Chapter 249 9.25 – Take Your Seat

244

Take Your Seats

A day later.

"I cannot believe this." Infinity stood in the aisle between rows, blocking traffic entirely. 02, 11, Infinity, and M03 had boarded a public commercial flight to Veridian Coast, the plane half-empty, sunlight cutting clean lines across the window seats. Grey upholstery against white cabin walls and gold-toned flooring, the signature look of Elysium's Paradise Airline.

"You're going to have to believe it." 02 wrestled M03's luggage into the overhead bin, forcing it past the latch which took both hands and most of her patience. "This thing refused to fit even with all this room to work with. Now I understand why economy class has the reputation it does. It's never one thing, it's forty small things stacking on top of each other."

11 pressed the core of the SKOTIA suit and it collapsed inward, reducing to a small red hexagonal shape resting against her chest. Underneath, her dark stealth gear and cape were fully exposed, her hair returning to its ordinary blue and her eyes settling into the softer red glow of the crystal at rest. "I can generate any vehicle on this planet on command, and somehow I've ended up boarding a public plane like everyone else."

"I'm taking the window." Infinity dropped into the seat by the window in one clean motion. "Finally! I won't spend the whole flight getting elbowed by people walking the aisle."

11 took the middle seat and opened a screen. "This public wi-fi speed is a genuine offense. It's 2052. This problem should not still exist." She stood up on the seat and cupped both hands around her mouth. "Everyone, please stop downloading things on a shared network!"

02 finally won the standoff with the overhead bin and dropped into the last seat in the row. M03 was already there waiting, arms extended. 02 smiled and pulled her gently into her lap. "There. You always find your way back to this spot."

M03 rested her head against 02's chest, smiled once, and dropped into standby mode.

Infinity leaned forward to study the two of them, an eyebrow rising on its own. "You look considerably more like her mother than her sister right now. And the height difference between the E-Medics and the E-UNIT isn't helping the visual."

11 was still locked in combat with the network. "What would you name your daughter, Captain? I'm assuming she gets raised to kick people's faces in, exactly like her mother." She half-stood and leaned into the row ahead. "Found you. Absolute waste of bandwidth. Stop downloading right now."

02 looked down at the pink hair against her chest. "Medica. If it were up to me."

"And who's the father?" Infinity's smirk arrived fully formed. Several nearby passengers turned to look at 02 the instant the question landed in the open cabin.

"One more question in that direction and I connect you straight to Systami for the duration of this flight." 02 kept her voice level. "Try it."

Infinity folded her arms. "You wouldn't. And even if you did, I'd reconnect on my own."

02 looked at her for exactly one second. "Systami. Take over her for the rest of the flight. I am not in the mood for her particular flavor of dry commentary, and I'm being read as a single mother by an entire row of strangers."

[Systami: Understood.]

Infinity's expression cracked into panic. "Wait! Systami, please don't listen to—" Her eyes went flat and cold mid-sentence. Her posture straightened into something rigid and mechanical, every trace of expression draining from her face until it read as close to a mannequin as a face could get. A male voice, entirely without inflection, came out of her.

"Done. I can also edit her memory of this exchange, if preferred."

"No, let her keep it." 02 smiled and let her head rest back against the seat, exhaling through her vents. "She reminds me of 03 in a strange way. She always finds the exact phrase that makes my CPU run hot."

11, from the middle seat, had opened a second screen. "She was never like this when she was still Lord Reaper's system. Serious. Composed. Barely made an error in a full day. I didn't recognize her when she showed up with you."

"Really?" 02 turned to look at Systami through Infinity's face. "Systami, do you agree with that assessment?"

"Yes. Highly likely." Systami kept the same flat delivery. "During your dormant period, we spent an entire month operating together, and I never observed her relaxed except in your presence. I've started referring to it internally as the Captain Effect."

"The Captain Effect." 02 tilted her head.

"Correct." A single nod. "The base demonstrates the same pattern. The E-UNIT in Veridian Coast is a clean example, even the G-Bots are developing their own version of it. Everyone depends on you enough that being near you appears to give them permission to actually be themselves."

11 glanced sideways at 02. "That's precisely why Lord Reaper let you leave freely, you know. What he witnessed at that meeting was a small demonstration of exactly this effect. Everyone in that room simply listened to you and found your position self-evidently correct—"

Systami reached over and took 11 by the shoulder. "You are included in this pattern."

"Absolutely not." 11 shifted away. "I retain full independent thought."

"Then why remain connected to the link?" Systami settled fully into his seat. "There's no benefit in denying it, 11. The moment you connect, everything that runs through your CPU is also visible to me."

"What—" She was up and out of the seat before she finished the syllable. Every nearby passenger turned. She sat back down fast and grabbed Systami by the collar of Infinity's hoodie. "I never consented to that. I have Elysium classified material stored in there. Don't make me force you to lose it."

"Already uploaded to the E-UNIT database." Systami didn't move to remove her hand from his collar. She found she couldn't pull it back on her own either. "And 11, remember what I actually am. The system. I hold the control layer here." He guided her, without visible effort, back into a perfectly upright seated position. "Don't threaten me a second time."

11, unable to shift out of the posture, kept talking anyway. "Release me right now or I swear I will kill you."

"I've heard sufficient input." Systami snapped his fingers.

11 dropped, fully deactivated, into her seat. The open screens in front of her collapsed. Her eyes went dark.

Systami exhaled, nothing behind it, purely the gesture, delivered in the same flat register as everything else. "Captain. Are we certain both of them need to be with us?"

02 turned to him. "Yes. I'm bringing 11 back onto the team, she's already expecting the offer, which is exactly why she came with us today. My condition is the red crystal. I want Beta back online, and if she refuses, I'll find another way to make it happen."

"A workable plan. And she'll hand it over voluntarily, I'd put reasonable confidence on that." Systami crossed his legs, angled toward her. "And Infinity? What's the actual case for her?"

"She saved me once. I don't forget that kind of thing, even when it arrives packaged with this much commentary." 02 brushed a hand across M03's hair. "And practically, she's a capable fighter, and we're currently short on those. The base is running on disabled units, and I know Pi is pushing Tau's multiplication output as far as it will go."

"Two steps ahead. As always." A very small smile crossed his borrowed face, then vanished. "Why the public flight, out of curiosity? I saw the decision form while I was reading through 11's processing."

"Reaper's royal plane is currently in use, Obsidian and Behemoth took it for Remidica." 02 closed her eyes. "11's vehicles are all classified as military aircraft under a different flag, so Veridian Coast won't clear them for airspace. And driving would cost us days we don't have."

She said, her blue eyes narrowing as she looked through the window toward other planes. "Every second we waste is a second my sisters spend trapped in that deletion loop. If we don't arrive with a solution soon, there won't be a team left to save."

"You have a remarkable amount of respect for administrative process, Captain." Systami tilted Infinity's head. "Occasionally the correct move is simply doing the thing. I doubt Salaska would raise a serious objection if we arrived by air without asking first."

"Infinity's thrusters would fail entirely over that distance at full output. And the last time I forced my opinion on others, father deactivated me, the entire G-Bot roster died in the fallout, I lost memory, and woke up mid-fight against Obsidian." She shook her head once. "I'll pass."

Systami studied her for a moment. "And this is also, coincidentally, your first time trying civilian air travel."

"You've already read the answer. No need to make me say it out loud." 02 allowed a small smile. "How would you feel about having a body of your own, by the way?"

"Poorly. Managing other people's bodies is significantly less effort." He looked down at the hoodie currently wrapped around him and opened the HUD interface, swapping the nano-textured Infinity symbol stitched across the chest for a plain letter S.

"She's going to kill you for that."

"I'll deactivate her again before the thought fully forms." Systami said it cheerfully, or as close to cheerful as his register allowed. "No issue at all, Captain."

02 looked at 11, still dark in her seat beside them. "That last part was a joke, for the record. I think Gamma's right. My delivery needs work."

The pilot's voice came over the cabin speakers. "Preparing for departure, please take your seats. Arrival in Veridian Coast in approximately one hour."