Deep

Chapter 37 Su and Alice

As we both stepped onto the platform, Alice shimmered into view, dressed in an unadorned crew uniform.

Su smiled at her and said. 'Hello Alice, I like the new look.'

'Thank you, Command Master Chief,' said a smiling Alice. I stood and marvelled at how much Alice, in her uniform, resembled Seki of twenty years ago.

'Captain?'

'Uh. Yes, Alice?'

'Everything that you requested, is ready, and waiting for you.'

'Thank you, Alice.'

'You are welcome.' She nodded at Su, smiled at me, and then faded from view. 

I turned and headed toward the live fire range, and Su followed.

'What was that about?' Su asked as she caught up with me.

'What was what about?' 

'The way you were looking at Alice.'

'Oh. Alice looks like the XO did two decades ago,' I said, glancing at the floor. 

'Oh. I see.' 

We walked in silence for a while. The only sound, the creaks of our rubberized kit as we moved. 

'I have known the XO since she was an ensign,' I said.

'Really?'

'Yep. Alice and the XO as an ensign are splitting images of each other.' 

I realised I was exposing my innermost thoughts to Su again, and I chuckled. 

'What?' she asked with a questioning smile. 

'I just realised for the entire mission I've only interacted with you professionally. Now I'm venting the contents of my airlock all over you.'

'It is funny, yes,' she said and chuckled. 'But even Captains need to vent their inner thoughts sometimes.' 

'I agree, CMC,' I said and came to a stop behind a chequered yellow line. We had arrived at the blast door to the "live fire" training range.

'It is an impressive door,' Su said.

I tilted my head. 'It is, but the door to SG's dock is massive by comparison.'

'True, but this door radiates an intense menace.'

I studied the door more intently. She was right. The door resembled a hulking giant of metal and carbon. They designed it to contain the forces of high-velocity projectiles, kilojoule class lasers and explosions, so they built it tough. 

Before I could ponder any further, Alice shimmered into view.

'Captain, Live fire exercises are complete, so it is safe to proceed.' 

'Thank you, Alice.' 

A heavy clunk emanated from inside the door. 'Stand clear, stand clear, the door is opening,' a male voice said and repeated. The blast door emitted a brief hiss and opened with a ponderous, quiet swing.

We waited for it to completely stop and proceeded into the range. There was an odour of burnt plastic and scorched metal in the air. The scrubbing systems had not fully filtered the atmosphere yet.

'It smells like they have just finished,' Su said.

'It would appear so CMC.'

'The marines completed their live fire exercises five minutes, 12.213 seconds ago,' Alice stated.

'Oh, that means we have a full house,' I said.

'Are you getting walk jitters?' Su asked.

'A little. I am going to attempt to convince a marine commander to toss his gear and training on a hunch.'

'You could just make it an order.'

'I prefer not to. It would be bad for the marines' morale.'

I saw the beat of Alice's light show change, and she sighed. 

'I have been requested elsewhere, so I will have to take my leave.'

'Okay Alice. Carry on,' I said. She nodded at Su and me and vanished.

'You'd imagine, given all she does, she could be everywhere at once.'

'You could assume so, but even Alice has finite resources. It is possible her full avatar form requires more computing power than her other operations.'

At least she did not notice Alice's sigh. 

'Wait. Did she sigh just now?'

Dang, it. 

I could pretend I did not hear Alice's sigh. The problem is, I am not a great liar. 

'You heard that too,' I said, as I tried to appear nonchalant. Su's face got dead serious as she ran the implications of Alice's behaviour through her mind.

'I would not worry about Alice's sigh.'

'Why?' 

'Alice is... Selective, to whom she shows her emotional face.'

'She is?' Su asked and stopped mid-step. I also stopped and turned to face her.

'You realise that her behaviour could place the ship at risk?' Her tone sharp.

I felt my face muscles tighten. 'I'm well aware of the operational needs of the ship and Alice's role in it,' I said, In a tone harsher than I should. Su, for her part, did not flinch. 

I sighed and looked down. 'She is unique among AIs. All AIs I've ever worked with never relax with people. Alice is the opposite. If she trusts you, she will relax and be quite frank. Also, she stands her ground if she believes she's right.' 

I locked my eyes with hers. 'In that way, she mirrors a certain command master chief I know.' I gave her what was likely my worst "believe me" smile.

Su's eyes softened. 'That, sir, was a low blow,' she said with a half-smile. 

'Come, we don't want to be late for "My show",' I said and started walking. Su followed and soon caught up with me.

 'Alice is the first AI that has ever exposed her inner self to me. And I've coaxed many AIs over my time in SF, and none ever has till her.'

'Well, we both know what happens to an unstable AI,' Su said.

'It would be "Lights out".' I said. 

Lights out for previous generations of AIs, it was equivalent to cryo's hibernation, but for Alice, "Lights out" was permanent. I grimaced at the thought of having to pull the plug on her. 

'Su, I will not tell you to act contrary to what you believe is correct. I need your best performance right now. So do what you think is best.'

'Thank you for your faith in my judgement.'

'You are welcome, CMC. You should consider yourself special.'

'Why is that Captain?'

'You are one of a select few that Alice trusts to expose her true self.'

'Oh, I did not consider that.' I saw from her expression she realised the depth of what just happened.

'If you are wondering how many of us are club members? I think it is five; You, the Chief Engineer, Head of Medical, the XO and me.' She did not get the chance to respond, as we had reached the corridor's end. 

'Well, time for the show,' I said, and we entered the marine's training range.