Deep

Chapter 25 Are you nuts?

The Captain's Office contained two entrances, one from the Bridge, the other the ready room. It had a small desk whose top contained an interactive display. It was offline, so the surface appeared a glossy black. 

There were three chairs present, two identical to those in the ready room, the third an ergonomic type, meant for extended use. Like the other furniture on the Tama Maru, they were upholstered in blue fabric with grey hardware.  

I entered the Captain's office from the bridge hatch. Seki was seated in a chair in front of the desk, waiting. She appeared tense. There was definitely something wrong with her. 

'You were never one for pomp, but this space contains nothing.' She mused to herself, as if she did not hear me enter.

Her statement made me halt mid-step. I stood and studied at the bare walls and empty shelves. And she had a point. This office is a space shared with two other commanding officers at staggered times, so I never felt it was my office to clutter. Not that I have stuff to clutter it with, well, not any more.

'I never thought of it as my office.' The room was cold and foreboding now. With a deep breath, I walked around the desk and sat on the chair behind it.

Seki stared through rather than at me, lost in thought. She is never this distracted. 

[Is something wrong with your XO?] Bob asked. I did not answer him.

[Look at her, she is cracking under the pressure.] He sounded alarmed.

I was about to tell him to return to his dark hole.

'I'm fine.' Seki said in a sharp raised voice and her ears reddened.

This caught Bob and me by surprise, and we both flinched.

'Okay, XO, but I said nothing.' I said, now alarmed myself.

'You didn't, but he...' she said, but trailed off.

I needed to find the kernel of her behaviour fast. If I lost the XO because her spirit broke, the ship's morale would plummet.

Wait, did she say "he"? 

'He?' I asked. She raised her left hand.

'Drew, wait, the words are not coming out right. Let me gather my thoughts,' Seki said and took a deep breath. She held her breath several seconds and released. I waited for her to calm herself. I didn't wait long. 

'Okay, I am ready now.' 

'Are you sure?'

'Yes.' she said with a nervous smile. 

'How long have you shared your skull with that thing?' Her face deadpan serious.

The temperature plummeted to absolute zero, and an icy wave flowed up my spine. The shock of her question rendered me mute. Bob, however, was not.

[What? I am not a thing.] Bob said, exasperated. 

'I am not speaking to you.' Seki said, her voice sharp. 

[You called me a 'Thing'. That's mean.] He returned, his voice edging towards anger.

Seki did not have her usual reserve, and Bob had none. A recipe for hostility.

My inner voice and XO were in a heated argument, like I was absent. If I was not in the middle of this, and you explained the situation, I'd call you an AI missing lots of bits. 

I did not miss the dark irony of this situation. I was worried about the mental state of Seki while she was questioning mine. It would be funny if we weren't in the middle of an "end of humanity" event.