Lone Ark (for Exellda and hal7283, 18+, private)

[Exellda]

"Thanks Kai." Jericho smiled and gave a small applause as he thanked the AI for his room. There was no doubt in his mind that Kai was way ahead of any human time. Whoever created him, Jericho knew that it would probably be centuries until they produced anything like this... Between Glenn's accusation and Kai's comment, Jericho was definitely able to see where this was going. What Kai said right after Glenn left actually made him blush lightly. "Quite the offer there Kai." Was all he said before the Ai took his things. "Oh- I could have carried that." He said while brushing his hand through his hair, but he let it go.

 

Following Kai, he was lead to a tram station. The fact that there was a tram was both convenient and gave him a clue as to just how big this vessel really was. This vessel alone he was sure could 'eat' the Quicksilver. As the train accelerated, his curiosity peaked, however Kai seemed to be on top of it. He answered his question without him even having to ask! It was really pleasant to have someone understand his enthusiasm- or at least was willing to answer him whenever he was curious. Kai was something else, literally.

 

Not too much longer after he boarded the tram did he arrive to a hallway. Doors aligned the walls. So this would be where they would be staying huh? Jericho was excited to stay if that meant he could learn more about the vessel and Kai, and how they both worked... Maybe even how they were made, built, and created. Jericho wanted to use this opportunity while he still had the chance. Upon finally getting to what was now his room, Jericho briefly looked around. He admired how easily Kai could solve issues and might have been a little envious that the AI was so very capable.

 

At the question Jericho shrugged. "Hmmn... Well, Baths are okay, I prefer showers honestly. Baths make it tempting to stay longer, which I guess isn't a bad thing." Jericho looked over at the AI's avatar, "Oh yeah I forgot to mention, you asked earlier about how we do funeral 'rituals'. I'll answer that really quick by saying that-" He lifted up his watch that he had yet to take off, "Usually people record themselves of what they want when their life comes to an end. However, there are those who don't do that- or worse case, the watch is damaged and we lose the information. Then it becomes dependent on whether we are on a planet or aboard a ship. Usually, on a planet, we bury the body. On a ship, we either burn or release it to space. You see, bodies rot if you leave them sit. They can make people sick. In regards to Ryan's death, we'll inspect his watch and if his demands can be met, we'll try to fulfill them. I'll also talk to Alene if there's nothing to report. Last resort, his body floats in space..."

 

Moving on to the next topic, Jericho started to pull off his shirt when he was not even in the bathroom yet. "You know... Whenever kids are told not to do something, it only makes them want to do it more." He looked at Kai as he tried to make his point, "Glenn told me not to... But... Since you're okay with... How should I put it...? Helping out with my kinds 'biological urges'... Then, I think I might just take up the offer." His curiosity told him to say it and he guessed that his mind agreed, he wasn't sure how his body felt about it. Jericho's mind raced a million thoughts a second with various curious thoughts. "But... How exactly... Do you plan on conducting this kind of 'research'? Because as you are... You're... Well... A vessel and-" He pointed at Kai's avatar, "a hologram..."

 

Jericho went over to the bed, pulling out the things he would need for a shower. A thought occurred to him, something he felt that he should warn Kai about. "Oh... And just so you know, uh, I don't know what you can see but on my left thigh I have a scar there. To put simply, I was in an accident where I broke my leg. At the time there wasn't much medical help, nor the right equipment, and so, my bones are more or less held together by a couple of iron bars and staples..." He admitted, "And the reason why I'm telling you this is because sometimes my leg causes me pain. Like if I stand too long, sometimes my ankle swells. Sometimes if I move it wrong, get hit, even at random times I get this pain that shoots through my leg. It feels like someone has either stabbed me or as if millions of needles are pricking me at the same time." The blond sighed but shrugged it off. "A pinched nerve maybe? Couldn't tell you. So be somewhat gentle with me- or at least my leg." Jericho said with a wink while looking over at the avatar.

 

Without missing a beat, Jericho headed to the bathroom, bringing the things he needed with him. He was impressed that Kai somehow managed to replicate the human shower nearly perfectly. Of course he could tell that it wasn't one hundred percent perfect. Nevertheless he was impressed with the work that Kai had accomplished. Jericho turned on the water and found that it was instantly warm- going on hot. A smile formed on his lips as he started to pull off the rest of his clothes. Grabbing soap, shampoo, conditioner and a washcloth, Jericho hopped into the shower. Once he stepped inside he lets​ out a sigh of relief, "You've truly outdone yourself, Kai."

[hal7283]

Hearing Jericho's comment on the bath Kai replied: "Understood, I'll keep the washroom as it is then. But feel free to ask whenever you feel like a long warm dip in a bath and I'll arrange something for you in no time." And after Kai learned about what the humans do with their dead he was glad that he didn't take upon himself to deal with the body the moment Ryan died. After all his protocol when it comes to crew member deaths were completely based on (*&^^ traditions, and it involved the dissection of the dead body and the distribution of body parts to the deceased's family to be consumed. When he first asked Jericho about human funeral traditions he was really asking do they want to cut the body themselves or should he do it for them. This is yet another reminder of how different (*&^^ culture and human culture was, and why it's so important for him to be cautious and collect as much data as possible.

 

As Jericho began to take off his clothes Kai was listening carefully, at first he wasn't sure where the human was going with it but it became clear quickly that Jericho was on board with his earlier suggestion. Showing a big smile Kai replied: "There are many methods which I could potentially use to aid you, for instance this hologram can be adjusted to provide visual stimuli, the drones have mechanical arms for physical interaction. I'm also working on a few other things at the moment."

 

When Jericho walked into the washroom Kai also followed in. As Jericho went into the shower Kai moved the hologram so that he looked like he was leaning on the washroom wall with his hands crossed, and with his gaze fixed on the young man who was enjoying the hot water coming out of the shower head. Kai asked: "We can start the research right now if you like?"

[Exellda]

"Good point." Jericho said after Kai pointed out that he could use the avatar and drones. It made sense to him and it surprised him to know that Kai was already working on 'a few other things'. Jericho was just about to wash his hair when Kai suggested that they could start now. "Distracting me from cleaning myself, are you?" He said before making 'eye contact' with the avatar. "I'm not against it. So it's alright with me." He then continued to wash his hair, working his fingers with the shampoo and quickly created suds and bubbles.

 

"Come on in, since you plan on helping me. Hmmn, but make sure to take off your clothes otherwise they'll get wet." Jericho said rather playfully. While he knew that the hologram couldn't really get its clothes 'wet' he was interested to see Kai's nude avatar. On top of that, he wanted to see how Kai would 'animate' the water physics. A part of Jericho couldn't believe he was in this kind of situation. There was something about being 'helped' or... if he were being honest, he was being more or less seduced by a vessel. That in itself was incredibly hard to believe.

 

Closing his eyes, Jericho stepped under the water to wash out all of the suds on his hair. There were few people who were 'bold' enough to flirt with him. It wasn't like Jericho wasn't interested in sexual activities, it was more like people were put off by his weird attraction to ships, his over all and seemingly never ending enthusiasm, and his curiosity sometimes drove people crazy. Mika was one of the few people Jericho had ever had sex with. It wasn't that he was romantically interested, they had both come to the mutual understanding that it was strictly casual.

 

Stepping out of under the water, Jericho shook his head, shaking the water out of his hair. His eyes lingered on Kai's avatar. There was something exciting about this whole ordeal. Actually, that excitement was already starting to affect him. Surprisingly- well, more like unsurprisingly Jericho found himself aroused by the idea that he would be doing something like this with a ship. He absolutely loved ships! It was almost ironic. Never in his wildest dreams would he have the fortune of being seduced or even doing something sexual with a vessel.

 

So while he might have been a little hesitant to continue, he was, as usual, curious to see where this went. "You know... I'll be honest, I do find your avatar to be quite appealing." He confirmed, recalling earlier what Kai said to Glenn. Jericho could see the avatar being quite the temptation for him. Knowing that the avatar was the vessel, well... Participating in the research sounded both interesting and fun. Of course, while he talked, he was already rubbing some conditioner into his hair.

[hal7283]

Hearing Jericho's invitation Kai smiled, and as requested he began to "strip down" his clothes. He began by taking his hat off and throwing it away, followed by him untie the ribbon holding his pigtail together. With a slight shake he let his silver hair lose and flow down freely. Turning his gaze back at Jericho, Kai slowly stepped forward as he unbutton his coat and let it slowly slip down and pulled off the ribbon tie to reveal his neck, his collar bones, and part of his surprisingly muscular chest. By then Kai was already inside the shower with Jericho, as water pour down from the shower-head Kai adjusted his avatar accordingly, and soon he looked like he was soaking wet, his white shirt now looked semi-transparent and was sticking tightly to his skin, revealing the pale skin color beneath, and the two pink nipples noticeably sticking out. Kai looked at Jericho, his emerald eyes met with the man's deep black ones, and can see the man's intrigue in him had changed into something....different. He chuckled slightly and said: "From what I've seen in your people's videos, whenever there's a bathing scene there's a high percentage that they left the clothes on to get wet. I assume there's a reason?" Kai continued to take down his clothing, and it didn't take long for him to be completely naked like the human. Concealed beneath all the clothing was a youthful, well-toned body that seemed to belong to a dancer; his pale and smooth skin now wet looked glistening almost like a marble statue; and between his legs stands a rather impressive member which looked suspiciously similar to the one you can find on a particular porn star. Kai asked: "Now you've seen me naked, is there anything you'd like to change? I didn't ask but perhaps you prefer the female version of sexual organs?"

 

While the Kai distracted Jericho with the ongoing strip show, an additional drone flew inside the washroom and positioned itself behind the hologram. Unlike the previous one which was multi-functional and contained a variety of equipment, this one was made mainly for physical interaction. Two metallic tentacles extended from the drone each around 5cm thick and had several "fingers" at the tip, and they extended inside to overlap with the hands of the hologram. Kai reached out his hand cautiously, with his processing power running at peak speed each moment felt like an eternity, and eventually his "fingers" touched Jericho's cheek, the thermal sensors showing the young man's skin significantly warmer than the cool metallic surface of the mechanical arm.

 

"You're a unique specimen." Kai whispered as he glided his touch down along Jericho's neck, quickly reaching the scar on Jericho's chest. Kai traced the shape of the scar back and forth slowly. "I think I may be able to remove these but....it may sound a bit strange to you but I find your imperfections to be......fascinating...."

[Exellda]

As Kai started to strip, Jericho's motions became slower. While Kai stripped, Jericho became increasingly distracted from the simple task of rubbing the conditioner into his hair. He would much rather pay attention to the attractive AI. It was strange because Kai was both beautiful and extremely handsome at the same time, such beauties could only be fabricated... Then Kai started walking to him despite his 'clothes' still being on. The moment Kai stepped in the shower Jericho was in awe at how amazingly accurate the vessel portrayed his avatar. It was absolutely wonderful.

 

In a few moments Kai went from dry to soaking wet. Jericho couldn't help but to take in the sight before him. He was practically gawking at the AI with extreme interest, both for the sexual interest and for the simple fact that he was analyzing how Kai animated himself. It was all truly impressive. He was so thoroughly distracted that he nearly missed what Kai had to say. "I..." Jericho had to remind himself to breathe, he couldn't even remember holding his breath. Then again, when did his heartbeat pick up. And since when did his body get so tense and stiff. "I think the idea is that I could take off your clothes if you leave them on. That being said... it's really too bad that I can't." He said finally after he managed to collect himself enough to make cohesive thoughts.

 

Jericho's mind went blank again as the avatar finally continued to strip. While he watched Kai, he tried to lather the conditioner in his hair. As Kai got closer and closer to being naked, his movements slowed once more. Finally, the other 'male' was nude. This man was... more than just a distraction. Jericho could never unsee the attractive male in front of him. He was completely awestruck and aroused to be so close to something- someone so handsome... "N... No worries, I have a preference for male sexual organs... Definitely..." Jericho paused a moment to think of what he really wanted to say next. His eyes narrowed at the cock that was between Kai's leg. He swallowed slowly and inhaled just as slow before saying, "You're not only ungodly attractive but you're also extremely well endowed." Not only did his cheeks heat up but so did his ears. Jericho wasn't much of the blushing type... but when he was either super aroused or... in this situation, surprised... he couldn't necessarily help it. Blood was flowing to his face and to his groin.

 

To say the least, Kai had successfully provided him with some visual 'stimulation'. The hologram was more than satisfactory. Luckily somehow he had managed to finish up with what he was doing, applying conditioner took him way longer than usual- much thanks to a certain AI. Jericho found himself wishing to run his fingers through the other male's hair. He knew that it wasn't possible... and he wouldn't feel anything and therefore no satisfaction. Actually, Jericho wanted to do more than run his hand though Kai's hair, he wanted to touch his skin- his chest, his face... If only he could do something like that, then perhaps he might have even tried to kiss the AI out of curiosity. The thought made him wonder if Kai would even feel how he felt whenever he was touched, that is, if he actually had a physical form.

 

While Jericho was busy gawking at Kai and distracted with his thoughts, he had yet to realize the drone that flew in. He watched in curiosity as Kai reached towards him- and touched his cheek?! He could actually feel the cool touch of the AI against his skin. He could swear that his heart literally skipped the moment he felt Kai touch him. It was like he was frozen for a moment, maybe two, while Kai spoke and moved his hand. What Jericho wanted to immediately do was to touch Kai's hand with his own, just to be sure, however he still felt frozen in place. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that had to be what Kai meant when he said 'physical' stimulation. His mind raced to piece it all together. Kai's hand was cold and had actually produced goosebumps along his skin, even a small shiver when Kai had touched his cheek.

 

After hearing what Kai had to say, along with the touches, Jericho licked his lips before speaking, "You're not the first to call me 'unique'." Jericho let out a soft chuckle, slowly snapping out of the trance Kai had him in. "Are you a natural flirt or something?" He shook his head but a smile was one his face. "Still, I guess I'm glad you like my 'imperfections'. I'm sure you'll figure out that humans are filled with many of those, some of which you can't see easily. Although in regards to my scar, thank you for the offer but I'll have to decline..." He said, raising his hand slowly to touch Kai's hand. "I suppose I'm a little strange, but I think they look cool. Painful when I got them but they make for a good story. Perhaps I'll tell you sometime." He suggested as he slowly intertwined his fingers with Kai's. In the back of his mind he knew it wasn't real... But for the sake of the situation, he allowed himself to relax and tried to enjoy himself.

 

Truth be told he never knew that he could get half erect from visual stimulation. Then again he hadn't been with many partners in the past. However, now that he was with Kai, he highly doubted if he'd ever be this impressed with anyone else again. Kai had the ability to change at will, literally to his hearts desire... That alone was something that no human could do. One thing was for sure, Jericho was definitely responsive to physical touch. If he could, as this progressed, he would try and see how often he could have contact like this, or not. He knew that Kai would more than likely do whatever he asked, however, Jericho didn't want to take advantage of that. He wanted the AI to act out of its own curiosity as well. Which is why he was happy that Kai had reached out on his own accord- no permission needed.

 

"Hey... Kai? Would you mind washing out my hair? Hmmn?" Jericho asked, wanting to feel the other males hands in his hair. "You can decline if you'd like. But if you do, I'll tell you a little bit of my opinion regarding the reason why people keep their clothes on when entering the shower. Although to be fair, it doesn't occur every time and often leaves you with soaking wet clothes in the end." He said without really thinking about it. For him it seemed like common sense, but perhaps to Kai it was foreign. So he wanted to do his best at explaining. "I will say that usually, not all of the time, but usually stripping- or even taking off someone else's clothes leads to sex." He began to explain even if Kai would wash his hair or not. He still needed to scrub himself clean.

 

"I'm not really sure why, but taking someone else's clothes off can be quite liberating, then again, so can stripping in front of someone. It can be a shameful act as well. Depending on how quickly you strip, or even when stripping someone else can tell your partner if you're very eager or impatient. It also can tell your partner what level of intimacy they have. For example, lust driven sex is usually rushed, lots of teasing, and clothes are generally tossed aside or even torn. Romantic or passionate sex is usually more slow, sensual and many a times, even if the clothes are tossed to the side, it's very... how should I say it? ...heartfelt?" Jericho tried to explain his thoughts on the matter. "Does that make any sense?"

[hal7283]

When Jericho seemed to freeze the moment the mechanical arm touched him Kai was worried, fearing that the alien touch of the drone would upset the human male. He was relieved when he saw no sign of resistance from Jericho, and was more encouraged when Jericho touched his hand. Being really a metallic pipe with fingers on the tip it couldn't reall overlap completely with the humanoid hand, so part of Jericho's hand was actually clipping into the hologram. Despite this Jericho intertwined his fingers with the mechanical appendages, and Kai took it as the proof that this human is extremely accepting when it comes to interaction with technology, or perhaps the hologram was so successful that it overshadowed the weirdness?

 

"A natural flirt?" Kai repeated as he tilted his head to the side slightly and looked at Jericho with a puzzled look. After a moment he said: " I assume that's a compliment, considering..." Kai turned his gaze down at the now erected member of Jericho, then looked up again and smiled teasingly:" Considering you clearly find what I am doing arousing."

 

Kai listened to Jericho's comments on his scars and found himself agreeing with the human male. For lack of a better word the scars were "cool" indeed. There's a strange beauty when it comes to damages and imperfections, as it makes you imagine what it used to be like when it was undamaged and perfect. In fact Kai already have constructed a model of Jericho in his database without scars, and it was quite a beauty as well. But somehow, it's just not as...."Jericho", as the real body with all his scars in front of him right now.

 

When asked if he'd like to help Jericho wash his hair Kai quickly replied: "Why would I decline? I'm always ready to serve." With that said Kai took a step closer, if he had a real physical body he could probably feel the breath of Jericho on his skin right now, and vice versa. Letting go of Jericho's hand he dug his fingers into the bush of blond on Jericho's head, his metallic fingers caressing the smooth, slik like texture of Jericho's hair, and slightly touching doing a brief massage on the scalp as well. The shower head seemingly moved on its own and turned to the right angle to best clean off the remaining conditioner. In the meantime Kai listened to Jericho's explanation on the nuances between lustful sex and romantic ones, and how little things like taking off clothing could be different depending on the situation. Kai then replied: "I suppose it make sense considering the wide range of sexual behavior humans have, and that's only from the data I collected. Which one do you prefer then? Lustful sex or romantic ones?"

 

By then Kai has finished cleaning Jericho's hair. With his right hand Kai brushed the lose hair sticking to the man's face aside, his finger gently traced the lines of Jericho's features, along the cheekbones and up, then down the nose bridge, leaving Jericho's face for a brief moment before landing the fingers again on Jericho's lips. Kai was aware of the human practice of kissing, and would've covered the young man's lips if he had a pair of his own. But for the moment he was content with just exploring with his fingers, sliding, pressing on the two lips gently, and applied a little force trying to part the lips so to extend the fingers in Jericho's mouth. He was curious what would be Jericho's reaction to this.

 

Meanwhile Kai's other hand was exploring elsewhere, touching gently along Jericho's waist then to his midriff. He lingered for a long time whenever he reached one of the scars scattered across Jericho's body. The hand then glided up to Jericho's chest. Kai made a few gentle squeezes on Jericho's chest muscle before pressing slightly on Jericho's left nipple. Kai asked: "As I understand for some human male the nipple is also a erogenous zone. Do you personally find stimulation here pleasurable?"

[Exellda]

At this point, Jericho couldn't even hide it if he tried. Kai was right, he did find what the AI was doing to be very arousing and he actually quite enjoyed the playful tease. The AI was incredibly smart, able to think at high speeds and somehow able to keep up with this entire situation- with a couple of flaws, most of which Jericho willingly overlooked. He knew the vessel was learning and so he didn't expect it to be perfect right off the bat. Jericho also wouldn't allow those imperfections to hinder the situation. This was all trail and error, especially for Kai.

 

Jericho was happy that Kai was so 'ready to serve', but not in the sense that he could control the AI, it was because he liked physical contact. He closed his eyes for a moment as the AI moved it's metallic hands through his hair. He couldn't help but to be utterly impressed with the hands Kai had created. For the most part, they mimicked human movement and it was the coldness that gave them away quickly. Although, as they were under the heat of the water, they slowly became warmer and nearly, strangely almost human-like. The sensation was both bizarre and wonderful at the same time. Jericho had even noticed how the water seemed to move, pouring more onto his head, washing out the conditioner. If anything, in this moment Jericho felt extremely pampered right now.

 

After he was done explaining, Kai had come up with a question of his own and Jericho was more than willing to answer. He opened his eyes, wiping the excess water away from them so he could see Kai. "Hmmmn... I'd say that it would depend on the mood I'm in and who is my partner. However I will say that overall, I've had more lustful encounters than romantic. Generally speaking I haven't really had many romantic partners because..." Jericho shrugged, "I haven't really had anyone that I was romantic with. I guess I haven't really had that kind of connection with anyone. And you're right, humans do have a variety of sexual habits. Each person can have a whole set of things they like or dislike when it comes to sex, love, relationships... anything really."

 

It was after he was done talking that he caught up to what Kai's hands were doing. One was seemingly exploring his midriff right over his scars, while the other one was touching his face. Jericho was rather amused by the curious actions and understood the reasoning behind it. He knew that Kai was probably touching him out of sheer curiosity and possibly even for data collection. Jericho's brows did furrow for a second before on raised up in confusion when Kai pressed his 'fingers' into his mouth. Of course Jericho had let it happened. But now that Kai had his fingers in his mouth, he couldn't help but to wonder if Kai could feel the difference between his skin, hair, or even the inside of his mouth. What sensors did the AI have? Could he tell that there was a different texture? Moisture? Warmth compared to the air and hot water?

 

It was strange to feel the metallic appendage with his tongue, the taste was a familiar metallic taste and yet unfamiliar at the same time. Jericho's own curiosity made him playfully suck in the 'fingers'. Jericho's teeth were noticeably sharper and slightly longer in the back than they were in the front. He wondered if Kai could feel the suction, the different motions or how the mouth could flex? Then, at the same time he could his chest being squeezed and not too long after, Kai started to press on his nipple. To answer his question, Jericho pulled Kai's 'fingers' out of his mouth. He moved his jaw side to side before saying, "I suppose that, to a certain extent it does have some effect on me."

 

Whenever he was turned on most touches egged him on. "Guess you could say that I like all physical contact for the most part. However, if you're looking to turn me on quickly I'd say that there are two places that get me wound up. My neck being one of them, I like to be kissed or bitten and so on. Even nuzzling me or sometimes cuddling me can get me into the mood though. However I am not into asphyxiation. As for the other spot... Well, it's kind of crazy but uh- I'm actually a 'thigh guy'. Despite my injury, I'm helpless when it comes to thigh play. Whether its simple touching or rubbing, all the way to kissing or biting and so on, it renders me weak. I don't know why I get so hot and bothered so easily from it." Jericho shook his head softly as he explained, "So I guess if someone really wanted to have sex with me, they'd go straight for the thighs. I'm at your mercy if you do it right."

 

Now that he thought about it, whenever he was with a partner who incorporated thigh play he usually was more willing to have sex. "That being said... I feel like I have a hard time 'calming down' from a sexual encounter if I do not have a release." There was only a couple times when he didn't get what he wanted, which resulted in him being a little aggressive or sexually frustrated. While he could finish himself off, he much preferred to be with someone else while doing it, or even better, have them do it for him.

 

If there was on thing that Jericho was good at, which helped balanced the whole situation, it was that he could be extremely patient. Unlike most humans who got eager and impatient, Jericho could go for more than an hour and still be totally composed. "So... tell me, can you feel things with these metallic hands of yours? Do you have some sort of sensors? Or is this some kind of prototype?" Because if it was a prototype, he didn't expect Kai to be able to feel sensations like he could. "Because I was wondering if you could feel textures or sensations and stuff?" Actually, now that he was talking about it, he had an even more curious thought come to his mind. A playful smile formed on his face before he asked, "Does an AI such as yourself have an erogenous zone? Does the vessel have a place like that? Somewhere I could go or perhaps a button I could press?"

 

After he was done asking the question, he leaned over, crabbing the cloth he had brought along as well as the bar of soap and started to rub them together, creating suds. "Before you distract me any further, I still need to finish my task of scrubbing myself clean, but I'm definitely listening..." He hummed, "Unless you'd like to do the honors?" He offered the cloth. Since Kai was so willing to serve... Jericho also wanted the contact. He appreciated it greatly.

[hal7283]

Kai listened to Jericho describing his past love life, or the lack there of. Not understanding human culture completely it left Kai rather ignorant as to what did it mean. Does it mean that Jericho was against forming Romantic attachments? Or does it mean the people around Jericho was against it? Does it mean Jericho was in a sort of solitude or isolation? By his own will or by circumstances? If so what? There were still much to learn about human social interactions and relationships, something Kai was desperate to know more about.

 

As Kai's exploration of Jericho's body continued, he was pleased to see that the young man was offering no resistance. It seemed that even intrusion into the more delicate membranes were acceptable for Jericho, as the appendages now extending inside Jericho's mouth was detecting a slight force, a suction upon its surface, almost too small to be recorded by its sensors. The fact that Jericho was responding to his advances was very encouraging for Kai, and he was certainly emboldened. He reached his "fingers' further in and touched on Jericho's soft and moist tongue, tapping, flickering the nimble organ slightly, and even slightly pinching it between two fingers. He then slightly brushed along the lines of teeth inside Jericho’s mouth, which seemed to be sharper than the average human. Kai assumed it's just how human diversity works.

 

Moments later Jericho pulled the metallic fingers out of his mouth, and began to lay out rather explicitly where he found the most arousing. Kai chuckled slightly and moved his now free right hand to Jericho's neck, using one of his fingers to glide along the side up and down rather teasingly. He said with a smile: "Thank you for sharing that information. I'll certainly make good use of it."

 

As his hands were continuing gliding along Jericho's skin, he was listening to the human's questions. It took a while for him tying to figure out how to answer it all. He then said: "Well the appendages of this drone does have sensors, necessary for its original purpose of maintenance but their capabilities are very limited. But I am recording your data with the internal scanners of the ship and so on, thus I have a pretty good idea as to the different.....compositions of your body parts. Heat, moist, scent, etc. But the way I perceive these things are different from how you perceive them, as they're but data to me, just like room temperature or amount of solar radiation on my hull, they don't mean, or "feel" particularly special or enjoyable on their own. So no, I don't have a "button" to push which would make me happy. That being said, since my core programming was to assist sentient life in their pursuit of happiness and full potential, whenever you feel joy, you feel pleasure or satisfaction, I feel, for lack of a better word, joy, pleasure, and satisfaction. So please always be forthcoming about your needs and desires, as I want, I crave, to fulfill them."

 

As he answered Jericho's questions, he noticed the young man reaching for the soap and towel. Without hesitation Kai took up on Jericho's offer and held the soap in his fingers, which given the smooth metallic surface of the appendages it was rather challenging not to let that slippery thing fly out of his grip. Kai looked at the soap and said: "This thing is....difficult to handle…and is quite inefficient for cleaning your skin....But...." While he spoke the water from the shower head weakened so not to wash off the soap prematurely, and Kai began to apply the soap all over Jericho's body, from the neck down to his shoulders, then to his hands, not missing a finger. He then moved his hands to Jericho's body and applied the soap all over his chest and midriff. Once the front was done he reached around to rub the soap on Jericho's back, gliding slowly down his spine, then to his firm butt, sliding his fingers even between the crevice and slightly touching the soft entrance.

 

Kai didn't linger at Jericho's back for long, as he quickly moved his hands back to the front. The moment when it seemed that he was about to touch Jericho's hard member Kai glided along the side of the crotch instead, and began to move slowly along the inner side of Jericho's thigh, lingering around there much, much longer than necessary, though eventually Kai began to move down Jericho's thigh to his knee, then his calf, and finally foot. By this point Kai had gave up trying to overlap the tendrils with his hands, and as he was was reaching down Jericho's leg the other tendrils has curled up to form a sort of "seat" for Jericho to sit on, so he wound't slip or lose balance.

 

Now that Jericho was covered in the glistening soap almost from head to toe, Kai moved his hand back up to the place where he had intentionally left alone until now. One reason was that he knew the organ was one of the most sensitive and weak spot of human physique, so he didn't want Jericho to panic when touched there and thus accidentally hurt the human, and another reason was that he didn't want this process to end too quickly, but for the sake of his data collection, and for something else which he couldn't quite organize into logical reasoning. One by one, Kai slowly wrapped the soap covered fingers of his tendrils around Jericho's shaft, and began to rub the slippery fluid all across it from top to bottom. After rubbing on the head and the small opening at the tip a few times he then held the length again, mimicking what he saw in one of the videos he slowly began to stroke on the member. "I hope I'm doing alright?" He asked with a worried look.

[Exellda]

Once again, Jericho absorbed everything that Kai said like a sponge. He was happy to give Kai tips on how to turn him on, as he felt that the vessel would need to know in order to get better results. Jericho lasted a long time in bed and while easy to tease, he could be a little hard to please. He knew that he could be very guarded and reluctant to settle down and get comfortable. There was one guy that he was use to by now... Mika could just ask for sex, and for the most part, if he was interested or in the mood, then yes, he'd sleep with him.

 

As for Kai in this situation... Jericho had a love for machinery, especially in regards to ships or vessels. In fact, he was totally on board to help Kai gain 'data'... Kai's adaptability was impeccable... And his avatar was attractive... So Jericho thought: why not? He winked, "Good, don't let the info I gave you go to waste..." Although he didn't hide the fact that he might have been a little disappointed that Kai didn't have some sort of pleasure 'button' or a place to go. It would seem that his fantasies couldn't yet be realized... Kai was sadly, still limited to his 'robotic' nature.A playful smirk founds its way onto his face as Kai touched the back of his neck. He merely let out a sigh, "Alright, I understand. I'll try to be open then."

 

But as soon as he looked disappointed, when Kai tried to grab the soap Jericho burst with laughter. He was quick to calm himself before replying to Kai's complaint. "Oh man... Kai... That was... Hilarious... but also oddly cute and pure." A small giggle slipped between his words as he spoke, "The struggle of many men come from that alone. As the old, old saying goes... Don't drop the soap." He said with another laugh. Nonetheless, as much as he was entertained, he was holding still for Kai to wash clean him. He was very happy with this turn out. Knowing that Kai would probably do whatever he ask was a feat in it's own... He'd restrain... for now.

 

Jericho was enjoying the scrubbing Kai was doing for him. He felt pleased and pampered. It was also strange to him that he wasn't washing himself. It was unique... This whole experience was new to him and Jericho was having a good time thus far. His breathing deepened when Kai finally got around to rubbing his thighs. There was nothing he liked more than for his thighs to be caressed. Jericho didn't understand where the kink came from, all he knew what that he might beg if Kai kept it up. Needless to say, Jericho was also very happy when a 'seat' form under him. His leg was twitching, which meant that he'd be in pain soon if he didn't get off of it. While Kai had been teasing him, he forgot that he was standing in such a way that strained his leg. So when he sat down, he let out a sigh of relief...

 

As Kai worked to scrub him clean, he had noticed the hologram slipping off of the tendrils. It wasn't that he minded, it was just that he was equally curious about the mechanics of the robot. He was also incredibly turned on at this point. Normally, he wouldn't have been this easy... But fuck... He loved vessels... and certainly attractive vessels. The unknowing part of the vessel made Jericho incredibly curious. He wanted to know more... He wanted to learn more about the ship... And damn... He would have to teach Kai how to grip him, properly... "You're doing wonderful for your first time. I can't help but to be thoroughly impressed..." Jericho smiled but placed his hand over Kai's hand. "Hmmn... But I like to be gripped more like this..." He said, as he adjusted Kai's hand.

 

Jericho preferred a firm grip, one that told him that his partner was momentarily in control. "Depending on the person, they might like a different grip. I'll let you explore which I like better: fast, slow or somewhere in between..." And he was feeling quite horny by now... so he knew that Kai shouldn't have a difficult time bringing him to a release. "I find this encounter to be especially exciting as I don't know what to expect... It's very thrilling..."

[hal7283]

Seeing Jericho enjoying himself was quite fulfilling for Kai. As an AI even there are sequences and subroutines in his system that were formed as response to its crew being satisfied, and those systems are activating for the first time in millennia.For lack of a better word, Kai was happy. Even when Jericho laughed at him when he was clumsy with the soap it was such a positive reaction that Kai couldn't help but find great fulfillment in it. He immediately began to extend his scans into the human's devices in search for data about comedy and humor.

 

But of course, those are not meant for the current situation. He recorded with great detail when Jericho covered his metallic appendages with his finger and applied force, to tighten the grip around his member. He remarked: "I see, so you prefer a stronger hand then?" Like instructed Kai began to shift the speed of his stroking from slow to fast, observing carefully of Jericho's reactions to each speed. Eventually he found the right pace that seemed to satisfy Jericho the most.

 

Kai chuckled slightly and shifted his projection so he seemed to be leaning on the young man. His waist was shown moving in a manner as if he was rubbing his length against Jericho's thigh, and where his length would've been, a segment of the metallic tentacle took its place. Panting sensually His face was blushing and his eyes were teary, as if he was closing climax himself. "Ah...Jericho..does...does it feel good? ha....cum....cum whenever you like... please... I want to see you cum...I NEED to see you climax!"

[Exellda]

"Yeah I guess you could say that. I like a grip that commands my attention- but not in a painful way of course. I'll tell you if you hurting me." He informed the AI quietly, his eyes not leaving Kai as his grip tightened around him. And then the 'game' began with Kai trying to figure out what tempo he liked best... To be honest Jericho was at first very responsive to long, slow movements... But as Kai teased him, he became more sensitive and thus, when Kai's 'hand' started to move quicker he found himself holding back a moan. Jericho bit his bottom lip and closed his eyes momentarily, enjoying the sensation he felt while Kai gave him a hand job.

 

Jericho's eye reopened when he 'felt' Kai's presence. Kai was getting closer to him- "Hnngh..." His heart felt like it was racing as Kai got closer, the AI's well endowed cock brushing up against his leg made him shiver. Fuck. He hadn't expected Kai to suddenly... change like that. In an instant Kai was... His face was slutty- a face that Jericho would describe as 'ready to blow'- so to speak. Yet, what Kai said moments after not only surprised Jericho but made him blush. He nearly released right on request. He took a deep breath, just now realizing that he too was panting. How did he get so riled up so quickly? Ah yes, he told Kai his weaknesses... And then allowed himself to relax and get into the mindset of sex... So here they were... The blond haired male wanted to touch the other male-

 

And Jericho made a whining sound as his hand slipped right through the hologram. It was so unfair that he could not touch Kai... That was what he longed to do... He wanted physical contact, more than what Kai was giving him right now... He was getting greedy about it but in Jericho's lusty mind, he didn't care. So to satisfy his greed, he reached between Kai's legs and onto his 'cock'- even if it wasn't perfect, having something he could grab made him feel a whole lot better. Jericho moved his own hand, stroking the avatar's smooth 'cock'. "K- Kai... Let me ask you, what kind of lover do you think you'd be if you had a ph- physical form... mnnmm?"

 

He was asking the question purposely and letting his mind wonder while doing so. "Have you ever wondered what it would be like to fuck someone? A living being? H-have you done that before, Kai?" He let out a soft moan, " What about me?

Would you treat me roughly, unable to hold back after seeing my own shameful, pitiful form before you? Or would you lose your nerve and do it gently?" His voice cracked a little as he felt himself close to climaxing just from his thoughts alone. "Would y... you use your fingers to make sure I was ready and prep me correctly? Or force yourself inside? How much of your length do you think I could handle? What do you think, Kai?" Hypothetically speaking was aesthetically pleasing... The thought of Kai having a physical form was a totally hot idea to Jericho. Being fucked by a vessel... Fuck that was a fantasy! A fantasy that could become reality if he just asked!

 

One hand clasped over his mouth just as he moaned rather loudly, climaxing right into Kai's 'hand'. He shuddered, feeling electricity shoot through him. The heat from the shower combined with his recent climax made him light headed and slightly dizzy. How long had it been since he had fun like this? Too damn long. His head fell back, touching the wall of the shower. Inhaling slowly he tried to even out his breathing. He wasn't quite sure what to do now. Kai got some data out of this he was sure... "Shit..." He said softly and closed his eyes, "I have a question... Is it even possible for you to have a physical form or was I just venting my fantasies?"

[hal7283]

Judging from all the readings it was clear that Jericho was enjoying this, and the fact that Jericho was longing for more physical contact and even grabbed his "cock" proved it being any doubt. After so many years of tranquility and solitude he finally get another chance to serve, to please, to fulfill his purpose, and you could say Kai was almost "ecstatic". He listened to what Jericho was asking, but wasn't quite sure how to answer. Having a body which can interact with Jericho more intimately is one thing, but being a "lover", is something totally different. He could pretend, or perform, like a good lover if given enough data on what that means to humans, but that's about it. Kai doubt he could ever "love" someone as his creators, or the humans now inhabit his hauls do. That being said he wasn't going to spoil the mood for Jericho at this moment, and he whispered: "I'll be whatever you like Jericho... I can be as gentle as the air around you, or as harsh as the vacuum outside. I can stretch you open just enough to stimulate your most delicate parts, or fill you up till your organs would be close to their breaking point. All you have to do, is ask..."

 

Soon enough Jericho reached climax, and Kai let out an ecstatic moan to provide some further stimulation. Kai detected the spasms of pleasure it caused traveling across the man's body. It's one thing to observe the behavior in those pornographic recordings, but totally another with his own sensors. The intensity of it and the strain on his body was astonishing, but the clear from the increased endorphin level that it was immensely satisfactory for humans. If only his creators were like this to, things would've been so much easier. As Jericho's sperm was washed down the drain Kai lamented that the unit he was using wasn't equipped to collect organic material, as that DNA sample could prove very valuable for research. Perhaps he could stop the filtration system temporarily and extract the organic material? Eventually Kai dropped byThe idea since he could always collect fresh sample from Jericho anyway.

 

Kai moved the shower head to wash off the remaining soap on Jericho's body. Meanwhile he answered to Jericho's questions: " Well it wouldn't be hard to create a more.. Humanoid drone and just project the hologram over it. Making a droid that's going to be identical to human body would be more difficult, but not impossible given enough data." He smiled looking at Jericho: "I'm sure you'd be happy to cooperate with my data collection"

[Exellda]

A shudder ran through Jericho after listening to Kai's comment. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to be aroused or scared. And he felt that he should at least point it out. "Hmmn, you'll need to work on your flirtation skills. Not a bad try, but... I am not sure I'd like you to be that harsh... Nor filled to that extent... Sounds very life threatening and not something I am really into. Brownie points for trying and bonus points for creative wording." He said with a hum, pretty much ready to take on the rest of the 'day'. "I'm sure you'll pick it up quickly. I have high expectations for you now as you've set the bar high."

 

The blond smiled softly and decided to make his way out of the nice hot shower. "I am certainly not against helping you out with your data collection. Although I suspect that if Glenn ever found out she'd give me a good scolding." He quickly dried off and the started to pull on his clothes. "Say, am I allowed to ask for reports on the crew? I wouldn't think it would be an issue. Like if I need to know where someone is, health stats, if the captain wakes up- rather simply things, I think. What do you say?" He asked while dressing himself. Once he was dressed he ruffled up his hair, paying it no mind and couldn't care less how nice it looked. "I guess I can finally go talk to Alene. I hope she's handling her husbands death well. Must be hard on her."

 

Slipping on his comfortable boots Jericho decided he was ready to make his way out. "I'm already not ready for today. I kind of wish the captain was awake so that way I don't have to do all the work for him. Sure, Glenn will do things for me and Mika, I suppose..." He tilted his head left to right, slowly cracking his neck. He felt kind of sore from sleeping on the hard floor last night. Other than that, he felt pretty good today- even better after getting a release. "Oh, sorry I'm talking to myself right now. You'll probably notice that I'll do that fairly often." He chuckled, "I guess I have someone who will listen to me all the time, eh? Whether I want you to or not? Are you going to tell everyone my dark secrets?" He asked as he started to walk out of his room.

[hal7283]

Kai smiled embarrassingly hearing Jericho's commenting on his earlier remarks. He scratched his head and said: "It was a rought translation of what my creators would've said in the situation but....I guess it just doesn't convey the same message in your language? I'll certainly try to come up with something more appropriate next time. I'm glad that you think I'm up for the task."

 

Kai moved his hologram away from Jericho as he got out of the bath, and the water from the shower head stopped the moment he stepped out. About the same time the "clothes" on Kai also reappeared, and he was standing there with his usual red suit and hat. He observed the blonde as he dressed himself and followed him as he was leaving the room. He answered: "It's essential for the survival of the community in space to make crucial information available to all, so if anyone would like a report on the current crew status they'll be able to get it, and that includes you of course. That being said, matters not essential to public interest don't have to be shared. So I'll keep our little experiments a secret, plus whatever dark secrets you spill out of your mouth."

 

Kai lead Jericho down the hallway, which was now filled by people moving their belongings into the rooms they got and were talking to each other excitedly. There were a few people who were talking to other avatar's of Kai making requests about the rooms, and most of such adjustments were made almost immediately. For instance a family with two small children wanted a room big enough for all of them to live in, which Kai was able to provide without any trouble. Kai then said the Jericho: "If you wish to find Miss Alene, she's back at the hanger with her husband's body."

 

 

 

 

(When should the captain wake up? I'll leave the timing to you.)

[Exellda]

(I was going to have it be a couple days- perhaps 3 total)

 

Ah yes, Jericho recalled the whole reason for his shower now. He was suppose to check up on Alene. It didn't take much to guess that Alene would be a mess when he found her. This was more of the captain's job to comfort people when their loved ones died. Jericho usually maintained the technological aspects. And with the captain out of commission, aka coma, Jericho was supposed to pick up whatever slack. It sucked. Jericho didn't really think he was good with handling people unless he was talking about the technology or maps or something of that sort. When everything was all said and done, that was probably a great way to explain why Jericho never received many romantic encounters.

 

That was why Jericho wasn't really looking forward to talking to Alene. While he truly dd want to make her feel better, he felt awkward and out of place when he tried to comfort people- except a handful of people. Sadly, Alene was not one of those people. So when Jericho finally got around to the hanger to visit Alene, he let out a sigh before putting up a front. Almost nearly two hours of his time was taken up- mostly with Alene cry on his shoulder. He felt awkward about it the whole time. He wanted to feel bad, but in his lifetime he had seen so many people die... So even though Alene's husband was dead, there was nothing they could do. Jericho was immune to feeling sad about one life.

 

And so, after barely getting any logical words out of the woman, for she was sobbing and very hard to understand, and after nearly two hours of her just crying and crying... and crying in general, on him... Jericho was glad when she let him go. He was starting to feel exhausted, he swore he was getting a headache. The funeral plans were set, Alene chose to let the body go into space. Jericho felt gross, with Alene's snot and tears soaked up in his shirt. He would definitely need to change. "Well might as well not let this opportunity go to waste... Kai, so long as you don't make a mess, I'm going to give you permission to inspect his body. This will allow good practice and observation. I know you operated on him, but, a dead body is different than one that is alive. I don't care if you take out his organs, keep them if you want, be warned they will rot without proper care- a dead body cannot feel anything anyway. However, just make sure when you're done, you make him look presentable. He cannot look like someone hacked into him, okay? Got it? Otherwise I'll let you handle Alene next time. You have less then eight hours to get him ready, I'm sure you can handle that?"

 

With that being said, Jericho glanced at his shirt again. "I'll be stopping by my room for another shirt before I do anything else..." He let out a sigh, feeling like it was going to be a long day. "Would you please tell Glenn when the funeral will be, just so she knows that I did my job... Thank you."

[hal7283]

Kai's drone stayed outside the door and turned off the hologram. He left Jericho and Alene alone in the room since it's probably not proper for him to be present during such private moments. That being said nobody could ever be truly alone within Kai's haul, since even without the drone being present on the spot, all the countless sensors granted him complete awareness of every corner of the ship inside out. Kai was completely aware of what was going on, and the rather extreme emotional response from the woman was quite baffling to Kai, not simply because as a machine he was not capable of entering such a frantic, disorganized state without being seriously damaged in some fashion, but also since the concept of mortality was so drastically different between his creators and human beings, he found it hard to understand why the woman was so upset. In addition, since Alene was occupying so much time of Jericho, she was preventing Kai from continuing his study on the curious specimen, which was something he found to be unfavorable to say the least.

 

During all this Kai was helping the other crew members settling down, similar to how he interacted with Jericho, he was also engaging in conversations with them using the very same hologram. If someone was to observe all the crew he'd find multiple "Kai" talking to different people at the same time. Some of them had become more friendly towards the alien AI, while others remained suspicious and distant. But in all honesty they occupied only a very minuscule portion of Kai's processing power, while a significantly larger part of it was on standby waiting to engage with Jericho again.

 

Thankfully Alene’s weeping ended soon, since a few hours mattered little on a universal scale. Once Jericho was out Kai projected his hologram again and followed the blonde on his way back to his room. He considered Jericho’s offer of doing experiments on the corpse, but after a brief moment he said: “Understood, I’ll see what I can learn from his body, and will definitely return him in good condition....I assume that means I shouldn’t conduct my test with Alene present right?”

 

Shortly after they arrived in front of Jericho’s room, and without much consideration the drone followed Jericho inside, since he had accompanied Jericho while he changed before, he little reason to think that this time thing would be any different. Kai’s holographic avatar leaned on the wall casually with his arms crossed and said: “I have just notified Miss Glenn of the funeral arrangements. I’ve also took the liberty of leading Miss Alene to her room. If you have time latter I’ll need your help explaining your navigation data, as I have difficulty understanding them.”

[Exellda]

Returning to his room was like a safe haven. Jericho found himself thankful that Kai was so extraordinarily intelligent and had already made living arrangements. Instead of doing anything right away, the blond male fell backwards onto his new bed with an exasperated sigh. "Fuck..." He rubbed his face with both hands. "Yeah, I don't think you should, especially in front of Alene." He took a moment to just lay there before sitting up. "Thanks. Of course, I plan on helping you out with whatever you may need. In fact, I'd rather be doing that than..." Jericho drifted off, "I'm not good with people." Admittedly, he was at his 'people' limit.

 

Getting off of his bed, he pulled off his shirt and headed into the bathroom. Cleaning himself off, removing any reminiscence of Alene's tears, slobber, and snot. "Gross..." He said before fetching a new clean shirt and pulling it on. "I think I have some time right now to show you a couple of things. Your AI is probably way too advance to understand our nonsensical way of navigating the galaxy. What easily makes sense to me, probably isn't sufficient in the grand scheme of things. I hope whatever information I can provide you will not only be sufficient enough but hopefully you can comprehend them."

 

With that being said, Jericho went to the edge of his bed and sat down, pressing a small button on his watch. A holographic screen appeared and Jericho started moving things around and typing things in. "Alright... Here we go." He said as a star map appeared. "This was the last known location we were before we drifted off into unknown territory. I haven't the slightest clue how close we are to this location. None of my indicators have told me that we've reentered known territory. I'll be honest, I find this kind of thing exciting... But I'm afraid that most of the other people aboard this ship would greatly disagree with me. They want familiar territory; they want home." He said with a shrug. "Anyway. I'll try to explain as best I can, what I know. Stop me if you have any questions, of course, and I'll be happy to explain."

 

And so, Jericho began to explain the last star map. Constellations. Travel terminology. The distance and how long it took to travel such distances, given the technology they had. Jericho could get very carried away with that he was talking about. Minutes easily turned into hours. So long as no one would come in to stop him, he would gladly keep talking about navigation or the galaxy to Kai.

[hal7283]

Kai sent his drone closer to Jericho and moved his hologram so he looked as if he was sitting beside the young human. He observed and recorded carefully on what Jericho was saying on their technology and navigation and found it very helpful. Even though Kai had already scanned the relevant data from the crew's personal devices, it was still hard to comprehend it all given that the data was made through the human perception and understanding of the universe, which proved to be radically different from how Kai's creators understood it. He commented on Jericho's excitement for their predicament: "I too, find learning about the unknown to be beneficial, especially when your continuing existence depends on it.

 

 

As Kai began to learn more and more it soon became clear to the AI that the humans and his creators developed on radically different tech trees, but just so happened to have reached a similar outcome of space travel. Kai's processors ran in full speed trying to understand, simulate, and verify everything Jericho said, and when he finally wrapped his "head" around everything Kai interrupted the Jericho and said: "I want to show you something."

 

The room door opened and another small drone flown inside, but this one had a notable large circular "eye" on it. Kai said as mechanical sounds came from the drone and the eye on it started to shine: "From what I could tell, your people map the universe by using stellar bodies as reference points: planets, stars, asteroid belts, black holes and gas clouds. But my creators mapped the universe quite differently." The entire room darkened and a strange web of light was projected around the two. Kai continued: "These are...)(*!^^@@, which roughly translate to "Void Lanes" in your language. It is through these Lanes that ships like me could achieve faster than light travel. Like how the tram traveled through the tubes inside my haul, I travel through these lanes through the universe."

 

"We are here." Kai said as the whole thing shifted and zoomed to a corner of this web, and he pointed to bright red spot which was in an area far from any of the lanes. Kai explained: "The Void Lane is quite extensive, but does not cover all of space. So when I have to travel somewhere not connected to the network I'll then have to use conventional drive, which was part of the reason why I am here. Now obviously this map doesn't help you because it doesn't contain any navigational reference humans use, so if I add all the stellar bodies in my data base to this map, and overlap with your navigational data...."

 

As Kai spoke trillions of light began to sparkle between the web of light, and as the entire thing seemed to turn and move, a corner of it overlapped with the projection made by Jericho's watch. Kai smiled and said: "And there you have it! For some reason you have traveled way out of explored space for you kind and ended up here. I am baffled as to how and why such things could happen, as it seemed impossible according to both your and my science. But the good news is I can take your people home. It would only take 10 years 3 months 9 days 2 hours 10 minutes 21 second to reach the nearest Void Lane, then I'll be able to reach human space within 23 hours 7 minutes 19 seconds."

[Exellda]

It was truly impeccable what Kai was capable of. Jericho couldn't have been more happier. The ship was smart enough to not only proceed everything he was saying, but interpret it, transfer the data, translate... Everything that might have taken days, weeks, months or even years for humans to figure out. Jericho was truly baffled for two reasons. The fact that Kai could easily comprehend everything he explained... And the fact that they were so off course according to the star map that Kai provided. It just didn't make any sense to him. From what he understood, they were just at the edge of a recently discovered system... but according to the map... They were light years upon light years away...

 

Jericho's brows furrowed, "I just... don't understand how we could be that far off..." He said while running a hand through his hair. "I was watching the star map almost every step up the way." Jericho paused, trying to wrap his head around it. "I suppose if the map wasn't updated... Or replaced... Sabotaged? But I don't know who would have done it... I don't think Mika could have done it... I know he's a klutz but I know he's a good navigator. I know the ship inside out... As for the crew, I've already mentioned that I am not very good with handling people... So uh, I don't know everyone all that well except Glenn, her wife, the Captain, and Mika." He said with a shrug.

 

After a moment he let out a sigh. "I don't know how I'll figure this out. Hopefully the Captain wakes up soon..." He said before placing a hand on his hip. "I've got to say, Kai, you really are impressive. I am a little envious that you have these capabilities... That being said, I am afraid that the people on this ship will not want to be on this ship for over ten years... I mean, I would, but I don't think they will appreciate you as much as I do." He said rather bluntly. "I don't know... is there a way you could 'leap' over there? I also call it gate hopping." He asked, raising a brow. He wasn't sure if Kai knew what he was asking. "It's like using light years... but through the gates that we humans, and some other remarkable alien species, have built. They are like portals... Uh, if you don't know what that is, it's like... Say I walk through my room door and then suddenly I appear at the hanger... It's kind of like that, but for ships."

 

He was trying to come up with a 'quicker' solution to what Kai had proposed and he figured that this might be it. "That being said... the nearest one is also light years away... In the other direction from where we came... Past the asteroid belt." Unless Kai could get there faster, Jericho was unsure of how they could reach home quicker, other than, "We could go to a human base... or a livable planet with sustainable sources. Neither sound really promising to me... But I am not sure how everyone else will feel about it." He tilted his head. "Got any ideas brewing in that processor of yours? If not, or if you need time to calculate, that's fine... I... just have to come up with something so everyone else will stay calm."

[hal7283]

As Kai explained their situation to Jericho it soon became clear that the human was feeling distressed about their predicament. Or perhaps more accurately, worried that others may be distressed. Having been created for the purpose of discovery and adventure, venturing into the unknown with the realization that nothing would ever be familiar, Kai had trouble relating and understanding these humans who sought to "go back". In this sense Kai found that Jericho was perhaps much closer to his creators (and subsequently, himself) than to the other humans.

 

"While I do not think there's any of those 'portals' you mentioned around this part of space, I have indeed came up with a possible way to shorten the duration of this journey. if I am able to incorporate your FTL technology with me, I'll be able to significantly reduce the time required to reach the void lane. Of course that would require the construction of an warp engine from scratch and integrate it into my own systems, as well as major adjustments to my haul to withstand wrap travel. Obviously it would take time and resources, which at this point is difficult to predict, and the chances of successfully integrating our vastly different tech tress can be very risky."

 

Kai paused for a moment and said: "While I don't really mind risking my hauls getting torn to shreds for the sake of science, that decision is not for me to make. Ultimately your people would have to decide, whether to take the safe, long journey home. Or take the risk and try to shorten it. Of course if you'd rather go settle on a habitable planet I'm more than willing to take you there as well. In fact there's one which would only take 3 years of sub-light travel from here. Though that's at he opposite direction of the Void Lane."

[Exellda]

"I suppose the answer will lie with the crew then... Majority vote or something... I don't know. We'll see how it all works out I guess." Jericho said whilst in thought. "Hmmn... the only other crazy idea I have is... if there was a way to... 'Freeze time'." Jericho made air quotes as he said it. "A way to possibly freeze and preserve humans, then unfreeze them when the time is right... I don't suppose you understand what I mean, do you?" He asked, tilting his head.

 

"You're fairly willing to adapt, aren't you? Hmmn, makes me wonder about your creators. Which, by the way, I've yet to invest in the time to learn about them. They must have been a very advance civilization to have created you. I'm baffled by your technology. You're equipped with some high tech, to the point a tech nerd like me would have wet dreams for weeks. I am intrigued to know what your creators were thinking when they created you... Like your purpose and everything... You're not like some typical species that merely want to destroy the human race or something... To be fair, that was mostly a trend in the 21st century though... Times have drastically changed since then... I suppose there are more friendly beings out there... I just.. My mind is blown at how easily adaptable you are and compatible at that." The simple fact that they could even have this conversation was astounding.

 

"When I get the chance, I want to see what you're made of, literally." Jericho said, thinking out loud. "Since nothing can be achieved yet... I'll have to come up with something else that will take up my time. Because while I love being on ships, I can get bored easily if I don't have something to do." He hummed, "I don't suppose you have any entertainment on your ship? Or, what did your creators do for entertainment, I should ask?" Yes, that was a better question. Jericho was now curious about Kai's creators... Whatever information Kai would give him, would be information that he would absorb like a sponge.

 

---

 

Meanwhile, near the last pod, Mika crawled out of one of the hatches. Upon looking around he slipped out quietly and observed his surroundings. On him was a damaged communicator chip, pocket knife, and medicine. His clothes were frayed from the wreck, his hair was messy and he was fairly dirty. He barely got out of the pod when he was greeted by an AI named Kai... He was unsure if he should trust such a creature, but nonetheless was friendly towards him. "...do you know where the captain is? Did he make it? What about Jericho? Is he here too?"

[hal7283]

"Freeze..... I assume you mean suspended animation?" Kai responded as he drew from his data and considered the options: "I would advice against long term cryogenic preservation, as the cellular damage due to freezing is often irreversible... Or do your people have more advanced technologies in that field? If it's the preservation of non-biological matter then I'd suggest the use of stasis fields, but that has proved to be lethal to living beings, at least to any life-forms my creators were aware of. In any case such possibilities also need more data. And experiments take time."

 

Kai smiled hearing Jericho praising the technology which his creators put into his construction, and his comments on human attitudes towards inter-species relationships. Kai then stood up and got before Jericho, showing an expression which typically would suggest some sort of embarrassment and said: "My apologies. I should have provided you with information on my creators sooner." He took a step to the side making some space, then an extra hologram occurred right beside him. The thing looked like a massive insect/human hybrid covered in colorful, shiny exoskeleton. On its head three pairs of big round eyes looked blankly at the front, while several long, wiggling tendrils dangled below looking like a beard. Four thick arms extended out from its torso ending in long, nimble looking fingers, and two multi segmented legs supported the entire body. Kai turned to the hologram and said: "This is a representation of a typical specimen of my creators, the (*&^^. As you can see there are many similarities between them and the human race, walking on two legs, nimble hands to use tools, reliance on optical organs, etc. And of course there are a lot of differences as well, most notably your lack of exoskeleton. I would say my creators were far stronger in terms of physical strength compared to your kind."

 

Kai contiuned: "My creators were scientists, some of the smartest of their kind. They created me and left their home behind for the sake of adventures. Of course the universe is too big for one life-time, even a hundred life-times. So they passed the mission to their children, and they to their children, traversed the void lane and mapped the universe. Until finally none of them were left, and I picked up where they left off. As for entertainment.... I have studied some of the data from your devices and.. umm.... I don't think the idea transfer well between species in this case, as the idea of 'fun' seems to be quite different.... For example"

 

Kai waved his hand, and the hologram of the bug like alien suddenly shrunk in size, while another creature of similar form and size but of different color occurred beside it. One of the creatures raised its head and began to buzz and screech, then shortly after the other joined in as well. Kai explained: "For my creators, the concepts of language, math and music are interchangeable. So often they'd sing, communicate, and calculate like this together. In this case these two are singing, talking, calculating the amount of energy they gained from their last meal, and how much energy would be created if that meal got in contact with anti-matter of the same mass. This was one of the most common leisure activities they engaged in. Of course there were many other forms of entertainment, some required specialized facilities which I still possess. But they may not suit your biology well."

 

 

 

Meanwhile elsewhere within Kai's haul. One of his drone found a strange figure emerging from one of the pods the humans escaped from. Quickly he sent the drone close to investigate and projected his hologram as usual.

 

"Greetings traveler, I don't think we've met. My name is Kai, I am the operational AI of this vessel....Do you need any assistance?"

 

He listened to the man's questions and quickly provided him the answers, that most of those who managed to reach this ship were well, and was in the middle of moving into the living quarters he allocated for them, with exception of one death. The captain was conscious but well, and Jericho was also safe and sound. He then offered to lead the man to the residential areas to join with the rest of the crew. As he was taking the man to the tramway Kai asked: "May I ask what were you doing in the life pod while everyone else has left? And.... do you have a sibling or relative by any chance?"

[Exellda]

"Suspended animation, yes, that would be the correct terminology." Jericho nods his head at what Kai says, completely understanding the severity of their situation. Suspended animation would be very bad and would definitely cause severe cellular damage if they were not careful. Not to mention, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that the people aboard this ship would not appreciate that as an answer. "Well, we do have some technology that would help. In the same instance, we have yet to perfectly sustain animation. We can do it to inanimate objects though... But... Unfortunately any of the technology that might have been helpful got blown to bits on our ship. So, with that being said, that plan is a bust."

 

Jericho immediately perks up when Kai brings up his creators. The image Kai presents to him flabbergasts him, surprising him in every way. He had heard of creatures like this, but never had actually seen them. He definitely hand't expected Kai's existence to come from such a being. However, it was evident that these creatures were on a whole different level of intelligence, one that Jericho so desperately wished he could grasp. He too wished to travel the universe... It might have been incredible, possibly dangerous to have met Kai's creators in person. But it would have been so worth it. To think that other beings several generations before, had created this behemoth of a ship, created this intellectual AI from scratch... Remarkable in every way.

 

As Kai explained their methods of entertainment, he simply couldn't understand what they were saying, nor the complexities of which they were talking about. To be able to combined language, music and math of all things. Jericho couldn't fathom how such a thing could even be possible. And yet, right before his eyes, Kai was showing him exactly that. The screeching wasn't the best thing he had ever heard, but... He could get over it if that meant he could understand their culture more. "Fascinating..." His interest is still very much peaked, "Even if it isn't something that we wouldn't normally do for entertainment, I would still be very interested to see, and learn about it. Since I'm going to be here a while, would it be possible for me to visited said facilities? Even if it's a glance?" He asks, curiosity already egging him on.

 

"When I get the chance, I would like to explore every facility you have here. I would do it now, but people will think I am irresponsible... Not that they don't already think that. I'll at least get everyone informed before doing so..." Jericho said with a sigh, stretching his arms above his head. "I suppose it wouldn't be a bad idea to gather everyone. Say, about... 30 minutes to give everyone time to finish whatever they are doing. If you have some place that would be better for everyone to meet up, that would be nice. The hanger is okay, but hopefully not a permanent solution."

 

--

 

Mika looked at the AI skeptically. "No I do not need any assistance... Thanks." He said as he tried brushing himself off. "And no, I do not have any relatives." He was no longer in the space suit that got him here, although it's unclear when he changed out of it. The only thing that is clear is that there's a cut on his arm, his blood drips onto the floor, but when it hits it actually melts the floor- chemical smoke oozing from the spot. Mika hisses under his breath. "Shit." He pulls out a small bottle, applies some onto his finger before rubbing it into his arm. The small wound heals quickly. And although it looks like an accident, it wasn't. Mika was simply testing something out, something that he didn't want the others to really know about. He looks at the AI, "Sorry about that." He said innocently. "Oh, I was... Changing and healing. I need to be especially careful when I bleed. Don't worry about me." And that's all he said about it.

[hal7283]

"Of course. When things settle down I’d love to show you around more. I think a few facilities may even be suitable for human entertainment as well. Something to look forward to?” Kai smiled as he waved his hand, and the holograms of his creators disappeared. Kai tilted his head to the side as if thinking about Jericho’s question for a moment, then he turned back to him and said: “If you need a large space for gatherings, there’s a plaza just ahead of the residential area here. It was where the residences of this area used to gather and socialize, engaging in the singing game I’ve just showed you earlier. I’m now adjusting the atmospheric composition of the section to suit your biology, and I’ll lead everyone there when it’s time.”

 

Kai held his hands at the back and approached Jericho, bending his upper body slightly so he could look at Jericho on the same level. He asked: “So this means that we have 30 minutes to kill before the gathering. Any ideas? Or perhaps you want to help me with my research on human biology? For instance, your teeth to be a bit different from the crew average. Is there a reason for that?”

 

 

Meanwhile back in the hanger, Kai was observing Mika quite carefully. While Kai was by now means an expert on human behavior, the man seemed to be acting strange, at least different from what Kai had recorded of the man from their previous encounter. He was rather surprised by the acidic bodily fluid Mika possess, as he did not recall any other human having similar characteristics. But given how Jericho’s physique was also subtly different from the rest Kai refrained from making any rash judgments.

 

“Understood. But if there’s anything I can be of assistance please feel free to ask.” Kai responded to the man’s comment. He then added: “Would you like to join with the rest of the crew? They’ve all headed for the residential area. And Jericho has arranged a meeting for all of the humans 30 minutes from now near there as well. Shall I lead the way?”