Beyond Routine

Posted on Fri 15th Jan, 2021 @ 4:51am by Captain Jason Harrington

1,164 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Denouement
Location: Harrington's Vessel
Timeline: MD 5, 1015

Previously .... <{[PEGGY]*[MIARAUMEREL](TASKS^Completed<+4unassigned>)(PR% standing revised)(InsufficientValue-"Task assignment"=NULL}>

With nothing else to do Peggy hoped Miarau would be able to provide more tasks. Peggy sent a message asking for more work, unaware of such things as leisure time, or what the biologicals called, "social life."

And now what?

***Four Hours Later***

<{[BANSHEE]=([ZOMBIE]*[PEGGY])UPDATE:(BANSHEE-TskCOMPLETION:DECRPYTION-VAULT"LootCache"@100%)}{[BANSHEE](PEGGY:requested#recount"PerformanceRmetric%")}>

Banshee had taken the lead by decrypting and repairing the data in the salvage pile. Over thirty cores, scavenged, bought, some stolen, each one was a worthless lump if it couldn't be deciphered or the data recovered. Now that they could sell it, the value was significant, some could contain potentially valuable data. Peggy didn't know how to tell the others they weren't paid. That line of thought lead to another, realizing this was enough for them to have their own funds, just like the other crew on board did. Given their work so far, and the real worth they brought, Peggy acknowledged Banshee and revised the standings. If they could receive their fair dividends, it was enough for the quad to strike out on their own. With this freedom in mind, Peggy sent a proposal to the System Administrator [MIARAUMEREL] for ten percent of the profit after sale to be provided from the company.

Merel read the transmission that arrived in her personal account, after determining it was from one of the EXO bots they'd brought on board. She'd given them a list of items she knew about that needed fixing, but really didn't know how she was going to keep them busy, since they were so fast ... faster than the speed of thought, it seemed. Scanning down the message, she stopped halfway, shook her head and went back to the top. When she thought she understood what the bots wanted, she laughed and tapped her com for Jason.

"Boss, you got a minute? You have to see this," Miarau snickered. "Those bots we bought? They're a lot smarter than we were told."

=^=I'm just finding out that out myself. I'm down here in the cargo hold and all those junk computer cores that we bought for next to nothing are all functioning. No one has been in here except me and I didn't repair them all. I be with you as soon as I can get there.=^= Jason was amazed. It would taken him 6 months of steady work just to get one quarter of the computer cores working if they weren't damaged. Jason headed for the door and turned around one last time, looking around the room and he shook his head with a smile.

After a couple of minutes Jason found Mia, ""What's going on?"

"Ha! You know those junk cores you just mentioned? How we talked about the black market for bits of data, even if they don't connect to anything we know about? Well, it seems at least one of our new bot friends is a genius at mining them." His XO turned her PADD around so Jason could see the data that had shown up in her message box.

"But, get this. The bots would like a percentage of the payout! In other words, they want some compensation from us for the work. What do you think about that!" Merel laughed.

Jason gave a soft scowl, "Hey, why can't a machine be sentient? Don't you remember that whole uproar with Commander Data and those bots. These are the same class of bot and its very possible that they are aware. Asking for a percentage of profits from sales of the cores doesn't prove that these bots are but, maybe we can come up with a test to see if they have self preservation." Jason thought for a moment. "We need to download their old logs and go though them to see their behavioral history if we can."

Mia laughed again, but softer this time. "Of course, a machine, and who knows what else, can be sentient, that wasn't what I found amusing. It's the idea that we thought we were rescuing these bots. Okay, a good profit to be made, but still, that was definitely a rescue. And now they are turning into so much more than just bots. Maybe we should form a corporation with them, whether they are sentient or not. With their talents and our abilities to find buyers, we could all have something good going.

"While we're at it," she reminded him, "it would probably keep down the mutiny from our few other crew. Before they can make the slightest mess fixing something, the EXOs swoop in and clean things up. I've had several complaints, and I'm sure you have heard grumbles, too. So ... keep the bots busy and make us all some money. I don't see any possibility of a downside to that."

Jason nodded, "I guess we had similar ideas. I was thinking about something along the same lines on my walk down here after I saw what had happened to the junk computer cores. We can start a salvage business on one of the planets in the Tyco system, probably Tyco 4. The start up cost for the salvage permit and the land that we would need would be substantial, but I think these little guys would make it up quickly."

Merel nodded thoughtfully. "We have enough in our operating fund for a while, and there's savings to cover start-up, and be repaid through profits. Do you want to work out the details with the EXOs? I expect we have some kind of boilerplate contracts in the database. I'm sure we could adapt something. I also expect they have some ideas of their own ... from some past experience. Whether they are sentient or not, I think both they and we would feel more comfortable with a contract, even a limited time agreement. After we put out start-up money, I don't want them slipping off somewhere at the first starbase stop."

Jason smiled, "I agree, I think we'll be fine with funding the operation, and if the little guys will agree with the proposal. I think you should be the one to work it out with them. They seem to like you a little bit more than me." Jason trusted his First Officer implicitly and knew she would always have their best interests in mind.

"Maybe it's just that I'm female and they've been mistreated by males in the past. Don't take it personally. If they knew you, they'd love you. We all do," she winked at him. "Alright then, I'll look for a contract sample and see what I can work out with them. I suppose I should contact Peggy as she seems to be sort of the ring-leader. I'll let you know if I hit any snags."

Jason slapped Mia on the rear playfully, "You are pretty hot, Number One." Jason quickly got out of arms reach and left the room.

 

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