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Chapter 29

Councillor Sevrin was having a very bad day. In fact, he was secretly hoping it was just a nightmare. The giant ship had suddenly appeared in orbit around Prime, without having obviously arrived. It was not of any known design, and the fact of its sudden appearance either meant that it had some hitherto unknown drive system, or that it had been cloaked so well that it didn't even show up as a gravitational anomaly.

Initial scans had shown that it appeared to be armed.

"Sir!" One of the aides said, "We have received a transmission from the ship! They are hailing us!"

"Put it on," he asked. Then his eyes widened and he clutched his chair with a death-grip.

The screen cleared to show a red Synth wearing shiny black clothing, lounging upon a golden throne. On his lap a robotic cat had rested their head and was being gently stroked by his black gloved hand. Several other figures were standing close by, including two armed alien guards.

"You!" Sevrin choked.

"Do I know you...?" Xerian asked quizzically, absently scratching Lautrec behind the ears.

"You are Xerian, the alien-synth hybrid!" The councillor said. "Suspected of involvement in the disappearances of citizens of the Outer Rim! And your alien cat robot! Is this ship your doing?!"

Lautrec lifted up his head with an irritated expression. "'Is this ship your doing, your imperial majesty'," he corrected firmly.

"Shush," Xerian told him.

The councillor looked appalled and had difficulty speaking for a few moments. "You...?" he choked eventually. "One of our own Synths...? You've acquired a warship and proclaimed yourself some kind of overlord? How could you do such a thing?"

Xerian fidgeted awkwardly and looked away. "It wasn't easy," he said.

"...What are your demands?" the councillor added, trying not to look as scared as he felt.

"Look, this wasn't my idea. I never asked to be made emperor," Xerian said, examining his gloved hand. "In fact, I tried to refuse. Unfortunately, this was necessary.
"As you have surely noticed there is an alien vessel in orbit around Prime. The Vengeance has been cloaked for some time now, gathering intelligence. Its mission here was to kidnap Synths and organics as an army for an invasion."

"Do you like it...?" Lautrec asked eagerly. "I think it could do with a new paint job..." Xerian pushed him off his lap irritably.

The councillor's mouth opened and closed a few times.

"I give up," Xerian sighed. "Eris, you're better at this."

"If you're sure," the protogen said.

"Councillor Sevrin, this is Detective Inspector Eris of Newport precinct," she started, saluting for a moment before remembering herself.

"...What happened to you...?" the Councillor asked, looking horrified.

"Death happened," Eris said bluntly. "As you can see, some heavy reconstructive surgery was required to save my life, and there were... complications.
"Councillor, this ship was built and run by cyborgs known as protogens. One of their key aims was to abduct organics from our world and convert them into such cyborgs to act as mindless footsoldiers for their Emperor.
"The medical facilities aboard ship are extremely advanced, but designed specifically for treating protogens, so... Unfortunately I was converted as part of the revival process."

"Does that make you..." the councillor asked, horrified.

"A mindless drone for Emperor Xerian...?" Eris finished, an annoyed expression showing on her visor. "No, it does not. I was worried about the brain implants too, but I have been like this long enough to realise I am definitely still in control, even if the augmentations can be distracting."

"We probably could take her over," Lautrec said. "But that would be mean, even if she did accuse me of witchcraft and disabled my limbs just when we were fighting the bad guys."

"Shush, Lautrec, you're not helping!" Xerian complained.

"First contact isn't something we can really rehearse," the cat pointed out. "Besides, they arrested us on false pretences!"

"Sir, let's get to the point of this call," Eris said. "This warship arrived in Prime orbit to facilitate the Emperor's conquest. As part of that plan, they kidnapped a number of citizens, Xerian, Lautrec and myself included. Fortunately, that threat has been lifted. Together, we have overthrown the old emperor and Xerian has taken his place, at least as an interim measure."

"Yes," Lord Cyra said, entering the viewfield briefly. He was wearing Toast's maid outfit. "Look, I'm really sorry about all that. I was driven crazy by a virus and did some pretty bad things until they blew me up and reverted my programming. I feel much better now."

"My number one priority," Xerian said, "Is to arrange the safe return of the many Synths and organics who are currently in suspended animation aboard this ship, and the rehabilitation of any of them who were enslaved by the mad Emperor.
"We also need to determine what should happen to the Vengeance afterwards. With this technology we could heal many injuries which are currently beyond our own medical science. The teleportation system alone would revolutionise things, and I feel that any protogens who wish to leave the ship should also be given the opportunity to settle on our worlds if they wish to join the Outer Rim.

"Finally, there is one more thing - Rexx, one of my neighbours, sustained critical injuries during a f-fight with the old Emperor and will need immediate medical care the moment he is released from stasis. Unfortunately, the surgery devices here do not include the field of Synthetic Medicine. Those are my demands, if you wish to call them that."

"This is a lot to digest, er, your highness," the councillor said.

"I hope you've recorded it," Lautrec said, resting his head on one paw. "If not, we'll have to go through all this again."

"We must also warn you," Eris put in, "That the danger has not yet passed. Using to their advanced biotechnology, a group of rebels managed to create a clone of the Emperor still in his evil state. Furthermore, this evil twin has escaped into hyperspace via the Imperial Yacht.
"While he can't do much immediately, there is a strong risk that he may be able to regroup, steal another ship and return to cause more trouble at some point in the future. While I'm sure Xerian would happy to place the Vengeance at your disposal, the Outer Rim needs to bolster its defences just in case."

"I will have to confer," the councillor said.

"No rush," Xerian said. "I will instruct the crew to liase with Space Traffic Control now we're trying to be good citizens instead of sneaking around. We can check back in a day if that suits you, otherwise... I'll make sure we're listening out for a message from you."

"Thank you, er... your majesty," Sevrin said and signed off.

"It's funny," Xerian said. "When I was a kid, I always dreamed of being a starship captain. To take an incredibly advanced ship and explore the galaxy. And now I have that chance... I don't know what to do with it!"

"That's still an option if they get pissy and try to arrest us again," Lautrec pointed out. "Or charge us with resisting arrest when we got abducted."

"Hopefully it won't come to that," Niall said.

* * *

The throne room doors opened, and P3T3R hopped into the room. He bowed before Xerian and then looked straight at him.

"Your majesty," P3T3R said, "Now we have time, I feel we must discuss my part in this matter."

"Meaning your reward?" Lautrec asked.

"In a sense," the ProtoRoo said.

"Before that," Quirk said, "I've known you longest, and you always seem to appear or give cryptic advice at the right time, like you know everything. How is that?"

"I wired myself into the ship's computer systems," P3T3R said. "I was originally designed to be a controlling intelligence for a starship. My creators determined that a useful intelligence should have an understanding of the physical world, so I was installed in this body during my training. It would have become one of my remote units had things gone to that plan. Instead, the project was cancelled. Not wishing to repeat the mistakes of the Progenitors, my creators opted to free me."

"So, that made you a natural at tapping into the ship's systems," Lord Cyra said. "And by hijacking the security systems, you were able to listen in on me while I was plotting my weird, half-assed atrocities. Much is explained."

"Earlier you said that you created the Emperor," Niall said. "Can you tell us about that, now?"

"It may be best for Lord Cyra to leave first," the ProtoRoo suggested. The protogen nodded. "I am not sure I want to hear that part," he agreed, and left the room with a bow.

"Very well," P3T3R said sadly. "As he has probably told you, Lord Cyra used to be a mighty hero. Saviour of many worlds. He had a rival..."

"You?!" Quirk said.

"I was just the hired help," the ProtoRoo said. "I used my talents as a mercenary, a hacker-for-hire. The rival commissioned me to hack into his implants, degrade his abilities a little and even the playing field for my employer.
"This was distasteful, but the money was good. But I made a mistake in altering his systems, and it made him paranoid. I suspect I also damaged his ethical constraints.
"Rather than hobbling him slightly it drove him insane. I had created a monster. And ever since then, I have been trying to fix my mistake."

"That's why he seemed all confused after his revival...?" Xerian said, looking saddened.

"Yes. Thanks to your actions I was finally able to revert the changes. Lord Cyra was criminally insane, but I have cured him. Quirk feels that he deserves more punishment, but keep in mind that the memories of the dark deeds he did while under my influence will haunt him for years to come... that will be punishment enough. He may need counselling.

"What about his rival?" Niall asked. "Ultimately, this is his fault."

"The Emperor killed him," P3T3R said sadly. "After I had been paid."

"That solves one problem," Quirk remarked. Xerian glowered at the flippancy.

P3T3R looked up at the black-furred protogen and gave a sad smile. "I created you too, Quirk," he said.

"So does that mean you consider me to be a mistake too?"

"No. I made you into a weapon against the old Emperor. If that sounds impersonal, remember that I also gave you freedom - without me you would never have had free will at all, nor developed a personality. You are my child, in a sense, and I have done my best to keep you safe. But secretly, as I did not want you to rely on me too much."

"And now," he said, bowing his head, "You must decide my fate. I have caused untold death and suffering, and I must pay the price."

"What price...?" Xerian looked horrified.

"That is for you to determine," P3T3R said. "It would be just to terminate me. In many cultures, if an artificial intelligence goes rogue it will be scrapped, the brain circuitry removed and destroyed so the chassis can be repurposed. This would be a fitting end for me, and I will not resist if you order my termination."

"No!" Lautrec yelped.

"He has a point," Toast said. "He has caused those same genocides that Quirk blamed Lord Cyra for. If he won't pay the price, who should?"

"No," Niall said firmly.

"Be more specific," Quirk said.

"Look.. We can't kill Lord Cyra because, like those Synths who were wandering around talking to the slugs, he was not in his right mind," Niall continued. "The insanity defence. P3T3R was in his right mind, and he did act improperly. However, he has not gone rogue. He did not set out to turn Lord Cyra into an insane despot, and could not possibly have foreseen the consequences of his actions."

"Even so, those things have happened," P3T3R said. "And I am to blame. I am too dangerous to be allowed to continue existing. Destroying my brain would at least silence the guilt."

"What jurisdiction does this even come under?" Eris asked.

"Technically its own," Toast put in. "The ship is under Imperial law, is it not? Even if the Empire consists of just this ship. It is for the Emperor to decide his fate."

"Great," Xerian sighed.

"If I may make a suggestion, your highness," Niall said, "P3T3R deserves to be punished for his crime, but not for Lord Cyra's crimes. After all, by restoring Lord Cyra to his senses, he has saved the Outer Rim and countless other worlds. I would say that that act repays most of his debt to society.
"Even if you feel his crimes cannot be absolved, I would recommend that exile may be the best option. If Bob is willing, He can take P3T3R back with me. He'll be out of your hair. It'll give Strauss a fit but it'll solve a lot of awkward problems," he added to himself.

"And if it k-kills him?" Xerian asked.

"That is what he wanted," Niall said simply. "But rest assured, we can do to him what we did to you. And 'Cubi are very good psychiatrists."

"Very well," Xerian said finally. "He must live with his guilt. That is his punishment. If he wishes exile to Furrae, that can be arranged. Otherwise, he shall be subject to the same monitoring as Lord Cyra."

"So be it!" Sorg intoned. "The Emperor has pronounced judgement!"

"As you command," P3T3R said, and this time he did not hop away.