WARM UP

by Mr. David R. Dorrycott

<Why. Do You. Allow People To. Think I Am. An A.I.>

"Simple 'lith, the less people know the more effective we are" Snowaters answered. Walking into the dining room (Mess Hall doesn't fit a family ship) she kissed her daughters before sitting down.

“Mama, is little lady gonna eat?" Dawn asked.

"Are you?" Eve added.

"Yes, and be on your best behavior" Snowy replied. "As in, I don't want to be cleaning your milk out of your sisters fur, understand?"

"Yes mama" Dawn replied, glancing sideways at Eve.

"That means your potatoes too."

Eve's eyes dropped, foiled again. Dawn giggled, covertly glancing at her mother. Another shot past her head, she was three up now. Grabbing her spoon she waited for Yuki to serve the food, quietly planning her next action as do all four year old's with a strong sense of 'humor.'

Karin smoothed the soft blue silk dress, marveling at the exacting fit. Looking at herself in the mirror she found the image pleasing. No shoes, but she'd noticed Snowaters hadn't been wearing any either. Just the soft sock-like slippers she'd found with the dress. Glancing one more time at herself, she turned to the door. "I'm ready Ka-Lith."

The door opened and a brown light drifted in. <Please Follow. Guide> announced the speaker.

She started at the strange ball of energy then shook her head. 'Different places, different ways' she thought to herself. Stepping forward she followed her strange guide.

<Karin. Is Coming> Kalith announced to the lunch party.

Minutes later Karin sat quietly at the small table. Barely room for six, another group of tables were sitting unused several meters away. Before her Yuki had placed a blue ornamented china plate, a style she was unfamiliar with. A roast, potatoes, beans, milk and tea were on the table in amounts she hadn't seen outside an officers mess and the smell was delicious.

"The meat isn't animal" Snowaters advised her. "Just in case your a non-meat eater. I'm, um, allergic to animal protean so there isn't any animal protean here. Even the milk is vegetable based. It comes from Yuki."

The ex-Anahiem pilot just nodded. So many new things so fast, all she could do was ride the shock-wave and hope for time to consolidate later. She was still getting over the shock of someone who wouldn't jump at rights of ownership. While she thought about this, Yuki filled her plate, setting it in front of her. "What about you?" she asked the exotic plant-woman.

"Yuki doesn't eat like Karin" the plant girl replied. "Yuki eats fertilizer."

"Among very little else" Snowaters added. "She can 'eat', but only in very little amounts. She hasn't a digestive system like yours and mine. Her leaves and bark are her major ways of dumping 'refuse.' They couldn't handle what we consider a normal meal." She watched as the two girls suddenly pushed away from the table, running out to play.

"Such waste" Karin exclaimed, covering her mouth suddenly as she realized what she'd said. "My apologies. I didn't mean..."

Snowaters reached over, taking Karin's hand. "No waste. We can’t afford to waste anything. Everything is recycled back to where it came from. Nothing is wasted here, I can't afford to truck in a few hundred tons of supplies every now and then. There are losses, but nothing abnormal. Just eat what you want, and don't feel bad about leaving anything. It'll show back up on your plate in another form in a few months."

Sometime later the two women walked along the stations outer corridor with Karin asking questions, Snowaters answering. "You said nothing exists here, then why the station?"

"This reality is only about seven light-years in diameter, a perfect sphere" Snowy replied. Reaching over she triggered a port, the black, heavy metal shutter slipping open silently. Karin found herself staring into grey nothingness, then a small red-black cloud caught her attention.

"If nothing exists, what's that?" she asked.

"Engineering section of a ship friends of mine were on. It was exploding, so I brought it here. That cloud expands at only two centimeters a year. We're still studying the effect."

"We?"

"The station is run by six AI systems. Engineering - Fred, Sciences-Marie, Command-Nimitz, Defense-Argus, Maintance-Patty and Moral-Delilah. I'm trying to discover why this universe never occurred and if I might be able to trigger its unfolding."

"Oh, Knowledge is power" the ex-pilot replied, turning away from the disquieting scene. "Will you be Goddess of this new universe? What about your husband."

Snowaters laughed as she closed the portal. "Me? A Goddess? No thank you. I've met one. It's a boring lifestyle. You can have it." She took Karin's hand, pulling her towards two huge hatches. "And I seek Knowledge because I want to know, I don't want to rule." Her voice dropped into a bad pseudo-male tone. "Finally. I like girls, not boys... want some candy little girl?" Giggling she released Karin's hand and opened the huge hatch, an empty chamber a dozen Star Diamonds could have docked in became evident. "Now come on. Lets get your mind off these heavy matters for a while. Delilah, Program Freeland please."

As the huge doors closed the room shimmered, slowly settling into an Earth-type landscape. Karin smelled saltwater. Turning around she found she was standing on a beach, the surf only meters away. "What is this?" she asked, staring at the unbelievable scene.

"Island nation I once lived on when I was twenty or so. Earth, Reality 221." Snowaters picked a cardboard box up from the ground, extracting a bright colored silver and copper colored metal costume from within. She quickly changed, taking a deep breath and swinging her arms. A long staff suddenly appeared in one hand. "I haven't played Champions in sixteen years. This is going to be fun."

"Champions?" Karin asked?

"Old Earth game. Reality 27,28 and 29. Role playing superhero game." the human answered as she studied Karin. "I think you'll like it. Delilah, let's make her an energy blaster, something.... violet. And switch the bases to something humorous. I'm not in the mood for anything serious right now."

There was a faint shimmer and another cardboard box appeared. At Snowaters motion Karin extracted the outfit. "Scandalous" she giggled, noting the strange cut.

"I know" Snowy replied. "But have you ever read a comic book aimed at juvenile men?" She giggled as Karin struggled into the unfamiliar outfit. "There's nullifiers sewn into the fabric, you'll be able to fly, project energy and talk to me by comlink."

"What if I run into a wall?" the furry woman asked as she tugged at the spandex-like fabric. "Or worse, fall out of this thing."

Snowaters walked around Karin, searching for flaws. "I wouldn't worry about that. You can't fly fast enough that Delilah can't fool you into turning or stopping in time. Oh, you could do it. You'd just have to work at it." Reaching over she adjusted a strap on Karin's back. "As for the latter. If you do, try to do it in front of a bad-guy. I might need the diversion."

"Very funny" Karin muttered. "Now, how do I fly?"

"Two steps and jump. Just think what you want to do and Delilah will guide the suit until your comfortable." She noted the aliens concerned look. "We mapped your brainwave pattern while you thawed. No, I can't control you but Delilah can understand enough to manage."

Karin breathed a sigh of relief, remote mind control was still a theory in her world. She was glad it wasn't a reality here. Taking two steps she jumped, surprised to feel the ground fall away as her body climbed for altitude. In minutes she was above the clouds. Looking down she could swear she was at least 10,000 feet above the ground, yet she knew the chamber couldn't be more than a thousand feet high. Turning, she dove for the ground, landing a bit clumsily next to Snowaters. "I think I can like this" she giggled. "Now what?"

"Now" Snowaters answered, pointing towards a town that had just faded into view. "We go play superhero."