Three Square Meals Ch. 058

She gave him a sad smile, and said, "I didn't."

"I know," he replied with an encouraging smile, then added lightly, "Thank you for that."

She laughed at his attempt at humour, then seemed filled with firm resolve, as she stated, "If we're going up against cybernetic organisms, it's more important than ever that we improve the Invictus' electronic defences."

Irillith leaned forward, and said, "I'll help you. We'll be able to get it done before we arrive there."

"With your help, we definitely can!" Faye exclaimed, as she turned and smiled at the Maliri, and they both focused on Irillith's console. Faye began to lay out her plans for cyber defence in depth, turning the Invictus into an impregnable digital citadel, while Irillith listened closely.

When John rotated his seat forward once again, he spotted Calara looking up at him thoughtfully, so he asked, "What's up, Calara? You look like you've got something on your mind."

She nodded, then after a moment's hesitation she asked, "What's the chance that this is a trap? At the very least, we might be getting lured into unleashing the Invictus' full firepower. I know we're planning on trying to keep that under wraps."

John glanced at Alyssa in surprise, and she shrugged, replying, "I keep them in the loop on pretty much everything. It saves a lot of time, and I trust them all absolutely."

Turning to look at the Latina, he replied, "Charles might have become a very good actor, but his reaction to all this seemed pretty genuine. I've never seen him that disturbed before, and that's just how I'd expect him to react to an unchecked AI uprising."

Calara nodded, but she seemed pensive, as though she wanted to say more.

He gave her a supportive smile, and said, "What's troubling you? Is it this Dragon March offensive?"

She let out a sigh, and said, "I can't help worrying. My Dad and Mateo are stationed there, and odds are high that they're both involved in this invasion. With Admiral Norwood leading it, it's going to end in disaster, I just know it!"

John got up from his chair, then walked down from the Command Podium to join her. She rose to meet him and gladly accepted his comforting hug. As he held her in his arms, he said, "We'll stop Norwood as fast as we can, but we can't ignore this AI uprising. If we can't do something about it, the rogue AI will most likely keep building more and more ships until the Terran forces are completely overwhelmed. Then the Dragon March won't matter, because we'll all be doomed."

Calara hugged him tighter, but nodded her understanding. "I won't let my worries affect my analysis," she told him resolutely.

"I know, you're an exemplary officer, Lieutenant," he told her proudly.

Looking a little calmer, the Latina sat down in her chair again, then began to pore over the data that Irillith had retrieved earlier that afternoon. John decided to leave her in peace, and he strolled towards the grav-tube. He'd been planning to practice his psychic powers again in the Cargo Bay today, and was determined to master the elemental attacks before their next confrontation.

Alyssa glided down the illuminated steps from the Command Podium, before moving into step with him. She intended to shape new Crystal Alyssium plating for the rest of the Paragon Armour, keeping him company for the rest of the evening.

He paused before stepping inside, suddenly remembering a call he needed to make, and said, "I'll meet you down there, there's someone I haven't spoke to for some time."

Alyssa nodded, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and said, "I'll be down in the Cargo Bay. See you soon!"

John smiled at her gratefully, then walked over to his Ready Room, hit the door button, and went inside. He strolled across the Commander's private room, and sat down in the big, comfortable leather chair behind the sturdy, ornate desk. Reaching out to the comm console built into the desk, he pressed the buttons which activated the holographic interface, and once it had appeared, he started scrolling through contacts. Finding the one he was looking for, he swiped across the name, then waited patiently for the call to connect.

A stern faced, middle-aged man eventually took the call after letting it ring for five minutes, and he scowled at John when he saw who had called him. "You were not serious about your training," he snapped curtly.

"I'm really sorry, Yamamoto," John said contritely.

Yamamoto scowled, saying, "I do not believe your sincerity, or dedication. It has been over a month since we last spoke."

John nodded and said in a humble voice, "I truly am sorry. Events spiralled out of control, and I wasn't myself for a few weeks."

"Let me guess, an evil alter-ego took over your body? Perhaps a dog ate your homework?" Yamamoto asked scornfully.

John chuckled, and said, "Actually you aren't far wrong, regarding the first one at least."

Yamamoto's eyes flared, and he looked furious as he replied, "I will not be mocked, least of all by a student!" Abruptly he cut off the call, leaving John staring at a blank screen.

John let out a deep sigh, then turned off the comm interface. He decided that pursuing any further attempts to re-open communications with Yamamoto would be pointless until the taciturn man had calmed down. Resolved to try calling him again in a couple of days time, he got up from his chair, then strolled out of the Ready Room, heading down to the Cargo Bay for his rendezvous with Alyssa.

***

Rachel sensed that everyone was still reeling from the shock, after the news of the AI uprising, so she postponed her presentation for a couple of days. Now that they were back in Terran Space, she asked Irillith to download her the entirety of the Terran Federation Medical Archives, and she began to devour it hungrily as the transfer progressed. Faye offered to help her, but Rachel could see the purple sprite was busy with the cyber-defences, so she declined.

The next couple of days passed in a frenzy of activity, with research, training, and construction happening in equal measures. Despite the foreboding conversation with Charles, morale among the crew was high, especially as 'special rations' were back on the menu, and all the girls were delighted to spend some time alone with John.

They were all gathered around the dining table after having had pea and ham soup with delicious crusty bread for lunch. It was Rachel's turn with him that afternoon, so he was surprised when she tucked into lunch with the same hearty appetite as everyone else. Usually the girls decided to skip a meal beforehand, savouring the thought of a meal solely provided by John. After carrying a stack of plates into the kitchen, he found Rachel carefully putting away the cutlery, and once he'd stacked the dishes in the shelves, he stepped up behind her, wrapping the beautiful brunette in his arms.

He brushed her long tawny-brown hair away from her shoulders, then kissed her neck, before running his hands around her. "I'm not sure you'll have any room for dessert," he said playfully, resting his hands on her svelte stomach.

Rachel leaned back against him, relaxing in his embrace, and she sighed with contentment. After enjoying being cuddled for a while, she turned in his arms, and with a rueful expression on her face, she said, "Unfortunately, I think I'll have to skip dessert today."

John blinked in surprise, astonished that she would choose to forego a chance to have a hefty load of his cum all to herself.

Alyssa's amused thoughts drifted through his mind, saying, *If you're shocked when one of us isn't dropping to her knees to blow you, I think we've been spoiling you!*

Feeling a bit abashed, John replied, *Yeah you're right, I guess I've got a little too used to having beautiful girls at my beck and call.*

She giggled back to him telepathically, and said, *That's what we're here for! Don't worry, she's still just as hungry for your cum as ever.*

Looking at Rachel curiously, he asked, "You look like you have something on your mind, what's up?"

She nodded, smiling at his perceptiveness, and replied, "I've researched everything I can on aliens we've encountered, as well as our DNA. There's one thing I've overlooked, and I think it might hold some interesting answers."

"Really?" John asked in surprise. "What's that?"

She grinned at him, and said, "I need a good sized sample of your cum to run some tests. I have a few theories I'd like to confirm, but you're always in high demand, so gathering a sample has been -difficult-."

He laughed, and said, "I'd be happy to oblige, Doctor. Shall we head down to Medical?"

"Lead on, Commodore!" she replied with an enticing smile, and they walked out of the kitchen hand-in-hand.

***

Irillith had an extra spring in her step as she strode out onto the Bridge and over to her Station. Over the last day and a half, she'd been working on shoring up the cyber-defences of the Invictus with Faye, and they had nearly finished the extensive security upgrade. She grinned as she sat in her chair, looking forward to seeing the AI construct again. She concentrated for a second, bringing forth her astral projection, then poured herself into the data-jacks to enter the Cyber-realm of the Invictus' digital network.

She appeared on the silvery floor in front of the swirling portal, and was momentarily surprised not to find Faye waiting for her. The purple sprite was usually hopping up and down in anticipation, eager to show her whatever latest security measures she'd just concocted. Irillith paused and conjured up a trace program, which appeared as a silver arrow at her side. She sent it instructions to find the perky digital construct, and it zipped away, leaving a sparkling trail in its wake.

It didn't take long to trace Faye's whereabouts, and she was where Irillith expected her to be; in the Engineering Bay. It had become their Central Command for preparing all the new network defences, so it made sense that Faye would be there. Irillith glided unopposed through the triple firewalled ramparts that were bedecked with alert protection programs, then flew along the passage linking her IntOps Station with the rest of the network. She arrived at the Engineering Bay in the blink of an eye, and after passing through the opaque gateways, she spotted Faye floating in the air by a data archive.

"Hi Faye!" Irillith greeted her cheerily as she walked over to join her.

Faye didn't turn to look her way, and instead mumbled, "Oh, hey."

Irillith frowned, surprised at Faye's uncharacteristic behaviour, and trying to buoy up her spirits, she asked, "I was wondering if you finished upgrading the roaming patrol programs? You did such a great job on the protection software, I can't wait to see what you've done with them!"

"Yeah, I've finished them. The designs are stored in that data repository if you want to review my work," Faye said half-heartedly.

Irillith walked around the little AI construct, so that she could look her in the face, and she was shocked to see the melancholy expression the purple sprite wore. "What's the matter, Faye!" she asked her in alarm, "Why are you so upset?"

Faye looked up at her, her tiny face full of sorrow, and she said, "I finished the last of the upgrades, and then I remembered how we'd exploited the archives of cam-feeds. They're on a separate subnet, so I locked it down securely."

Frowning in confusion, Irillith said, "It sounds like you did a great job. That was a vulnerability that needed addressing, but why has that got you down?"

Letting out a forlorn sigh, Faye replied, "I started looking through the more recent data archives, just as I'd done in the past. It was the first job you gave me after I was created, so it felt strangely soothing to run those old search parameters again." Turning to look at the archive she was sat in front of, she said, "That's when I found this..."

Faye brought up cam footage from the Command Deck, and it folded out from the archive, appearing as a floating screen before them as it played back the entry. Irillith immediately recognised herself, Calara, and Alyssa up on the Bridge, and she saw that she was centred in the camera footage.

***

As the footage played back, Irillith watched herself on the Bridge, lifting her armoured vambrace and hurriedly tapping at the buttons on her arm. A purple mist appeared above her forearm, and the violet digital blocks began to form together into a tiny, four inch AI sprite.

"Are you my creator?" it asked her in wonder.

Irillith watched in fascination, suddenly remembering when this footage was taken. It was when they had been attacked by the big fleet of Armoured Cobra mercenary ships.

"Yeah, I need your help." cam-feed Irillith snapped at the AI hurriedly.

The diminutive digital creature frowned and remarked, "You don't seem like a very nice person."

Cam-feed Irillith's face contorted with rage, and she snarled back, "I didn't summon you to give me a personality appraisal. Shut the fuck up and get to work you annoying little shit!"

The AIs face darkened and it growled, "Filthy organic. Let's see how you like a few hours without oxygen."

As the AI darted for the data jacks, cam-feed Irillith moved faster, stabbing her finger down on the de-res button. With a strangled, agonised cry, the tiny purple sprite began to disassemble. "Not so smart-mouthed now, are you?" she noted with an evil grin.

The digital creature vanished a few seconds later, and its tortured death wail echoed around the Engineering Bay section of the Cyber Realm.

***

Irillith was horrified by her actions, appalled to see how brutally she had executed that AI creature without mercy. She turned to look at Faye with guilt etched deeply across her face, and her voice was full of remorse as she said, "I'm so sorry."

"How many?" Faye asked her quietly.

"What do you mean?" Irillith replied after a moment's hesitation.

Faye stared at her with her big purple eyes, and asked again but this time in a firmer tone, "How many AI did you kill like that?"

Irillith hung her head in shame as she replied softly, "I'm sorry, I've lost count. Several hundred at least." Filled with self-loathing she added, "You must think I'm a monster."

The purple sprite had been carefully studying the Maliri girl's expression, and she shook her head as she replied, "You're a totally different person now, since being with John. It wouldn't be fair to blame you for what happened in the past." She looked sad as she continued, "But is it any wonder that AIs go rogue when organics treat them like that? Like disposable property that can be cast aside at a moment's provocation?"

Nodding soberly, Irillith replied, "You're right. I doubt the Terrans respected their creations any more than I did."

Faye fluttered over to the shamefaced Maliri, and said softly, "I'm not mad at you. I'm sorry I upset you with the cam-feed footage, but I needed to see how you'd react to seeing that again. Like I said, you've changed, and you're a good person now."

Irillith met the sprite's gaze, and said earnestly, "That's very forgiving of you, Faye, thank you. I could probably learn a lot about being a good person from you."

Faye swooped in for a hug, and they tightly embraced each other.

***

Rachel reluctantly placed the large container in the refrigerated cabinet, then turned to smile at John as she said, "I've no idea how Jade can go down on you then selflessly share it out like she does. Stopping myself from just swallowing it all down was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do."

"The things you endure for science... you're truly inspirational, Doctor," John said with a playful wink, still slumped in one of the chairs where Rachel had given him a loving blowjob only a minute beforehand.

She laughed and rolled her eyes at his teasing, before saying, "In any case, thanks for that. Hopefully I'll have some results for a presentation soon."

John rose to his feet, and walked over to give her a hug as he said flirtatiously, "I'm more than happy to help you research Terran/Progenitor couplings whenever you need." As she hugged him back, he kissed her on top of her head, and added, "Talking of presentations, weren't you working on the Maliri DNA samples? You mentioned before that you'd finished all your current research, so how about you show me what you've discovered?"

"I'd love to!" she agreed happily, and broke free from his arms to dart over to one of the medical consoles.

After a momentary pause for thought, he held up a cautionary hand, and said, "Irillith will probably want to see this too. Can you transfer your results up to the Briefing Room, and we'll gather up there to have a look."

She shrugged amiably, and smiled as she pressed several buttons on the console, transferring the data up to the Command Deck. "All done!" she said enthusiastically, after waiting a couple of seconds to complete the transfer.

*Hey, Beautiful,* John thought to Alyssa, *Can you gather the troops in the Briefing Room? Rachel has another presentation to show us.*

*Already on it, I'll see you there!* she replied immediately.

John held out his hand for the brunette, and Rachel slipped her soft fingers between his, and fell into step with him as he led her out of the Medical Bay. Dana and Jade had been in the Engineering Bay, and they called out to them from further down the corridor. Pausing, John waited for them to catch up, and then they all strolled down to the grav-tube in a group. The girls all chattered amongst themselves as they stepped out on to the Bridge, where they found Irillith at her station, and Alyssa talking to Calara by her Tactical Station.

Irillith was just coming around from her Spirit-Walk, and she had a mournful expression on her face as she began to stir. John was surprised to see her looking so upset, and as he walked over to join Irillith, he said to Alyssa telepathically, *Take the others through to the Briefing Room, I'll be right with you.*

As the girls filed into the briefing room, he sat down beside the Maliri girl, and clasped her slender blue hands in his much larger ones. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked her with concern.

She shivered for a moment, then met his probing gaze as she shook her head sadly, and replied, "Faye found some old cam-feed footage of me disposing of an AI from my hacking deck. I can't stop hearing the sound it made as it de-resed, it was horrific."

He gave her a sympathetic smile, and said, "You're not really the same person that did that any more. As I've said to Edraele, you can't blame yourself for things you did beforehand."

Irillith smiled at him wanly, and said, "I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, but it doesn't change the fact that I effectively murdered hundreds of AI creatures that could have turned out just like Faye."

Reaching up to brush his finger across her smooth cheek, he said, "You can't change the past, but if you really feel you need to atone, maybe there's something you can do to make up for what happened."

"What should I do?" she asked him, a need for redemption in her violet eyes.

John started to shake his head, unsure how to answer, when he paused and said, "I asked Dana to work on a project for Faye. Maybe you could help her?"

Irillith smiled at him gratefully, and then leaned forward to give him a fierce hug as she said, "I'll speak to her about it, thank you!"

He stood, and after offering Irillith his hand, they walked into the Briefing Room to join the rest of the crew. The girls were all seated at their places around the table, with Faye sitting cross legged on the desk itself, with two separate holographic projections floating above her head. The first showed the Invictus' long range scans plotted on a Sector Map, while the other displayed several DNA strands, immediately identifiable with their twirling helical structures.