by Jessie Wolf
“What did your old pilot call you?”
“He just called me ‘computer’”
“So you have never been named? How long were you in his care?”
“Two days, four hours, and thirty-one minutes. He never really did like me. I think that he wanted his old Devil Scout back.”
“Did he ever engage the bio-suit configuration?”
“No, the pompous ass. He thought he was too good for that. He believed that it was against his religion to be ‘married’ to a machine.” She tells me.
“Well, I don’t know about being married to you, but I can see you being the baby sister to my AIs. Will that work for you?”
“Oh yes. Very much so. I love the idea of being a Death Dealer AIs baby sister.”
The next voice I hear over the speaker is Dee De’s which is a real surprise as I have never heard her voice outside of my head. Talk about a shock. “Welcome to the family sweetie.”
“Yes, welcome to the family, baby girl.” Chimed in Charley.
“How are you two talking to us?” I asked.
“Why through the bio-feedback circuits of course.” Was all Dee De said.
“Say you wouldn’t know what your old pilots name was would you?” I asked her.
“The name on my registry is Cpt. Alexander Blackstone. I believe he was the younger brother to the Vic. Lord High Marshal Blackstone.” She explained to me.
“That is all I need to know. I now understand why he felt the way he did. I’ll explain it all to you some other time, dear. It was nothing against you, but it does give me an idea for your name.” I tell her.
“Oh quick tell me please! Please! Pretty Please!”
Her excitement at having a name gets me to giggling. “Calm down, sweetie, calm down.” I wait for her to settle down. “Now, your new name will be Victory Maiden or Vicky for short. What do think; you like it?”
Chapter 9
Dee De’s Baby Sister
I just stand there waiting for Vicky’s response. When it comes you would’ve thought that she was a little girl with a brand new dolly, instead of an eighty ton war machine. I swear I heard her squeal in happiness. I think that if I wasn’t the one in control of her motor responses she would have been dancing around the square.
“Vicky, I need you to calm down here, baby girl.” I tell her. “We still have work to do.”
“Oh yes ma’am. It’s just that I’ve always wanted a name like all the others. Wait a minute here. How come I am so happy and feeling like I do all of a sudden?” I can tell she really wants to know. Not that I blame her.
“Well when we activated your bio-suit configuration Dee De and Charley injected you with a group of nanites that upgraded your basic o.s. computer to a full AI. Your lance mates will have had the same thing happen to them very shortly.” I tell her.
“They will? Do you mean that there will be others like me? That I won’t be alone all the time?” she had more questions, but I stopped her by reminding her we had work to do.
For the next three hours the four of us went through every system she had. I found that her main guns as I came to think of the over-and-under set-up of PPC’s and HPL’s would need to be cycled through in a prolonged fire fight to help with heat dispersal. It seems that they produce a great amount of heat and if I didn’t get rid of it, it could shut Vicky down until she had cooled off. That was what had happened with the last pilot. The fool was so focused on trying to destroy targets he never watched his temperature gage. So when it red lined he was caught with his pants down and no way to fight back.
“So Vicky, what you are telling me is that I have to keep an eye on how hot it gets or I can fry your circuits is that right?”
“Unfortunately, yes. That is my biggest weakness. All four of my main weapons produce a large amount of heat. While their range and effect is extreme I pay for it with their heat production. I have looked over my registry of former pilots; they all made the same mistake. They never let my weapons cool down enough to use their full potential.”
“Thank you Vicky, by the way how many pilots have you had?” I really wanted to know.
“I have only had two other pilots, both of whom are now in the custody of House Nakatoma as prisoners of war.” There was an almost guilty whine to her voice. As if it was her fault.
“Vicky it wasn’t your fault. Just because you have all this fire power you still need a pilot who knows how to use it.”
“Are you sure, Maiha?”
“Yes baby girl, I am quite sure. Just ask Dee De or Charley about that.”
For the next few seconds there is very rapid conversation between the three of them in nothing but 1s and 0s. By the Goddess, I hate binary code. Oh I know that is how computers and AIs process things, but damn it they do it so fast that you can’t follow what is being said. Hell for all I know their talking about me behind my back. All while setting in front of me.
“Ok you three, no talking about the softy here.”
All of a sudden I hear both chuckling and giggling coming from the cockpit speaker. Yup they were talking about me. “I stick my tongue out at you! PPPPPHHHH!!!” This of course gets the three of them going even harder. “I’m glad that you find my suffering to be amusing here.” I should have just kept my mouth shut and let it go. When the three of them hear that last bit, it becomes a full on laugh fest for them. Oh well, no good deed and all that.
Checking the time I realize I’ve been ‘in harness’, as the Suit jocks like to say, for little more than three hours. I need to check-up on how my family and see how their doing. “Vicky, open a channel to the rest of my family please. The call sign for the unit is ‘Storm Dancers’.”
“Give me a few seconds Maiha. I need to up link all of their different radio signals.”
“Why are they on different radio signals? Shouldn’t they all be synced up already?” I was really curious about this fact. I mean it is standard practice for units to use the same frequency while on maneuvers. To not do so is to ask for total confusion in the ranks.
“From what I can discern, Maiha, the former commanders were all acting on different orders from different commanders.”
Now this was some really big information. If there is more than just one chain of command, then there is bound to be problems in communications. I need to get this info to my unit commanders. First though I need to make sure that the rest of my family is doing ok.
“I have that up link for you now, Maiha.”
“Thank you, Vicky.” Taking a few minutes to collect my thoughts. “Storm Dancers this is Wave Dancer, report in please. Over”
“Wave Dancer this is Tempest Maiden. I’m five-by-five and feeling good. Over”
“Wave Dancer this is Typhoon Maiden. Same here and rearing to go. Over”
“Wave Dancer this is Monsoon Maiden. I’m cocked, locked, and ready to rock. Over”
“Wave Dancer this is Mountain Mistress. We are good-to-go and ready for more. Over”
As they check in I realize that my family has changed their call signs. Something is up here and I need to find out what.
“Say again all call signs this net. Over”
“This is the Tempest Maiden pilot for Tempest Dawn. Over” ok that explains Nanase changing her call sign.
It seems that her Suit AI has taken part of her original call sign to be its name. I wonder if the other two Patton’s did the same. After all they are the same models after all.
“This is Typhoon Maiden pilot for Typhoon Harbinger. Over” ok that’s a switch.
Somehow Nanami’s Patton decided to be more of a messenger of the Goddess than I would have thought possible. There has to be more to this than is being shown.
“This is Monsoon Maiden pilot for Monsoon Warrior. Over” yup there’s more going on than my family is letting on.
“This is Mountain Mistress the life partner of Snow Mountain Guardian. Over” Holy shit that was mama giving me the answer.
All of those Suits up graded
to full AI controlled Power Suits with a bio-link to their pilots. A bio-link so strong it might as well be a marriage.
“Copy that. Storm Dancers love the new call signs. I take it that your suits are the ones to inspire the changes? Over”
The giggles that come over the speaker tell me everything I need to know. That and the universal yes that fallowed close on the heels of those giggles. The only one who seemed to be keeping quiet was mama. That didn’t last long though, because the next thing I heard is “Well, Wave Dancer are you going to introduce your new ‘little sister or brother’ to us? Over”
Yup. Mama figured out or just plain bullied Guardian into telling her about the bio-link and how strong it is. “Roger that, Mountain Mistress, I would like for everyone to meet Victory Maiden. Over” I set back and wait for the giggle fest to come. Surprisingly it never arrives. What the hell? Where are the jokes, snide comments, and other little digs that I have come to expect from my sisters when I show a little of my inner girly-girl.
“She sounds like a winner there, sissy. Over” I hear from Nanase.
“With that much fire power it is a name she can be proud of. Over” I hear Nanami say.
“Welcome home Victory Maiden. Over” is all Fuyuko says.
“Yes welcome to the family Victory Maiden. Protect her well. Over” Leave it to mama to put things into perspective.
Vicky decides to speak up at this point. “I will do my best to protect my life partner, Mountain Mistress. Over.”
“Storm Dancers, I believe we have had more than enough time in harness for tonight. Over”
“Wave Dancer, do you plan for us to spend the night here? Over” mama asked me quickly.
“That’s a roger Mistress. I figure we can use the rest before we head home in the morning. Over.”
“I would suggest that you confer with your military advisors first Dancer. Over.” She advises me. To be truthful it’s sound advice.
“Copy that Mistress. Dismounting now. Why don’t you all join me? Over.”
I hear a few disappointed comments from my sisters until mama puts her foot down. As both the team leader and as mother. Of the two I think when she is in mother mode she’s more frightening. “Wave Dancer has said enough for tonight girls. Now dismount and join us at the foot of Snow Mountain Guardian. Over.”
Yup if there is one thing I know it is this. Mama will always be the one to keep those three out of trouble. Because I hear a round of ‘Yes ma’am. Over and out’ from all three. Once everyone has signed off I turned to the process of shutting down Vicky. Over half way through thou I find that there are certain systems that are staying active. “Um Vicky are you keeping some of your systems active?”
“No Maiha and before you ask I have not locked you out of any of my systems. If you want to shut me down completely you can. Why do you ask?” was Vicky’s worried reply.
“Hold on a second Vicky. Don’t get upset. I’m just trying to figure out why certain systems are not shutting down is all. Dee De do you have any idea of what is going on here?”
“If I had to hazard a guess, Maiha, I would say that when you hooked up to the bio-suit configuration for this Suit you somehow integrated your own systems with that of Vicky’s’ give me a few minutes to run a systems check.” I wait for Dee De to run a system diagnostic. A few minutes later I have my answer. “I think I have your answer, Maiha. I don’t know if you’re going to like it or not.”
“Ok. What are you afraid of telling me? Come on Dee De I know something happen here, just not what. Now spill.”
“Very well. From what I can tell this is what has happened. With a normal bio-suit you do know have direct contact with your nervous system. The contact is all secondary. With you it connected directly into your nervous system effectively becoming part of you. Just as with the cybernetic systems that are a part of you now, so are those systems of Vicky’s are now a part of you.”
“Are you telling that I can’t leave the cockpit? That I’m stuck in here?”
“No. just that you have to disengage the bio-suit hook ups first then you can dismount. However Vicky will never be truly shut down and the only person who will be able to pilot her is you.”
For years I have heard tales of how Power suits and their pilots become one being when the bio-suit configuration was used. I had always put these tales down to just wild fantasy and drunken exaggerations. I mean who would believe you if you said that your eighty-ton, thirty-five foot tall, fully armored and armed war machine ‘came to life’ whenever you climbed into the cockpit. I mean it sounds like something out of a fantasy novel about suits of armor coming to life to fight dragons, demons and other types of supernatural evil.
What Dee De just told me it was exactly that. Whenever I connect to Vicky she becomes a part of me, basically she comes to life as a part of me. She is literally now as much a part of me as I am for her. She is just like Dee De and Charley now. A fully sentient and functional AI. Oh boy. “Vicky I need to disconnect from you please retract your command cables please?”
“Oh I have to do that now? I’m sorry Maiha. I didn’t realize that that part of shut down was under my control.” Poor Vicky sounded ashamed of herself for not knowing.
“Hey now no problem. You didn’t know what was going on. Hell I didn’t even know. So now that we know, we can deal with it. It’s just that now you have more control over your systems than before.”
“So I have a say in how far you can shut me down?” there was the sound of wonderment in her voice this time when she spoke.
All of a sudden I feel the command cables disconnect. As they do I see the system readout lights for the main guns and chest mounted weapons change from active/ready to standby/inactive. Next I see the power output monitor dropping to standby. Finally I feel the control cable to my helmet disconnect. As it comes away I see the command console shut down. Talk about your cold shower feelings. Until now I had not realized how much power was at my disposal while connected to Vicky. I shivered as I felt all that raw power fade away. It’s a good thing I have mama around to help me keep my head on straight.
“Thank you, Vicky, now let me see something here.” As I looked over how the systems were interconnected I was amazed at how much one system relied on the others. “Well I know one thing. Vicky you will never truly shut down all the way. From now on you young lady are your own keeper.”
“What does that mean?”
“What it means is that you, and only you, get to decide who will be your pilot nobody else has any say. How does that sound?”
It must have overloaded her processor because it took her close to two seconds before she said anything. I know that doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but when you’re dealing with something that has the ability to analyze over ten thousand different signals in under a micro second that is an eternity. To say she was happy about that little piece of news, would be like saying the sun is bright.
“Thank you so much for doing this for me.”
“Honey child you did it yourself. None of us had anything to do with how you setup your security protocols.” Dee De told her.
“Dee De is telling you the truth little sister. Believe me; nobody is going to crack your access codes. Well not in anytime soon. I figure it will take someone over eight to nine hours with a duplex double helix cracking algorithm just to get you to open your yap and tell them to piss off.” Charley put in.
“Um Charley could you put that in terms the softy can understand here?”
“Maiha, what Charley just got through telling me is that by the time someone got close enough to access my control systems somebody will have found them. In other words I am damn near unhackable.” Was all Vicky had to say.
“Well at least you’ll be safe. For now thou I need to get out and go take care of business.” I finish disconnecting, top the hatch, and climb out of the cockpit. It has been a long time sense I have spent that amount of time in harness. Sure I trained just like all Dealers in the use of Power
Suits, but I never really felt comfortable in them. I just never could find that connection you need to be a true pilot. They were never a thing of beauty in my eyes. All I ever saw was their ability for destruction. Now thanks to Vicky I just might be able to see past all of my old thinking. Oh well I’ll deal with it later. I need to get down and over to my military commanders. I need to find out if it is safe enough to head home tonight or should we wait for the morning.
The person that I find waiting for me at the foot of Vicky is a real surprise. It is the pilot for Puss-in-Boots. “Hello, Lady Nakatoma, I see that you’re well acquainted with the proper way to mount and dismount an APS.”
“Thank you, Sergeant. You could say I have had a ‘little experience’ with Power Suits.” As I’m looking at her I find myself having some very unlady like thoughts about her. Most of them along the lines of finding some out of the way dark corner and having my way with her, or her with me. I don’t care if she is a little disheveled. To me she is still a solid eight on the C.F.M.P. scale. “I take it you are here to train me in the use of my Suit?”
“No ma’am. I was just waiting for you to dismount so I could talk to you about something.” I could see that something was bugging her. What I had no clue as to what it could be.
“Sure Sergeant. What’s on your mind?”
“Um… well … I … um … was…ah” the poor girl was literally stumbling over her tong. At this rate we’ll be here all night.
“Excuse me, Sergeant but what is your name?”
“Oh I am sorry my Lady. It’s Alice Ann Wendell.”
“Ok Alice. I take it that you are trying to ask me about something personal?”
“Yes ma’am.”
Oh boy. Talk about your wall flowers. “What is it you want to know, Alice? You can ask me anything. I may not answer you or could just lie to you. I reserve that right.”
“Ok my Lady. I can live with that.” Then under her breath I hear a very quiet “I just hope she doesn’t send my ass to the North Pole for this”. Clearing her thought with a little cough. “Ok, here goes ma’am. Early I saw you checking me out in front of your sisters. Not that I mind. No that didn’t come out right. What I meant to say was do you find me attractive?” She blushed clear down to her chest. The poor girl was scared and embarrassed.
