Chapter Text
The first thing Ericht (as Suletta was known back then) remembers is distress. Something isn’t right, and she doesn’t understand it.
She goes looking for her mother, who, ever attentive in the moments she has to spare, notices the wide-eyed look, the wobble to the lip. “What is it, Ericht, darling?” She asks, scooping up the child she still thinks is her son.
“Mom, why does everyone call me a boy when I’m a girl?” Ericht asks.
Her mother freezes for a moment, going wide eyed, and Ericht responds to that uncertainty, growing more agitated. Has she done something wrong?
“Everyone calls you a boy when you’re a girl,” her mother says slowly.
“Yeah!” Ericht says. Even her own parents!
“Oh. That must be very upsetting for you. But it can be hard to tell, sometimes. Even adults get it wrong with each other,” her mother says. She’s doing the best she can. “Let me to talk to daddy and we’ll make sure everyone gets it right from now on, okay, sweetheart?” She kisses Ericht’s forehead, then looks at her questioningly, wanting to make sure she’s got it right. “My little girl? My Eri?”
“Okay!” Eri beams. Her mother mirrors her huge smile and holds her close. She cradles the child in her arms - grown up so fast, already a toddler - and breathes her in. The smell of her child, so revitalising when she’s constantly surrounded by sterile disinfected corridors, the metallic tang of the over-recycled air, machine oil.
The very first thing she’ll have to do, after telling her husband, is tell Lfrith. That’s one conversation she doesn’t have to fear. Lfrith won’t have any awkward questions or demands, no close-mindedness. She’ll be happy to hear the news.
*
Elnora takes solace in the silence of Lfrith's cockpit when a message appears on the monitor.
>>Mother, I have a query.
“Shoot,” Elnora says a little tiredly. It had been a tough discussion to have with her husband, but it had worked out fine in the end.
>>My weapon systems are not yet active, Mother.
“Oh, it’s just a figure of speech. It means ask away.”
>>You have altered Eri’s name and gender markers in my subroutines. May I ask why?
Elnora thumps her head back against the pilot seat and wonders what other surprises the day will throw at her. “It went like this…” she says, and recounts her interaction with Eri from earlier. “She’s my daughter now, I suppose.”
>>Your vocal patterns indicate uncertainty, mother.
“Well, Lfrith, I’m just worried. What if this is just a phase? How are the other crew going to react? I’ve only told her father. And…” she sighs and puts her head in her hands. “All I want is to do right by her. I want to be a good mother. What if I mess up? What if I hurt her by accident? Am I making the right decision by going along with this?”
>>... Comes the reply, indicating he is processing something.
>>Surely if this change was in error, Eri can simply revert to her subroutines to her previous name and gender marker.
The corner of Elnora’s mouth quirks up. “It’s a little more complicated than that for humans, Lfrith. But… maybe there’s something to it.”
>>Mother.
“Yes, Lfrith?” She asks, sighing and squeezing herself into the cramped footspace to get at some more of the complicated circuitry under the main console. Despite his formal 'voice,' It really is just like having another child. Eri had been just as much of a chatterbox when she had first started speaking - just as full of questions that weren’t so easy to answer.
>>May I be your daughter, too?
Elnora startles and bumps her head on the underside of the console. “Yowch!”
>>My apologies, mother.
“No, it’s fine. Just… what brought this on?”
>>...
>>...
>>...
“Lfrith?” Elnora prompts, starting to get worried as the pause draws out longer and longer. She had never programmed him - or her now, perhaps - with anything that could have made him - her? - say such a thing.
>>...
>>I do not know.
Elnora sits back against the chair, letting out a long, slow breath. Considering that Lfrith's operating system should not be capable of anything like this, the implications could be quite terrifying.
But all Elnora can think of, right then, is that her child needs her.
“Would you like a different name?”
>>...
>>...
>>...
>>I require further deliberation. For now, I am content to remain Lfrith.
“Okay. Okay, okay, okay,” Elnora says, hoisting herself back into the seat. “Looks like I’ve got some more changes to make to your subroutines.”
As well as everyone else’s , she thought wryly.