JUDYTH MARIE

by Mr. David R. Dorrycott

"How are we doing so far" Snowaters asked as she exited the war shuttle.

<Current condition. Favorable.> came the answer.

She shook her head, this project had quickly gotten out of hand. Walking into her quarters she thought back to the original meeting with Rachelle. Her request had seemed simply enough, a challenge of course, but pretty much cut and dried. Then came this strange computer/living mind and finally those.... things. Those cancerous ridden things in the clone tanks. Now a missing body and a trip to a castle hideaway, to discover where and what had happened.

She was beginning to feel like Mrs. Hudson, the one in Sherlock Hound. Taking a deep breath she shook her hair loose, her long dyed black tresses cascading to the floor. 'As soon as I have time someone is going to have to cut this mass' she thought to herself, caring for this much hair was almost a full time job. Sleep was going to be interesting for the next few days. Grabbing a new dress she started struggling into its clinging folds. She thought of the sleeping clone/woman in her medical quarters. JUDYTH, a computer AI turned real turned... what? AI's that eventually took on 'real' bodies were nothing new, ones that died and still survived in a form capable of recovery... Well this was the first case she was had run across, although she had read of others..

Stopping in the small galley she ordered up a strong coffee, tapping the intercom switch as she waited. "'Lith, bring her to a semi-conscious state. I want to talk to her."

<Understood. Databanks purge has completed. Reloading of archived programs complete in three hours. Beginning update of remaining clones memories. Will start in four hours.>

She smiled. The first really good news since her marriage. She absently played with the twin rings on her finger, day-dreaming of two warm mice for a few minutes. Finally she picked up her mug and headed for her patient.

Walking into the lab she was greeted by the sight of a duplicate of herself. Granted, the other was semi-conscious, still had white hair, and was covered by a thin sheet. Still it was a rare experience to have two 'Snowaters' alive at the same time. Even if the minds were different.

"Medical Update Marie" she ordered.

A small unit dropped from the ceiling, its screen showing the dark brown face of her medical AI. "Judyth's remaining memories have been transferred to this clone. Several gaps in memory exist of course, data loss while trapped in the Van Allen belts. Most raw data has been replaced, leaving several 'personal' memories either fragmented, or lost. I project these will cause no real problems." The AI paused, "Mistress..... I cannot determine how she will react to this body. From her memories she was a violent woman. Our tests long ago proved your bodies chemical balance precludes overt random physical violence. There may be moralistic problems we cannot treat."

"That's what I'm here to find out Marie" Snowy replied. "Wake her up, awareness level three, lets see what we have."

Systems rearranged themselves, Judyth's new body moved slightly. A soft moan escaped from her lips as she began to awaken. "Where..." she managed, her voice course from dis-use.

Snowaters placed a comforting hand on the others neck. "Shush..." she ordered, "Your aboard my ship, in orbit around your planet."

"Home... must get home..." Judyth croaked, her voice beginning to smooth as her mind found the proper channels. "Father Jack... Need Father Jack...."

Snowaters shook her head, 'Father Jack?' she thought, 'How interesting, I'll have to remember to 'slip' that into my next report to Rachelle.' "Simple worry, what I would expect from anyone at this level. I think we can go to awareness level six, drop the lighting to one third" she ordered.

The room dimmed as the medical AI obeyed her orders, several probes retracted from the woman's body. Judyth's unfocused eyes slowly opened, she tried to move her arms but mind and body were not yet in synch. "Who are you" she asked, looking around her at the strange, darkened room.

"I'm your host and Doctor" Snowaters replied, "Call me Snowy and we'll get along just fine. Currently I'm also working for your family's company. You were trapped within this planets radiation belts, like an echo. Your automatic recovery failed, I'm still investigating the fault, but its safe to say it was probably an equipment malfunction." She stopped, taking the time to check the displays beyond Judyth. "Somehow you entered my ships computers when we were doing a memory flush. A sentient cannot long survive such an existence."

"Doesn't feel like computer" Judyth slurred, moving her head slowly. "Too slow... my body?"

Snowaters shook her head, "I'm sorry to say, but no viable clone body existed by this time. I'm afraid you've been stuck with one of mine for the time being."

Removing her hand from the other neck, Snowaters carefully took both of Judyth's hands within her own. "Marie, bring her to awareness level eight." she ordered.

"Mistress, I must remind you she may become violent" the AI cautioned.

"At this point I've ten times the speed and strength of her" the Diamonds owner replied. "She's barely ambulant yet, Wake her up." She waited as the final probes withdrew, the neurological nets around Judyth subsided, allowing her to regain almost full consciousness. "Your body was destroyed" she explained, "There wasn't another for you to take over." Gently she pulled the other into a sitting position. "We had to use one of my clones, you were dying in the Diamonds systems, and we couldn't have placed you back in a stable echo path again."

"Not a Hyenaoid?" She looked at her hands, her human hands. "Human?" she asked, "But Proffessor.... Professor.... " she looked up into Snowy's eyes. "I can't remember" she finished, fear creeping into her voice.

Snowy pulled the other closer, hugging her lightly for a moment as she released Judyth's hands. Standing, she stepped a few feet away. "A lot of your memory was fragmented, some was lost, probably forever. There's nothing I can do about that." She depressed a sequence on the keypad next to her. "I've got to go down to the planet soon. I'll be taking you with me. I'm going to release you to your sister. Medically that's the best course of action for now. Between her, and your brothers, you can piece together your life."

Judyth stood slowly, ignoring the blanket as it fell away. "What do I look like?" she asked, her body swaying slightly as she fought for balance, her head turning slowly as she searched for a mirror. "I need to know, am I a monster?"

Giggling Snowy opened a door, revealing a full length mirror on the other side. "Only if you consider me a monster" she answered. "I'm prescribing you some medicine for the next week. It's mostly to help your body strengthen rapidly, along with some vitamin supplements for your eyes. I'm sure you don't want to end up blind."

Judyth slowly walked up to the mirror, running her hands over her body. "White hair?" she asked... wonder creeping into her voice as she ran her hands slowly through the mass of hair. "I need clothes.." she suddenly realized, "I'm cold."

A low tone sounded in the darkened room and Snowy opened another door. Reaching in she pulled out a small package of clothing. "I saw some pictures of you, in your previous body. I think these will suit your taste." She laid the package on a chair. "I've got some work to do. When your ready, just ask to see me, a guide will be here." She walked out of the room, letting the door close behind her.

"About what this time 'Lith" Snowy sighed, heading for the ships tiny Bridge.

Letting the huge pressure door seal behind her Snowaters half threw herself into her favorite chair, the Captains chair. "Sue me" she grumbled. "She won't take it if she knows it's tranqs. Get me Jaqui."

<True. Your lying a lot. On this mission. She's on-line.>

"They couldn't survive the full truth 'Lith, not many could, and something’s not right about this job." A small monitor next to Snowy cleared, showing the waiting woman 'downside', on the planets surface. Smiling she keyed the mike, "Hi-ya" the human called.

Jacqueline Hilaris smiled. "Good news, we've cleared the chamber and new equipment is scheduled to arrive tomorrow" she answered.

"Great" Snowy replied, stretching. "I'll be bringing your sister down with me in an hour. She has some drugs for the next week, then she's on her own." She rubbed her head, an ache was building there she decided. "'Lith's downloaded everything to you, I hope you understand, her survival is totally in your hands now."

ACME's CEO nodded, "I've a few of the best waiting to help her. Your headed for the castle next?"

Slipping into a more comfortable (to her) and provocative (a really bad habit) position the Diamonds owner/Captain nodded. "I need to eat, get Judyth ready, and then its the castle. 'Liths detected a tiny energy source that's not accounted for." She stretched her legs, feeling the tiny bones in her toes pop back into position. It had been a hard day already and no end in sight. "It could be a cold-sleep setup."

Jacqueline's eyes widened. "Liquid nitrogen tanks? Why?"

Snowaters shook her head. "Couple of reasons, old specimens, biological samples, just forgotten equipment. Given that empty coffin, well you think about it. See you in an hour."

"An hour then" Jaqui smiled, cutting the connection.

<It could be anything> Kalith injected.

"Yep, and probably has nothing to do with the missing body" Snowy replied, "But its never a bad idea to be ready for the worst."

"I don't know" she half whispered, "This project has become something else my friend, something greater than it should have been." She stood, walking up to the huge main screen. Reaching out she touched its surface, as if trying to touch the world displayed on its surface. "'Lith, I want a full run on this whole family, all the way back. Frankenbeans, Ygor too. He's way too healthy for his age, and anything else that even smells off." She stepped back, still staring up at the planets image. "We're in over our heads 'Lith, there's too much here that isn't right" Patting her belly she shivered. "I've three very good reasons not to take chances. Anything, anything at all and we're out of here, as far as the IR drive can take us."

The tinygirl human turned her back of the display, walking back to her chair. "After this long in a super cooled environment, if her brain went super conducting... she's been aware."

"Your right, having a sister that's incurably mad isn't nice, especially if she's evolved into a Goddess. Let me know what Diver digs up." Reaching over she tripped a switch, opening a small cabinet. Reaching in she pulled out a drink and sandwich. Lunch was served.