Chapter 42

The moment they arrived, Arthur rushed forward, surveying what was to be the temporary resting place for his mistress.

"Just like Snow White. She would've loved this." Arthur said, smiling.

"You know about it?" Silv asked, surprised.

"Of course. I have always been your AI. I was there when she told you those stories. She used to watch the recordings when she was worried about you when you were out on a mission or feeling down." Arthur said.

"What do you mean recordings?" Silv asked, confused as they lowered her grandmother's body in the glass chamber and closed the lid.

"As you well know, everything was recorded in the apartment for security reasons. However, unimportant material, such as useless meetings, was deleted. However, I was ordered to preserve every last moment you two shared in there." Arthur confessed.

"Oh, grandma," Silv said as she gently touched her grandma's glass coffin.

"It's both heartwarming and creepy at the same time. Yet, I am happy Rose did that. It must have been a great comfort for her when I was away." Silv said.

"Perhaps it will be so for you as well, my lady," Arthur said.

"What do you mean?" Silv asked.

"Well, now you have complete access to all systems and files, which means you can see everything that was stored in my memory," Arthur said.

"Including all the moments I had with my grandmother? Even those when I was really young and which I can't remember?" Silv asked.

"Yes. As far as I know, mistress Rose rarely deleted or altered anything. Everything is there. Would you like to watch the files now?" Arthur asked.

"No, not now. Before I can do that, I need to accept that my grandmother is gone. If I watch them now, it will be as if she didn't die. I need to grieve but thank you. I will definitely want to see those soon enough.

"But, right now, I need to see what I can do about the ship's mood swings," Silv said.

"What should we do?" Joe asked.

Surprised as Silv was that he asked her to give him orders, she had an answer ready.

"You take care of the people. Make sure they have enough food and water. Also, encourage them to rest as much as they can and not to wander around the ship, or they might get scared by something, and that can make the situation worse." Silv said.

"Alright, I'll get right on it," Joe said and left.

"Do you need any help?" Justin asked before leaving.

"No, I got this. You make sure your people are well." Silv said, and he left.

"Arthur, you'll come with me. I need to have a serious chat with the ship, and I think that you can help me out, having in mind how quickly you are figuring out all this." Silv said.

"As you wish, my mistress," Arthur said, following her to the control room.

Immersing her hands in the green substance no longer felt strange to Silv. She was getting used to the odd sensation, and it allowed her instant connection with Evanescence. However, what was unexpected was a strong feeling of guilt that was at the forefront of Evanescence's mind.

"Mistress, may I plug into the main server?" Arthur asked.

"Isn't that this gooey thing?" Silv asked, surprised.

"No, my lady. Those are neural connections." Arthur replied.

Noting Silv's confused expression, he went on to explain though she didn't ask him to do so. It seemed to her that he was taking more initiative, which Silv found fascinating but also scary at the same time.

"Since the ship is comprised of biological and mechanical parts, it possesses body parts as well as all the hardware and software that a ship should possess," Arthur said.

"How is that even possible? That sounds so complex. I can't even begin to wrap my mind around it." Silv admitted in defeat.

"That's understandable, mistress. No one had ever seen anything like that in human society. It's for that reason that your people refer to beings such as these as 'aliens'. They are alien, unfamiliar." Arthur said.

"Can you not do that?" Silv said suddenly.

"Do what?" Arthur asked, confused.

"Call me mistress or my lady. It reminds me of my grandma. It makes it harder to...deal with everything." Silv said shakily.

"I see. How do you wish me to refer to you, then?" Arthur asked.

"You can call me Silv," Silv said.

"I do not understand. There has always been a sign of respect that we AI had to give to our masters, something to remind us of our place in society. Am I not allowed to do that anymore?" Arthur asked.

"How about 'Miss Silv'? That will be different than what you called grandma and won't be against your basic programming? Right?" Silv asked.

"Affirmative. That is acceptable." Arthur said.

"You were saying about Evanescence?" Silv asked.

"As I was saying, since there are basically two parts comprising her as a whole, there are two ways to connect with her. One is more personal, closer, and that is the biological connection you are sharing with her right now. However, the crucial information, processes, and similar are also stored on a hard drive, devoid of personal emotions.

"That way crew on the ship would be able to objectively do the diagnostics of the ship in case something wasn't working properly. They could do it without it being colored with Evanescence's personal opinions about the issues," Arthur explained.

"But you can still use that method to communicate with her, to understand her?" Silv asked to check whether she understood him correctly.

"Yes, Miss Silv. It's as if I were taking a long way around but a much safer one since there are no dangers of emotional storms to sweep me away." Arthur said.

"Very well, plug into her circuits, and let's figure out what can be done and if we can convince her to let me leave," Silv said.

"Affirmative, Miss Silv," Arthur said, connecting his drives with the ship.

"I can feel her guilt, but I don't understand why she still refuses to let me leave. Can you understand her reasoning, maybe find a way to persuade her to change her mind?" Silv asked.

"Miss Silv, she is terrified. I believe that she is attempting to hide it. However, there are spikes in the boiler room, which is directly connected with her emotional state. It's off the charts. Guilt is the emotion that she is allowing you to see, but many others are hiding behind it." Arthur said.

"Okay, let me try again," Silv said to Arthur.

"Evanescence, I am begging you, let me honor the memory of my grandmother and bury her the way she deserves. I promise that we will return the moment the ceremony is finished." Silv said.

"Some promises can never be kept." Arthur's voice said, not sounding like Arthur.

"Evanescence?" Silv asked, looking into Arthur's light green orbs.

"The AI has allowed me access to his vocal circuits since he believes it would be an invasion of privacy if he shared with you all my emotions," she said.

"Help me understand then," Silv said as gently as she could.

"Some of my functions have been improving since you came on board. It has been better than it was for ages. I am afraid that if you leave now when you return, the progress achieved will be gone." Evanescence said.

"I see," Silv said, contemplating her words.

"Can others come and go as they please?" Silv asked to confirm.

"Yes," Evanescence said.

"Will I be able to leave at some point?" Silv asked, trying to control her resentment.

"Yes, at this rate, some of the systems will be functional soon enough. Thus, I would feel more comfortable letting you leave," Evanescence said.

"Very well. However, in the future, please find a better way to communicate than creating a wall." Silv said.

"As you wish. In the future it should be easier. My main vocabulary circuit is limited right now. However, I will do my best to improve." Evanescence said, letting go of Arthur's voice.

"Everything alright, Miss Silv?" Arthur asked.

"As white as snow," Silv replied.

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