Daria 2 Page 2

  The upshot of my activity is long discussions with D, Frosty, and me on humans and jealousy, emotions, hurt feelings and such things. D is extremely petulant and child-like given I would focus any of my attention anywhere else than at her. So I made sure I spent as much time as possible reassuring D and working with her to assist in her learning not only of humans and how they behave but also in her education about people not owning other people. Relationships, friendships, feelings and trust for one another and other human emotions are difficult for D, she does her best, but good grief such things are difficult for humans, never mind AI’s.

  Aside from the humanity and emotional issues D is utterly fascinated with the voyage and learns everything about the ship. Alarmingly in no time at all she knows more about the ship than the Captain or crew. Undoubtedly with the correct connections D could easily take over the ship operations. Little need for a crew when you have an Artificial Intelligence system of D’s capabilities onboard.

  After suppers in the evenings when sunset came over the ocean I would discretely retire to a predetermined location low in the ship for a couple of hours of vigorous sex with Cheryl. She is utterly amazing in every way, yet very practical as to the outcome of our clandestine couplings. We are the personification of “ships of the sea passing in the night.” We spend a lot of time thoroughly enjoying one another. I am not proud or pleased with the reaction of D to Cheryl and our spending time together, but Cheryl is very difficult for me to say no to. If D was human it would be no contest, but she isn’t. And guys are horny, what can I say?

  Chapter 5: Kevin

  With the exception of the jealous friction between D and Cheryl, it is a surprisingly pleasant voyage. Approximately forty-five hundred miles sailed over a period of eight days. The weather is good, food and wine are excellent, the sea is fascinating, the ship is technically sophisticated, and very interesting, the crew is friendly. Very friendly in my instance actually and the time passes quickly for the most part.

  But then there is Kevin, ah yes poor Kevin, poor annoying, aggressive, controlling Kevin, that does not play well with others. He is sure Cheryl belongs to him. Big enough fella physically, but one of those asshole windbags buffoons who talks big but cannot back it up. He is a dangerous back stabbing weasel. As far as I ever found out Cheryl had never made any indication he was or is anything to her. No matter Cheryl is “his property” as far as he is concerned. Where do these dumb fuckers get this notion of owning people just because of proximity? None the less Kevin immediately hates my guts and wants me thrown overboard. He could not stand the fact Cheryl shows me more attention than him, so being what he thinks is the alpha male he has to kill me or chase me off. As Kevin is one of the officers on the ship he attends dinners with the rest of the officers and Frosty and I. You could tell right off when Cheryl starts talking to me Kevin’s nose is way out of joint. And he goes nearly apoplectic when we leave for a little one on one ship tour, and personal time in her cabin or other safe places on the ship. He confronts Cheryl and demands she leave me alone and focuses on himself. Cheryl politely tells him to run along as she doesn’t require any permission from him. Then he confronts me and threatens me with violence if I have anything more to do with Cheryl. And I very impolitely tell him to go fuck himself. I thought for a minute the sack of shit might actually take a whack at me, but he is too chicken-shit and sensed he would get his ass handed to him. So you just knew he is a plotting son of a bitch who will attack your back.

  D finds all of this performance particularly interesting and enlightening. We have some very thorough discussions about Kevin, his mannerisms, why he acts as he does, and this whole business of jealousy and attempting to “own people”.

  Frosty is very direct with his orders to not beat Kevin senseless or throw him overboard, so I relent and promised to be cool. So it goes on for a couple of days with Kevin getting wilder and wilder and my patience getting thinner and thinner. I suspect even Captain Stevens sensed and saw the tension and anger from Kevin. No doubt he is quite concerned about it as this is a recipe for disaster on his ship involving his crew.

  D tells Frosty and I, Kevin has been snooping around her shipping container. Just what he thinks he is gonna do there is a bit beyond me but by then Kevin is so consumed with anger and jealousy most anything is possible. Frosty and I check D’s container a minimum of three times daily and are in touch with her constantly. She can also monitor our conversations all the time including during the Officers evening meal.

  It all comes to a head one evening while we are having supper with the Captain and fellow officers. Kevin has not attended supper that evening. As a result we are all having a stress free meal and quite enjoying ourselves. Then I hear D speaking in my mind, and glance at Frosty who in turn nods slightly to me.

  “Boys, we have a slight problem at my container. Freakin weasel Kevin is attempting to break in. It would be very bad if he sees inside and has some idea of what he is looking at. I can’t keep him out but I have an idea of what to do with him if and when he gets in. I want you boys to remain at the supper so as there is no suggestion of foul play from either of you. So just sit tight for now, alright?”

  Frosty is in agreement and we continue with our meal and refocus on the conversations across the table.

  “The fucker is working on the lock and the door seal with a pair of bolt cutters.” says D. “And when he gets the door open and reaches inside for the handhold he is gonna get the shock of his life. I’m re-routing enough electricity from my power reserves to bake this fucker like a roast of meat!”

  I avoid eye contact with Frosty and damn near choke on a mouth full of food. Soon enough the door to the dining area opens and an excited Lieutenant apologizes for the interruption and speaks quietly to the Captain. The Captain looks puzzled and wipes his mouth with his napkin and rises.

  “It appears there has been some sort of electrical explosion near the front of the ship in the general vicinity of your sea container. Perhaps you might be kind enough to accompany me for an inspection.” says the Captain.

  “Got the fucker, baked the weasel bastard good and proper!” hisses D.

  “On our way D,” I whisper.

  I look at Frosty who raises an eyebrow slightly as we follow the Captain out onto the deck and forward to the bow.

  Its nasty, Kevin has got the door open into D’s container alright and his smoking burnt remains lay on the deck leaking great pools of dark blood. As D’s container was up on the second row the remains of Kevin had a nice drop down onto the deck.

  The Captain is very upset and demands how this could happen.

  Frosty calmly says, “Our container of machinery has a number of very high voltage capacitors and power systems which retain a charge for weeks that could easily be sufficient to kill whoever is stupid enough to break into the container. By the way Captain what the hell is the meaning of one of your Officers breaking the seal and lock with bolt cutters to get into our container?”

  The Captain looks extremely uncomfortable and presents no answer.

  I climb up to the second level of containers, glance inside at the racks of gear, smile and stick my tongue out at D, who I know is watching everything.

  “You’re a very dangerous woman D.” I say quietly.

  “Damn right I am human, and don’t forget it. I turned the hologram on of me to distract the fucking prick as he came in through the door and to get him standing in the right place with his hand on the handhold. Do you know his eyes both blew out of his head when the voltage hit him, then he shook violently, shit himself, and fell backward out the door onto the deck. And Matt, I’m jealous too, though not as stupid as Kevin was. Keep that in mind when you are spending time riding Miss Cheryl, there cowboy!”

  “You’ve never killed anyone up close before have you D?”

  “No, his eyes blew out!” says D. in a shaky voice.

  “Yes D they did, it happens sometimes in electrocutions.”

  “Get his eyes
out of my sea can!”

  “It’s ok D, I’ll make sure I get his eyes out of here, it will be fine.”

  I collect the offending eyeballs in a cloth, quietly close the door to D’s container, re-install a new lock and seal, and climb back down to the deck.

  The Captain is apologizing to Frosty for this terrible breach of protocol and Frosty is offering his sympathies for the terrible accident which has befallen poor Kevin.

  Kevin, the fucking back stabbing weasel, got cooked like a rat on a stick. The anger and viciousness D exhibited makes me very quiet and thoughtful. And even more so as she is very upset about actually physically killing someone. Her reactions are truly an indication D is progressively feeling and experiencing human like emotions. D is maturing.

  Chapter 6: Quiet Night Talks

  “Matt..., you awake?”

  “Kinda, what’s up D?”

  “Men and women need one another, don’t they?”

  “That’s a very broad statement D.”

  “But a woman has to be present to make a baby, right?”

  “True, for the most part.”

  “And the baby needs its mother doesn’t it?”

  “Also true.”

  “And it is good to have the mother present as the child grows?”

  “Yes, but the need decreases as the child gets older.”

  “Young men need to be with women, don’t they?”

  “Yes, young men and young women like to be together for relationships.”

  “But not just for sex?”

  “Sex is very important for both, but it’s not just about sex. Very close friendships develop too.”

  “Do older men need women?”

  “They may or may not prefer to live with a woman. Sometimes it is about being lonely or feeling alone in the world. Some people are not comfortable being alone.”

  “Matt, do you need Cheryl?”

  “Oh, now I see where this is going.”

  “It’s important to me to try to understand you humans. I want to try to understand you Matt.”

  “Alright D, no I do not “need” Cheryl. And Cheryl doesn’t “need” me. However, I do enjoy being with her and we both enjoy the sex. We choose to be together, but we know it will come to an end when we dock. We will both go our separate ways taking the memories of our time together with us. Those times together will be a beautiful memory for both of us.”

  “I have an illogical response when you are with Cheryl, these human feelings are so difficult for me to grasp, I think I feel anger at you and Cheryl, but I think I feel sadness too, like I have been rejected and left alone.”

  “Human emotions are not easily understood by humans either D, and they are rarely ever logical. Messy emotions, emotions which clash, conflict, and confuse us, leave us upset, seeking answers, perhaps even getting therapy, to attempt to resolve what and why we feel what we do.”

  “I want to have a human presence so I can be with you, like Cheryl can be. Would you need Cheryl if I was physically with you as I look like I do in my hologram Matt?”

  “Jesus D... you are such a sweetheart, no D if you were with me physically looking as beautiful as you do in your hologram I would certainly not need Cheryl.”

  “Would we have sex Matt?”

  “Yes D, we would have sex over and over, many times.”

  “You make me feel very warm and secure Matt, thank you!”

  “I’d very much like it to happen too, D.”

  “Good night Matt”

  “Good night D”

  Chapter 7: Dangerous Waters

  For nautical and navigational reasons not entirely clear to me relating to time of year and shipping lanes we sail through waters where there have been reports of pirate activity. It’s a huge ocean and it seemed simple enough to me to sail around the risky area. But I don’t drive boats for a living and we find ourselves in waters which suffer from risk of pirates. The pirates have a good gig going with extortion and blackmail. Sail out from the coast a couple of hundred miles in fast attack boats, wait for a freighter like ours to come lumbering by, board the ship, take it over at gunpoint, and hold ship, cargo, and crew for ransom, or kill everyone and sell the cargo to the highest international bidder. Either way there is little risk to the pirates and enormous profits to be made. Most often the shipping companies pay the ransom and the pirates release the ship and crew.

  It’s evening and I am up on the cargo deck talking to D when she tells me.

  “Matt, I have bad news.”

  “You’re still mad at me?”

  “I’m hurt, but trying to understand, but that’s not it.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “I’m monitoring and intercepting radio messages on a scrambled frequency which suggest we are going to be attacked by Liberian pirates.”

  “Be serious.”

  “I am, the attack will likely be just before dawn. From what I can gather there will be at least three fast attack boats heavily armed. Two will come in close to let the pirates board and the third will stay back to shell us if necessary.”

  “Christ, does Frosty know?”

  “Yup”

  “Does the Captain know?”

  “No he doesn’t.”

  “Why not, it’s his boat.”

  “Yeah, but we cannot risk being discovered, so Frosty and I feel it will be easier and better for us if I just take over the controls and functioning of the boat while you take care of the pirates.”

  “And how the hell are we gonna do that, and where is Frosty?”

  “He’s making adjustments to the pulse rifle, range and power modifications mainly. When the pirates get close enough I’m going to take over control of the ship and position it so there is as little movement as possible, by playing with the engines, propeller speeds, and water ballast system I can keep it pretty steady, and you are gonna blow the freakin pirate boats out of the water with the pulse rifle.”

  “Jesus D, can you do that?”

  “Be serious soldier, can you shoot and hit the pirate boats?”

  “Damn straight I can, just keep the ship steady.”

  “I think it is better we don’t involve the Captain and crew as we don’t want to do a lot of explaining. So a momentary control outage of his ship seems the simplest way. He’ll see the pirate boats on radar and attempt evasive action while radioing for help. Help we do not want as it could compromise our presence. I’ll block the radio frequency and when the pirates get in range, I take control of the ship and you blow them to hell! But understand Matt, it is going to be very close to satellite scan time. The bird is going to be coming over the horizon just about the time the fire fight starts.” says D.

  “Oh dandy, but on the good side there’s a great sniper position close to the bow which is out of sight of the bridge and the pulse rifle is so quiet the captain and crew will never hear us.”

  “Excellent, now you better go and flirt up Cheryl, and do your stud thing with her or she will get suspicious there is something afoot.”

  “Jesus D, you’re not real subtle are you?”

  “You forget human with the nanotech in you I can tell when you are horny and getting a woody around Cheryl! I may have to arrange to drop her overboard!”

  “D, we talked about this...”

  “I’m kinda kidding, just go, I got stuff to do!”

  Chapter 8: Pirates

  Cheryl is fantastic as usual, adventurous sexually, and loves “do overs”, preferring to be on top, but enjoys a good doggy pounding as well. We sleep for a couple of hours and before dawn I rise and slip out of her bed, she murmurs, sighs and rolls over.

  The air is fresh with a soft breeze, the ocean looks more or less flat, but I can feel the long swells flowing past the boat. The ocean is never quiet and unmoving. I catch up with Frosty on the container stack up in the bow. This stack was one level lower than the rest of the container stacks and as such we have privacy from the bridge.

  “You got enough ener
gy left to squeeze a trigger?” taunts D.

  “I’m fine D, thanks for asking and for your concern.” I tease. “Where are my pirates?”

  “Jesus you two, just don’t start, we got shit we need to focus on.” snorts Frosty.

  “I have them just out of the range of the ships radar on the starboard side, so you have time to get settled and in position, they will appear on your right side, landlubber.” says D.

  “Ok Matt,” says Frosty. “Here’s the deal, I have a stabilizing bi-pod attached to the front of the pulse rifle. D is gonna stop the ship and keep it steady, any remaining oscillation will be dampened out by the bi-pod stabilizer system. I have juiced up the range, power, and scope magnification as we want you to destroy the pirate boats out about thirty-five hundred yards. While we are stable, the attack boats are gonna be moving forward and going up and down, so time each shot a second before they get to the top of each swell. Ya got it?”

  “Christ Frosty, that’s some two miles out, can’t we get them closer?”

  “No, now get it done. I want them destroyed at an impossible distance so there is no suspicion on us!”