The AI’s attention snapped back to him and she appeared to get herself together. It was a more emotional response than Keris would have expected from an AI, but given the presence of the B’Kaar aboard, she could understand it. AIs might not die in precisely the same way as biologicals, but they were still aware enough to fear it.
“Yes, I can. Follow the lights. I can’t go with you but I’ll route you through.”
With that she disappeared, only to appear again near the rear door of the hangar. It was opposite the one they’d entered. The two of them hurried toward her.
“I need to take you through the back corridors,” she said as the door opened ahead of them to reveal a cargo lift. Jay nodded, herding Keris through it. Her legs didn’t want to obey her initially, but she dug down and got it together. She could do this… she refused to disappoint him.
“That works,” he said. “And we need weapons. Can’t go back to the rooms, not if they know about us. Dammit,” he hissed as the door shut before the AI could answer. “I don’t think she heard us.”
Panic threatened to overwhelm Keris. Without Miisan, how would they get out of here? Her breathing shortened and she clutched at his arm to steady herself.
“Jay…” she choked out. “The B’Kaar know where we are… Something is wrong with this body. There must be gas or something.”
He shook his head and turned her to face him, looking down at her intently. “There’s nothing wrong with you, sweetheart. Look at me,” he lifted her chin with strong fingers. “Yeah, you’re fine…”
“I can’t be!” she wailed. “My respiratory system is failing and my heart is in overdrive.”
He cut off her words with a gentle kiss, pulling her up against him. She went rigid, wondering what he was doing, but then the soft brush of his lips over hers triggered a cascade of memories and she relaxed against him with a soft moan.
He eased away, smiling against her lips. “Sensory overload, that’s all. You were panicking.”
She blinked and looked up at him curiously. “The treatment for a human panicking is a kiss?”
He chuckled, his blue-green eyes glinting as the floor lights flashed when they went by. “Not exactly. I just took the opportunity. You’re not like other humans, and you’re never going to be. I figured if I could get you to focus on something, the overload would pass.”
“That’s… actually quite sensible,” she admitted, feeling a lot calmer. “Thank you.”
Then she frowned.
“As long as you don’t go kissing other women when they panic.”
He smiled and eased himself away from her as the lift slowed. “Don’t worry, sweet stuff, I only have eyes for you. You good now?”
She nodded, an icy calm settling over her as she focused, filtering through the input she was receiving from this new body. She’d been so concerned with the abilities she’d lost that she hadn’t stopped to think about what she could do. What she should pay attention to and what she didn’t need to, shoving it to the background. This body was biological, yes, but it was a machine like any other. She just had to learn to operate it.
“Okay good. Stay behind me, okay?”
Pulling her to the side, he tucked her in behind him as the doors opened. Tension vibrated through his large frame as he checked the corridor ahead. Even for an abandoned base, it looked rough. The air was still, undisturbed, and a thin layer of dust billowed up as they walked.
Being protected felt odd. She was so used to being the one who did the protecting, but in this body, she couldn’t protect anyone—not herself and not Jay. But settled against his side, hearing the steady beat of his heart, she couldn’t find it in herself to mourn the loss of her old body.
“Shiiit,” he breathed. “All we need now are killer clowns.”
She arched her eyebrow as they walked quickly down the corridor, the lights illuminating ahead of them and going out when they’d passed. “Killer clowns? Clowns appear to be an entirely human phenomenon. The likelihood of us running into them all the way out here is so remote as to be impossible. It would require—”
He pulled her to him and cut her off with a hard kiss. “Did anyone ever tell you the Lathar are way too fucking literal?”
She clung to him for a moment, savoring the sense of closeness. While yes, this body was a machine and she could ignore some of the information it fed her, she was also quickly becoming aware that it worked better when she gave in to some of its demands. Staying close to Jay and physical contact was soothing, feeding something she didn’t understand deep inside.
“You may have mentioned it to Seren a time or two,” she admitted with a small smile and then nodded ahead where the lights were beginning to flash faster. “I think that’s our signal to keep moving.”
Jay chuckled, looking down at her. “That’s AIs for you, so fucking impatient.”
“I am not impatient!” she exclaimed as they continued, her hand in his as they started to jog. Still chuckling, he didn’t reply.
It didn’t take them long to reach a shuttlebay. Unlike the one they’d arrived in or the one that currently housed the B’Kaar ship, this one was much smaller, with only two landing pads and a ventral access door. Lights raced across the floor to the nearest shuttle, its door already lifting up on the side to allow them access.
Her steps faltered for a second. The ship was a class she’d never seen before, all sleek lines and dangerous curves. It was beautiful, utterly beautiful.
“Please tell me you can fly this damn thing,” Jay said, shoving her ahead of him into the cramped confines of the small ship. “I can barely fly a human ship, and one thing’s for sure… this thing ain’t human!”
Amusement rolled through her and she shot him a smile over her shoulder. “AI, remember? I can fly anything the Lathar ever made.”
“I sure hope so, doll,” Jay muttered, not sure if she heard him as he dropped into the copilot’s seat next to her.
She already had her hands over the pilot’s console, the screens in front of them flaring to life. Since he’d been captured, he’d seen a lot of high-level alien tech, to the point it no longer surprised him.
This did.
Instead of the usual holographic touchscreen interfaces, the screens lit brightly, a light appearing in front of them both like an eye and washing over his face.
“Wait… what the fuck was that?” he hissed, trying to turn his head, only to see Keris being scanned in the same way.
“Jevenar variant Lathar,” a disembodied voice announced before Keris’s screen altered itself. “Compatible. Reconfiguring systems.”
He looked at his, where the light was still flashing. Then it announced, “Variant unknown. Defaulting to standard system configuration.”
“It doesn’t know what I am?” he asked in surprise as the copilot’s panel appeared in front of him.
“Seems not,” Keris replied, bringing the shuttle’s engines online with swift, sure movements. “Looks like an advanced adaptive control system designed to operate with each individual’s genetic strengths and weaknesses. I suspect that for variants like the Lathar or the Navarr, the lighting and audio alters for their visual and auditory spectrums.”