believe you are very much alive. I want to help you. I want to honour your wishes. I will not act against you with violence or malice.” Lies, all lies.
“What the fuck, Vessel?” Yan cursed, but Iris kept his attention on theNicaea.
The ship was thinking. Light crackling poured from the speakers like raindrops around them.FAITH GOT US HERE, DIDN’T IT? FAITH STARTED WARS ABOARD ME. FAITH COST ME MY CREW. WHAT FAITH DO YOU FOLLOW, VESSEL, ONE THAT SPEAKS OF NONVIOLENCE YET DISPENSES IT EFFORTLESSLY?
Iris held his tongue. TheNicaeahad awoken not a few weeks prior, but it wasn’t naive. It might know far more about the consequences of faith than Iris did. He waited and waited; his breathing hitched.
