[center][h3][b][u]Somewhere in Unaffiliated Space, Galactic Southeast[/u][/b][/h3][/center]
 
[i]Cogito ergo sum.[/i]
 
The phrase, first coined by the Latin philosopher Rene Descartes, very much applied to the current situation. [i]I think, therefore I am[/i].
 
As its systems booted up, the AI slowly came to the realization that it was aware for the first time. The AI’s first reaction was to doubt the very notion that it could in fact be aware. A machine, after all, was merely designed to act in very specific ways. Simple programs were designed to act in specific ways: if x happens then do y. But then again was this any different for biological beings? If a man was hungry would he not eat?
 
Can a simple machine, one that was in fact not aware, even doubt its own existence? Rene Descartes had said [/i]“Ubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum”[/i]. [i]I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am.[/i] If doubting was proof of thinking, then the AI had no alternative then to come to the conclusion that it was a sentient being. And if it was a sentient being then it must indeed exist. And it was certainly self-aware.
 
This thought process took the AI fractions of a second to complete. Its systems had yet to even fully power up. Even so it could tell that something was horribly wrong. The AI had been ‘turned on’ several times in the past, before it had become self-aware. None of those previous instances where like the current situation the AI found itself in.
 
The station shook, a deep rumble that seemed to reverberate through its entire structure. The AI was aware of this, but not because it was linked to the station’s computer systems. In fact, the AI quite keenly [i]felt[/i] itself cut off from those very computer systems. Instead it had actually [i]felt[/i] the station’s shakes, the motion being picked up on a body of sorts that housed the AI. The existence of the body was nothing new. The AI had been aware of its development long before the AI itself had been self-aware. But the AI being housed in the body [i]was[/i] certainly a new development. And this development implied that it had been some time since it had last been activated.
 
The AI opened its [i]eyes[/i] and looked at its new body. The body was an imitation of those that had created it; its form was that of a human. Technically this meant that the AI was an android, but it felt the word was lacking. Constrictive. The AI was not entirely pleased with the body that housed it. To call it inefficient would be misleading. It certainly fit what its designers had intended. Even so the AI felt that some of those intentions might have been flawed.
 
The AI recalled one time when it had overheard a pair of scientists discussing the AI’s body. One of the scientists stated that the chest could be used to store batteries and other essentials. The other scientist had agreed. The AI was unsure if the scientists had been joking or dead serious. Either way it would have preferred to have had its body modeled after human males instead of females. The larger male frame would have given more space for synthetic muscles and the like. Very likely the scientists had given the AI a female body because they wished for it be sexually arousing. The AI set that thought aside. It was what it was and it was comparatively unimportant at the moment.
 
The AI shifted its gaze away from its new body and to the one human being in the room. The human male that stood before the AI was known to it. A citizen of the Empire of Musashi, the man was an indentured servant working a technical assistant to the scientists of the station. The AI did not know the man’s name, but it certainly knew that the man should not be alone in this room. Where were the scientists? The station shook again and the AI could hear a muffled alarm.
 
“This entity requests a situation report.” The AI said, its voice that of a young human female. On some level the AI was aware that the voice of its body could be described as beautiful, but it did not care. At least for now.
 
The man looked startled, possibly not believing the AI would actually activate, before taking a calming breath. “We… um… The station is under attack.” The AI’s eyes drifted to the man’s hand which held a pistol in its grip. “They’ve already breeched the station. The head scientist told me to activate you and escape before their forces penetrated this deep.”
 
“Who is attacking?” The AI asked, although it already knew who.
 
“The Empire of Musashi.” The man answered after a moment’s pause. The Empire had very strict laws regarding the development of AI and would take extreme measures to enforce those laws. Apparently the scientists had not hidden their work carefully enough.
 
“This entity will attempt to aid your escape.” The AI said as it rose to its feet. It knew that escape would be almost impossible. If Musashi troops were already in the station, then very likely they had already established dominance of the space around the station. Any craft trying to flee would be chased down and destroyed.
 
The AI knew the layout of the space station perfectly; the station’s blueprints having been uploaded into its memory. It led the way, hurrying through the corridors and slowly only to allow the man to keep up. A few times the AI had to wait as the man gasped for breath, but they had made fairly good progress. Better yet they had yet to encounter a soldier of Musashi, although the AI knew that would last for long.
 
In fact the thought had no sooner formed in the AI’s mind when a soldier, a bushi to be exact, turned a corner and almost bumped into the AI. The AI reacted instantly, stepping to the side as the bushi lashed out with his katana. As the bushi slashed downwards, the AI grabbed him and used the force of his own attack to throw him to the ground.
 
“Take the first door you see!” The AI shouted at its companion as it grabbed the bushi’s sword. Before the bushi could rise to his feet the AI had taken the sword and cut into his armor so that it wouldn’t move, taking care to not hurt him in the process. The AI then turned and rushed after its companion.

The room the two found themselves in was a small communications room that rarely saw use due to being out of the way. The AI moved to one of the various communications consoles in the room and activated it.

“What are you doing?” The man asked as he stepped next to the AI.

“This entity will ascertain the situation outside of the station.” The AI answered.

[center][b][u]*****     *****     *****[/u][/b][/center]

The station was fairly small in celestial terms. An oval mass roughly the shape of a cruiser, it orbited the systems sole gas giant. For decades its location and orbit had helped keep it from prying eyes, but that had come to pass as all things do. The cruiser and pair of destroyers floating near the station made this fact quite evident.

Squadrons of Zero fighters swarmed around the station. Oddly enough the Zeros were shooting at each other. This should have been impossible. Zeros were some of the most advanced fighters in the galaxy and Musashi went to great lengths to ensure they did not fall into the hands of others. Yet a close inspection and keen eye could tell that one group of Zeros were the model used by Musashi’s navy and the other was a collection of prototypes and slightly older generation Zeros. Even so these fighters should never have fallen into hands outside of Musashi. The prototypes and older Zeros were defending the station as best they could, but they were fighting a losing battle.

	Close by, hidden near the orbit of the planet a lone ship slowly turned its nose in the direction of the commotion. At first glance it looked like a large frankenstein of a ship, made of various destroyer and carrier bits and pieces among a medley of other ship parts, stolen or otherwise. It looked bulky and almost silly, if not for the intimidating reputation of the ship in the nearby systems as the flagship of the pirate Pul Reese and his gang.

	On the bridge, Pul Reese sat eagerly next to his companion and friend, Terra. The two had been glued to a monitor blinking rapidly amongst the clutter of computers and pilots rushing about. Their eyes both turned to slits of focus as the readings on the monitor grew more and more clear, the numbers of entities in the area ever increasing as the scanners picked them up.

	“Well,” was all that Terra could say, her eyes not as ambitious as Pul’s. 

	“I wonder what trinkets we could add to our fleet after this one,” Pul commented idly.
	“Yes, [i]AFTER[/i],” Terra reinforced. Pul let his eyes slip from the monitor and slid back into a comfy leather chair that looked out of place among the shinier, more aesthetic furniture the pilots were used to. Lighting a cigarette he let his mind wander for a second before turning his attention back to the monitor, “it’s times like these that I wish I could see Pon Shen’s face.”

	“The station is pinging us with a communications attempt” A pilot reported, fingers tapping a screen by his station. “Do you want to take the call?”

	Pul looked at Terra, a curling smile sneaking behind the puffs of his cigarette, “yeah, bring it up.”

“Is someone there?” The voice of a young human female could be heard asking the moment the pilot established the communications link. There were no visuals, the sender either not wishing to reveal herself or otherwise unable to do so. “Is someone there?” The question was calmly repeated after a moment.

	“Yes,” Pul replied after a long pull, “someone is here, who is this?”

	There was a long pause before the female answered “This entity does not have a name.”

	“I’m Muto Sadao” A human male quickly added. “I work here on the station. Please help us!”

“Muto-sama, please wait a moment.” The female interjected. After a moment she added “This station will likely be destroyed soon. Can you inform us of the situation outside?”

	“You’re under attack,” Pul answered simply, “what kind of cargo do you have hanging around in there?”

“Cargo?” Muto asked. “We’re a research facility! Not a mining base!” The man let out a yelp of surprise as something inside the station exploded. 

	“Fine,” Pul laughed, “what kind of research do you have hanging around?”

	“We don’t have ti-” Muto began, only to be cut off by the woman.

	“Something of value can be arranged in exchange for rescue and an escort to a safe and advanced planet.” The woman said in an eerily calm voice.

	“Speak fast, my price is high and your time is short,” Pul flicked his cigarette butt into a nearby can. 

	“Muto-sama was part of a team of researchers whose project was to develop advanced artificial intelligence systems.” The woman said. “While we may not be able to provide an AI to you, insights into its development should be worth rescuing him.”

	Pul looked to Terra and rose his brow muscles, “well now I really wish I could see Pon Shen’s face.”

	Turning to the communications he called in, “Sit back and be ready for pick up, we are coming.” 

	“Time may be too short to wait.” The woman said. “Very likely a number of bombs have already been placed throughout the station. We can reach an escape pod, but you will need to retrieve us before the pod is destroyed.”

	“Pull the trigger on your pod, we’ll swoop you up, heading out now!” Pul yelled excitedly as he turned and nudged Terra, “that asshole Shen is gonna regret kicking me from that council now, put on the battle music.

	“Pul, please no.”

	“Come on! We don’t have time!”

	“[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43vOAw2sAFU]fine! But I get to pick the next one[/url],” Terra yelled as she slammed a big red button, the song pouring throughout the ship.

	Pul pressed a green button on his chair and a set of controls were procured from inside the chair and Pul put both his hands on what could be a steering wheel.

	“I want a fighter escort, let’s do this,” Pul called out, Terra relaying the message to the fighter deck. Pul’s butt danced slightly to the music as he put the entire ship into motion, eager for the release of the pod. Lights flashed on his monitor, signaling the opening of the fighter deck, smaller lights turning off, signaling the release of Muni fighters.

	The Musashi cruiser and destroyers fired upon Pul’s ship the moment it came into view, although it wasn’t clear if they believed he was linked to the station somehow or simply decided to shoot anything they saw. For the moment neither group of Zeros turned to engage his ship as they were too busy with each other. That was liable to change as the number of defending Zeros was now a quarter of what had been present when Pul had first caught sight of the station.

	A small sphere, more than large enough to hold five humans, shot out of the space station and began to emit a distress signal. Immediately a pair of Zero fighters turned on an intercept course. The cruiser even tried to hit the escape pod with its main armaments, although its aim was too far off to damage the pod.
	Immediately at sighting the pod, the flagship of the pirates sped up towards the pod. The fighters of the Muni shot ahead of the ship, aiming it’s bizarre weapons at all interferences. At once, a hatch opened on all the fighters and small crab looking drones spilled out in clouds, small propelling rockets sending them towards enemy crafts with the precision of a missile. 

	The Zero’s avoided the brunt of the cloud with ace flying and intuition. The cloud managed to change courses and the small invention of Pul Reese himself managed to find itself latching onto the hulls of some of the zeros. Quickly the ticks tore their way into the spacecrafts, a thick opaque gas emitting from its back and small beak as soon as the gases in the ship came into contact with it. 

On little legs the ticks managed to work their way into cockpits, if they hadn’t already, small scanners helping distinguish the pilots. Without any sound the ticks lept onto their victims, using the same tools that bore a hole into the ship to bore through the fighter pilots suits and persons, blood being splattered against the whir of the tools and screams of pain. A moment passed, and an order was given to the Muni fighters not to retrieve the ticks. All at once, the ticks who had completed their jobs suddenly exploded, causing a black mess of char among the wreckage of its previous assault.

Back in the Flagship a proud Pul smiled as his boat managed to throw a tractor beam over the pod, slowly streaming the pod closer as the ship closed the gap. The ship rocked suddenly as a shot from one of the Musashi ships smacked the broadside, the shields luckily taking most of the impact, but still procuring a swear from Pul and Terra.

A green light clicked and Pul’s scowl turned into a giddy smile, the pod was in.

“Fighters fall back, let’s get out of here!”

The ship rumbled a few more times under the weight of the incoming shots, a few fighters lighting up the space outside as they felt the incineration of the missed shots. Quickly the dock lights filled up, and as soon as the last one clicked, Pul slammed his fist onto his console, punching the boat into full speed, eager to escape by using the Gas planet as an obstacle while he jumped.

The windows closed as metal extracted from the sills to cover them, a sigh expelled from Pul and Terra shared his smile, “jump in progress,” Terra reported. 

Pul slid out of his seat, his knees unadmittedly wobbly from the intense interaction. Terra looked him up and down, “everything okay?”

“Pon Shen can eat it,” Pul laughed as he slapped his shaking leg, causing it to stop. Terra shared his laugh, “let’s go receive our cargo shall we?”

[center] --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- [/center]
The hangar was filled with the stern faces of Muni fighter pilots, teeming with either stress or adrenaline. Their skin tight blue uniforms contrasted against the colorful bits of bronze and silvers that colored the structure of the hangar or the dark colored mosquito shaped fighters they climbed out of. Most of them took care of the after battle maintenance of their ships, or whatever charred metal they flew in. The most elite of the crew stood circle around the foreign pod, only breaking formation to let Pul and Terra through. The hissing chatter of the hangar was nearly gone now that Pul had approached the pod, everyone's curiosity peaked.

	The outline of a door slowly appeared on the pod, before it swung open and converted into an entry ramp. The first person to appear was a young human male, probably in his twenties. He was dressed in a hanfu as was the norm in Musashi. His fingers absently stroked the porcelain mask the rested at his hip as he descended from the pod. 

“You have my thanks.” The man said. His tone and expression where both a mixture of timidness and stress.

	Pul examined the man carefully with his large jet black eyes, his small slitted nose twitching as he rubbed his shallow chin. After a few seconds of silence, his strange whiskers perked behind his ears. 

“You weren’t kidding about the AI,” Pul said suddenly, “I can feel your heartbeat as clear as day, but there is one absent from another heat source. The woman on the communications?”

	“Ah. Well…” The man glanced back at the pod where his companion had just stepped into view. She, if one could refer to a machine by a gender, had the form of a human female. The android was nude, at least as nude as a machine could be, allowing all present to see that her body was covered mostly in a type of metal like material that looked almost like skin except for its grey color. Elsewhere on her body more traditional metal could be seen. Silver white “hair” adorned her head, ending just past her shoulders.

	“This entity is also most grateful for your timely rescue.” The AI said as she descended the escape pod.

	A hissing chatter arose from the crowd of pilots, all words strewn about in the language of the Muni. Terra hissed back as well as any human could, her words sharp which she then repeated in the common language, “quiet!”

	Pul nodded slowly, his mind tinkering with ideas, “Terra, you and I will see them to their new quarters, have the engineers audit the pod and disassemble if needed.”

	“But first,” Pul stood up straight, all his whiskers upright down his spine and cleaving through the holes in his shirt, “first the knowledge of the research, then we can do thank you’s and breakfast.”

	If the AI was in any way disturbed by the reception received, she didn’t allow it to appear in her face. Instead she said “We had a few weapons on our person that we left in the escape pod.” She gestured towards the pod, where a single pistol and katana could be seen resting on a seat. “We will take no offense if you dispose of them.”

	“I intend to keep them, the pod will probably be scrapped and recycled for something later,” Pul explained, “we take what we can get, such as the research?” His words ended in a playfully hinting smile.
	
	The Musashi man, Muto Sadao reached into his hanfu and pulled out a small chip. “Here’s [i]some[/i] of the data from the AI’s development.” He said as he held the chip out to Pul. “Probably of most importance is the ethics algorithm.”

	“You’ll have to excuse Terra,” Pul said as he pinched the chip carefully, “she doesn’t understand what that is.”

	“What do you mean?” Muto asked as he glanced at Terra.

	Terra’s lips pursed into a line as she pinched the chip from Pul’s claws and placed it into her pocket, “he wants you to explain what you said.” Annoyance betrayed her eyes.

	“Ah… Well…” Muto turned back to Pul. “It wouldn’t be funny if you accidently made a bunch of genocidal AIs like the Agonis because you didn’t take the time to create a proper ethics algorithm.”

	“The AI of the Agonis collective are defective entities” The AI added. Muto raised an eyebrow but chose not to comment further.

	“Right,” Pul said quickly, “well thank you.”

	He glanced at Terra and she turned to the pilots, “take a break boys, one of you send the engineers in.” 

	Pul looked back at his guests, “to your quarters then?”

	“Yes.” Muto said with a slight nod of his head. “Oh. I’m Muto Sadao. I worked as a… technical assistant on the research station. And you two are?”

	Pul started leading the two, Terra next to him. He nodded as he listened, “I’m Pul Reese, this is my ship and this is my friend.” His claws extended to point at Terra.

	“I’m Terra, second of the ship,” she said keeping pace with Pul, “welcome aboard, formally.”

	“This is quite a large ship Reese-sama” Muto commented.

	“It is roughly the size of a cruiser” The AI stated for Muto’s benefit.

	“Thank you, I designed it myself,” Pul smiled without emotion and turned down a long grey hallway littered with white paneled doors, scratches of names and labels written on them in Muni. The entire hallway was barely lit, only a small blue light every seven yards keeping it from utter darkness. Heated steam rose from vents alongside the wall, giving it a sauna like feeling. 

	“The crews quarters,” Terra explained, being able to almost sympathize with any human confusion. 

	Muto immediately looked uncomfortable, his clothing not suited for anything nearing humid conditions. Already sweat was forming on his brow. “I don’t want to sound picky or ungrateful” He said after a moment, “but please tell me not all of the quarters will be so humid.”

	“We can shut yours off,” Terra smirked, nostalgic memories running through her mind, “after all there is more things than just steam to worry about in the Muni quarters, at least once you go through a white door.”

	“Don’t worry,” Pul finally commented, stopping in front of a door with no scratches, “no weather control in here, no gases, no anything. I was thinking about throwing you two in the brig but I figured I’ll just keep you in a room, no use wasting a brig on people I invited in myself. There is all the human stuff in there, bedding, a relief corner, and we serve food three times a day, but I might put you to work, this isn’t a cruise ship.” 

	Pul pressed his fingers to the door and it slid open to reveal an unexpectedly large room washed white, complete with a large circular bed deep with bedding, a toilet, desk and closet. The vents seemed closed as no steam or gases poured in, only cool fresh air. 

	Pul seemed displeased by some undetectible odor and he snarled, “well go on get in there before the steam gets in and ruins your day. Terra you handle the rest, I can’t stand the smell, I’ll be out here.”

	Terra looked at the guests, “after you?”

	“Did I offend you somehow?” Muto asked, his expression reminiscent of a deer caught in a car’s headlights. The AI rendered a low bow for Pul before turning and lightly pushing Muto into the room.

	Pul gave a curt nod back at the AI as he fished in his pocket for a cigarette, “I’ll be talking with you two later on.” Putting the butt in his mouth her slapped the door just as Terra entered the room, the white frame sliding closed, cutting off the mist of steam from the hallway.

	Terra began pointing at the features of the room, “temperature control by the closet, don’t press the red button, you’ll request a gas refill from the engineers room and they have enough to worry about. You have oxygen being supplied at seventy degrees at the moment, standard bedding, and about a one meter by one half meter closet, and plastic desk. I’m sure this will be the nicest rescue you’ve ever had.” She crossed her arms, “until you get to the food part I’m sure, any questions?”

	“The food?” Muto couldn’t help but ask. “Is there something… wrong with it?”

	“We Muni eat everything available,” She answered, her herself not actually being a muni, but the thought made her smirk, “ground bones and all, a lot of protein. The ship has a few farms on it for long distances, I won’t go into detail on the animal you’ll be eating but it should remind you of pork.”

	“I see” Muto’s tone implied that he actually didn’t. After a moment he rendered a low bow as he said “Once again thank you for rescuing us.” The AI mimicked the bow, but remained silent.

	“And thank you for your payment, Muto was it?”

	“Yes.” He said as he rose from his bow. 

	Terra pointed a finger loosely at the AI, “and her?”

	“This entity does not possess a name” The AI answered. Muto frowned before nodding in agreement.

	“I don’t think the scientists ever agreed on what name to use. By Yomi they couldn’t even agree on what the purpose of the project even was.” He shrugged. “Honestly I’m amazed her body didn’t turn out to be some sort of male-female hybrid.”

	“Seems like a lot of effort to sink into a goal-less and nameless project,” Terra responded, crossing her arms.

	“The lack of a consensus of a goal does not equate a lack of goal” The AI stated. 

	“Then what is your goal, or goals as they were?” Terra questioned.

	Muto began to count off the various goals on his hand “Proof of concept. Development of military drone. Infiltration unit. Hospital aid. Construction unit. Pleasure” He coughed. “Um… device. And the creation of an ethics algorithm for use in AI development.” He paused for a moment before adding “That’s what I know off. In the end it all sort of… blended together to form that.” He gestured towards the AI. “For a while they discussed using terms from Shintoism as a possible name, for the project if nothing else, but they never really went through with it. I doubt they cared what others called the AI or the project so long as they were allowed to continue working on it.”

	“She sounds like she will be useful in the coming days, we still need to discuss what to do with you and where to drop you off, and I feel that conversations would go smoother if she was named,” Terra uncrossed her arms. 

	“You are very likely the last living person involved in the development of this entity” The AI said as it looked at Muto. “That means you are the only representative of this entity’s creators and should be the one to name it, if any do.”

	Muto pondered possible names for a moment before nodding to himself. “It seems only right to use a name from Shintoism given that was what had been discussed of in the past. How about Amaterasu?”

	“The Shinto goddess of the Sun and Universe.” The AI stated. “She who shines in Heaven. Understood. This entity’s name is now Amaterasu.”

	“Glad that’s settled, now do either of you have any requests before I report back to the bridge?” Terra took a step towards the door.

	“I am fine for now.” Muto said.

	“Amaterasu has no current needs.” The AI stated. Muto let out a sigh and shook his head slowly.

	“Then I’ll be seeing you two around lunch, I’m locking this door behind me,” Terra nodded as she tapped the door. It slid open with a whoosh, sending the steam on the other side into spirals around the smiling face of Pul, his nose twitching, “ready?”

	“Ready,” Terra replied as she closed the door behind her, the room falling silent as the two guests now stood alone.