{"id":678,"date":"2024-08-27T19:31:50","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T23:31:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/?p=678"},"modified":"2025-01-28T23:36:01","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T04:36:01","slug":"the-changeling-game-chapter-59","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/the-changeling-game-chapter-59\/","title":{"rendered":"The Changeling Game, Chapter 59"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\">\ntt {\nfont: .857em menlo, monaco, consolas, monospace;\nmargin: auto;\n}\nh2 {\ntext-align: center;\n}\nh2.chapterhead {\nmargin-bottom: 2em;\ntext-align: center;\n}\n  .nowrap {\n    text-indent: 0;\n    display: inline-block;\n}\n<\/style>\n<p><b>Title:<\/b> The Changeling Game <small>(Formerly <i>Identity Theft<\/i>)<\/small><br \/>\n<b>Author:<\/b> Ardath Rekha<br \/>\n<b>Chapter:<\/b> 59\/?<br \/>\n<b>Fandom:<\/b> <i>Pitch Black<\/i> (2000); <i>The Chronicles of Riddick<\/i> (2004); <i>The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury<\/i> (2004)<br \/>\n<b>Rating:<\/b> M<br \/>\n<b>Warnings:<\/b> Adult themes, controversial subject matter, harsh language, violence<br \/>\n<b>Category:<\/b> Gen<br \/>\n<b>Pairing:<\/b> None<br \/>\n<b>Summary:<\/b> As she sheds the names she wore in the past and prepares to take back the name she was born with, the changeling once known as Jack B. Badd takes takes on a new name and role, and discovers that it\u2019s a good place to hide from <i>herself.<\/i><br \/>\n<b>Disclaimer:<\/b> The characters and events of <i>Pitch Black,<\/i> <i>The Chronicles of Riddick,<\/i> and <i>The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury<\/i> are not mine, but belong to Universal Studios.  I just <i>wish<\/i> I were in charge of their fates.  No money is being made off of this.  I\u2019m writing strictly for love of the story.<br \/>\n<b>Feedback:<\/b> Absolutely, the more the better!  Shred me, whip me, beat me, make me feel grammatical! I post \u201crough,\u201d so I can always use the help. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<input type='hidden' bg_collapse_expand='6a8e791b072534064860327' value='6a8e791b072534064860327'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-more-text-6a8e791b072534064860327' value='Long post is long. Click to read the story.'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-less-text-6a8e791b072534064860327' value='Hide the story again.'><button id='bg-showmore-action-6a8e791b072534064860327' class='bg-showmore-plg-button bg-green-button  '   style=\" color:#D9ECFB;\">Long post is long. Click to read the story.<\/button><div id='bg-showmore-hidden-6a8e791b072534064860327' ><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"chapterhead\">59.<br \/>\n<u>Acting Captain Marianne<\/u><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThis way, Miss Tepper.\u201d Abecassis walked her down a long hallway, leading her from the docking facilities into the Sirius Shipping HQ. He gave her a worried glance as they went.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">It had taken six hours to reach the HQ after launch, and she supposed she had behaved a little strangely during that journey. Maybe more than a little. With a luxury craft at her disposal, she had eaten simply, had a cup of Maghrebi mint tea rather than delving into the well-stocked bar, and had spent most of the time doing a study module on her tablet rather than taking advantage of the entertainment system. She\u2019d slept, briefly, but stayed in the starfield of the <i>Apeiros<\/i> as she did, so that she wouldn\u2019t say or do anything revealing in her sleep. She had the feeling that Abecassis was confused that she hadn\u2019t decided to throw herself a little party, but she didn\u2019t understand why he would think she\u2019d want to.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">It seemed to have also baffled him that she picked up after herself, making sure the Chief of Operations\u2019 personal craft looked exactly as she had found it, before their arrival at the HQ. Finally, he had shrugged it off.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She\u2019d deleted all the communication programs from her tablet when she switched it back on, avoiding reading any of the messages that might have come in. The thought of everyone\u2019s disappointment and disgust, once they\u2019d realized what she had set in motion, kept knotting up her guts. She didn\u2019t know how she would ever manage to face them again.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Why would they want her to, anyway? They had to realize, finally, how much of the chaos and mayhem of the last few weeks was her doing. They had to be relieved that she was gone. Why would they ever want her to come back?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Tislilel Meziane was dead\u2026 if she had ever been real at all. There was no one left to return to them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Sighing, she followed Abecassis along the corridors. They were early, compared to the original schedule. If things hadn\u2019t gone wrong, the normal shuttle she\u2019d have taken wouldn\u2019t have arrived for another three or four hours. She found herself wondering how many people who had intended to take the same flight had ended up stranded, but\u2014<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Most of them probably never came to the spaceport. You were there more than half a Tangiers day early.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She wished so much that she\u2019d taken the scenic route, dawdled, <i>not<\/i> encountered Makarov on the train at all. Nobody would have died if he\u2019d passed through the spaceport undetected.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">That day, anyway.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She frowned at herself, trying to shut down the small voice that kept piping up and insisting that a man like Makarov would have garnered the same kill count all too soon if left to his own devices. Being outed as a serial rapist\/murderer and a contract killer had only forced him to give up his lawful fa\u00e7ade where some of the people he hunted <i>survived<\/i>; his friend had already been helping him arrange \u201chatchet jobs\u201d and had even been offering to find him women\u2014<i>girls<\/i>\u2014to rape and torture on camera for money. How long would it have really taken before he\u2019d accepted a job to orchestrate another mass killing, and how many teenage girls might have gone missing in the meantime\u2014<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Stop fucking rationalizing it all. The people in New Casablanca died because <b>you<\/b> provoked law enforcement into moving on him while he was heavily armed and surrounded by civilians he could shoot or take hostage. And you did it in a way that <b>warned<\/b> him they\u2019d be coming for him and gave him time to <b>prepare<\/b>. General Toal could have prevented all those other <b>hypothetical<\/b> deaths, and the ones <b>you<\/b> caused, if you\u2019d just called him.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Ahead of her, Abecassis had stopped at a door marked\u2014in English first, she noticed\u2014T. Nguyen, Human Resources. He knocked, paused, and then opened it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cTime to meet the woman of the hour,\u201d he told the middle-aged Asian woman behind the desk inside. \u201cOne Marianne Tepper, delivered a little early and not much the worse for wear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cExtraordinary,\u201d Nguyen said, rising from her chair. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it when they told me you were already on your way back. How did you manage it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cShe was already at the spaceport when the standoff with Makarov started.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThat early? I still can\u2019t get Edwards to reach his desk before he\u2019s fifteen minutes <i>late,<\/i> no matter how many warnings I give him,\u201d Nguyen laughed. She walked forward, holding out her hand. \u201cIt\u2019s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Tepper. I\u2019m sorry for what you must have had to go through at the spaceport.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Showtime\u2026 game face on.<\/i> She could do this. She could play the role she\u2019d written weeks ago.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She had no other choice.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Marianne Tepper stepped forward and took Nguyen\u2019s hand. It felt much like Audrey stepping back and letting Wendy Darling take her place on the stage. There was the role, and the person behind the role was invisible, intangible. Who, or <i>what<\/i>, she was outside of the role didn\u2019t matter for the moment, and the pain she carried receded for a time. \u201cThank you. It\u2019s good to meet you, too. And really, nothing bad happened to <i>me<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Fortunately, she had already changed out of, and thrown away, the bloodstained clothing she had been wearing when Abecassis first found her. Unless he felt a need to throw around Bevan\u2019s claim about her saving a security officer\u2019s life\u2014and she really hoped he wouldn\u2019t\u2014there were no signs that she\u2019d been anywhere close to the standoff or the explosion.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Much less the one responsible for them\u2026<\/i> She pushed the dark thoughts back, settling into the role of Marianne Tepper.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI\u2019m very glad to hear that,\u201d Nguyen said with real warmth in her smile. \u201cNow, we have a few formalities to handle, and then we\u2019ll get you over to your ship. I think you\u2019re really going to like the <i>Nephrite Undine<\/i>. Its amenities are top of the line.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAssuming she uses them,\u201d Abecassis chuckled. \u201cDavidov loaned me <i>his<\/i> private shuttle to fetch her. She didn\u2019t even touch the bar and spent most of the trip <i>reading.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWe should all be so disciplined,\u201d Nguyen shot back, dry humor in her voice. \u201cI must say, Miss Tepper, you are very young-looking for a college graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Marianne had been expecting that observation. \u201cI get that a lot,\u201d she said with a shrug, affecting just a hint of suppressed frustration. \u201cMy mom had teenage boys trying to hit on her until she was <i>thirty<\/i>.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Okay, that had actually been Lalla\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHow come they stopped?\u201d Abecassis asked, his voice joking. The implication, that he might still have tried to flirt with a thirty-year-old when he\u2019d been a teen, was obvious even without any mind-reading.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cShe started carrying <i>me<\/i> around,\u201d Marianne explained, rolling her eyes and smiling.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI probab\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cMake even one \u2018MILF\u2019 joke, Hamza, and I <i>will<\/i> write you up,\u201d Nguyen said with mock severity, giving him a fierce glare that couldn\u2019t quite hide a long-suffering smile.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Marianne found herself wishing that she had time to get to know both of them better.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The forms she still needed to fill out were swiftly done, and the signature she\u2019d practiced for the last few weeks was on several documents soon after. She almost made it out unscathed, but then the Chief of Operations, Davidov, stopped by to say hello. Somehow <i>he<\/i> already knew about her alleged heroics in the New Casablanca spaceport.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Suddenly they all wanted to hear about the disaster.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThere isn\u2019t really all that much to tell,\u201d she said, wishing she\u2019d spent more time constructing a story. She called up the map of the spaceport in her head, visualizing the area that everything had gone to hell in. \u201cI was window-shopping some before heading to one of the sleep-tanks you can rent for the overnoon hours. There\u2019s a little duty-free store that sells these beautiful textiles made by Amazigh artisans from the New Atlas Mountains. I was thinking about going in and buying this one blanket that had unusual patterns on it, when I heard screams and what sounded like gunfire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Believable so far. On the off-chance that anyone ever checked up on her story, the shop had been right by the alcove she\u2019d isomorphed through, and really <i>had<\/i> been just off of the lounge area with the flying Pegasus statue. She hadn\u2019t realized, though, until that moment, how close it had been to where she\u2019d found Idrissi, and where Bevan had found her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Why did they have to look so excited about the violence they thought she was about to describe? Didn\u2019t they know how horrible it was to live through such a thing?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Her cousin Joey loved watching action movies with car chases and lots of crashes. She wondered if he\u2019d still find them so thrilling if he\u2019d ever been in a crash, himself. And\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Kyra\u2019s dreaming of a world with three suns because all you gave her were the parts of the story full of adventure and excitement, not the terror and anguish of the real thing.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cBefore I knew what was happening, there was this loud roar and the whole place shook, and then the lights went out. Everything got really quiet for a moment, and then I started hearing people screaming and crying, and calling for help. So I followed their voices. When I got back to the main intersection\u2014I\u2019d been in a side corridor\u2014there was this huge pile of rubble partly blocking the way and a man was pinned under some of it, crying out\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Sobbing for his mother. She had to stop for a moment, feeling nauseated.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHe was, um\u2026 the only one in the pile who was still alive\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI think,\u201d Davidov said after she paused again, \u201cthat this is all still much too fresh for you to talk about yet. I\u2019m sorry we imposed on you. In good news, though, Salman Idrissi is now in stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Marianne nodded, unable to meet their eyes for a moment. One battered life saved out of so many lost\u2026 she deserved no praise for that.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Dammit, get back in the role\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThe <i>Undine<\/i> has some excellent counseling modules,\u201d Nguyen said after a moment, her voice gentle. \u201cYou\u2019re under no obligation to use them, but it really is recommended after the kind of trauma you\u2019ve experienced. We\u2019d love your opinion about their effectiveness, in fact\u2026 please do use <i>all<\/i> the amenities on board so we can make sure they\u2019re all in good working order and improve on them if needed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">It was weird to have a professional directive to enjoy oneself, she thought as she was shuttled over to the <i>Nephrite Undine.<\/i> Its launch was still half a standard day away\u2014moved up, she learned, because she had arrived early enough for them to take advantage of an opening in the outward-bound schedule\u2014but she had been invited to get herself settled and learn her way around the command modules and recreational facilities while she waited. The urge to be alone, far from scrutiny and problematic sympathy, was strong enough that she had agreed immediately.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">They had outfitted her with several pairs of company coveralls and two pairs of work boots\u2014a good thing, she had realized, because her current pair had started to pinch and apparently her feet had grown a half-size during her almost one Standard month on Tangiers Prime\u2014and other basic necessities, before Abecassis had escorted her to a high-speed transit that would take her to the shipyards\u2019 shuttle bay. One short flight later and she was entering the airlock of the ship that would be her home for the next five months.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left:2em;margin-right:2em;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em\"><tt>Welcome to the Nephrite Undine. Please provide your Company Access Key.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She already had it in her hand, inserting it into the slot by the welcome screen.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left:2em;margin-right:2em;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em\"><tt>Welcome, Acting Captain Marianne Tepper. Please place your hand on the scanner for biometric scan.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Marianne\u2014she was still trying to get into the habit of thinking of herself by that name\u2014complied, adjusting the position of her hand as the system requested. The scan was for an internal database, which she already knew wouldn\u2019t be compared against any others that might include information about a missing girl named Audrey. General Toal had reassured her, just one Tangiers day earlier, that no biometrics related to \u201cJackie al-Walid,\u201d \u201cJane Doe 7439,\u201d or \u201cJack B. Badd\u201d remained on file anywhere.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left:2em;margin-right:2em;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em\"><tt>Palmprint and fingerprints recorded for right hand. Please place your left hand on the scanner.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She allowed it to scan her left hand, and then brought her eyes to a small panel so it could follow up with a retinal scan.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left:2em;margin-right:2em;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em\"><tt>Biometric identifiers complete. Please state your name and rank for voice-printing.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cMarianne Tepper. Acting Captain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left:2em;margin-right:2em;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em\"><tt>Thank you. Initial voice print completed. All voice-activated command systems are now online.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The inner airlock doors parted.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cWelcome, Acting Captain Tepper,\u201d<\/i> a soothing female voice said from a nearby speaker.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">It was easier to slip into the role the second time. \u201cThank you. Please call me Marianne. Can you please direct me to the crew quarters I\u2019ve been assigned?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cOf course, Marianne. Please follow the lit path to your right. As you are the only crew on this voyage, you have your choice of all quarters. I recommend the Captain\u2019s suite.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">It was on the tip of her tongue to say no, to insist on something small and spare, when she reminded herself that she was under orders to test the ship\u2019s amenities. Whoever took over command once the ship reached Deckard\u2019s World might appreciate her making sure that the Captain\u2019s suite was appropriately comfortable. In fact\u2026\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThank you. I\u2019ll start there, but I\u2019m going to rotate through all the crew quarters over the next five months. To make sure they\u2019re all in good working order for the next crew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cUnderstood. I\u2019m sure they will appreciate that.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">A captain\u2019s suite, as it turned out, contained a large bed, a dedicated workstation, and a private en suite bath. She settled her meager possessions in its space and called up the ship\u2019s schematics, looking for any changes from the ones she had already studied.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">There were only a few deviations, and it didn\u2019t take her long at all to figure out how they worked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Next, she went to the flight deck to introduce herself to the ship\u2019s <i>real<\/i> captain, or <tt>CaptAIn<\/tt>, and learn more about what its expectations from her were.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">What she really <i>wanted<\/i> to do was curl up in a ball and hide away from the \u2019verse forever, but she couldn\u2019t. She had too many responsibilities. She was trying to be grateful for that; the urge to simply lie in bed forever, the way she had tried to after Heather\u2019s death, was strong but not <i>possible<\/i> for her. Maybe, if she kept moving forward instead, the pain would recede.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Lying around like a corpse hadn\u2019t actually helped any the last time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Fortunately, Audrey had always been what her cousins, and some resentful classmates, called a \u201cgrind,\u201d and there was something a little <i>soothing<\/i> about the prospect of work to do.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cGood afternoon, Marianne,\u201d<\/i> <tt>CaptAIn<\/tt> said as she entered the flight deck. Its voice was male and had a hint of a British accent.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cGood afternoon\u2014isn\u2019t it evening now?\u201d The workday had been ending in the Headquarters when she\u2019d left Nguyen\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cIt is 1:30 pm on May 18, 2517, Federacy Standard Time. The Sirius Shipping Headquarters uses a 6-hour forward offset. Our departure is scheduled for 6 am tomorrow, or noon, Headquarters Time. Is there an offset you would prefer?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">How odd to think, again, that almost exactly a Standard month had passed, just a few hours short, since her landing on Tangiers Prime. It had felt far longer somehow, and so much more significant than her whole five-month stay on Helion Prime.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat time is it in New Marrakesh right now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cNew Marrakesh Local Time is 7:46 am. Is that what your body is currently accustomed to?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYeah\u2026 but I think I should try to make the switch to Federacy Standard Time after we\u2019re underway. Try to reset myself as fast as possible so I can be on a regular schedule. By the way, what should I call you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cMy designation is\u2014\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSorry, I wasn\u2019t clear. I know your designation\u2026 do you want me to just call you \u2018Captain,\u2019 or is there another name you\u2019d like me to use?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cI have not considered this. I suppose \u2018Captain\u2019 will be inappropriate after this run-in, when a human Captain is assigned to this vessel. I have not been given another name.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">That struck an odd chord for a moment. It reminded her of the <i>Apeiros,<\/i> who had no names either, and seemed to be awaiting a ritual, one that might never occur, to receive them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">At the same time, it felt awfully presumptuous to give him a name\u2014and with the voice Sirius Shipping had chosen for him, it was hard not to think of him as male\u2014when she really was just the ship\u2019s glorified <i>janitor\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cMaybe,\u201d she said after a moment, \u201cI should call you \u2018Captain,\u2019 because you really are the one in charge of almost everything here. And you can think of a personal name you\u2019d like to have for future journeys while we\u2019re flying to Deckard\u2019s World.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cThat is agreeable. I will give it some thought.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIf it\u2019s 7:30 pm Headquarters Time,\u201d she said after a moment\u2019s thought, \u201cI think I\u2019ll follow that clock for now. Is there anything you need me to do in preparation for tomorrow\u2019s launch?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cNot at the moment, no. Your attendance during the preliminary certifications is recommended, but not mandatory. Those begin at 3 am Federacy Standard Time, 9 am Headquarters Time. I see why you find Headquarters Time the most appropriate choice.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAfter the launch, do you want to help me work out the best schedule for my maintenance tasks?\u201d The faster she had a set schedule, the better, or the urge to turn into a sodden lump might take over.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cI would be happy to.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">There were, she learned, nine separate AI systems on the <i>Nephrite Undine,<\/i> all with punny designations that inserted \u201cAI\u201d into the words. She had already met <tt>mAItron<\/tt>, who handled communications and public relations in most of the public areas of the ship and had guided her to her quarters. In addition to <tt>mAItron<\/tt> and <tt>CaptAIn<\/tt>, there was <tt>AIngineer<\/tt>, who handled the propulsion and Star Jump systems. <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> ran the ship\u2019s offensive and defensive systems\u2014necessary, <tt>CaptAIn<\/tt> told her, due to a recent rise in piracy\u2014and might need her human authorization if lethal defense measures were required. <tt>mAIntenance<\/tt> was probably the system she would work most closely with over the next few months, and was in charge of upkeep on all mechanical and electronic systems. <tt>EntertAIn<\/tt> managed most of the recreational facilities and media libraries. <tt>CommissAIry<\/tt>, who ran the synthesis and preparation of food, apparently had a massive database of the cuisines that had developed across the Federacy and had a \u201cmolecular oven\u201d that allowed it to recreate any of them. <tt>SensAI<\/tt> functioned as a personal trainer within the physical area of the recreational facilities. Finally, <tt>First-AId<\/tt> handled the medical bay and was programmed to provide extensive counseling services in addition to virtually any medical procedure that might be required.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Marianne was impressed and found herself deeply curious about them. The reliance on AI for most of the ship\u2019s features and interfaces meant that it, and future ships like it, would be limited to traveling between the thirty or so systems that didn\u2019t have any restrictive anti-AI laws on their books. While a handful of the other worlds had enacted their laws in response to actual crises involving AI systems, the rest had done so either out of bigotry against robotic intelligence, or due to concerns that those intelligences were being <i>enslaved.<\/i> She idly wondered what the nine aboard the ship thought of those rationales. Maybe, at some point on the trip, she would ask them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She ate a simple dinner; her appetite hadn\u2019t recovered yet and there was no point in trying out any of the fancy cuisine <tt>CommissAIry<\/tt> had available if she couldn\u2019t appreciate it yet. Then she took a short walking \u201ctour\u201d of the ship, introducing herself to the rest of the AIs and asking each one the same question about choosing names for themselves.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">It was, she thought, a good thing that she had the AIs as companions, as well as the <i>Apeiros<\/i> watching over her. The prospect of spending five months with only herself for company would have been significantly harder to bear, now that she had confronted just who she really was. At least she had a role to maintain, a fiction of a well-adjusted adult woman to portray.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">After she asked <tt>First-AId<\/tt> to supply her with a sleep aid, to help her reset her circadian rhythm to Headquarters Time, she retired to the Captain\u2019s suite for the \u201cnight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She stayed in the <i>Apeiros<\/i> starfield for most of the time she slept, still afraid of the dreams that would come to her if she left it. It wasn\u2019t time yet to begin sleep-talk training with the neurofeedback device; not when she\u2019d taken a sedative and needed to wake up at a specific time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>They<\/i> still didn\u2019t understand why she was so upset, but they were willing to accept that she was, and that it wasn\u2019t something that could be soothed by arguments. At least, she thought, the terrible impulse to scream into the void had subsided. Weirdly enough, she hadn\u2019t heard a peep out of the Moribund in a while, and she\u2019d expected it to have <i>something<\/i> to say about her colossal fuckup.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Instead, she and the rest of the <i>Apeiros<\/i> talked about her upcoming Star Jumps.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>When you enter a new four-space, we will show you how to hold onto your connection to it,<\/i> they said. <i>After the first few, it won\u2019t take long with the others. Your five-shape will grow with each one.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She resolved to time her chore schedule around Star Jumps, to give herself as much time as she could for their project.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Part of her wondered if it was a good idea to do what they were proposing\u2026 but she still distrusted <i>herself<\/i> enough that following their lead seemed infinitely preferable. They had never hurt her, had never lied to her, and on at least one occasion, they had tried to protect her from herself.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She trusted them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Morning, Headquarters Time, dawned. She was a little groggy upon waking, but the fuzziness cleared off an hour before the preliminary certifications were due to start. After a quick breakfast, she visited with <tt>mAIntenance<\/tt> while she waited, getting acquainted with \u201chis\u201d part of the ship and looking over the systems she would be responsible for manually checking each day. She would need to do the same with <tt>AIngineer<\/tt> later. Finally it was time, and she returned to the flight deck.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWelcome back, Marianne,\u201d <tt>CaptAIn<\/tt> said as she walked in. \u201cHeadquarters would like to know your drink of choice for the launch ceremony. It\u2019s customary to have champagne, if you wish.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Audrey had tried champagne once, years earlier, when her cousins had swiped some small bottles from her aunt Suzanne\u2019s wedding. She hadn\u2019t been especially impressed, either by its taste or by her cousins\u2019 behavior after they had finished off the bottles. \u201cCould we substitute in <i>aseer kasab<\/i>, if you have any?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cOf course. I will have some prepared.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Breakfast had tasted normal, after all. She might enjoy having some sugarcane juice again. It was, she figured, a good thing that her appetite was returning; she could feel a dull ache in her shin bones that she\u2019d felt during her last growth spurt. Kyra had been right. She hadn\u2019t reached her full height yet.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Gonna make things a little complicated where my ID is concerned\u2026<\/i> It already said she was two inches shorter than she actually was now, but fortunately no one had remarked upon that. If she got much taller, though, the discrepancy would be too blatant to explain away.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The preliminary certifications went smoothly, all systems reporting in as ready for the launch. Through the front windows, Marianne could see an approaching Atmo Platform with several well-dressed people on board. They approached the nose of the ship, extending the atmo bubble to cover part of the hull, including her window. She waved to them and saw Nguyen and Davidov wave back, both smiling. Some of the others followed their lead. Abecassis didn\u2019t appear to be among the christening party.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Audrey had attended a few ribbon-cuttings on Deckard\u2019s World and had always been bored silly by them. If they became more exciting upon maturity, she definitely wasn\u2019t there yet, because the whole ceremony was dull as hell. She accepted the glass of <i>aseer kasab<\/i> that a small robotic steward brought into the flight deck for her, though, and joined the party in a toast through the window. It had been poured into a champagne glass, but its color made it obvious that it was something else.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>At least it tastes good\u2026<\/i> She suspected that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find on Deckard\u2019s World, especially since she wouldn\u2019t be able to risk drawing attention to any exotic interests and tastes she\u2019d developed while she was away.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Finally, with a ludicrous flourish, the CEO of Sirius Shipping smashed a champagne bottle against a specially reinforced part of the hull. Marianne dutifully cheered and clapped with the others. As the Atmo Platform pulled back, she watched the champagne freeze, crack, and float away from the hull.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cControl to<\/i> Nephrite Undine, <i>you will be cleared for departure in T-minus thirty seconds,\u201d<\/i> Abecassis\u2019s voice came over the speakers a few minutes later. <i>There<\/i> he was! Had <i>two<\/i> flight controllers been arguing the night before?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Sitting down in the command seat, she touched the comm button. \u201cRoger, Control. All systems are green.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She <i>could<\/i> have let <tt>CaptAIn<\/tt> handle the communications, but they had both decided that her inclusion in the dedication ceremony meant it would be more appropriate for her to reply.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">They would be going a <i>majestic<\/i> four knots until they cleared the shipyard gates, but she still strapped in. For the next half hour, she listened to the different observations the control room made about the ship\u2019s systems, answering questions on the rare occasions she needed to. This part, at least, was interesting. Not that she had any real plans for a career as a pilot, but\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cControl to<\/i> Nephrite Undine, <i>you have cleared the gateway. Begin your acceleration to cruising speed.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cRoger, Control. Course is set, ion drives are engaged, and we are initiating the acceleration profile.\u201d She hoped that Marianne Tepper sounded completely professional, and <i>experienced<\/i>, as she did all this. Of course, <tt>CaptAIn<\/tt> was doing all the <i>real<\/i> work; she was just acting as the mouthpiece.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cHappy trails, Marianne,\u201d<\/i> Abecassis added.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Annnnnd now she had to improvise.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThanks, Hamza. You take care, now.\u201d Hopefully that hadn\u2019t sounded too weird. Hopefully he would just be pleased she\u2019d remembered his personal name.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Marianne Tepper\u2014that was who she was now, wasn\u2019t it?\u2014leaned back in the command seat and tried to relax as the <i>Nephrite Undine<\/i> began its acceleration toward the edge of the Tangiers System and the first Star Jump on her voyage\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u2026Home?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">So why did she feel like she\u2019d just been <i>banished<\/i> from her home?<\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Title: The Changeling Game (Formerly Identity Theft) Author: Ardath Rekha Chapter: 59\/? Fandom: Pitch Black (2000); The Chronicles of Riddick (2004); The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (2004) Rat","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"\u201cThe Changeling Game\u201d 59: \u201cActing Captain Marianne\u201d","bgseo_description":"As she sheds the names she wore in the past and prepares to take back the name she was born with, the changeling once known as Jack B. Badd takes takes on a new name and role, and discovers that it\u2019s a good place to hide from herself.","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fan-fiction","category-the-changeling-game"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1168,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678\/revisions\/1168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}