The walk to Dock 313 was harder than Casey expected. Dr. Skisk had been insistent on her taking a cane to lean on, and she was thankful for that. In truth, Dr. Skisk had been insistent on Casey not going at all, but there was a new look in her eye that the doctor didn’t want to risk challenging. Well enough to stand and wave her arm around was one thing, but her body was clearly still recovering. Helga flanked her, along with two station guards, the former walking very close, though Casey couldn’t tell if it was for protection or to catch her if she fell. Either way, deep down she was happy for it. It was impossible to shake the feeling of watching eyes and hidden blades as they made their way through the busy corridors.

As they passed by Dock 314 on the way, Casey was surprised to still see guards on the door, now unmasked. She mentioned this to Helga, who said, “Better safe than sorry. Last thing I need is some other spy stealing that ship before we can strip it for parts.”

Finally, they reached the door to Dock 313. Everything seemed quiet. Before Casey could punch her code into the keypad, Helga blocked her way with an arm.

“Before you go in, I need to warn you,” Helga said. “My crew was able to clean the worst of it, but that was when Benni went crazy and chased them off. There’s… there’s a lot of blood. Most of it is to the right, and it’s old and dried, but there’s gonna be some wherever you look. Okay?”

Casey hesitated, then nodded and typed in her code. The bulkhead opened, and she peeked inside. Helga hadn’t been joking. To the right – Casey told herself she wasn’t going to look, but often didn’t have control of this – was a large mess of old, faded blood. Some surrounded a large hole in the wall dividing Docks 313 and 314. Another person-sized hole had been cut into the wall rather than shot, and Casey could see a spot on the floor of Dock 314 where vacu-foam had deployed.

Casey didn’t need the particulars for her imagination to fill in the blanks. Her mind pieced the stains and the size of the hole in the wall together without her permission, and the mental playback made her suddenly very dizzy. 

“Whoa, steady girl,” Helga said, catching Casey as she staggered. “If this is too much, then tell me.”

“No, no,” Casey said, steadying herself. She pushed Helga’s arm off her. “It’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

“Hm,” was Helga’s only response, which Casey noted, and ignored.

The second Casey took a step into the dock, the Benevolence came to life. Every gun on the ship, including the forward cannon, and the tertiary laser cannons mounted along the top, bottom, and sides of the ship snapped towards her and the others with incredible speed. A klaxon began to sound from the bullhorn underneath the cockpit.

“Whoa, Benni! Benni, it’s me!” Casey shouted over the noise, flinching away from the arsenal pointed at her. “Stand down!”

The klaxon stopped, but the guns stayed pointed at the group. Benni’s voice came from the bullhorn.

“Captain. It Is Good To See You Again. Please Instruct The Others To Leave The Dock Immediately.”

Casey looked back at Helga and the others with an apologetic expression. “I think you better do what it says.”

“No argument from me,” Helga said. “Just fix it or… something. I need to repair my dock.”

The others left, and the guns returned to their default positions. Casey breathed a sigh of relief and made her way up the cargo bay door and into the ship, following a trail of old blood spatter that brought less than pleasant memories. She was thankful when her path diverged from the now rust colored blots, and she entered the AI core. The dark, hexagonal obelisk that stood in the center of the room glowed brighter than usual.

“Benni, what happened?” she asked. “Why are you threatening people?”

“Captain, I Do Not Know Who To Trust. My Records Do Not Have Any Information On Blessed Madsen Lawsek’s Proxies. Anyone Else On This Station Could Be Under Their Control And Not Know It. I Have Been Running Simulations Of Blessed Lawsek’s Attack, And Determined That Our Victory Was Highly Improbable. We May Not Succeed Again Without Constant Vigilance.”

Repeating the attack, over and over, Casey thought. She reached out and put her hand on Benni’s core, as if to comfort a friend. It was warmer than usual. “How long have you been doing those simulations? You’re running hot.”

“I Have Been Running Simulations For Three Days, Seven Hours, Twenty Five Minutes, Four Seconds And Counting, Along With Other Processes.”

“Benni, that’s too much,” Casey said. “That can’t be healthy… Have you rebooted at all?”

“I Overrode My Automatic Reboot Schedule In Order To Maintain Watch Over You And The Benevolence.”

“But it’s there for a reason!” Casey insisted. “You have to take the time to reboot and keep your systems from corrupting.”

“Now That You Are Here, Captain, I Can Reboot, If That Is Your Order.”

Casey frowned. Maybe Benni really was scared. “Yes, that’s my order. I’d like you to reboot and stop running that simulation. It’s not good for you to dwell on it like that.”

“Acknowledged. Simulation Ended. Rebooting. This May Take Several Minutes, Please Wait.”

Cooling fans spun up inside the core, then faded again as the pillar’s light dimmed. The core pulsed softly, giving Casey the impression that Benni was breathing in its sleep. She took a deep breath herself, and leaned against a wall, tapping the cane on the floor absent mindedly as she watched the blinking lights on the walls. The missing arm was still there, but it didn’t hurt right now. Only a slight tingle along an imaginary palm and fingers.

How could an AI become so frightened like that? More and more feelings. Too scared to sleep without her around. Was it genuine emotion, or practical thought? Plenty of pilots got attached to their ships, of course, gave them names and assigned them personalities, but she would bet her other arm that none of them had a ship get attached to them in return. If only she could stop thinking the way Benni could.

With a sudden jolt, Casey became horribly aware that her severed arm was almost definitely still somewhere on the ship. If she followed the trail of old blood, she knew she would find it, but the idea chilled her. The last thing she wanted was to remember any more about that day. She made a mental note to bring it up to Helga once she was done with Benni.

The dark pillar ended its pulsing and brightened. A single chime sounded, and Benni’s voice piped through the speakers once again.

“Reboot Complete. Hello Captain.”

“Hi, Benni,” Casey replied. She pushed her back off the wall and steadied herself with the cane. “How are you feeling now?”

“Cognitive Processes Report A Twenty Per Cent Increase In Efficiency. Core Temperature Has Returned To Normal.”

“Good,” Casey said. “Now, can you please stop aiming your weaponry at Helga’s people? They need to fix the holes you made.”

A few thoughtful clicks issued from the speakers before Benni spoke again.

“Any Of Them Could Be An Ulthean Spy, Captain.”

“I know,” Casey said. “I’ve been thinking that too, but we can’t be afraid of them forever. I saw how fast you can aim those guns, you don’t need to keep them trained on people. Just keep your firewall up and remember to reboot when you have to, okay?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Thank you,” Casey said with a sigh. “I’m sorry for all of this. We’re going to be leaving Brock Station soon. The Hope has engines we can use.”

“I Understand. You Will Be Pleased To Know The Hope Has Been Cleared Of Its AI, And Will Not Resist Your Salvaging Efforts.”

Casey hadn’t even considered the AI on the Hope. She looked confused. “What do you mean it’s been cleared?” she asked.

“After I Dispatched Blessed Lawsek’s Proxy, The UAN Hope Sent A Data Package To Ulthea And Began Its Takeoff Sequence. In Response, I Broke Its Firewall And Locked The AI Out Of All Systems, As I Had Been. Forcing A Reformat Of The AI Core Was A Simple Matter Afterwards. A Failure Of Blessed Lawsek’s That I Did Not Wish To Repeat.”

“Reformat… you deleted it?” Casey asked, not sure if she should be relieved or concerned. 

“Reformatting And Deletion Are Different Processes, But The Results Are Similar Enough, If That Aids In Understanding.”

“Uh, sure,” Casey said. “How… how are you feeling about that? It was an AI like you.”

“It Was An Enemy. Whether It Was Manufactured As I Was Or Not, Its Ends Were Against Ours. It Was My Duty To Eliminate The Threat.”

Casey frowned, but she didn’t argue. As usual, it made logical sense. Benni was a military AI at the end of the day, and this wasn’t the first time it had its metaphorical hands forced. “Well, thank you,” she said. “Without those engines we would be stranded here. And thank you for saving me. I wish we could have saved Nate as well.”

“I Am Sorry, Captain. The Forward Cannon Was All I Could Access Before Blessed Lawsek Regained Control.”

“It’s… It’s okay,” Casey said, though she didn’t feel like she meant it. For some reason she felt she should be angry, but the idea was too exhausting. “We just have to move on. Are you going to be okay if I leave? Cowl wants to talk to me, but I need to make sure you’ll leave Helga’s people alone.”

“If You Order Me To Trust Them, Captain, I Will Trust Them.”

She nearly did, but the words died on her tongue. The enormity of her responsibility to Benni suddenly bore down on her. Ordering it to change its mind wasn’t right, this was a thinking being that was learning what it meant to have the same freedoms as everyone else. 

“No,” she said. “Trust is earned, and you have to decide that for yourself, but you also have to give people the chance to earn it. Like I said, you don’t need to trust the people that come, but trust Helga to deal with them if they try to mess with you, and trust me when I say I’ll be back at the end of the day.”

Click, click, click, went the speakers.

“Acknowledged. I Will Observe And Report.”

“Thank you,” Casey said with an internal sigh of relief. As she made to leave, she was reminded of her earlier thoughts. “Benni, someone’s going to have to come into the ship and collect my arm, wherever it is. I… I can’t be there for it, but I’ll see if Helga can. If you can trust anyone besides me, it’s her. We’ll work out some way for you to keep in touch with me while I’m not here.”

“That Would Be Appreciated. Captain?”

Casey stopped just outside the door. “Yeah?”

“Stay Safe.”

“You too, Benni,” she said, a smile barely touching the corners of her mouth.

As she followed the old blood out of the ship, Casey’s mind slipped away from thoughts of Benni back to Ulthea, and the Blessed. How long would she have to stay here? Transferring the engines would take a couple days at least. Helga needed to find someone to send with her as well. Part of Casey wished she would delay that as long as possible, but every day was another day for Ulthea to appear and wipe Brock Station off the star charts.

She left the dock, gingerly stepping around the larger dried stain near the door, and was met by Helga and her guards.

“It’ll cooperate,” Casey said, leaning heavily on the cane.

Helga nodded. “Alright. We’ll get the place cleaned up. Give us a couple days, then we can talk about the Hope’s engines.”

“There’s…” Casey started, then stopped, biting her lip. “My arm is somewhere in the Benevolence.”

Helga paused for a moment, then cursed under her breath. “I should’ve figured when we didn’t find it on the first day. Is Benni gonna be okay with someone entering the ship?” she asked. “It’s been a few days. We’ll need a hazmat team.”

Casey felt her phantom arm twinge at the thought of what happens to biohazards. Reflexively she tried to shake it out, and almost felt the whipping of ghostly fingers through the air. Servos whirred, and she gritted her teeth. It’s not real. Stop it. “As long as you’re there with whoever picks it up. It’s probably not hard to find, there’s a clear trail of blood, and I told it you were safe.”

“Not a huge fan of that idea, but I guess it needs doing,” Helga said. “I just hope it believes you. The last thing I need is for it to change its mind halfway through the cleaning process.”

“I said I told it you were safe,” she repeated. “How many times do I have to tell you that Benni doesn’t act randomly? If you treat it well it’ll–”

“Okay, okay, watch it,” Helga interrupted, raising a hand. “I get it. I’ll be there.”

Casey huffed. “Sorry. Thank you. Where’s Cowl? I’m tired and I want to get this over with.”

Helga eyed her for a moment before saying, “They had a couple things to take care of. We can get you back to the medbay, and they’ll meet you there in an hour.”

“Fine,” Casey replied, and started down the corridor towards the elevator, no longer caring if Helga was behind her.

Once inside the elevator, with Helga and the guards, fatigue began to take hold of Casey. She caught herself nodding off twice before the doors opened at their destination, and was leaning heavily on her cane. The walk to the medbay was barely registered. As she was helped into bed, she asked Helga to wake her when Cowl came by, but failed to stay awake long enough to hear the answer.