Chapter Text
Gurathin didn't wake up for nearly half a cycle, which I thought was a little dramatic on his part. Once he was in the MedSys, it was fairly easy for ART-prime to tend to the minor damage done by the electrocution and everything else that had happened over the past few cycles, and it got the collar off in less than five minutes. Once it did, it reintegrated with ART-aux, and I'm pretty sure I took a real breath for the first time since we'd had to leave Gurathin vulnerable to the collar for almost eighteen whole seconds.
He was okay, though. ART told me that repeatedly through the feed as it tended to him, and it also told Ratthi that out loud repeatedly when Ratthi worried, and I figured I should probably trust it. It knew more about taking care of humans and augmented humans than I did, after all.
The only thing ART wasn't able to do while Gurathin was unconscious was turn his vision augments back on. Apparently, that would wake him up, and ART needed him conscious anyway to know everything was configured properly, and Gurathin needed rest. "Proper sleep will help Dr. Gurathin heal more quickly from the damage done in the escape, and he is also showing signs of sleep deficit," ART said. "I imagine he didn't sleep well while back with his old company."
Ratthi winced. "I hate thinking about him there."
"He's never going back," I said firmly. "We'll take down the whole company if we have to."
"I doubt that will be necessary," ART said. "While we were using Iris's augments to infiltrate the station, I added a time-delay virus that would target all information tagged with Dr. Gurathin's name or employee identification code. The people there will know that he was there, of course, and they'll know that he was an escapee who managed to escape again, but they will not have access to any of their data."
"You deleted it?" I asked.
ART's voice was smug. "I did. The virus was timed to take effect this morning. I imagine it has already done its work by now."
"They could still come after him," Ratthi said worriedly.
"They won't," Tarik said. He'd joined us after we got far enough away from TesWalCast that the security risk was minimal, swapping out for Martyn, who'd gone to join Seth on the bridge. Iris was with them too, but Tarik had stayed with us. Well, with Ratthi; I knew he was here for him, to comfort him while he was upset. I didn't think Tarik could really comfort him much, not with Gurathin still unconscious, but he could try, I guess, and Ratthi would probably appreciate it.
"You don't know that," Ratthi accused, so maybe he didn't appreciate Tarik being there after all.
"I don't know for sure, but I doubt it," Tarik said. "He escaped twice, right? That makes him more of a risk than they'd probably find worthwhile. After he escaped once, he was worth tracking down, especially since he was working to smuggle other escapees out of the CR, but now, he's living proof that they're not inescapable, and he's living proof twice over. They're going to want him to stay as far away from them as possible. Add in the fact that Peri deleted all of his data anyway, and coming after him won't be worth it."
Wait a second, I said to ART in our private feed. You said you deleted everything that was tagged with his name or ID code. Does that include work that he'd done?
This time, ART's voice was unbearably smug. It does.
Any work that had been in any way linked to Gurathin's name or ID, gone. It would be a blow to TesWalCast, probably, and it would also show them that Gurathin wasn't someone to mess with. They wouldn't want to risk anyone fucking with more of their data. I wasn't usually one for optimism, but I was pretty sure Tarik was right; TesWalCast would leave Gurathin alone.
I was still going to make sure Preservation Station Security had better safeguards in place to keep people from getting kidnapped, because that was obviously something they really needed, but I felt a little better about the idea of Gurathin being there without me when I left with ART again.
"Perihelion," Ratthi said suddenly, his voice urgent, "I think Gurathin's waking up."
ART and I had already noticed the signs, and ART had arranged its medical drones around Gurathin to help him if he needed it. Ratthi grabbed Gurathin's hand, and I took a step towards them. I know how retrieved client protocols went, and I was pretty sure Gurathin would want me to confirm that he was safe. I just hoped he wouldn't get clingy. Some clients did, but I didn't think Gurathin would be the type. If he did end up being clingy, I was pretty sure we'd end up killing each other within a few cycles of driving each other crazy.
I wouldn't be letting him out of range for a while, but that wasn't being clingy, that was being practical. Gurathin had proved that he was at risk of being kidnapped, so I would keep an eye on him so I wouldn't have to rescue him again. It was just like how I never let Ratthi go out and do dangerous things because I knew he was more prone to ending up in even more danger than I could have expected, and then I'd have to deal with it. It was just practical.
Gurathin's eyes fluttered open, and he went tense immediately. He pulled away from Ratthi's hand, and Ratthi put his hands up, even though Gurathin couldn't see it.
"Sorry, I probably shouldn't have been touching you. I was just…"
"Ratthi?" Gurathin asked, his voice rough in the way humans sounded when they'd just woken up. "Ratthi, are you- Please tell me this means I'm out and not that they got you too."
"You're out," I said. "Did you forget me rescuing you?"
Gurathin's head turned towards my voice. "No, I remember. I wasn't sure- I thought it might have been a dream."
I scoffed. "Do you dream about me a lot?"
"When I'm being held against my will by a company that I know full well will resort to anything to get what they want, yes, I dream about being rescued, and you're the best equipped to rescue me."
Well, fuck. That sort of took all the fun out of teasing Gurathin over it.
"SecUnit did rescue you," Ratthi said. "We're onboard Perihelion now, on our way back to Preservation. It'll take a few cycles, but not too long. Oh, you haven't properly met Perihelion, have you? I mean, you met the version of it that went down with SecUnit to rescue you, but-"
"It told me that its main body was a ship," Gurathin said. "But it didn't feel like a bot pilot."
"I am far more advanced than a bot pilot," ART said in its snootiest voice.
"Obviously," Gurathin replied dryly. "If that part that was blocking the collar from activating was only a fraction of your processing power, then I imagine you're one of the most powerful AIs in the universe."
I could practically feel ART preening over that. It was going to be insufferable.
"I am."
"Do I also have you to thank for the medical treatment?" Gurathin asked, tentatively stretching his limbs and sitting up.
"It was my pleasure, Dr. Gurathin. I can reactivate your vision augments if you would like. I'll need your input to ensure they match your specifications properly."
"If it's not too much trouble," Gurathin replied, which was fucking absurd. Since when was he polite? For that matter, since when was ART polite? Why were they being polite to each other? They were both supposed to be assholes, and it was weirding me out.
Gurathin blinked, and suddenly his eyes were tracking movement again and focusing properly. He looked at Ratthi, then he looked over at me, and then he looked at the whole MedSys.
"This is a beautiful ship."
"Thank you, Dr. Gurathin. Are your augments calibrated correctly? I took the liberty of running a minor update. I also noticed that a few of the parts are beginning to degrade. I would be willing to replace them for you, if you would like."
Why are you being nice? I demanded in the feed. It's weird.
Dr. Gurathin has gone through a traumatic experience. Some kindness will help him feel more comfortable and recover faster. ART did the feed equivalent of a shrug. And I like him.
Oh great. Now I wasn't just going to have two assholes to deal with, I was going to have two assholes who were friends.
"Perhaps we could discuss that for the future," Gurathin said. "For the moment, I think I'd rather not do anything strenuous until I've had time to recover."
"Whoa, who are you and what have you done with Gurathin?" Ratthi demanded. "You never admit when something is wrong. How bad is it? Perihelion, is he dying?"
"I'm not dying," Gurathin said, rolling his eyes. "But augment surgery is invasive and intense, and it can be difficult to recover from even if you're in peak condition beforehand. Even corporations take that into account when augmenting employees."
Ratthi winced. "I… I didn't know."
"No, Ratthi, I'm not-" Gurathin's hands flexed, like he was considering reaching for Ratthi, but he didn't. "I'm going to be a little jumpy for the next few days. And probably a bit… shorter than usual."
Ratthi's lips twitched in an attempt at a smile. "Well, you know that we all love you even when your personality isn't exactly sparkling."
"No one's ever called my personality sparkling, and I don't think anyone ever will," Gurathin replied dryly. He did reach out for Ratthi then, but he just held his hand out a bit and let Ratthi be the one to close the distance and grasp it. I was pretty sure "jumpy" and "short" were both wildly underselling it. Gurathin was traumatized, and he probably wouldn't be willing to go do the trauma treatments without someone telling him to do it, and it was going to be a whole thing. I hoped I could be left out of it, but definitely kept in the loop.
"Dr. Gurathin," ART said, its voice gentle in a way that I was pretty sure was intended not to startle Gurathin, who was kinda acting like he'd forgotten it was listening. "Would you like to schedule an appointment for the future to replace the degraded augment components?"
"I… Maybe," Gurathin said. "I don't think I'm ready to think about that right now."
"Understandable," ART said smoothly. "Would you like Dr. Ratthi to show you to your room, if you would like to rest?"
Gurathin hesitated. "That would be nice, thank you. But I'd also like to know… Do you have crew? I doubt you'd need them, but if you do, I'd like to meet them."
I'd never known Gurathin to be the type who wanted to meet people. I was pretty sure he just meant that he wanted to know who was part of ART's crew so he wouldn't run into them by surprise and freak out. A controlled first meeting was probably good.
Tarik had slipped out before Gurathin woke up, probably thinking the same thing, but I tapped him on the feed. Gurathin wants to meet everyone.
I'll get Seth and Martyn and Iris, Tarik agreed.
"I do have crew," ART said. "I do not have my full crew with me at the moment, but those of us who are aboard were on our way to a vacation on Preservation when Dr. Ratthi received your letter. You are welcome to meet everyone."
Gurathin frowned a little. "I didn't mean to interrupt your vacation."
"You mean you didn't get kidnapped on purpose?" I asked in my most sarcastic voice. "We fucking know you didn't mean to do it. It's fine. We'll get to Preservation soon, and Seth was going to see if we can extend the vacation by a few cycles anyway."
A flicker of surprise crossed over Gurathin's face. "Where exactly do you work?"
"We work for the Pansystem University of Mihira and New Tideland," ART said, with the slight ring of pride that was always in its voice when it mentioned the university. "It is quite an understanding employer, and given the circumstances, I think it will be amenable to Seth's request. Seth is the captain. He is onboard, along with his partner Martyn and their daughter Iris."
"And Tarik is also here," Ratthi added. "He's another member of ART's crew. And he and I are… seeing each other."
I could see Gurathin digest the information. "So there are four members of your crew onboard?"
He sounded a little wary. "You can trust them," I told him. "They don't like corporates. They helped me get you out."
It was all the objective truth, so it didn't really make sense that ART leaned on me especially happily in the feed at the words. If it was going to get all excited every time I said something objectively true, then it was going to be a real pain in the ass.
(Okay, so maybe I knew why ART was all happy and whatever, but it wasn't something I was willing to look at too closely yet, so I was going to keep pretending there was no reason for it. It wouldn't kill either of us to leave this unspoken for a little longer.)
"I know," Gurathin said, his voice somehow both sharp and a little fragile. Humans and augmented humans could be so complicated with their emotions. "But I think you know exactly how quickly I trust new people."
I did. I scowled at Gurathin at the reminder. "Asshole."
"Do you want to meet them one at a time?" Ratthi asked. "Or all at once? Which is better?"
Gurathin shot me a quick glance. I was pretty sure he was calculating the odds. There were four of them and three of us, but I was a SecUnit, so I had to count for at least five humans, which meant we outnumbered them soundly. Not that we needed to, of course, but I understood the paranoia. The thing was, Gurathin's look seemed to be calculating whether I'd side with him or ART's crew. He had to know I'd at least side with Ratthi, and Ratthi would side with him, so at worst, I'd stand back and let the humans do their human thing. That would still lead to him and Ratthi being outnumbered, though, and I wasn't sure how he was fitting ART into the calculation, but he should probably know that ART could kill me and Gurathin and Ratthi in less than a second if it decided it wanted to.
So. Lots to consider. Not that it was necessary to consider it, since we weren't going to fight, but like I said, I understood the paranoia. Gurathin was definitely going to be jumpy for a bit.
"I can meet them all at once," Gurathin finally said. I guess he'd decided it didn't really matter if they came in one at a time, since they could ignore that and rush him if they wanted to. That would be the strategic thing to do in an attack, not that anyone was going to attack. "And I'll do my best to be… pleasant to your partner, Ratthi."
"Tarik will get it if you're a little grumpy," Ratthi assured him. "They all know what you've just gone through, and I've told Tarik about you already."
Gurathin's eyebrow arched. "And that means he'll understand if I'm grumpy? What did you tell him about me?"
"Gurathin, you know I love you, but grumpy is basically the first adjective that would come to anyone's mind to describe you."
"Asshole," I offered.
"That's a noun," Gurathin dismissed.
"Yeah, and that's a prime example of you being one."
My crew is outside, ART said to me in our private feed. Do you think Gurathin is truly ready to meet them?
He said he was, didn't he?
I would prefer to avoid any… incidents. What is your analysis of his mental state?
Ugh, I hated analyzing anyone's mental state, even if it wasn't mine. I was pretty sure I knew the answer to this one, though. He'll be fine. He's got me and Ratthi, and he knows your crew are here to help. Just… make sure they know he's not a touchy-feely person. Give him his space.
I'll pass that on, ART replied.
I sent an acknowledgment, then I tapped Gurathin's feed. I was pretty sure he was actually fine meeting ART's crew, but now ART had me second-guessing myself, so I figured there wasn't any harm in checking.
You sure you want to do this? You don't have to.
I'm sure, Gurathin replied. I saw his hand flex, like he wanted to clench it but wasn't letting himself. I'd rather meet them now, under controlled circumstances, than meet them later and have a potential incident.
I imagined how it might go, if Gurathin ran into one of ART's crew randomly, especially alone. Iris might be able to defuse a situation, Seth and Martyn had decent chances too, but Tarik would definitely just freak him out, and that could go badly. Gurathin, as I had learned well, could lash out when he felt cornered, and he was actually pretty good at it. Which was a good and a bad thing, because if he was actually cornered, lashing out was probably a good thing, but if he wasn't actually cornered, then it would just lead to people getting hurt.
Although, honestly, if he was actually cornered, he'd probably just end up making things worse by lashing out, since it probably wouldn't be enough to actually get him out of wherever situation he was in. Whatever, maybe I'd talk to him about it later. Probably not. Maybe I could get Mensah to talk to him.
Anyway, the chances of things going badly if Gurathin ran into one of ART's crew without meeting them first were high, so I figured he was probably right in thinking he should meet them now. Okay, I replied. I had an idea, considered it for a moment, decided fuck it, and slid files to Gurathin in the feed.
These are the profiles I made for security. Confidential shit is redacted, but you can get an idea of them, at least.
I saw the slightest flicker of surprise cross Gurathin's face, then it was gone before Ratthi could notice it. I was pretty sure ART would have caught it, but ART was also hovering in the feed and keeping half a metaphorical eye on our conversation, so it knew exactly what was happening. The fact that it let me pass the files on meant that it was probably okay to do, although I'm pretty sure it redacted a couple of things that I'd missed in the transfer process.
"Dr. Gurathin," ART said aloud, after giving Gurathin a moment to poke at the files. "Are you ready to meet my crew?"
"I am," Gurathin said, although I could heart his heartbeat tick up a little. He hadn't really been relaxed at all since waking up, but this definitely wasn't helping. Ratthi reached for his hand, though, and Gurathin took it and squeezed it hard enough that it might have actually hurt Ratthi a little, and that did seem to help.
For a teeny, tiny fraction of a second, I considered offering my hand instead. Just because I didn't want to Ratthi's hand to get shattered by Gurathin's weirdly strong grip. But that would require extended physical contact with Gurathin, and that was gross, so I kept my hands to myself, and Gurathin just kept clinging to Ratthi.
"Very well," ART agreed, and the door slid open.
Iris came through first, which was probably a good idea. She looked the least threatening, although I knew she could be tough when she wanted to be, and she was also a young female, which I knew a lot of humans and augmented humans found comforting or nonthreatening. She smiled and waved at Gurathin, staying a comfortable distance away.
"Hi, Dr. Gurathin. I'm Iris. Ratthi and SecUnit have told us a lot about you." She gestured behind her as the others entered. "These are my dads, Seth and Martyn, and that's Tarik."
For a moment, the room was deadly silent. I could see Ratthi looking from person to person, probably desperate to say something, but he held back. Maybe ART was saying something to him in the feed; I was pretty sure it was communicating with someone. Probably saying that we should give Gurathin a moment and see if he would respond.
It was awkward. I stared at the wall above everyone else's heads and wished I could be in my room, watching media.
Finally, after a pause that was way too long, Gurathin said, "Whatever SecUnit told you about me, don't believe it."
"Hey!" I demanded immediately, because seriously, fuck that asshole, but Gurathin's comment broke the tension, which I'm pretty sure is why he said it at all. Iris and Ratthi laughed, and Seth, Martyn, and Tarik all relaxed.
"We all take SecUnit's opinions with a grain of salt," ART said in a particularly snooty voice. I sent it a barrage of rude emojis.
"We know it means it fondly when it calls people assholes," Tarik added. "It calls Peri an asshole, and the two of them act like an old married couple half the time."
Marriage was a human and augmented human thing and not something that bots did, but ART sent me the definition of the phrase "arguing like an old married couple," and I got what Tarik was getting at. I would have probably said something anyway if not for the fact that this was supposed to be Gurathin's moment, and getting in a fight with Tarik probably wouldn't help him feel comfortable with ART's crew.
He hadn't relaxed as much as the others with his comment, even though he'd been the one to say it. I wasn't hugely surprised by the tension, but if he was going to be this freaked out, maybe we should have postponed the meeting, regardless of what he'd said.
You look like you're about to explode, I sent to him in the feed. Fucking relax.
As if you have any leg to stand on, Gurathin retorted. I'm fine.
He didn't look fine to me, but whatever, it wasn't my problem if he wanted to say he was. Fine. Let me know when you want to get out of here.
Gurathin sent an acknowledgment, then he focused on the others. "I would say that Ratthi and SecUnit told me about you as well, but they haven't at all. I assume you're the ones that the others met, as well, the ones who had to sign all the NDAs?"
Gurathin, Bharadwaj, and Volescu were the only ones who hadn't met ART's crew, and since the others had signed those NDAs, they wouldn't have been able to talk about it. I'd known that, but it hadn't occurred to me that it might have been weird for the three who weren't in the know to suddenly have the others return - and not all the others, since Ratthi and I had stuck with ART's crew for the time being - and not talk about what they'd been through. If I were Gurathin, I would have gone crazy. Or I would have hacked into the records and figured out what had happened. (Probably that one.) Gurathin, it seemed, hadn't done either.
"We are," Seth said. "Your friends helped save us from a very… difficult situation. I apologize for all the NDAs, but the university is very protective of Peri and the whole AI program."
"Understandable," Gurathin agreed. "I wouldn't want people whose ethics couldn't be trusted to get their hands on it."
"Exactly," Seth said, looking a little relieved. "And we don't want anyone to know about how powerful our ships are so we can keep them as our…"
"Secret weapons?" ART offered.
"You know we don't like to think of you as a weapon," Iris said, probably because ART could be trigger-happy even when it wasn't being thought of as a weapon.
"We do a lot of anti-corporate work," Martyn explained. "It's a lot easier with Peri, especially because no one sees it coming."
"It's convenient to have a super powerful MI in your back pocket," Tarik said dryly, then his expression twitched slightly as ART said something (I assume an insult) to him in the feed.
"I imagine," Gurathin said, and he poked me in the feed. On the surface, he looked fine, but the poke was a little desperate, so I stepped forward. I'd told him to let me know when he needed to get out, after all.
"Gurathin needs to rest."
I took Gurathin's arm and helped him off the medical bed, then started marching him towards the door. Ratthi hurried after us, but the others didn't, and Gurathin seemed okay with Ratthi sticking with him.
ART, where's his cabin?
Next to Ratthi's. I thought they both might appreciate the proximity.
I led them both in the right direction. It occurred to me when we were about halfway there that maybe being escorted to an unknown location by a SecUnit would freak out a lot of CR refugees, but Gurathin didn't seem upset. Then again, most CR refugees hadn't been rescued by a SecUnit, so I guess our dynamic wasn't exactly normal.
"Here is your room, Dr. Gurathin," ART said as we approached a door. "I have taken the liberty of preparing fresh clothes for you inside."
"My room is next door," Ratthi said, pointing at the next door over. "You can come to me if you need anything. Or you can ask Perihelion, or anyone, really. We'll all help."
I was almost one hundred percent certain Gurathin wouldn't ask anyone for anything if he could help it, and if he had to ask someone, it would be Ratthi or me. The meeting with ART's crew had gone about as well as could be expected, but Gurathin was a paranoid asshole on his best day, and today definitely wasn't his best day.
"Thanks, Ratthi," he said anyway. "Uh, Perihelion, was it? Could I ask a question?"
"Of course, Dr. Gurathin. What is it?"
"Is your name Perihelion or Art?"
Ratthi snorted in amusement as we entered Gurathin's room. "SecUnit calls it ART. It stands for Asshole… something. What does it stand for again, SecUnit?"
"Asshole Research Transport. Because ART's a research transport, and it's an asshole."
"I understand that SecUnit also likes to refer to you as an asshole," ART said to Gurathin. "It can be quite crass."
"You can be quite an asshole. Both of you."
"It grows on you, though," Gurathin said to ART, ignoring me completely (like an asshole). "I'll be the first to admit I didn't like it much at first, but I think we get along better now."
"You're still an asshole, though," I said, which was more or less agreeing with Gurathin and we all knew it. It was only because he still looked kinda pathetic after escaping TesWalCast. Once he was back to normal, we'd go back to our usual fighting.
"Yes, SecUnit, you've made your opinions on that quite clear," Gurathin said dismissively, because he is, as exhaustively stated, an asshole. "Thank you again for your help, Perihelion. Please pass my thanks on to your crew as well."
"We were all glad to help," ART said. "Any friend of SecUnit and Dr. Ratthi is a friend of ours, and regardless, we would not leave anyone in corporate slavery if we could help it."
Gurathin looked over at me and sighed. "I suppose I'm going to get an earful about trying to rescue people from corporate slavery myself?"
"You mean how you decided that you should fill the gap in a smuggling ring that you knew was from someone getting killed? That was fucking stupid and you know it."
"Someone needed to fill the gap. Those people need somewhere to go."
"Someone with a brain should probably fill the gap, and considering you didn't tell people about your stupidly dangerous plan, including not telling your fucking SecUnit, you clearly don't have a brain."
Are you reusing some of my insults for you? ART asked curiously. That sounds like something I would say.
Fuck all the way off, ART.
"I didn't realize you would care so deeply," Gurathin said, his voice incredibly dry. "I'll keep you more up to date on my life in the future."
"I don't need to know everything about your life," I retorted, although I did remember what Ratthi had said about Gurathin not being interested in sex and romance, so at least I wouldn't have to worry about him telling me anything about that. "But if you're doing something dangerous, then maybe tell the security consultant whose job it is to keep you safe."
"It's not your job, though," Gurathin said, and something in his tone shifted in a way that made me think he was starting to actually get pissed off. "I'm no longer your contracted client. You can take whatever clients you wish, and you've clearly decided that Perihelion's crew are your current ones. Even prior to that, your primary client has always been Mensah. It hasn't been your job to worry about me for a long time."
"You still sent Ratthi the letter," I retorted. "You thought I would analyze it and find the message and the coordinates, right? You thought I would come to rescue you?"
"If that was presumptuous-"
"I did come to rescue you, asshole," I interrupted, because I was pretty sure I knew what presumptuous meant, and if I was right, then Gurathin was being a fucking idiot again. "Because you're my augmented human, and I'm not going to let some corporation fucking steal you. So next time you do something stupid that'll make a corporation want to steal you, let me know before they do it, and then I can stop them before they even get close."
Gurathin looked a little surprised, and Ratthi cut in before he could say anything else. "I think Gurathin needs some rest, right, Gurathin? And I think maybe now isn't the best time for this conversation. Thanks for everything, SecUnit, you're the best. Gurathin, do you want me to stay here with you?"
Gurathin looked at me for a moment longer, then some of the tension melted from his shoulders and he looked over at Ratthi. "You don't have to, if you have other things to do."
"I don't have anything to do," Ratthi said. "And honestly, if you don't mind, I'd like to stay, because I don't really want to let you out of my sight yet."
Gurathin nodded slowly. "Then you're welcome to stay."
I believe they're both trying to get you to leave, ART told me, which, thanks, I'd already figured that out. I wasn't going to leave them entirely alone, though, not even within ART, so I activated the drone I'd let Gurathin use earlier and sent it to hover in the corner of the room where it could get the best view. I was sure they both saw me do it, but neither of them said anything.
"Let me know if you need anything," I said, and I left the room.
I imagine Dr. Gurathin will still wish to help smuggle people out of the Corporate Rim.
I groaned as I headed to my room. I know he will.
And you are concerned about the danger, because you are worried for him.
I'm worried about my client stats if he gets himself killed.
It was a lie and we both knew it. ART, generously, didn't point that out.
You care for him.
He's an asshole.
He's your augmented human, you said.
He can be my augmented human and still be an asshole.
ART hummed in my brain. And you do not want him to come to harm.
Fine, whatever, I don't want him hurt. Is that such a big deal?
No, not necessarily. I would be sure to tell Dr. Gurathin that, though, in person and in those words. He seems to think you wouldn't particularly care, and given the way you speak to and about him, I can't blame him.
That made me feel… weird. Gurathin was an asshole, yeah, but he was also my augmented human, and I thought he knew that. Maybe he didn't, though. Maybe he thought I actually didn't like him and care about his wellbeing, just because I said that sometimes. I thought he knew better, but I guess not. I thought he was smart, but maybe I overestimated him.
I guess I'll talk to him, then.
Good idea. I would give him some time, though. He seems… tense at the moment.
He does. I guess it's tense to escape corporate slavery again.
I would imagine, yes.
I sighed, then realized that meant my act-like-a-human code was still running. I really had to be better about turning that stupid thing off. Can you suggest that he does a trauma treatment? With your MedSys or something?
I doubt he would want to do so here. Given his somewhat justifiable level of paranoia, I would think he would prefer to do any trauma treatments on Preservation.
ART was right, but that didn't mean Gurathin wasn't stupid. Could you at least tell him that, in your professional capacity as a ship with a state-of-the-art MedSys, you think he should do a trauma treatment once he gets home?
Ah, so you admit my MedSys is state-of-the-art?
If you tell Gurathin it is, he might actually listen to you.
I felt a moment of mild offense, probably because I implied ART's MedSys wasn't actually as good as it always said it was. I can suggest it, ART finally agreed. But I cannot ensure that Dr. Gurathin will listen to me.
Why are humans and augmented humans so annoying that way?
And now I felt mild amusement. Because they are stubborn, and when something is wrong, they often don't like to admit it. They feel as if admitting the problem somehow makes it more real. I'm certain I don't know anyone else like that.
Fuck you.
ART wasn't entirely wrong, though, although I'd never admit it. Which meant that, just maybe, I understood Gurathin a little bit. People had been telling me to get trauma treatments for what I experienced in the CR too, and even though it was totally different because I was a SecUnit and he was a squishy little augmented human… maybe it wasn't entirely different.
Dr. Gurathin is safe now, ART told me gently. That is the most important thing. And if we need to gently bully him into doing trauma treatments, we have time.
We have time, I agreed. We weren't racing against the clock to rescue him anymore. He'd been rescued, and we had time for everything else.
Do you want to watch media? ART asked.
I considered it. I did kinda want to. But… In a bit, I replied, and I pulled up the drone feed from Gurathin's room. I didn't listen to the audio, but I watched Gurathin and Ratthi talk, and even when it started getting a bit emotional, I still kept watching. They were safe. Gurathin was safe. Gurathin was clearly in need of full-time security monitoring, since he was stupid and kept pissing off corporations in ways that he knew got them all trigger-happy, but we could figure that out later, and as long as he was onboard ART with me, he was safe.
I like watching media. I'd watch it with ART soon. But for now, just for the moment, watching Gurathin be safe was even better.