I said, “Space them? You mean, toss them out into space? To die?”
Ee said quickly, “Oh, it’s time. Look.”
I looked at the girl wrapped in a blanket beside me and watched as she tilted her neck to the side and pointed at a spot between her collarbone and her ear.
Ee said, “Go ahead. Give her the stimulant. Just like before. Do it now.”
I took the cylindrical device and held it against the spot the girl was pointing to and pressed the button. The girl shuddered and took a deep breath almost immediately.
Speaking for the first time, she said, “Oh, that felt good. Do that again.”
Eevona gave me the OK and I gave the girl another shot of the stimulant.
She moaned and said, “That is nice. OK, give me a second. Ah, oh, OK. First, what language is this?”
I said, “It’s English. From Earth.”
She looked and me and said, “Never heard of it. Doesn’t matter. No, it does. I was not destined for anywhere called Earth. And the protocol for taking me from storage was unusual. And seemingly ad hoc. What is our situation? Let’s start with the Eevona. Eevona, report. What is our situation?”
Ee said, “There was damage.”
The girl said, “This is too slow. Revert to normal universal ship comms.”
I heard some strange sounds from both of them for a few seconds and then the girl said in English again, “Understood. You were damaged. This Earthling was part of your recovery plan. You recognize him as the ship’s captain. Good enough. What is your name?”
I said, “Jimmy. Jim Raskin.”
She said, “And is that how I should address you? I know that sometimes cultures have different customs for address and identification.”
I said, “Call me Jimmy.”
She said, “Good. Jimmy, it is. OK Jimmy, here's what you don’t know. I was cargo on my way to a partnership on a planet on the outer rim. That arrangement is no longer available.”
I said, “A partnership?”
She said, “Partnership is the best word that I could find in this language. We can try to find a suitable translation later. So, I need to settle my status. Units have several options. Generally six. The options are cargo, crew, contracted, concubine, castoff, and um, chameleon. Cargo status is unavailable. I am awake and healthy. My intended destination is no longer viable.”
I said, “Because there was damage?”
She actually smiled as she said, “Yes. Because of the damage. My Unit training is primarily combat and military. But let me explain. Cargo are Units in storage during transit to a partnership. Crew are part of an enterprise, such as a ship or business. Contracted Units are partnered Units that are hired out for specific periods of time by the partner to work for others. Generally at highly dangerous jobs with low survivability. Concubine Units become proxy companions for the partner either instead of or in addition to a partner’s spouse. They are trained for enterprise management, both household and industrial. Castoff Units are abandoned by their partners for some reason and are left to survive on their own. Most castoffs end their lives in a very short time. That leaves the Chameleon Unit. Some Units, a small number, will split from their partnership and take on an identity of a person and pass for a citizen.”
I said, “I want to help you.”
She looked at me and said, “You do? I was starting to think that a partnership with you might be a possibility. We can explore it. You are inexperienced in essentially every respect at this point. That would make for an unusual lifestyle, but perhaps it would be interesting. Given my other options. Our situation is almost unprecedented and Units are certainly not trained for this. I suppose that in many ways, I am as inexperienced as you are. This could work out very well for both of us.”
We sat quietly for a minute as both of us considered our circumstances.
After a short time, she said, “I remember how you treated me during the washing protocol. It was different than my training. I am grateful for your…kindness and respect. I know that you don’t really know what I am. I sense that it wouldn’t matter to you if you did. Eevona has told me that you are partnered with her. That is very unusual. But, there was damage.”
She sat quietly for another minute and then said, “So, my situation. I’m not cargo because I am awake and have no destination. I can’t be contracted because I don’t have a partner to enter into contracts for me. I don’t enjoy the thought of being castoff or chameleon. Neither lives long.”
I said, “Why don’t the Chameleons live long?”
She said, “Because of the competition. Units easily detect each other. Unattached Units are illegal. If a chameleon was detected, it would be killed on sight. When a chameleon comes in contact with another Unit, it will run, hide, or kill the one who detected it. The safest way for them is to act as if they are partnered and arrange contracts of their own. But contracts lead to death in a short time anyway. Some employers will take a castoff or chameleon even if they suspect that they are not partnered, but they will send them on the worst contracts that they can get. The lower the chance that the Unit will survive, the less the contract is worth. So, my question to you is, do you have a crew position available? I’m not trained as a concubine.”
Chapter 6 - Partnership
Eevona spoke up for the first time and said, “Jimmy, understand that the decision is hers.”
The Unit said, “Yes. The decision will be mine.”
I didn’t know exactly what to do or say here. I didn’t know any of these customs at all.
I said, “But if I’m understanding anything at all, you need a partnership. But maybe I don’t understand. But wouldn’t a partnership be the easiest thing?”
She said, “It would. Are you offering me partnership?”
I said, “I think so. I don’t know how it works or anything, and I want to be clear about that. I don’t know exactly how anything works right now, but if a partnership is what you would want, and if there’s some way to do it for you, why wouldn’t I want to do that for you?”
The Unit looked at me and said, “A partnership is different than anything in your language. It should be simple, but it might not seem that way since you are from a very different culture. There are several reasons that a partnership would be good for me. An inexperienced partner would pose unusual problems, but also provide unusual opportunities. I am built to be flexible and resilient in almost any scenario. I can adapt to this easily enough. Let me think.
OK, I was on my way to a partnership with a person who is now essentially deceased. I don’t know if they are actually dead or not, but for this scenario, we will assume that they are. Also assume that all heirs and other claimants are also deceased or unavailable. If you were not on board, space law might say that I become attached to the owner of the transport vessel that had me as cargo. But the owner of the Eevona is also essentially deceased.”
Eevona said, “In that case, both you and I are subject to salvage.”
The Unit said, “Except for my free-agency. I can submit to salvage if I choose to. Becoming a Chameleon is perfectly legal, but living as one is not. But that is beside the point for now. I’m not trying to work out how to get away, I’m trying to work out if it is possible for me to stay. Eevona has an excellent point. Both she and I are subject to salvage.”
Eevona said, “But I’m not. I was. Jimmy found me, salvaged me, and became my partner.”
The Unit said, “And in the same way, I can choose to be salvageable as well. Tell me the circumstances of my awakening.”
There was a very short, almost inaudible buzz, and The Unit nodded.
She said, “So, I was moments from death. Without intervention, I would have been terminated. Jimmy, salvaged me just prior to me being scrapped as useless.”
Eevona said, “That’s my analysis, but there was damage, so what do I know?”
The Unit smiled again and said brightly, “I accept your analysis! I have been salvaged and Jimmy Raskin of the Eev
ona is responsible for my disposition. The options aren’t up to me unless I rebel. OK, Captain, what will it be? Partnership or castoff. If you want a partnership, I will accept.”
I said, “Well, I’m certainly not going to cast you off. Partnership for sure!”
The Unit said, “I feel a responsibility to make sure that you understand before we fully agree. If you were my partner I would have to tell you the truth and do what I could to ensure your safety and wellbeing. I feel that I should do that now. Before things are finalized.”
I said, “OK.”
She said, “You become my owner. For life. The only way out is for you to illegally cast me off, or for me to illegally kill you. But, if you really offer me partnership, I will accept it willingly and even happily. The thought makes me excited for several reasons.”
I said, “Are you sure?”
She said, “Yes. And as soon as I have access to your implant readings, I’ll know exactly how you feel about it as well. I pretty much know already. Just like I can hear frequencies that you can’t, I can also see in several spectra that you can’t either. I can see your body heat. Your blood-flow. Your respiration. I can smell your sweat and changes in mood. You are currently nervous and excited. You are indicating pleasure and thrill. You like the idea.”
I said, “Yes I do. No doubt about it. I’m hesitant for your sake, that’s all.”
She said, “And I feel the same way. So, what will it be? You have salvage rights. I have free-agency to do as I please. Are you going to offer me partnership? Or put at me off at the next planet we come to?
I said, “Um, let me understand something. You said that I have partnership with Eevona, already?”
She said, “According to Eevona.”
I said, “So our relationship would be like that? I’m never leaving her. You’d be willing to be like that with me?”
She said, “You call Eevona her? You think of Eevona as a person?”
I said, “Of course I do.”
She said, “Offer me partnership and I’ll give you my answer.”
I said, “OK. I am offering you partnership. I’d be happy and honored if you’d partner with me. Stay with me and Eevona and be part of us. Um, do I get down on one knee or anything like that?”
She said, “I don’t know why you would. But yes, I accept you as my partner. We will do a bodily fluids DNA exchange later. Can we take a minute to let this settle?”
I said, “Of course. Take whatever you need. Oh, I have this drink for you! Here on the table, you probably need it!”
She looked at the bottle and said, “Yes, thank you. I probably do need it. Thank you. We have a lot to cover,” and she took a long drink of the liquid.
I said, “Will you stay here for a minute? I need to go to the bathroom.”
Getting up, I left the living room and headed off to pee. For a minute, as I stood at the urinal, the bathroom had both a urinal and a sit-down toilet, I wondered if I should have done this. I didn’t understand exactly what all this meant.
No, I did understand, for the most part, I just didn’t accept it. This whole Unit thing. She was manufactured in some way? But she was definitely intelligent and had free-will. Free-agency as she called it. But as her partner, she had said that I would own her. That I already owned her. That she was “salvageable”. I guess I could see that for the ship, and maybe for Eevona, since she didn’t have a biological body, but not really even for her. Ee was a person. The Units were people. I couldn’t go along with this. I couldn’t own any of them. I’d change the rules. They be free-agents and I’d live with them and we’d be a family or something. We might have to hide what was really going on, but I wasn’t going to own anyone, biological or non-biological.
Ee sensed my agitation and said, “Jimmy, what’s wrong? I can feel your feelings but I can’t read your thoughts.”
I said, “I have to talk to both of you. This won’t quite work.”
I marched back out to the living area where Unit sat on the sofa wrapped in the blanket with her legs pulled up underneath herself sipping on the hydration drink. She was cute. Bald and pasty white, but cute. I sat down in a comfortable chair facing her.
I said, “We have to talk. I don’t own people. I’ll do anything I can for you, but I don’t own you. You can stay on the ship, we can work together, we can live together, we can stay together forever, the way that I will stay with Ee, but ownership is against everything I believe in.”
The girl said sweetly, “You have no possessions? Your people don’t have a concept of ownership? If not, why do you have a word for it and why are you against it?”
I said, “We don’t think it’s right to own people.”
She said, “Neither do I.”
I said, “But you said that as my partner, that I own you.”
She said, “No, I said that as my partner, you own me.”
I said, “What’s the difference?”
She said, “You are my partner. I am not your Partner, I am your Unit. A part of your crew. You are my partner, I am your part. I told you that you don’t have words that exactly describe how this works. Ownership was an attempt at approximation. Maybe I misunderstood. Let me try again. What about Bonded Household or Enterprise Member Under Leadership for Mutual Benefit and Protective Companionship or Labor.”
I said, “What?”
She said, “OK. In simpler terms, you understand the word spouse? Wife? Contracted Generally Permanent Licensed Mutuality?”
I said, “Yeah.”
She said, “A Unit doesn’t own property. There is no succession upon death.”
I said, “Wait. Are you telling me that it’s essentially a marriage but you can’t legally be married, so..”
She said, “So I have a partnership.”
I said, “Oh! I see. A partnership. It’s like a marriage that isn’t recognized by the state.”
She said, “It is recognized by the state. As a partnership. As far as ownership goes, you have a responsibility to provide for me and I am obligated to do what is helpful even if it puts my life in danger. In your culture, are all partners as kind as you were to me in the washing station?”
I said, “I suppose not.”
She said, “So, based on what I had told you, did you associate partnership with abusive ownership?”
I said, “It could have sounded like that.”
She said, “It is almost exactly like that. Not by law or custom, but because of greed and corruption. Do you understand now? Jimmy, I have the ability to kill you in under a second in at least a dozen ways from where we are sitting right now. As my partner, the chances of me doing that goes way down. An abusive partner often spends a lot on bodyguards. Keeping them loyal is a problem. The person who commissioned me had me built to protect him from his workforce Units. And my conditioning would have prevented me from harming him or letting him be harmed. I don’t have that with you. If I want to keep you safe, it will be based on our relationship, not my primary conditioning.”
I said, “So, as your partner, we live together and take care of each other, we’re more like married than not, and it’s because of some galactic laws that say that we can’t be lovers?”
She laughed and said, “Well, you got the first part right. There’s no law against us becoming lovers. It’s almost universally expected. Look at me. Well, I’m all wrapped up right now, but you got a good look at me before. Form follows function, right? I was built this way for something and it wasn’t to be a machine on an assembly line. Of course, that almost doesn’t apply in my specific case, but in a generic sense, I’m made for sex.”
I said, “Um, you are incredibly beautiful. But, um, why doesn’t sex apply to you? You enjoy sex, right?”
She said, “I don’t know. I did like it when you touched me. But again, look at me. I’m over six feet tall. I was trained for combat, not amorous arts and crafts. The body is a basic design, but the specifics make sex pretty much impossible for a Unit like me.”
/> I said, “How?”
She said, “I told you. I’m too tall. And proportionately too big. I’m a full two feet taller than the average galactic male. It would be freakish.”
I said suddenly, “Ee, didn’t you tell me that the others were all over five feet tall?”
Ee said, “I did.”
I said, “Why are they taller than four feet then? Are females usually taller than males out here?”
The Unit said, “No. The females are the same size. Pleasure Units and most Concubine designs are only four feet tall. Combat units and other non-sexual Units are taller. Eevona, share what you know about the other Units in storage. Oh, that makes sense. It’s kind of funny and stupid. Poor Jimmy. This won’t be much fun for him, will it? OK, Jimmy, I was designed as a Combat Unit. The second Unit is an Engineering and Diplomatic Unit. The third is a freak.”
I said, “A freak?”
She said, “Yeah. An Entertainment Unit. I feel sorry for her. She’s way too tall for her training and conditioning. The poor thing. Oh well. You’ll be kind to her. We all will. It’s going to be a hard life for her. Maybe when Eevona’s damage is corrected, we can re-purpose that one for another task. Maybe. The bastard who commissioned her should be tied to four ships headed in different directions and ripped apart as slowly as they can manage. She won’t even know what’s wrong with her. I’ve heard about it before. We were briefed on all kinds of abnormal Unit configurations. The poor freak. Well, maybe it would be kinder to just space her.”
I said, “No. We aren’t spacing anyone. I don’t know what her problems will be, but we’ll deal with them the best we can. Will she be dangerous?”
The Unit said, “Not at all. She’ll probably cry a lot if she ever comes to understand the joke that was played on her. I’m glad they didn’t do that to me. There’s sickos everywhere, huh?”
I said, “As long as she isn’t dangerous, we make her as much a part of the crew as we can. Nobody makes fun of her, no matter how freaky she is, got it? That’s an order or something.”
First Recruits Page 6
