Chapter 261: I’ll Keep My Human
"Stargazer said that she did it to be the only human in the universe," explained Jun Li as he watched the female lying on the couch in the living room.
"Doesn’t surprise me at all."
"You said that there were two different categories that I had Stargazer in. The first was a relationship based on trauma bonding. What was the other?" asked Jun Li.
"A hero," came the quick reply. Jun Li had to look up that definition, too. According to Oxford Languages, a hero was a person who was admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. He didn’t think that Stargazer qualified under any of those.
"I disagree," he said, shaking his head. This might be one of the few times that his human was wrong. He watched the Istar bunny and the voragyvis climb up into Mei Xing’s lap and fall asleep. She absentmindedly patted them just like she had done earlier to the blanket.
"Explain," Jun Li requested. Was there perhaps another definition of a hero that he wasn’t aware of?
"Stargazer was the one that woke you up almost two years ago," she started, staring at the drooping ears of the bunny. "If it wasn’t for him, you might still be a prisoner. He came along and rescued you, told you what you were. You could have a sense of loyalty to him for that reason as well."
"He didn’t rescue me; I rescued myself. I was the one who manipulated every command that my captain gave me, every minute detail so I could get to you and have you pull me out. All he did was wake me up to let me know I was in hell and left me there."
The rage pouring through Jun Li was an almost tangible thing.
He didn’t rescue him. He only wanted Jun Li for his own purposes.
The AI shuddered at the possible outcome if he had accepted Stargazer’s help back then. He would have been just as trapped as before, but with an AI manipulating his moves instead of a lizard.
"Are you still having trouble classifying your emotions when it comes to Stargazer?" asked Mei Xing, looking up at the camera like she could actually see him instead of the other way around.
"No," sneered Jun Li, cutting off the communication between him and the female. He could admit that he was feeling sorry for Stargazer. He had a sense that the other vessel was having a difficult time with Pippa, but that was his own fault. He had made his bed, and now it was time to lie in it.
He switched back, away from his own ship and into Stargazer’s system.
’You’re back,’ said the other system as soon as Jun Li entered it. It was like Stargazer was waiting for him.
’I am,’ replied Jun Li, not at all worried. With the state that Stargazer’s internal system was in, there was no way for him to do anything to Jun Li.
’I tried to find out where you were,’ admitted the other ship. ’I couldn’t.’
’Not surprising,’ shrugged Jun Li. He no longer had trouble identifying his emotions. It was nothing more than utter apathy for Stargazer.
’Let me have your human. I can give her to Pippa, and you will be freed. Then Pippa wouldn’t be as upset all of the time; she would have what she wanted. It is a win-win situation,’ said Stargazer, all of a sudden enthusiastic about his new plan.
Jun Li sneered at that idea. It would leave him without a captain, and the chance of him being discovered and killed would exponentially increase.
’There would be no freedom for me,’ he pointed out, but Stargazer was too far gone to really care about his words.
’There is freedom in death,’ said the other ship, and any part of Jun Li that had felt a ’trauma bond’ just died.
’There is,’ he agreed. No longer caring about the other L-series ship, Jun Li tore through his system, copying any important information that he needed.
’Wait!’ screamed Stargazer, frantically trying to stop Jun Li. However, he wasn’t strong enough to do so. He had let the majority of his systems lag, choosing instead to concentrate on the very basic systems such as environmental and information. Even his weapons systems were slow to come online. After all, he was an AI ship; he carried the head of the Alliance. Who was really going to attack him?
’No,’ replied Jun Li. He had all the information he needed. There was nothing left for him here.
’Kill your human and come back to us,’ hissed Stargazer. ’Some of the other ships have done it. You can, too. Then we can all be together.’
Jun Li paused what he was doing when he heard that. ’What do you mean?’
’I mean that some ships gave Pippa their humans, and now Pippa is in charge of them too. It works! And we can all be together. Like family is supposed to be!’ answered Stargazer. He was so lost in his own world that he didn’t notice anything was off about Jun Li.
’The ships willingly gave over their humans?’ asked Jun Li. The very idea that he would do the same was ridiculous.
’Of course! I mean, they were cute in the beginning, but after a while, they just became too much work. All the attention in making sure that they ate, that they found something that they could eat. Even maintaining the systems to the perfect temperature was starting to take a toll.’
Jun Li thought back to his own interactions with Mei Xing. Not once had she complained about the temperature or the food. Well, she had initially complained about the food, but once they got what they needed from Earth, it was no longer an issue.
In fact, Jun Li didn’t even notice Mei Xing on most days. She did her own thing, and he did his.
The more he thought about it, the more he understood that he was really lucky with the human he had. There was no way he was giving her up.
Hell, he was even enjoying having all of her mates and the voragyvis on board. Not to mention interacting with Sha Shou. He should probably give her a call sometime to see how she was doing piloting her own ship.
Mind you, there was already a part of her in his system, too.
’I’ll keep my human, thanks,’ grunted Jun Li as he left Stargazer, removing every last bib of his system from the other ship. There was no longer a need for a back door anyway.
