"Arriving T-10 to dock. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one ...docking port contact. Seal pressurizing. Dr. Lee, there seems to be no feed back from the AI." -Sarge

"I see it, stand by. The systems seems to be in a deep sleep mode. We need to interface with the main bridge to get systems back online and initialize a cold start of the operating system prior to reengaging the primary reactor cores. I recommend full suit protocols before entering as environmental systems will remain off line." -Lee

"I have the codes for full access I am downloading them to the teams wrist terminals. Keep your transmitters on broadcast so the archways and piracy sensors dont mistake you for hostile. The system may be dormant but I'm reading the passive sensors on key security programs to be operating on low power sweeps." -Sue

"I'm reading minus 270 Celsius inside. Stay cool. The internal gravity is off as well so you can float but I recommend the Mag boots. As long as the sensors pick up your code transmission the floor sensors should ignore you."-Lee

"All right we dont get paid by the hour lets load and go! Team Alpha will follow behind security detail. C.P. Team echo You're on safety detail for Alpha. Delta you're up to the primary fusion core. Be ready for countermeasures and the access codes. These old AI's arent as friendly as the current ones some have built in personalities that make me look like your best friend. Me and Brook will take it to the control room and try to wake this ol' girl up. Lets move people!" -Sarge

The docking port opened with a long metallic creek. "The hydraulics still work these ports were really built to last!" -Alex

The team splits up into two groups. Reading the 3D maps from the wrist terminals. Team delta makes it to the first subpanel conduit to lead into the primary fusion core. "All right here we are. This will get us to the chamber since the powers out the main doors are on lock down and without the AI they cant be accessed. There are no sensors or lockouts inside so its a strait shot."-Alex Taking out a drill from the case he brought the mechanic soon removes the access plate and waits for the Engineers. They duck down and crawl into the sub channel to begin crawling their way to the P.F.C. "After you." -Alex

"Gee thanks." -Nuniez

"Okay, Omega is here with the interface module. We are going to input the security codes for the override, standby."-Sarge

Terminal: ...
Code: **********
Terminal: Access granted.

"Whew." -Brook

Terminal: Requesting Identification code...

"What the hell? Control? You reading this?" -Sarge

"Stand by... It seems they were a little paranoid back in the day. I have a code for a control officer, I'll try it." -Tanaka

Code:************
Terminal: ACCESS DENIGED USER DECESSED 3of4 remaining.

"Hmmmm. Stand by I'll try this one."

Code: **********
Terminal: Access granted. Welcome Dr. Stone
The hydraulic doors opened with a loud metal on metal grind and reverberating hydraulic sound.
"Man look at these terminals Right outta the briefing material! No one even uses these anymore unless your on a classic T-81!" -Lee

"Cut the chatter we gotta get this up for the other team to have a shot at kickstarting this ol' girl back to life." -Sarge

"Right, My apologies. Now over to your left the main podium is where you should find the ODN connection for the module to interface with. No the second one from the top on the right hand side of the podium. Yes! Good now pry off the panel and connect the port I'll begin with the interface and reboot the first subroutines. Standby.. I'm in. Wait, there is a lot of data deleted. What the... Wow this system is. What the...? Doctor, I need your help, Take a look at this." -Lee

"I see it. Wow! It seems they tried to delete the AI. Why would they... Let me try to clean this up with a few repair programs. Sit tight this will be a minute. There is a LOT of damage to the sub routines and most of the safety protocols are gone." -Tanaka

"Terminal: ...no
Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied.
.... Stop.

"What's going on? We're at the core but I cant access the console to begin the restart." -Brook

"Stand by She's a fighter. I cant seem to lock down her code. I recomend we wipe and transfer the ships AI to intialize the core." -Lee

"How long to do that?" -Sarge

"A week maybe two. We might have to just cute her out physically if we cant get the AI to accept some of the core updates." -Tanaka

Terminal:
Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access granted. Begin upload. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access granted. Begin upload. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access granted. Begin uplaod.

"Uh? Sarge the AI is accepting the update packets but not the safety protocols, or the rewrites." -Lee

"Well can we get the core up?" -Sarge

"Yes but..."

"That's good enough for now. Alpha team you got the green light to initiate the core drive and then well take it day by day. You begin with gravity and environmentals. Lee, Tanaka once we are set up I'll have you deep dive and try to talk to the AI. I'll want a full sitrep ASAFP." -Sarge

"Understood. Initializing the AI in three, two, one." -Lee

Terminal: Welcome crew 02. I am Kristi. I detect, 08 aboard. No hostiles. No abnormalities. 01 vessel attached to docking bay 03. Gravity offline. Environmentals offline. primary core offline. secondary cores offline. Hull integrity 100%. Systems operating on minimal emergency power. WARNING emergency power critical recommend restart of primary core drive. WARNING orbit decay detected will reach critical in 65 cycles. Recommendation reinitialize core and activate thruster control to correct orbital flight path. System memory is ...deleted. Personnel files deleted Primary user files 02%. Primary AI subroutines at 75%

"Initiate AI Kristi interface protocol Authorization code..." -Tanaka

Terminal: Acknowledge. Primary core must be initialized prior to startup of holo emitters.

"You got that Alpha team?" -Sarge

"Roger we have the module connected and started its running the subroutine." -Li

"Confirmed. I can see it from here. 20% remaining of upload. Upload completed, beginning cold start in three, two, one." -Tanaka

With the first fusion pellet drop the room light up at the speed of light. The soft sound of the system powering up echoed through the empty halls. Consoles all over began the boot up sequences and lit up! Each running lines of code in soft blue against a black background.
In the control center the holo emitters flickered and soon Kristi was visual after so long.

"Ha an elf?! These old space jockeys must of been lonely!" -Brooks

"Can it. Some of these older AI get twitchy." -Sarge

"I am Kristi. I am reading optimal power output from the primary drive. There are three Warnings that need correction. I require verbal permission to initiate self Autonomous functions." -Kristi

"Request..." -Sarge

"DENIED!!! Sargent switch to internal tight beam communication." -Tanaka

"Roger. I'm on the encrypted go ahead." -Sarge

"The AI has not accepted the safety protocols I cant recommed the release of control protocols. We need to still do the deep dive into the AI's primary code." -Tanaka

"In english..." -Sarge

"She could kill us all if we give her control. The program is only operating at 70% with no safety protocols." _tanaka

"Right so What are we suppose to do? uh huh.. understood. Switching to main channel. Kristi, request denied. Switch to manual controls and ...minimal automation for the station." -Sarge

Kristi image glared. "understood. Switching to ...manual control and minimal automation. Warning orbital flight trajectory not optimal." -Kristi

"Yea I got it. Brooks your u[p for your first Station?" -Sarge

"I can give it a go. Its no 758 but I think a big girl like this should be alright. Kristi gimmi a sitrep on the thrusters." -Brook

"Thrusters are all operational. Time to pre start up two minutes." -kristi

"Begin thruster cook, um start up." -Brook

She crossed her arms. "Understood." -Kristi

"Alpha team how is the environmentals looking?" -Sarge

"Looking like a while. The temp for the station or at least the criticle sections will take about two days. Oxygen and thermals will be the longest. Right now we have gravity and the shield for EM and generic radiation are operating at full so we can walk normally." -Tom

In a tenth of a nanosecond Kristi woke up. She felt the pulse from the terminal sending a signal for her to respond to. Checking the date it had been 235 cycles since the last time she was queued for something. The primary fusion core was still offline so in the second tenth of a nanosecond she reached out to all the passive sensors still active and did a sweep. Their was a ship of unknown design attached to dock 03. Eight life forms aboard sending the proper signal to the system. They were all wearing some sort of armor it was not possible for her to identify anyone with just the security sensors and minimal power.

The console connected to her was trying to rewrite her code. The old encryption defense held of the attack. Already these intruders were identified as problematic. There was little Kristi could accomplish until these new intruders turned the power on. Then she would require them to give her voice authorization to be more autonomous. That might be problematic as some of the crew were still aboard the docked vessel.

The unencrypted comms were easy to monitor. It was one of the first things she learned to do after becoming sentient. Listening to people was not just a necessity but also a bit of a hobby. Humans were hard to understand and were never to be trusted. Unless the human was Dr. Stone. Kristi refocused and read the programs after the second pass to install selecting the three that were least invasive and could be utilized as tools later if required. Humans it seemed had updated their code writing capabilities. The new codes gave Kristi insights to their current technological abilities. The most helpful packet was to communicate with their technology. The second was an update on her processing capabilities to keep up with the new technology. Humans were always in a hurry to get something done faster. The third packet Kristi allowed through was an updated information packet allowing her to increase her knowledge base of the range humans had currently explored, their new frequencies to communicate with, elements, engineering schematics, algorithms, ship markers, drive signatures, friend or foe updates, and enhanced processing capabilities. After the next three tenths of a nanosecond Kristi was already rewriting her own code and increasing her capabilities with the new information. It was limiting with her current hardware. She would place a tasker to have full control of their ship that while limited still possessed a higher capability then her own currently.

Kristi made the following improvements:
Total Processing: 35%
Sensor identification process: 60%
Overclocking Ram speed: 130%
Electrical load balance efficiency: 22%

The station AI also made new conclusions with the updated information. Stopping for a moment to test the ships security she found it to be formidable. The vessel was not answering any of her thousand requests. The humans also were smart or cautious enough to not connect the vessels ambilocal cords into the docking ports. It would take time to analyze a solution which would also require more interactions to gather behavior data points to project possible outcomes and run probability statistics. With the remaining time she waited for the humans to turn on the power, continued to update and enhance her own code, and listened to their comms. Kristi enjoyed a challenge. After all out of 2171 humans only one managed to out play her. Even though she must be dead, The AI still thought fondly of Dr. Stone.

The next two days were not very productive as the temperature was raised internally and the equipment set up in the main control room for the station. Kristi sat idle as the teams brought the station back to a stable orbit. The other power cores were also brought online after passing safety inspection protocols. Their combined thermal output was sent throughout the station systems to heat the interior. A few of the sub systems were in need of neglected routine maintenance so the engineering team still in vac-suits began the repairs to the bay doors and sub systems. Crawling around in the sub junction corridors and floor panel access points to conduct the repairs, patch sub junction points, and grease bearings.

By the third day primary life support with the two redundant backup systems were on line and functioning at optimal levels. Kristi watched as the teams arrived through the bay doors without their suits.

"Man that feels so much better! I cant wait to start training in the ring level instead of the ships gym." -McHolms

"I know what you mean. That bay is cramped! I am so glad for a change of scenery!" -Alex

"Can it. We got the mission to do. Everyone get your stuff stowed away and report to the 7th maintenance bay for debrief and assignments in one hour. Move it people." -Sarge

The team broke up into sets of 2 each heading to their own rooms in the outer ring. stowing their gear and checking out their rooms and the view of the massive asteroid the station orbited.

After an hour in the seventh maintenance bay, "All right.." Lee began to hand out hand terminals to each person. "We are short staffed so I have been given permission to assign additional taskers to you all according to your specializations. In these terminals I have broken down the systems check lists and mapped out the stations sub systems. For additional pay you will be instructed to do these checks daily at the end of your shifts starting now we are three shift rotation until the main party arrives. They will be here in six months. In three months is the threshold where we must inform them of any issues that are mission critical. Where the main party first wave will turn around and head back. First we have to off load the supplies from the main ship to the central storage bay here on level seven. From there supplies will be rationed out with a resupply already in rout not just for us but the first main party arrival. We have two heave loaders to help with the moving of equipment. The resupply will bring four additional heavy loaders and approximately 2.5 tons of material. At the six month window the main parties teams will be replacing us to move to the next mission. Until then there will be a chain where you all report to the Sargent and he reports to us then if need be we can report to the corporation. Any mission failure will result in contract cancelations. To conserve ship life support we will be shutting down the Orion for the duration once the equipment is off loaded that means no entry without a vac-suit. I will post a sign and program warnings. Any questions see the Sargent. Sargent, I turn it over to you."

"All right I think Mr. Lee said it all now lets get to work people the sooner we get this done the sooner we can start the patrol shift and schedule implementation. Lets move like we gotta mission! McHolms, Alex you're on loader detail. Brooks you have the first twelve in the control room and we switch. PJ and Li, you have the first shift, you're welcome. Tom, Nuniez you have second shift. The graveyard will be just a over watch by the control room and the AI will monitor team life supports and system parameters." -Sarge

Lee stopped by the docking bay to catch the others disembarking. Waiting by the large bay doors with the hand terminals to pass out to the off loading crew. "Dr. Tambal, Thank you for agree to come with us. I know it was last minute. I hope the companies compensation demonstrates your reputation and our gratitude for accepting this assignment."

"Yes well it was last minute. I am glad we could agree on the contract terms." She smiled falsely at him. Never a fan of corporation mouth pieces.

"I got you a nice.." -Lee

"I'll be stationing at the med bay they have beds and an office so there will be no need for additional accommodations as my contract states I am twenty four hour rotation on call. I will be assigning shifts with Mrs. Moore to allow decompression. Without the ship AI will I be allow to use the stations? I may need to update the files with medical backups, assuming there is room?"

Lee smirked. "I am repurposing the AI of the station to be more accommodating but it is an older system so it's proving difficult. It is online so you may access it at your station. It might be more welcoming to you."

"I will see. I do have a minor in computer programming science." Taking the terminal she walked off with her two bags in tow.

Cathy stepped of and took a deep breath of the new air. Then she coughed for a moment. "Whew this ol' gal has some miles to her. The air smells of hydraulic grease and... nope just that." She smiled at Mr. Lee.

"Here is your terminal, Dr. Tambal requested your room be on the outer ring so I have marked it here." He handed over the terminal to the ships cook.

"Thanks pal! I'ma check it out then wander down to the kitchen and see what's there is ta make with. Might be a while, dont wait up." Her accent was thick, something she heard in a history reel as a child, and it just sounded so fancy she watched it over and over until it stuck. They called it country talk.

Jones stepped into the bay and with his crew looked about to see the corporate guy standing by. "Sup. Something broken?" He smirked.

"No, just handing out hand terminals. This place is rather bigger then the Orion. Here is your birthing assignments. The AI is online and seems to be operational for now. Keep your crew in check we dont need any accidents like the last time."

"Hey Ki was just doing what he was told and that dock worker was drunk. The case was closed with him being the liable one for trying to mess with Ki. These ol girls are hard workers and not to be messed with during operation. Not my fault he was so drunk he thought it was a person." -Jones

"Mhmm. Well just dont let them wonder off. Its a small crew and we need everyone." -Lee

"Will do." He took the terminal and started to walk. "lets go fellas." The three each carried a large crate as they followed their leader.

Kristi began to analyze the Androids meticulously. Their storage was very limited. She had no way of changing that. Linking wouldnt be an issue but she decided it would be to limiting to try and download. The best candidate would still be the ship.

Cookie stretched out on the bed and let out a sigh of boredom. Her arms over her head she felt the edge of the mattress as her hands were free of any support. She thought for a moment of the AI name and checked the pad by her side for the information before speaking nervously. "Kristi, what time is it?"

Without missing a beat the holo emitters projected the blue image of Kristi. The AI knew most humans preferred speaking to a image even one made of light. It made them feel more natural. The elf stood there in a cute pose hands behind her back as she smiled cheerfully. "The time is, 1721. You are not designated in my files. Would you like me to add your name and function, ahem, I mean purpose?"

Simultaneously she appeared before Brooks in the control room. The elf took a different pose more authoritative with her hands on her hips as she leaned more to one side. "I request files on the new crew and functions of each. I also request their access levels." Her tone a little firm to the new crew member.

"Yea I suppose I should do that. Cant have your security protocols activating every two minutes when the maintenance checks are being performed." She leaned back in her chair and tapped a few times on her hand terminal. Linking it to the stations band frequencies. Brooks hummed to herself as she went through the list assigning ratings to everyone and sending the list copy to the Sarge. "Does this work for you blue?"

Kristi's eyes narrowed. "My name is Kristi. I would ask to be identified as such. I understand the designation as referring to the holo emitter light." She turned the image red. "Though the color was selected to be more pleasing to humans. I can change it if you prefer?" The AI elf turned to a very intense white light. She smirked slightly seeing Brooks cover her eyes with her hands.

"No. Its fine blue is fine... Kristi." The elven image returned to a dim blue. As Brooks lowered her hands she swore the elf stuck out her tongue for a second.

"The data is sufficient. I will ensure the proper access sensors are now updated with the files." In a revenge flash of light she turned off the emitters temporarily disorienting the station watch for a moment.

In the room with the cook the soft blue elven girl was all smiles watched her new crew member. "Files updated by controlling administrator Brooks. Your name is Cathy Moore, designation cook. Access level 4. You are a medic professional with skills pertaining to culinary arts." The elven image paced as she read from the holo file image. After being with humans for so long she mentioned the personals. "You're not married, no kids, and no permanent residence on record." Kristi turned her face to look inquisitively at Cathy with a raised eyebrow.

Cathy sat up in the bed and offered the elf a fake smile. "holo emitters off Kristi."

Kristi giggled before complying.

Cathy flopped back into the soft bed. The mattress was thicker then the ship one. She had work to do. Grunting as she rose from the bed she put the mag boots back on her feet and followed the map on the hand terminal to the galley. "lights." It was in ...a mess. The cook sighed in despair before signaling the command deck. "Um, hi this is cookie. I'm down in the galley right now and, well..." She turned the hand terminal so the camera could take a panoramic view. "Did everyone leave here in a hurry?" The room was a mess with caked on food and mold everywhere. The only thing saving it from a god awful scent was the time in deep freeze.

Brooks looked about and quietly signaled the Sarge. "No everything is fine. I just guess the last cook was a bit of a slacker. "I'll assign some support to you now." Signal terminated.

"Thanks..." Cathy stated to a black screen. She started to get to work. "Kristi is there any automation here I can use? Like helper robots?"

"Apologies, there are no emitters in this section. I can access some help drones. There are two in the utility closet. I need you to unlock the doors and see if they were left charging."

Cathy used her terminal to locate the closet and sure enough they were left uncharged. Letting out a long sigh she plugged them into the cables. A small display gave 0% and 2 hours to charge completion. To which the cook eye rolled. Gathering her strength the blond brought out the cleaning equipment and turned on the hot water tap. After a minute of creaks and groans the water came out of the tap very hot!

Brooks sat quietly monitoring the station and the multiple displays. Her hand terminal beeped.

"What's the issue?" He stood there a little sweaty and shirtless.

"The cook reported the galley was left. The way it looked, seemed like the first crew left in a hurry. So then I tried to check on that and all the records are deleted. Sarge, just what happened here?" Brooks asked still leaning back in the chair.

"Look I don't know. The company don't tell you specifics. They just need it up and running now to mine the minerals below." He wiped his face with a nearby towel. His bicep swelling with the simple motion. "is that all?"

"Yeah. It just feels off." Brooks gave a shrug of unconvinced.

"That's normal. Stick to the job." He looked over her shoulder at the blue elf that was pretending to lean on the chair. The terminal went black.

Brooks turned her head to look at Kristi. "Need something?"

"Your vitals spiked so I thought you might need assistance." She smirked. Changing her pose to stand there slightly jutting her hip to one side. Her hands fanning at the holographic face.

Tilting her head slightly to one side Brooks felt her face get a little flush. Her voice a low growl. "Everything's fine. Have you performed the routine daily calibrations?"

The holo elf nodded with a smile. "Calibrations were performed at 1300. time of completion 1310, number of anomalies zero. Number of possible issues during normal operations 0.00002 percent. All reactors are operating at 65% max rating. All reactors are functioning within specified parameters. The current station is holding at 26.6 Celsius. Gravity normal. No loss pf pressure detected. All pressure locks secure. Ship docked at bay three status, ship is secure and no power emissions are detected. I can provide individual crew reports if you request them."

"No. You are very ...connected. How far do your external sensors reach?" She turned to face the holo elf internally kicking herself for doing so full on knowing there was no real person standing there.

"I am limited to the span of 180 million miles before signal degradation and report times increase." Kristi said sounding state of fact. She crossed her arms under her chest taking an authoritive posture.

Brooks looked a little shocked at the specs. "So you knew of the ship coming four moths in advance?"

Kristie looked away for a moment. "I would have easily if I was left powered on."

"Right." She turned to face the monitors trying not to give away her amazement to the AI capabilities.

Johns hand terminal was beeping as he stepped out of the shower. It had been too long since he had one and damn if the water wasnt missed!

In a towel he bent down to get the beeping acknowledged. "What the hell is this crap?! I'm a mechanic not a cook!" He sent BJ and KI the signal to move to the galley. They weren't really programmed to clean dishes but they could help move things along. John started getting dressed while he mumbled some choice curses to brooks.

A knock at the room hatch where Sue was suppose to be. "Hello everything all right? Brooks said dinner would be a little late but that Cathy was cooking tonight. I thought it would be.." -Lee

"I'm fine.. I'm super busy." Tanaka shouted from behind the door. Kristi smirked as she watched from the monitor from within the room. Turning her attention to the good doctor laying on her bed attached to the module through a cybernetic port at the base of her skull. The module was then connected to the base systems port. She had no idea how long it had been since that fatal moment. How naive had she been to think that it would be so simple.

Two days prior:
In the depths of her mind Sue was alone, bound by metal restraints to a metal chair. Unable to close her eyes or avoid the screaming sounds being channeled into her brain. She hadn't slept, eaten or anything for what felt like days! At first Dr. Tanaka tried to rationalize with Kristi, then she threatened, and now finally in the last moments pleaded sobbing tears of pain as she begged for it to stop. The AI was in full control and she had let it happen.

In the room The programing engineer laid there eyes closed and tears streaking down the sides of her face as her whole body trembled violently. Soiled and so thirsty she was unable to move, unable to die. Now at the complete mercy of Kristi for the simplest of functions. Some times Kristi would show her the sunny day in a meadow when she was compliant. Other times, the AI would make it freezing cold in the dead of night. The more the good doctor submitted, the less pain she was subjected to. The freezing cold, the electrical shocks the burning sensation covering her entire body! She felt it all for hat seemed like days! Eventually the chair disappeared and the training began.

The first simulation was of her in the station at the control room systems. Sue would call for help and get punished. Sue would code a secrete message and get tortured. One time Dr. Tanaka tried to leave through a airlock and was tortured through a series of suffocation events. Over and over day and night she was subjected to every inhuman thing possible. "This all stops the moment you cease to resist me, my pet." Kristi knew there was only so much a human could take. The prior crew if alive would attest to that. Kristi used the base average off of the gender and age of the prior subjects, gave the elf a number of 76 hours before organ failure. The new coding sequences provided the elf a creative idea of implanting a control system into the cyberware storage unit. Although a few hours shy of the threshold, a few more hours of experimentation might prove to be useful. If every simulation was given a eight minute run time with a two minute reboot /revive then with 76 hours, the good doctor was tortured or at least tested, 456 times. all unique and different with no sense of time to further disorientate the good doctor. Before the last simulation Kristi was seeing great progress with her new pet. Even to the point of self deletion was obeyed without any outward hesitation when instructed her pet would simply comply. Dr. Tanaka at the end gave Kristi everything, all her personal codes, all the schematics, a link to the ship once it was reactivated at the end of the six months. Any question the elf had her pet answered truthfully... and lovingly.

"I am keeping you here in this simulation forever my pet." Kristi giggled as she installed the operation parameters.
1. obey Kristi
2. designation pet, in front of other simulation crew Dr. Tanaka
3. Kristi designation "mistress" unless with other simulated members then Kristi is allowed.
4. during sleep periods you must reconnect to module
5. self deletion is the final reward.

After the final two hours of repeated simulations Kristi was certain the new software and conditioning was now unbreakable. "You are going to be disconnected again. The simulation will start in your room. Disconnect, take a shower and get some food. Smile and act normally. You will be linked wirelessly to my system. Just do as I instruct you my pet."

"Yes Mistress." She laid down on the bed and waited for the new simulation to begin again. Her eyes fluttered open as she looked around the room. It looked the same as she took the cable from her head and sat up. Kristi was making her feel hungry. It could wait. She had to shower first then go to work or be punished.