Admitting You Have a Problem

Posted on Sunday July 22nd, 2018 @ 5:50pm by Captain Sumire "Remi" Rembrant & Lieutenant JG Niklas Blom M.D. Ph.D

3,259 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Season 2: Mission 1: Day after Day
Location: DFS Lavie - Robotics Lab/Remi's Room
Timeline: October 12th 4566 Afternoon

After her night went rather... in a mixed way Remi had headed back to her room and got some sleep; that did not exactly improve things for her though. She needed friends; badly and it was starting to show with her state at the moment. She got on her usual blouse and jeans as well as boots and left the room heading to the ships robotics lab; she wanted to run a simulation on the effectiveness of the current battle suit trinity used and how it could be doing with improved code allowing it to seem lighter and faster. She coudln't do the physical modifications but she could code a program for it at the very least so she wanted to see if that would help. If she did well at this maybe people would notice her and she wouldn't just be the random high school girl who got her cause her daddy was the governor of a colony and her adoptive family was rich businesspeople.



Niklas was updating a few things on Carmela. There had been a few glitches. Seeing her like this was actually a bit disconcerting. In his mine, also artificial, knew she wasn't dead, the lack of breathing stirred up some bad memories. Working quickly, he set the connections and started the software repair diagnostic.



Remi arrived in the lab and noticed someone in the room working on something. (is that his assistant or the pet?) She ignored the person as they seemed preoccupied and so if they wanted to talk they could initiate; she wasn't going to do that again after all the times she had recently fell flat on her face doing so. She stats running her simulations and changing parts of code then rerunning the simulation to see how mch improvement she could make on the battlesuits.





Setting the finale sequence, he stroked her feathers and turned. "Sorry, I was busy with Carmela. I hate seeing her like this. Creeps me out to be honest." Walking over his said. "Niklas, pleased to meet you."



Remi finished coding a sequence and after she finished he had seemed to finish as well. He showed the creature affection. Remi just observed especially as he spoke and approached her. "You don't need to apologize; You've done nothing wrong or incorrect; its not like someone immediately needs to greet a rooms newcomer as soon as they enter... So; your friend here... A sort of pet or is she or he more like an assistant... and not  having a mechanical organism not breathe why does that creep you out; its sort of the natural state of such things; its just like if we are in a VR world; the breathing is simulated cause our artificial selves don't actually need to breathe; its all a show... Like most of my life..." Remi said and then introduced herself. "Sumire Rembrant... Most people these days call me Remi though; I am more or less the link to the underworld and information... go me..." She said the last part with sarcasm. it seemed she did not like her current place in the world.





"Because on a certain level it reminds of when I found my wife in bed when she passed 20 years ago, and as a recent convert to artificial, I find it still a bit....odd. Perhaps I've grown a bit overly attached to Carmela. She's both a pet but smart enough to assist in few things." He triggered her front paw to unhinge and it turned into  something more like a human hand.(edited)



"Her personality is over the top. Warm and friendly, which I wasn't expecting to be this...smitten...with her. I never owned pets as a child so the whole experience is a new one to this old man....well new android."(edited)





"I see... " She replied observing him play or rather interact with the pet. She was not all that interested but this sort of thing wasn't exactly her cup of tea especially since it was in the real world. She did not like the real world very much becuase she had not found enough of a reason to really want ot be part of it. She wondered about Nik though and who he was; his mind seemed more further along that his body and since he mentioned 20 years she knew something was off about him but did not say anything on the topic.



"So what brings you to my humble home away from home? I seem  to spend more time here than anywhere else, unless I am on duty in Medical" Niklas offered rambling a bit.



"I was just coming here to do work work in the simulator and computer system.... I wanted to improve the battle suits that the crew uses... I may be the equal to a princess of a colony but that doesn't make me worthless... " She said.



"Royalty? Interesting Miss Rembrant. I will not curtsy for you. I have had my fill of people that become too full of themselves in the long time I spent in upper administration. I find your attitude refreshing."



"... upper... so you governed somewhere? Where... and yeah; most of the people I even gather information for to give it to Trinity are still super full of themselves; then there is the people whom are around me... some only want one thing... my body... the others either leave or I have no clue what they want from me... It gets rather... tiring and make me hate the real world... At least in some vurtial game where I can expirerence everything just like I would in the real world over VR I can hide my identity so people may know my name but don't actually know who I am so I can avoid that..." She said



"I was planetary governor for 25 years at a little out of the way mining colony I am sure you never heard of. I was in service for 35 years before that.  Too many get full of themselves. I won't judge you and I don't blame you for hiding in the VR world, it's just a shame so many too. Not everyone is a self-involved power tripper." Niklas. Then added. "My apologies, that was more heavy handed than I intended it to be."



"So you would know of my father or maybe not...  Erm... but so many are... and then others just abandon you... between that and all the horrible things in the world what is really the point..." She was asking more of a philisophical question at this point...



"The point, Remi," he said as he walked over, making the switch to familiar terms, "is when you meet that someone that makes your heart skip and brain shoot out hormonal fireworks...is that it makes all the difference." He finished the sentence standing in front of her.



She looked at him stopping for a moment letting what he said run through her trying to process and understand what that meant... he was referring to what she felt when she was around Akane but she was gone now and remi had no clue if she was even alive after the attack. Remi did not reply though even if she understood what he was talking about.



He touched her arm. "This is real. Un-simulated, though no longer human. I don't mind a good story,movie, or holo-program to distract me, but it should only be a distraction. Isolation in any form in not a desirable trait."(edited)



She felt his touch and the two were now quite close. Her face started to get red and she spoke. "You are human enough... and your still warm... but sometimes distractions are better than reality... epseically when people just constantly hurt you... It may not be desirable but what other choice is there; go live in a bottle... No... I won't do that... I've done it once and it was worse than even the VR version of getting drunk... I don't want to feel like that..."



"Drinking to get drunk is as bad as the isolation. Plus a good waste of good liquor for me." He smiled at her. "I don't have all the answers, but you can't win if you don't play. That's the bottom line." He turned checking on Carmela. "So no good memories of anyone in your brief time in this galaxy?" He quipped.(edited)



"Everyone who I have those memories of is gone... they either left, turned me down, completely disappeared or are too focused on fucking themselves over by making political enemies that they no longer see me as anything but a shadow... which is pretty much the same thing as rejecting me... and yeah; drinking too much especially with what people like us would drink... is a waste of good liquor..." She laughed.

"Well there is my brother and mother but they are dead...."



Niklas nodded. Carmela awoke. She stretched and yawned. In a sleepy voice she said, "girl human." He stroked her head, Carmela dropped it onto his chest. "Shh....compile your new updates.  Sleep mode." Carmela put her head down and closed her eyes. "So your aim is to never have contact unless necessary? " Niklas asked.



"Unless I can find a reason... yeah... pretty much... it is easier that way..." She said lying obviously.



NIklas chuckled once. "Easier to hide. Not leave yourself vulnerable. Sure. You miss out on too much in my opinion. You're too young to be this cynical and bitter."(edited)



"I blame my girlfriend leaving, the guy I liked after her completely disappearing, three people turning me down, my mother and brother being killed, being adopted by a family that cares about my sister more than me and then being given he shock of a lifetime working in a place like this... Most people dont even see a faction of these things in an entire lifetime but yay me... I get a whole life's shit packed into 18 years." She sits observing is now sleeping pet.



"Sucks to be you?" He paused. "How many people in this ship have not been touched in similar fashion. Oh maybe not everyone, but I can quote you a staggering number of sob stories from the Captain on down. I wish I could believe your situation is that unique, but in the time we live in.....not so much. Grab what you can, when you can." He said.(edited)



"So I'm not unique... this is normal... then what do you suppose I do... again sit in the lounge and waste liquor... I'm not being cynical; I am actually asking... cause I can't seem to find a lasting relationship; friends... so I'm supposed to be a cynical workaholic... No; not doing that... What options to I have aside from whoring myself out to the crew to gain some delusion of feeling good..."



"Actually talk and find someone you connect with, I can't say I haven't had my share of escapades, but have that connection with someone you care about. That's the spark of life to me. Don't go down in a bikini to the Marine deck, I'm saying find that one person and make that count." NIklas paused. "I'd also like to point out that aren't you in reality whoring yourself out in VR, just behind a curtain?"(edited)

"Stop hiding from life. Grab it with both hands and don't let go." Niklas said, passion in his voice.



When he said she was whoring herself out in VR she did not deny that. In honesty thats exactly what she was doing. "I wouldn't just go to the marines like that... But... I understand... I felt like that spark came from Akane; yet she is gone... I guess I'll just have to find someone else then..." His next statement made her look him right in the eyes. "So take what I want...?" She asked.



"With permission, of course." NIklas added with a smile, being a bit oblivious to her intent.(edited)



"Yeah... obviously... Dude... I'm not a rapist..." She smirked.





"Wait." Niklas said with disbelief. "You can't mean me." He was now picking up on her signals, being and android, and a medical practitioner it was hard to miss.



"Between you and like two other people; thats the only three I can think of that I know and that meet my rather high qualifications... You can't be a moron and be with someone like me..." She said her higher than most attitude showing. She believed that she was above normal people. It wasn't that she was wrong as it was true but it was still a bit smug.





"I'm flattered." he said stammering a bit. "Also out of" practice for a long time. " Niklas even blushed a bit.



"I've dated once and been in bed with three people; I really don't think being out of practice means anything to someone as inexperienced as I am..." She laughs.



"guess that's what I get for running my mouth. Put up or shut up time." Niklas offered.



"If you want to... if not; that is your choice... Like I said... I'm no rapist..." She leaned forward in her chair not making a move until something was said.



"I can't very well chastise you for hiding and not put myself out there as well, can I?" he said, closing the distance between the two of them.



He realized he was shaking. He walked to a nearby cabinet and pulled out s small bottle of brown liquid and two glasses. Wiping out the glasses he poured two fingers in each glass, offering one to Remi, not waiting for her to drink it. (Irish single malt whiskey) 



He spoke softly. "You think someone my age wouldn't get nervous over something like this. I can talk a big game, but to be honest, I've had about as many lovers as you have."



Remi took the drink and downed it then shrugged as she moved up to him as he spoke when he was shaking. "It is only natural; only reason I'm not shaking right now is how much I have done it online... we should really go somewhere else other than a lab though if we are going to do this..." She said as she gave him a light kiss then looked into his eyes reassuringly as if trying to calm him down.





"That would be a good start." He typed in some commands so Carmela would stay asleep until he sent a command prompt.  Turning back to Remi, he offered, "I feel like a schoolboy, though I look like the principal." He said with humor,  walking out with her. "Your place or mine?"



Remi looked att him. "We should also look at my research at some point... I need help making sure it works and while having sex partners is nice and all... It is better to have people who you can actually relate to and do something with... Cause having sex with someone who you can't like connect with is like fucking a doorknob." She then guided him to her quarters. It was lived in but not trashed. "Yuki is the more domestic one; I would never wish this work on my sister though... Even if I want to be her..."



"For starters I would happy to look at your research." He wasn't sure what she meant by the work comment, so he bypassed it. "I've found that nearly every one is unhappy with their lot in life to one degree or another. The trick is to find the parts that you like or are good at and concentrate your efforts there. Though I wonder what it is about her that makes you long to change."


"Unhappy is sort of small in my case... My adoptive family values my sister more than they do me and they want her to lead the family even though I am older. And for looking at my stuff... cool... Lets go to... my room..." She said as she led the way to her quarters keeping a hand locked with one of his.


At least one good thing about being an android is that he had control over at least some fuctions. He palms began to sweat from anticipation.He turned it down as much as he could. Being clinical was one thing, having someone be interested in you, even if you're an artificial lifeform was another. A new experience for him. He wondered if it would even happen and hoped it wasn't going to be some torrid affair or just curiousity from a woman. This looked like a genuine offer. At first he was thinking it was beyond perversion considering his age, then he realized age was irrelevant for him anymore. She was legal, and....quite cute. 

"I am not one to be glad for depression, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't grateful for fate throwing us into each other's path." Nik said.

She was good at reading people; after all it was her job. She seemed to detect something from him... More than attraction... Apprehension prehaps... "So... let me just put this out there, but my girlfriend has stopped talking to me and could be dead after the Earth attack; the guy I liked fell into the same fate and so I am open... Just so you know what is happening..." The two soon arrive in her room. It was plain but more because she was only recently assigned it and due to work had little time to actually do anything to it. 

"Even I can pick up on the signals you're sending. I too am single. My fears are that I haven't been with any woman in years and since my conversion to my current state, I've been afraid to sample the goodies, so to speak." Nik offered. "I guess my only question is.....are we trying to get to know each other or saying to hell with it, give me some sugar?" Niklas asked honestly.

Once they started talking she sat on her couch and took off her boots just relaxing against it. She chuckled lightly and replied to him "To be honest I've technically never actually dated... So I don't even know how this works... Akane and I just got to know each other thorugh our time at school and I met Sieg in a game... then he somehow ended up at my school... I guess the closest thing to dating I have had was when he and I kept... sharing time... I guess at least here my little sister won't walk in..." She said as she took him in. 

"To be fair, this isn't a date. A date is going out together, dinner, some kind of outing...."he said trailing off, seeing the look in Remi's eyes. "Shutting up now." Niklas said, holding her close. They tenatively pecked each other several times. He thought the sensations he had as a human doing this would be missing. He was very glad he was wrong. 


[Since we had parts to Seperation I am making this parts our second set will be posted when we finish that Brian]

 

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