Chelen City: Chapter Seven, Part Two

 Notes: I’ve got sick kidlet, sick hubby, and sick me today, so…yeah. Happy to post, but ugh.

Title: Chelen City: Chapter Seven, Part Two

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Chapter Seven, Part Two

“House rules,” Kieron said to Ryu as the tube indicated they were five minutes from home. They were the first words he’d spoken since leaving the hospital, not bothering to take part in the small talk between Elanus and Ryu. That was fine—Elanus understood Kieron’s perspective, he really did. Letting someone he didn’t trust into their space was a big deal, and one that Elanus still wasn’t entiiiiirely sure was necessary, but he wasn’t going to tell Kieron that. If nothing else, Ryu would be someone new for the girls to interact with, and…

Come to think of it, house rules were a damn good idea.

“You don’t talk to anyone outside of our home about anything that happens in there. Not what you eat, not where you sleep, especially not what you say to our family or what you might overhear them saying. The second I get proof you’re spreading rumors or telling tales or selling secrets or any fucking thing, I will kill you and save your would-be assassin the trouble. Got it?”

“I already know you’ve got Deysan’s ship in there,” Ryu said with an eye roll. “Everybody does. It’s not a secret, but fine, I promise not to talk about the Catalina.”

It was jarring to hear his daughter referred to that way. Elanus knew that it was, technically, her official designation—the title with which he’d introduced his masterpiece to the world. It was bizarre to think about how far beyond that she’d come, how much she’d grown.

“On that note, keep your swearing to a minimum in the public spaces in our home,” Kieron went on. “If you’re asked to play and you say yes, play nicely. If you decline, don’t be a dick about it.”

“Your ship ‘plays’? Oh, that’s just too cute.”

“Ryu, I will hit you myself if you don’t watch your tone,” Elanus snapped. “This is serious. You have nieces, right? Think about how gentle you are with them, and bring that energy into being with the girls. That’s all I ask.”

“I could ask for a lot more,” Kieron muttered, but he didn’t push it, which was good, because Elanus’s patience had abruptly run dry.

“I’ll introduce him,” he said to Kieron as the tube pulled into their landing platform. “You ought to be clear for a call with Xilinn in our room in three minutes. See if you can get a timeline from her for coming here.”

Kieron’s eyes widened. “You want her and Pol here?”

“Not forever, but—” But if he invited them out of the refugees’ housing and into his home, it would be considered a permanent move. That was the law on Gania, something he’d somehow forgotten in the craziness of the past few days. “Until they can get settled in a place of their own,” he amended, because yeah, he wouldn’t be sending them back to group housing if he could avoid it. He needed to see about hurrying up the work visa process for everyone, getting them into educational programs or job training or extra therapy, whatever they needed to start making a real life for themselves here. It wasn’t fair to keep them in limbo.

Kieron pulled his head down for a kiss. “Thank you.”

“I’m right here,” Ryu said, deadpan.

“You can be out the door and falling through the air if you pre—”

“You go, we’re good, it’s fine!” Elanus opened the door and motioned Kieron to their bedroom. The house was suspiciously quiet, no chimes or laughter or music to indicate anyone was watching them. He could feel the girls’ interest over his implant, though. “Let me show you the guest room,” he said to Ryu.

“What, you only have one?”

“Only one I care to offer you. It’s the most secure,” Elanus said as he walked Ryu up one story, then down a dark-paneled hall to a room on the left-hand side. He opened the door, then activated the visitor protocol.

“Stand in front of the door, please,” a pleasant voice announced. Ryu complied and let it take his picture, scan him for biohazards, and finally take a DNA sample when he grabbed the handle. “Thank you, Mr. Chen-Martelle.”

“Using the standard voice operating system, really?” Ryu murmured as he walked into the room. “I expected better of you.”

The was a flare of static, as though someone had started speaking, then clapped a hand over their mouths. Elanus smiled as Ryu looked suspiciously at him. “Two escape routes,” he said, pointing at the window first. “Standard fire danger set-up there, and over here, the drain in the shower expands into a tunnel that will take you to a common area if you crawl for two miles.”

“Two…miles.”

“It’s a last resort.”

“I’ll fucking say,” Ryu replied. There was another surge of static. “What the hell is that?”

“That is probably my daughter—which one, I’m not sure—keeping herself from chewing you out for being rude,” Elanus said. “Speaking of the girls, would you like to meet them?”

“They’re ships,” Ryu said even as he followed Elanus back out of the room, which composedly closed up behind them. “They’re AI ships, sure, but they’re not children.”

“You say that now…”

“I say that and I mean it! AI is impressive and important, absolutely, but it’s not the same as an actual, nascent, raised-from-birth intelligence. I don’t know what data you used for training, but—”

“It’s not data,” Elanus interrupted as they got into the lift to the top floors. “There’s no training. There’s a computerized brain, yes, but it’s supported with custom hardware to create a true lifeform. Catie and Lizzie aren’t AI intelligences. They’re an entirely new form of life.”

Ryu shook his head. “You’re crazy. That’s not possible. It’s never been truly possible.”

They got to Catie’s hangar. The door opened, and—

A hologram of a bright pink dinosaur in a tutu came up and punched Ryu square in the nose. Or, it tried to punch him. It didn’t land, obviously, but Catie coupled it with a blast from her regulators that sent Ryu staggering. “Don’t be mean to myyyyy daddy!” she shouted. Her dinosaur form then turned and pranced away, off to link arms with a Ceropian squid-beast for a very impressive ballet.

Ryu looked at Elanus. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “What…the fuck?”

“He broke a rule!” That was Lizzie. “Elanus, your guest broke a rule. Now he has to do a dance!”

“I have to…what?”

Elanus grinned. He couldn’t think of a better way to take Ryu’s mind off his troubles than the pure, beautiful chaos that was his daughters.

As long as the poor guy didn’t lose his mind, it was a good beginning.