Interrogative 01: Tiago and the Masterless by Charles Barouch Page A
Authors: Charles Barouch
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had to perform flawlessly. They called him 'spare parts' and he didn't like the implication. A con man survives by appearing to be useful. It was time for that skill set to come out of retirement.
"You are in need of a repairman, yes?"
"There was new damage to our generator, just today," the Prime said. "And no, we don't need your help. Systems are at nearly half efficiency and we only need a trifling fraction of that to support what we have left here. You are not the first to offer."
Nuance. The voice had attitude in its tone. That, along with the accent, told Tiago that the Masterless had done more than simply learn from the ship's main computer. It had accessed the sims programming. He wondered what it thought about the propaganda running through those routines.
But, they couldn't access the government sims, the unmodded ones, he remembered. Whatever they learned came from Nellie, Neville… and Audra. That might give him a way to survive this.
"Where is Audra?"
"Her body is on the bridge of the ship. Thank you for granting her crew status. We couldn't have unlocked the rest of the computer so easily otherwise. He mind-construct is still in the ship's computer. We won't shut her down until she's done," the Prime said.
Damn, thought Tiago. Damn me.
"What is she doing?"
"Piloting the ship home. We have plans for the Interrogative ," the Prime said.
Tiago stopped talking. If they knew the route to take the Interrogative home, then they knew where Earth was, he realized. Too many things warred in his head for his attention. He needed to save Audra. He needed to save himself. He might actually need to save the entire Earth from the Masterless. If he could do all of that; would he go home? Would their maps make that an option? Hadn't he just spent all this time fleeing Earth?
The Prime Lesser did not press him for conversation. It didn't ask if he were alright. The room remained silent, except for the barely perceptible whirring sound coming from the three robots. Finally, Tiago resumed speaking.
"Where are you, Prime Lesser? I'd like to see you," Tiago said.
A holo projected into the room. The creature was perhaps half Tiago's height. It had three legs, presently it had two forward for stability, and one back to bear its weight. The net effect was that it looked like it was a legless creature leaning back on a three legged stool. The head – Tiago guessed it was the head – was vaguely conical, coming to a point like a dunce cap. He could not discern any features on it. To make up for the three legs, it only had one arm, hanging asymmetrically from the right side of its body, roughly where the shoulder would go on a human of that same height. The skin was a mottled gray, a color which reminded Tiago of rot and decay. Despite it being a holo, and therefore having no smell, Tiago wrinkled his nose.
"Among my kind, I'm thought to be pretty," the holo of the Prime Lesser said.
"No offense intended. While I am happy to look on you this way, I was hoping to actually look at you in person. Can we meet?"
"You are more than a century too late. The last time I looked like this, we'd only been the Masterless for a few centuries," the holo said.
Tiago felt like he was getting nowhere. If he wasted too much more time, the Interrogative would begin jumping toward Earth. He needed the ship here. He needed a way to get back on board and in his control. There had to be a way to trick the Prime Lesser. At the core of every good con was one idea: Find out what they want and make them think you are critical to their success.
"Why talk to me? Are you lonely?"
"I like speaking to insects. We have captured many of them in our time," the holo said.
"Insects. The other ships on the planet…"
Tiago's mother, Telma, used to say 'tilt your head until you see from their perspective.' Tiago had his head-tilt moment. He knew why they were Masterless. He knew why he was a prisoner. He knew that Earth was safe. He knew why they didn't
"You are in need of a repairman, yes?"
"There was new damage to our generator, just today," the Prime said. "And no, we don't need your help. Systems are at nearly half efficiency and we only need a trifling fraction of that to support what we have left here. You are not the first to offer."
Nuance. The voice had attitude in its tone. That, along with the accent, told Tiago that the Masterless had done more than simply learn from the ship's main computer. It had accessed the sims programming. He wondered what it thought about the propaganda running through those routines.
But, they couldn't access the government sims, the unmodded ones, he remembered. Whatever they learned came from Nellie, Neville… and Audra. That might give him a way to survive this.
"Where is Audra?"
"Her body is on the bridge of the ship. Thank you for granting her crew status. We couldn't have unlocked the rest of the computer so easily otherwise. He mind-construct is still in the ship's computer. We won't shut her down until she's done," the Prime said.
Damn, thought Tiago. Damn me.
"What is she doing?"
"Piloting the ship home. We have plans for the Interrogative ," the Prime said.
Tiago stopped talking. If they knew the route to take the Interrogative home, then they knew where Earth was, he realized. Too many things warred in his head for his attention. He needed to save Audra. He needed to save himself. He might actually need to save the entire Earth from the Masterless. If he could do all of that; would he go home? Would their maps make that an option? Hadn't he just spent all this time fleeing Earth?
The Prime Lesser did not press him for conversation. It didn't ask if he were alright. The room remained silent, except for the barely perceptible whirring sound coming from the three robots. Finally, Tiago resumed speaking.
"Where are you, Prime Lesser? I'd like to see you," Tiago said.
A holo projected into the room. The creature was perhaps half Tiago's height. It had three legs, presently it had two forward for stability, and one back to bear its weight. The net effect was that it looked like it was a legless creature leaning back on a three legged stool. The head – Tiago guessed it was the head – was vaguely conical, coming to a point like a dunce cap. He could not discern any features on it. To make up for the three legs, it only had one arm, hanging asymmetrically from the right side of its body, roughly where the shoulder would go on a human of that same height. The skin was a mottled gray, a color which reminded Tiago of rot and decay. Despite it being a holo, and therefore having no smell, Tiago wrinkled his nose.
"Among my kind, I'm thought to be pretty," the holo of the Prime Lesser said.
"No offense intended. While I am happy to look on you this way, I was hoping to actually look at you in person. Can we meet?"
"You are more than a century too late. The last time I looked like this, we'd only been the Masterless for a few centuries," the holo said.
Tiago felt like he was getting nowhere. If he wasted too much more time, the Interrogative would begin jumping toward Earth. He needed the ship here. He needed a way to get back on board and in his control. There had to be a way to trick the Prime Lesser. At the core of every good con was one idea: Find out what they want and make them think you are critical to their success.
"Why talk to me? Are you lonely?"
"I like speaking to insects. We have captured many of them in our time," the holo said.
"Insects. The other ships on the planet…"
Tiago's mother, Telma, used to say 'tilt your head until you see from their perspective.' Tiago had his head-tilt moment. He knew why they were Masterless. He knew why he was a prisoner. He knew that Earth was safe. He knew why they didn't
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