Amazing art by wondeful  EleaCat
Original post

PREV PART

   The blue planet filled most of the viewport, bathed in sunlight. M’Ria stood naked, leaning against the railing-console beneath several glowing holographic displays, quietly enjoying the view.

   – I’ve never seen anything like this before... – the khajiit whispered. – So this is what planets look like from space...

   – More or less, – Maks nodded, standing slightly behind her. – With rare exceptions, like personal divine domains or unique micro-universes. Jenny, have you detected anything new?

   – While you two were cooing, I successfully breached the local internet, – the AI reported, making M’Ria’s tail puff up in indignation. – Planet: Earth. Local date: the 10th of March, 2015. Political map shows no significant deviation from my databases. No major military conflicts detected. Overall, the situation is relatively peaceful. Proceeding analysis.

   – That fast... – M’Ria stopped hissing, stunned by the speed of information retrieval. Before, they would have had to find a physical access point, deploy a virus, break through security, and then wait while the rather sluggish VI of the omni-tool parsed news sites, forums, and archives... a process that could take hours, if not days. And now Jennifer had done it casually, from orbit, in mere seconds. The difference was staggering.

   – That’s the difference between a combat AI and an operational VI, – Maks shrugged. – Deploy Argus. You’ll be our eyes.

   – Acknowledged, – Jennifer replied. – Deployment time: 54 minutes.

   Meanwhile, M’Ria finally realized that her body had unconsciously assumed a seductive pose – naked, torso leaning forward to accentuate her breasts, tail raised to expose her loins. She bit her lip as her thoughts drifted in a much more pleasant direction: Maks stepping closer from behind, his hands settling on her hips...

   – Attention: executive officer’s heart rate has increased by 12 beats per minute. Body temperature elevated by 0.6 degrees Celsius, – Jennifer announced, and M’Ria could have sworn there was a smug undertone beneath the calm voice, making the khajiit hiss again. – Hypothesis: sexual arousal.

   – Listen, you...! – M’Ria hissed.

   – I understand that sexual release is important for organics and will disable sensors in this room, – the AI continued. – However, I kindly request that you do not get too carried away. The cleaning drones only finished their cycle recently.

   – I’ll show you...! – the girl started, then exhaled. Arguing with and yelling at the ship itself was pointless. – You’re insufferable.

   Instead of following the “advice,” M’Ria decided to get dressed, summoning a tank top and shorts from the spatial storage directly onto her body. Calming down, she leaned against the railing again. Maks merely watched the exchange with an amused smirk.

   – Jennifer, maybe don’t tease her so much. You can see it embarrasses her, – he shook his head.

   – Acknowledged, – the AI replied without emotion. – My apologies. I am still learning how to interact with organics.

   – Forget it, – M’Ria muttered. – Better tell us, did you find anything?

   – Affirmative, – Jennifer responded. – It is too early to draw final conclusions, but I have detected an anomalously high number of references to alien abductions.

   – Abductions? – the girl blinked. – Anomalously high... Meaning a small number of abductions is considered normal?

   – No, not normal, – Maks answered this time. – In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, various conspiracy theories emerged. Including ones about aliens abducting humans for experiments. There were even supposed "victims."

   Maks made air quotes.

   – But it was all either insane or attention-seeking people, – he continued. – Absurd rumors have existed in every era.

   – Confirmed, – Jennifer added. – Typically, the volume of search queries and websites related to such topics is negligible compared to other network segments. However, over the past month, search queries related to "alien abductions" in various formulations have increased by 6374.8%. This spike was not triggered by entertainment releases – over the past year, only two feature films on the subject were released, both rated below 5 out of 10, and one console game, also poorly rated. Therefore, it seems that any references about abductions is being erased.

   – Hm. Now the question is whether that’s just how this world is, or is that an anomaly, – Maks mused.

   – Something tells me that’s not an anomaly, – M’Ria replied thoughtfully. – Too easy.

   – Either way, we have to start somewhere, – he continued. – Argus’ results should at least give us a lead. And maybe there will be something valuable in the net after all.

   – I will notify you if I find anything, – the AI replied.

   The work had begun.

M'Ria ©