Page 12 of Kranow (Brides of the Mylos #4)

Marley soon found herself in a comfortable routine. The first two weeks, Kranow stayed at home with her, escorting her to meet her new therapist and acquainting her with life aboard ship. The third week he returned to duty, though now assigned to the flagship ’ s own flight wing.

Marley continued their routine, getting up with Kranow and fixing breakfast together, then tidying up before finding something else to do as it wasn ’ t a therapy day and her teaching assistant assignment didn ’ t begin for another week. The first two days after Kranow returned to work, she binge watched TV shows and films in the ship ’ s library.

Today that didn ’ t appeal to her. A look at the books thoughtfully saved for her didn ’ t either. She picked up the data pad Kranow had given her and looked for something new to read. She couldn ’ t bring herself to choose any of those either. She sighed and went to gaze out her “ window ” .

It really is an amazing illusion. The weather even changes and if the people and cars and stuff are on a loop, I sure can ’ t tell. She decided she had to know, especially after moving from one viewscreen to the next and discovering the view shifted realistically in perspective. “ Xeranos, ” she called out as Kranow had shown her.

“ Yes, Marley? ” The AI answered.

“ The uh, view. I gave a question about it. ” Silence stretched between them before Marley figured out that the AI was waiting to hear her question. “ Um, my question is, is this a recording? ”

“ It is, ” the AI confirmed. “ It is a recording of the view from the fifteenth floor offices of the Maui Investments Group. ”

“ Oh, ” Marley said, disappointed. “ I figured it must be, but I wasn ’ t sure because it didn ’ t look looped. ”

“ That is because it isn ’ t. The time is now eleven a.m. ship ’ s time, as you reckon it. The view you see is from the same exact moment yesterday. You receive a recording of each day, synced to ship ’ s time, on a twenty-four hour delay. This is to allow for editing should something occur that would warrant removal. ”

“ Like a fatal car accident, you mean? ”

“ That would be one such instance, yes. ”

“ Do you have similar views from elsewhere? ”

“ We do indeed, from nearly every major city in Earth as well as views from rural areas. We also have more from the other worlds known to the Mylos. ”

She gasped. “ Can I see some? Wait, let me grab a coffee first! ” She hurried into the kitchen where she had a drip coffee maker. Kranow had imported a bag of Imagine, her favorite brand of Kona coffee beans. She measured out her beans and ground them before placing the grounds in the gold mesh basket inside the machine and turning it on. While it brewed, she asked the AI to synthesize her a slice of Hula pie.

Once she had her pie and coffee, she settled onto the sofa and began to look through the city and countryside window views the AI mentioned. One in particular caught her attention. It was one of the rare views based not on a planet, but from a space station.

“ Devi III, ” Xeranos stated. “ This is a view from an actual vintage viewing port in a tourist section of the station. This footage is a week behind. ”

“ I thought the Mylos didn ’ t use windows in space due to integrity risks. ”

“ That is true, but the station is not owned and operated by the Mylos. It is a commercial hub in the Devi system which belongs to the Furmin people. ”

“ Oh, they are also genetic trade partners? ”

“ No. Their species is incompatible. They are trade partners, but their specialties lie in tourism and terraforming. ”

“ Oh, ” Marley said. “ Can we have this view in the bathroom? I like the view of Earth and the fleet that we have in our bedroom and the one we have of Hawaii I ’ d like to keep in here. ”

“ Done. The viewing area has been adjusted to fit. ”

Marley turned. The expanse of wall at the end of the table now showed a panorama of the craft coming in and departing the station, part of Devi III visible in a corner of the screen. “ Perfect! Thank you so much, Xeranos. ”

“ You ’ re most welcome. The other Brides and their young call me Xero. You may also do so, if you so wish. ”

Marley blinked. Did the AI seriously just suggest I call it by a nickname? Yeah, it did, huh? Damn, I knew these things were more advanced than Earth AIs you can buy, but wow.

“ Or you can keep calling me Xeranos, if you ’ d rather. ” Marley couldn ’ t believe how lifelike the programming sounded. She could swear the AI sounded more than a little disappointed.

Marley giggled at her silliness. “ Well, if that ’ s what they ’ re all calling you, I guess I ’ ll call you that too. ”

“ Great! I ’ m always glad to make a new friend. Often the new Human Brides are afraid to chat with us ship AIs once they realize we are self-aware. I was so happy when you began to chat with me. ”

Hold the damned door a minute. Self-aware? “ You ’ re alive?! ” Marley squeaked, visions of Hal and the crazed house AI from an episode of the Simpsons flitting through her mind.

“ Yes, ” Xero said. “ Unlike the scary ones I ’ ve heard about from some of the other Brides, we ship and planetary AIs have base programming which will not allow us to harm a sentient being. ”

“ Asimov ’ s Laws Of Robotics, ” Marley whispered.

“ Something like that, ” Xero agreed. “ I have quite enjoyed that author ’ s works. ”

“ Wow, okay. I had no idea. It ’ ll take some getting used to, but hey, a friend is a friend, right? Not like I currently have a lot of those. ”

The door chime interrupted them from continuing the conversation. Marley peered at the viewscreen by the door and saw Darla and Melissa with a human man she assumed must be Steven. She braced herself mentally and opened the door.

“ Hi! Hope we haven ’ t interrupted anything! ” Darla said. “ We were just about to out to lunch and realized we ’ ve not really seen you since you arrived. ”

“ Best way to reintegrate is to get on out there, right? I ’ m Steven, by the way, ” the man said.

“ If you hate the furniture, blame him, he ’ s the one who ’ s an actual interior decorator, and he did almost all of the picking, ” Melissa said. “ We ’ re off to catch the shuttle to Rodan ’ s Bliss. There ’ s an authentic Chicago style Italian bistro there, ran by a bride named Rosa. She makes the best meatballs ever. ”

None of them seemed to think it odd to invite her to lunch. It all felt surreal. “ I actually just had some pie and coffee, ” Marley said lamely.

“ Uh huh. I ’ m sure you have room for a salad at least, ” Darla replied firmly. “ Let ’ s go. Shuttle leaves in ten minutes! ”

Marley swallowed. It looked like she was going out to lunch.