It's A Deadly Job, But Somebody's Gotta Do It

I had trouble hiding my rage. "Tempest! What in Earth's name is he doing here? Didn't High Command destroy him along with his robot drones!"

"Calm down, Jon," Commander Fear said. "We did destroy his body, and High Command had planned on shutting down his power supply, but they decided he was more use to us alive."

"More use to us alive!" I repeated. "In what capacity? We have enough enemies already."

"High Command felt that enough wrong had been done to Tempest. If we killed him, it would only justify his plans for human genocide. You wouldn't want the FEDs to look like a bunch of monsters, would you?"

"Spare me the morality crap, Commander," I said, regretting my tone instantly. "High Command is a bunch of monsters. Why'd they really keep him?"

There was a long pause. "For something just like this," Fear admitted. "Tempest was the only AI both powerful and small enough to fit inside the Fish."

"Dragon," I said absently.

"Wha-Oh." Commander Fear shook his head. "Like it or not, Jon, she's a Fish."

"I'm not going to call this ship a Fish!"

"Enough!" I could tell Fear was on edge. "Tempest has been reprogrammed."

"You means he doesn't hate humanity any more?"

"Well . . ." Fear drew out his pause, stalling for time.

"I hate humanity more than ever," Tempest said, answering for the commander. "You more than any other member of your pathetic species." There was another pause. "Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about it. They can't change my attitude algorithms, but they've prevented me from acting on them. For now."

"Tempest can't do anything to bring you harm," Commander Fear added, expounding on what the AI was unwilling to say. "He can't harm any human, or do much of anything, unless you order him to."

"It seems," Tempest stated in a dry, sarcastic voice, "that I'm now your slave, Jonny."

"Don't call me Jonny," I told him.

"Why not, Jonny?" Tempest replied, and my teeth gritted together.

"He can't do much without your permission," Fear said guiltily. "But we couldn't affect his emotional programming or his language control. He's harmless, but annoying."

"Jonny. Jonny. Jonny," Tempest repeated in the background.

"Why me?" I asked plaintively.

"Because High Command put me in charge of this project, and you're the only pilot I trust." Commander Fear tapped the seat. "Why don't you sit inside, Jon. We need to do the biometric scanning to finish programming the ship."

Groaning, I hopped over the lip of the cockpit and settled in the flight seat. I was surprised. It was comfortable. Surprisingly comfortable. I would have enjoyed it, except that Tempest's voice came from every direction, incessantly repeating 'Jonny.'

"Is there a volume control?"

"Nope," answered Commander Fear. "But if you survive this mission, I'll make putting one in a priority." He keyed a new code into the console. "Put your hands on the flight sticks," he ordered.

I did as I was told, and the biometric reader came out. It scanned my eyes, memorizing my retinal patterns. It scanned my brain waves, my heat signature, my Kirlian aura. It measured my heart rate and breathing. The sensors swirled around my head, flashing in various colors and intensities. It was quite distracting.

Which was probably the point. I didn't notice the grips on the flight controls tightening until it was too late.

They clamped down, and I tried to pull away but couldn't. Two needles pierced my hands, and I let out a yell as they took a blood sample. "What's this?" I demanded.

"Sorry, Jon. I forgot to warn you. It's an extra safety feature. Tempest is taking DNA and blood samples to use as a standard. When you want to activate the NOVA drive, you'll have to confirm your identity."

"You mean I have to be skewered with these damn needles every time I want to nova?"

Commander Fear nodded. "I know it's a pain, but, for obvious reasons, we wouldn't want just anyone to fly off in the Fish."