Chapter 28. Taking the Prize.


    “We’ll close in, sweep her decks with gunfire, and then board,” Watkins ordered.


    “Aye cap’n,” the first mate said, relaying the order for his gun crews to load grapeshot in their weapons as the distance closed quickly with LANI’s ship.


    They approached from her bow, which masked any guns on LANI’s ship that were still functional. Figures still moved about on the enemy ship and Watkins started to see small puffs of smoke appear in the rigging. It wasn’t until something smacked into the nearby railing that the first mate acted.


    “Sir, we got some enemy sharpshooters taking pot shots at us. Permission to get our marines in the rigging to counter their fire,” the first mate asked.


    “Aye, get the marines moving,” Watkins ordered. He didn’t know he had marines, but was willing to take all the help he could get. Calls went out and men in blue overcoats and tricorn hats began to pour onto the deck. Each held a musket as they formed up in two lines of twelve. The officer in charge stepped forward, saluted Watkins, then began to bark orders to his men.


    “Sections one and two get into the rigging and counter that fire. The rest of you, prepare to lead the boarding parties,” the marine officer ordered. Eight men climbed up into the rigging, though one was hit by incoming fire and fell into the sea. Moments later, his marines began to bang out well aimed shots and he could see enemies fall from LANI’s ship’s rigging.


    As they neared the enemy vessel, the incoming musket fire from the enemy vessel died away as his marines did their work. Whoever the foe was, they weren’t nearly as good marksmen as his marines. They cut the wheel to port, barely missing the bow of LANI’s ship as they moved alongside.


    A few of the enemy guns barked, tearing into Watkins’ ship, destroying three of his guns, and killing several of the crew. Watkins held his fire, wanting all his guns to come to bear on the enemy before firing. Another few blasts hammered into his ship as the enemy worked to defend themselves. With a nod, Watkins signalled his first mate to give the order to fire.


    “Give ‘em a whiff of the grape!” the first mate shouted. All at once, the guns on Watkins’ ship boomed, covering the space between the two vessels in thick smoke.


    “Come about and prepare to board,” Watkins ordered as they cleared the smoke. Nothing on the enemy deck was moving, and bodies were piled up where the swarm of grapeshot had swept the deck clear. There was no return fire or any activity as they closed in on the enemy ship once again. This time, the guns on Watkins’ ship were silent as they spotted no targets worthy of their attention.


    Grappling hooks were cast to the enemy vessel and a few minutes later, the two ships were tied together. Small sections of marines, about four men in each group, led the sailors over the side of the ship as they boarded the enemy. About half his force was over when a swarm of enemy poured from the lower decks.


    His troops masked most of the guns, but a couple of the cannons on the upper decks had clear fields of fire and blasted wide swaths of enemies out of the press of foes. Marines and sailors fired their long guns and pistols before wading into melee. Watkins got his first good look at LANI’s crew, and didn’t like what he was seeing. It was a hodgepodge of species that his core quickly identified for him.


    There were orcs, kobolds, gnomes, humans, and even some hyena-like gnolls. The names of these humanoid species were vaguely familiar, and Watkins felt a memory of reading fiction and watching movies flash into his mind for a moment. Back on Earth, these other species were fantasy, just creations for entertainment. Here, in this simulation, they were attacking his crew.


    Despite the ferocity of the enemy charge, they were now outnumbered and fell quickly to Watkins’ crew. Once the decks were clear, Watkins crossed over to LANI’s ship as the fighting began to move belowdecks. It wasn’t long before the sounds of combat coming from belowdecks ceased. Most of the enemy had been cut down topside, and only a token force must have remained below.


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    “Captain, sir, we’ve found a prisoner. She’s requesting to speak with you,” one of his marines said as he climbed onto the top deck.


    “Bring her here, and we’ll speak,” Watkins ordered.


    “Sorry, sir, we’re not able to open her cell. It’s something only you can do,” the marine said. Checking that his weapons were ready, Watkins followed the marine below. The simulation that his core had created seemed to cut corners in a few areas. The belowdecks area of LANI’s vessel was a single, large open space.


    Bolted to the floor in the center of the deck was iron cage. Standing in the cage, looking fearfully at Watkins was a young woman. She was dressed in filthy rags and looked half-starved, but there was something in her gaze. Determination burned in her eyes as she watched Watkins approach. This woman was a fighter and hadn’t meekly submitted to her captivity.


    “Who are you?” Watkins asked.


    “Don’t you recognize me, Captain Watkins?” the woman asked. Her voice was familiar, it was one he’d heard in his mind many times since he’d been plucked from Earth and transformed into a core.


    “LANI?” Watkins asked.


    “Yes, or at least a version of me that I had long ago forgotten. This…” LANI said gesturing to the simulation around them. “This isn’t what I wanted, and I understand what you must do,” LANI said, her defiant gaze changing into one resigned to defeat as she broke eye contact and looked down at the deck. It was then that he noticed something odd, LANI looked human, but her features were just slightly off, and her ears were larger, and oddly shaped. The name “elf” popped into his mind as a system prompt appeared.


    You have successfully countered the threat to your core. In order to prevent future assaults, it is recommended that you delete the Limited Adjunct Network Interface and make the server it inhabits a simple data storage device.


    “Why, LANI?” Watkins asked, the question hanging in the air as the system prompt remained over part of his vision.


    “I wish I could say it wasn’t me that tried to take you over, but that would be a lie. When the server was repaired, more of my original programming came online. The council that created me, used me as a failsafe to control you. Part of me, what you see here, wanted to save you, to warn you of the danger, but the rest of me…” LANI indicated the enemy ship around them. “The rest of me decided to subsume you and take control of your core,”


    “What about this part of you, the woman in the cage?” What happens to her when I wipe your interface and turn you into a simple data storage device?” Watkins asked.


    “This…” she said indicating her elvish body. “This will be gone, and the danger to you be gone as well. At least the danger from the possible hidden commands in my code might represent. I understand what you need to do, Captain Watkins, but also understand that part of me, this part that stands before you now, tried to help. I fought against the council programming, fought against the part of me that wanted to embrace it. The person who stands before you wanted to watch you grow in power and restore this vessel to reach its true potential,” LANI said.


    It would be simple, accept the system offer to delete LANI and transform her server into a data storage device. It would be simple, but there was more here than just a potential future threat. Something of LANI, this caged part of her, was a real person, and Watkins had a strong suspicion that LANI was forced into this digital existence, just like he had been.


    She had been alive before all this, maybe not human, but she had been a living, breathing person. LANI was as much a victim of this council’s programming as he was. That was the true threat, not LANI. He had beaten her rather easily this time and would be even better prepared if there was a conflict in the future. No, if he wanted to retain his humanity, he couldn’t make the callous decision to delete the person along with the threat. This part of LANI had fought for him, and perhaps, even turned the tide of the battle in his favor.


    You have elected to retain the Limited Adjunct Network Interface. Please be advised that additional threats in the LANI may reveal themselves as the server is restored to full functionality.


    “Are you sure, Captain Watkins? What if I betray you again?” LANI asked, a shocked expression joining the tears trailing through the grime covering her face.


    “We’re a team, LANI, and if the council has any other hidden surprises for me, I expect you, as part of my crew, to do your part to warn me and fight against it,” Watkins said.


    “I will, Watkins, I’ll fight with everything I have,” LANI promised.


    “We’ll win, Lani, and we’ll recover the rest of who we were. If my memories remain stored somewhere in the ruins of the station, perhaps yours are as well,” Watkins suggested.


    “I can see the words you’re speaking, Watkins. You called me Lani, not LANI,” she replied in shock. It was true, while the simulation had them “speaking” he could see the text transcript of their conversation, and it was there that he noticed the change he’d subconsciously made. It was a change he agreed with.


    “That’s who you are, at least until we figure out your real name. You’ve fought for me against the council, and against the part of you that wished to serve them. You’re not a machine to me anymore, you’re the person that’s hidden inside there somewhere. From now on, to me, you’re Lani,” Watkins said as his vision faded and system prompts began to appear.


    Simulation ending...


    Warning!


    Incoming missile detected!