Bionica grew ashamed in a very human way and puffed out her lips:
"Master, you cannot tell me you really think my character identical to all eight million model 034-6781 android servants, created since production began, right?"
I hurried to calm my excessively emotional assistant:
"No, of course not. Bionica, you are unique in many ways, above all else your history. Very few robot servants have had the chance to spend a whole quarter century developing and honing their personal character, without periodically wiping unique programming changes, and replacing them with typical firmware and layouts. Well, are there many such 'ripened' personalities in your batch of eight million?"
"No, of course not. Three million model 034-6781 androids have been simply destroyed over the years, mostly disposed of due to lack of demand. More modern models came out. Old ones stayed on the shelves for a while, but were eventually sent back for parts. Of the five million that are still around, only eleven, including me, were not regularly updated to new patches and firmware. And of these eleven androids, two of them care for elderly people, eight serve clients in bordellos, and only I have a dignified job as Minister of Economy for the space government of Unatari..."
Admiral Mike ton Akad, sitting next to me, choked on his beer, coughed it out, and suddenly began whinnying like a mare.
"Wait, is that true?! Minister Bionica, seventy percent of robots identical to you work in bordellos?!"
It was clearly an insulting question, but the synthetic girl didn't get ashamed one bit:
"Admiral, if we widen it to all subtypes of my model, over ninety-two percent of them are involved in sex work in one way or another. We were initially created to replace people in all kinds of professions, but we were also made to be attractive to men, and given a whole set of female bodily organs. That is exactly why Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle drew such a wave of reproach and mockery from his detractors when he chose me as a secretary and translator. Only the direct interference of Emperor August, who had a positive opinion of my work and awarded me an Emerald Star, was enough to stop all the insinuation on the topic. I am no worse than a living girl, which is why I would like everyone around me to think of me and treat me like a living person."
But the admiral did not distinguish himself with his sense of tact today.
"In issues of labor, yes, you are no worse than a living girl. But androids cannot have children, so no matter what, when talking with you I will be left with a sensation of artificiality, no matter how pretty an envelope it comes in."
"Admiral, the Crown Prince's assistant Ayna is also not capable of having children. Would you also call her artificial? Find me even one parameter in which she can surpass me. All the same, Ayna has a built-in implant, expresses her personal opinion to the world around her, and that doesn't surprise any of you one bit. Why, then, do you refuse me the same ability?"
"This is no time for demagoguery, robot. There are differences between you. For example, androids cannot kill."
Bionica didn't have time to answer that argument, as the subject of the conversation, Ayna, walked in, leading the ancient Duke Valesy by the elbow. The old man looked a lot older "in real life," than the person I was used to seeing on screen. I suspect that, before talking with me on video phone, he usually got touched up by his make-up servants, and did his best not to walk on his shaky legs. Now, though, you could see all eighty years of his life on his face. As he approached me, the old man tried to fall to his knees, but Ayna held him upright.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me for my stupid thoughts. I have done you wrong!" The Duke declared with repentance in his voice.
But I immediately stopped the old man's self-accusatory speech and pointed him to a cushy armchair next to me.
"Duke Valesy, you didn't manage to actually do anything reprehensible, and it is not accepted practice to punish someone for their thoughts. Admiral Mike ton Akad over there has been doing nothing for the last half hour but openly mocking my Economy Minister, mentally creating some very perverse scenes as he did so, but we can't exactly punish him for raping my android servant, can we?"
The admiral grew embarrassed for a brief second, but then laughed out loud. The tension disappeared in an instant. The Duke sighed with relief and sat at the table. We had our lunch, then conversed on various topics in a relaxed manner until Bionica suddenly said:
"Crown Prince, the Swarm diplomatic ship has just taken the warp jump out of the Forepost-4 system toward the Sivalla system."
I did not ask Bionica where she had gotten the information from. It was, after all, probably just some inconspicuous android from the Human border station there. But then, the deeper meaning of the synthetic blonde's message was, in fact, very important. Triasss Zess's diplomatic ship had made it unharmed through Perimeter Sector Nine, and was now on its way to Swarm space. And that meant that the Orange House wouldn't be able to stop me from meeting my daughter now, no matter how much they wanted to. By the way, it was now possible, and even necessary to inform the Purple and Blue Houses on the whereabouts of their missing Princesses.
First, I made a call to the Head of the Purple House, Duke Takuro royl Andor. I was put through almost instantly. The ancient aristocrat was clearly ailing, lying in bed held in place with some wires and data-reading suction cups. I greeted the Duke, following all applicable rules of courtly etiquette, then said:
"I received a letter from my daughter, Crown Princess Likanna. She is currently on her way to Unatari through Swarm space. She took two girls from her school with her. Crown Princess Natalie royl Cruz ton Miro and Crown Princess Joan royl Reyekh ton Andor..."
The old man on the screen shuddered with his whole body and closed his eyes. Tears unexpectedly started rolling down his cheeks.
"Duke, Likanna invited her friends over for break, and the girls decided not to tell their relatives, because they were afraid they'd get told 'no.' I would like to offer my apologies for my daughter's thoughtless behavior and the worry she caused. Today, though, I'll be meeting the Crown Princesses and will try to return Joan royl Reyekh to Purple House space as quickly as possible."
The old man opened an eye, smiled through the tears and looked at me:
"I'm just happy that it all ended well. I was just dying of worry. I even fell ill. But there's no need to send my granddaughter back, Georg. Let the girls spend some time together. My Joan doesn't often get the chance to make friends with a classmate. Her being able to actually spend time out of the house is a blessing. It wasn't always like this. Joan used to be unsociable and shy. We were very worried about it. Let my granddaughter have some fun with her friends without any caretakers getting in the way. It will help her a great deal. In a month, I'll talk with the Orange House myself and send a yacht out for Joan to take her back to the Purple House."
Standing change. Purple House (Empire) opinion of you has improved.
Present Purple House (Empire) faction opinion of you: +23 (trusting)
Alright. Half of the unpleasant business is over with. Now it was time to have a difficult talk with the Blue House. I was not familiar with Duchess Ovella, the head of the "Blues," and what was more, the Unatari State was at war with them, so I was afraid they'd outright refuse to talk with me. Nevertheless, the Duchess's secretary heard me out and promised to put me directly through with her leader. Fifteen minutes went by and the screen flickered on, showing me an image of the Head of the Blue House. She was still quite young, a pretty girl with long flowing light blue hair and piercingly blue eyes, skillfully emphasized with cosmetics.
Ovella royl Stok ton Miro, Head of the Blue House
Age: 22
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Class: Aristocrat
Achievements: Line Jumper, Fatherkiller, Poisoner, Overthrew Mother, Nothing is Sacred, Youngest Leader
Fame: +12
Standing: - 39
Presumed personal opinion of you: Unknown
Blue hou
se opinion of you: -11 (dislike)
Present Blue House faction opinion of the Unatari State: -3 (WAR)
So, she was not just some simple lady after all. Capturing the Blue House throne at such a young age with her abundance of dubious "achievements" bore eloquent witness to that. To the right of the Duchess's throne, there was an old woman sitting on a low bench. She was covered head-to-toe in dark robes. The interactive popup on her didn't work for some reason. It was obvious that I was seeing a Truth Seeker, and clearly a very old one, but there was no way of figuring out more than that. Good thing Florianna gave me a hint:
"Her name is Krista. She is considered the very oldest Truth Seeker in the Empire. Krista's true age is unknown, but she must be more than four hundred years old. For a very long time, she trained capable psionic girls in a special school on the Throne World, but it was closed one hundred fifty years ago after a wave of strange, unexplainable deaths. After that, Krista was Truth Seeker to the ancient Duke Malvik royl Stefan ton Miro, who led the Blue House for over one hundred years. He resigned last year, though, and went to live out his final years in peace. Since his resignation, three aristocrats have sat on the Blue House ducal throne, and all the while, Krista was supporting the young Ovella royl Stok ton Miro. To be honest, the newly-minted Duchess Ovella will soon have to face an Imperial court. She’s been accused of a great many fairly serious crimes. It is quite possible that the ruler of the Blue House will be changed out again, though I still think that the Duchess will be able to prove her innocence with the help of her Truth Seeker. That said, I am not sure of Krista's abilities at present. Once, she was considered the second most powerful Truth Seeker in the Galaxy after the Dark Mother, but changing masters can significantly weaken a psionic."
"Don't you worry about my strength, little girl. It's already returned in full measure. And don't you worry about my young ward either. Ovella has enough evidence to combat the unfounded accusations made against her."
Hrmph... I definitely didn't have to worry about Krista not being very powerful then. She had clearly found it quite easy to join our mental conversation. The Truth Seeker smiled with the very corners of her mouth, blatantly reading my thoughts. After that, she turned to her master and said in a grumbling old-woman's voice, not at all like the one in my head:
"Crown Prince Georg isn't thinking anything untoward, Duchess. He wants to tell us that Crown Princess Natalie has been found, and he is preparing to discuss the conditions of the girl's return."
"I will not be paying a ransom for my cousin, Georg!"
The young woman made a touchingly awkward face. It looked as if she was trying to show ferocity and rigidity, but it came across as more funny than scary. I couldn't hold back a smile, and Krista couldn't either.
"The last thing I need is to be accused of kidnapping children. Crown Princess Natalie came as a guest of my daughter Likanna, but the girls didn't inform any adults. That is precisely why I got in touch with you, to reassure the Blue House that everything is fine."
"Natalie can stay where she wishes then. Is that all you wanted to say, Crown Prince Georg?"
I tried not show any surprise at how little Crown Princess Natalie's wellbeing concerned her cousin. But I couldn't get by the Truth Seeker.
"Your paralyzed girl noticed correctly that the Blue House throne has been passing from hand to hand far too often in recent months. The wild ride isn't even over yet. There are still many disaffected. Some of our star systems have declared independence from the Duchess, and my ward needs time to calm her subjects and establish order in her territory. Crown Prince Natalie heads a different branch of the ancient house of Miro, so her coming to Blue House space is truly bad timing right now. We would be obliged, if Princess Natalie could spend her whole break with you."
In parallel with Krista's mental speech, she was saying out loud for her master:
"Duchess, I think it would be proper to thank the ruler of Unatari for being so considerate of a Blue House Princess. I think that this is a completely appropriate reason to end the senseless war between Unatari and the Blue House."
Standing change. Blue House (Empire) opinion of you has improved.
Present Blue House (Empire) faction opinion of you: -8 (mistrusting)
The young woman smiled at me, and raised her left arm to her cheek, apparently turning off a microphone behind her ear. But she either pressed the button too softly, or she did it twice, so I heard the Duchess ask a question, which was clearly not intended for my ears:
"But, Krista, how is that possible? You yourself told me of our duty to the Green House and about how the Unatari State is doomed! You said they could already be considered wiped off the map! You said the Green House Strike Fleet would capture their capital any day now!"
The old woman did not embarrass the young Duchess by telling her the microphone was on. She simply smiled at me and answered her ward:
"The situation changed drastically, Ovella. I can clearly see that the ruler of Unatari has no fear of the Green House armada whatsoever. And this is not simply a matter of ignorance. In fact, the huge fleet has already been neutralized by Unatari forces. It is trapped in a lifeless star system with no way out, and has been removed from play."
"That changes things completely. Why would we stay in this pointless war then?"
Before my eyes a system message appeared:
The Blue House offers the Unatari State a peace treaty on the following terms: Status Quo.
In the menu that appeared, I chose the option "Agree," and immediately received a message that the war with the Blue House was over:
A peace treaty has been signed between the Unatari State and the Blue House.
Standing change. Blue House (Empire) opinion of you has improved.
Present Blue House (Empire) faction opinion of you: +2 (indifferent)
Standing change. Blue House (Empire) opinion of the Unatari State has improved.
Present Blue House faction opinion of the Unatari State: 0 (indifferent)
After that, Duchess Ovella thought the conversation over, and politely bid me farewell, expressing her happiness at our having met. After that, she walked off camera. But her Truth Seeker chose to stay for some time and, having waited for her ward to leave the room completely, continued:
"Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky, I have a somewhat unexpected proposal for you. As I’ve already said, Crown Princess Natalie royl Cruise ton Miro coming to Blue House space would be rather undesirable. The girl is second in line to the ducal crown, and many enemies of my ward Ovella have placed their bets on precisely this underage Crown Princess. They have been bringing chaos to our systems, claiming to be acting in her name. So, let Crown Princess Natalie spend some extended time as your guest to give her a break from the bad influence of these unreliable advisors. And another thing: Duchess Ovella would be very, very grateful to you if her main competitor, Crown Princess Natalie were to refuse her place in line to the Blue House throne."
Clearly, the Truth Seeker must have caught some unhappiness flickering in my thoughts, as she quickly added:
"Don't think anything untoward, Crown Prince. I am not asking you to coerce the young Crown Princess, and I am certainly not suggesting that you kill the girl."
"Though doing so would be totally acceptable."
"It's just that you, as an adult man and experienced politician, might be able to find the right words to convince Natalie that the light of the Blue House's ephemeral throne shall never shine down on her. Many people, myself included, are doing everything we can to make sure that never happens. To that end, it is clearly not in Crown Princess Natalie’s best interest to go chasing after a mirage. Refusing to fight will work out better. She would get a good chunk of change from Duchess Ovella in return. Five billion credits and a rich Perimeter Sector Ten star system is what she's prepared to offer. You though, Prince Georg, the Blue House is prepared to pay fifteen billion credits if you can sway her. And you could have it in money, combat ships or any
other way you like. Also, Unatari will gain a reliable ally in the Blue House and a conduit from your territory into the Imperial Core, even if the communications and transport blockade of your government by the Orange House is renewed."
"Tell me more about that," I said to Krista, and the woman explained with vigor:
"In Perimeter Sector Ten, the Blue House borders the territory of the Mechanoids, a nonhuman mechanized race. They are utterly nonaggressive, and have long been allies of the Empire. The Mechs have often complained of inexplicable catastrophes over the last few hundred years. Their ships have been disappearing without a trace, but only in the two star systems that are the farthest from the Empire. Duke Malvik even sent an expedition to aid our allies, and study the mysterious happenings thirty-five years ago. The ships that made it there started sending nonsensical long-distance transmissions, then began fighting amongst themselves and doing other strange things. After that, contact was lost. In light of information we’ve recently acquired, we can say with a great deal of certainty that the Mechs and the members of that expedition must have come across the Arite Iseyek race. Crown Prince, you are in contact with those mysterious beings and even have a certain amount of influence on their Queen, Nai Igir. I believe that you would be able to convince the Swarm to let your data and space ships pass through a chain of warp beacons from the Blue House to the Unatari State."
New Contract (Perimeter Defense Book #3) Page 20
