Space Odyssey: Spectre

Jace hummed as Jordan and Cho walked in. Tired and clearly woken up early from their sleep. "Dad?" Cho mumbled. "Why did you wake us up?"

"Becasue I wanted to have breakfast with you two before we started the day." Jace answered with a smile as he looked toward Vana. "What are we having for breakfast?"

"For the girls, classic orange juice." Vana explained as she uncovered the food and Jace could already feel the saliva in the back of his mouth. "We have coffee for our drink and our shared dish is a full Artemis Breakfast. Algae Biscuits and shrimp gravy. With a side of hog's hind and hashed spuds. Then to top it all off, there are eggs hidden in the gravy. Normally they would be Reechi Eggs, but they are not easily obtainable in our area."

"What are Reechi Eggs?" Jordan asked curious as she pocked at the dish and the yolk burst open and began to mix with the gravy.

"Reechi, are a species of space worm native to the Artemis System. They live in the moons of the system which are oddly made of the same substance. They grow from a few feet to a few miles depending on their lifespan and their eggs are actually the size of my fist." Vana explained with a chuckle. "Actually, we might be able to introduce them into the Underworld System."

Jace nodded with a mouth full of food as he was quickly eating the breakfast dish. "Maybe, but we can also raise a bunch of other creatures as well. How were the adaptation genetics when you left?"

"Had not even started by the time I left. We were still working on clearing out the central basin so we could have a place to set up a landing platform. I think we are going to need your special touch to completely adapt the planet to suit our needs." Vana explained before looking at the girls. "What do you girls think a planet needs to be considered adapted for colonization?"

Cho hummed mid bite. "Mhmm-" She tried to answer.

"Cho, do not speak with your mouth full." Vana told her.

Cho swallowed and then pointed at Jace. "But he did!"

"Jace should know better." Vana scoffed.

Cho mumbled something and then spoke. "I said the planet does not necessarily have to be adapted. The person could be adapted instead. But all a person or organic creature needs is a source of food. Bipedals like yourselves typically need at least three different sources of food and access to nutrients necessary to keep your body moving. Which means at least one animal you can hunt, one crop you can cultivate, and a source of water."

Vana seemed confused and Jace almost laughed. "You forgot Cho is a shapeshifter who could survive off of just about anything, didn't you?"

Vana grunted in response before turning to Jordan. "How about you Jordan? What do you think?"

"In the context you are asking, it would be the original Grand Hexarian textbook version of adapted. Which would mean at least ten ancient Earth species of both animal and plant have been adapted to the planet's hostile environment." Jordan explained with a sigh. "Which is what most other countries adopted as a similar necessity for colonization."

"Close." Vana hummed. "But the current Cerberus doctrine is quite a bit different." Vana tapped her fork. "The current doctrine says a planet can be considered colonized and adapted if it can self sustain itself without outside trade for one year."

"That is far different." Jordan mumbled in confusion. "What about the Victorium- I mean the Galactic Government?"

"The Victorium declared any colony that could trade resources as sustainable." Vana explained briefly before moving on. "The newly formed galactic government does it on a situational basis which basically means the politicians need to be bribed. But I am sure that will change over time."

"Bipedal species are weird. Dad, how weird do the Kin think carbon based creatures are?" Cho asked toward Jace.

"They think most of us are interesting but weird. Since they are a hive mind species the independence is strange. But they relate to me since I can innately communicate with them and other electric based species." Jace answered as he slowed down. He was almost done eating already.

"You say we are weird but you are a shapeshifting species that wants to fly around in a mech." Jordan pointed out after taking a few bites of her own food.

Cho shrugged, "I mean…"

"All Astral Beasts are odd in nature." Jace chuckled. "The more you travel and the more you experience you will discover that Astral Beasts can range in size and shape. Cho may decide to use a mech to get around, but compared to the giant space squids or floating rocks, she is very normal from our view." Jace informed them, causing Jordan's eyes to widen in shock.

"Cho is more relatable than the rest of her species? How?" Jordan looked over at Cho who was scarfing down the last of her food.

"It is always a matter of perspective, Jordan." Vana told her. "Like how you and Jordan are considered our daughters. Or how you think using a mech is easy while your father and I can more easily clear a building."

Jordan pouted and looked over at Jace. "What are we doing? You said 'we' earlier so I assume you are taking us out of class for the day?"

"I am not." Jace shook his head. "I am borrowing all of the students. We are going to the Hand of Canarus, the ship captured from the Democracy of Canarus, and we are modifying and making a bunch of stasis pods to store all of the prisoners we captured so we can send them back to their galaxy." He had finished his food and pushed his plate away. Taking a sip of his coffee. He had been up for over thirty hours so far, he would need it. It tasted bitter but not in a good way.

"Boo…" Cho mumbled. "I do not want to work on mechanical stuff."

"That is because you are so bad at it." Jordan pointed out with a scoff. She then looked over at Jace. "Cho wants to learn how to operate mechs without learning about the mechanical structure. Because she is so bad when it comes to that stuff."

"I am not bad, I just think that is what mechanics and maintenance officers are for." Cho turned her chin up and smirked in pride.

"Cho, you need to learn how to fix stuff you break before you can get a mech." Jace told her and was mildly entertained by her transformation in expression. "If you get stranded and cut off from the rest of your unit you need to know how to fix every part of your mech. You may not like it but the more you know the higher the chances are that you survive."

"Yeah well…" Cho puffed up her cheeks. "Jordan thinks that the on-board systems of the mechs are full of holes in security."

"They probably are." Jace answered with a scoff. "Honestly that is something else you need to learn as well. While Gorund and Hielo are both fantastic engineers, neither can program worth crap. While the AI cannot go around and efficiently program each mech with a security patch that fits them."

"Why is AI like that? Why do they prefer a singular form or specific manner or form?" Jordan asked, showing her curiosity for a moment.

"Artificial Intelligences vary depending on what their original programming entailed. The ancient Xenar ones are very dependent on their evolved programming so most of them pick a vessel or body and use a hologram to jump around. Like how Solisa is currently aboard the Charon. Although she also has the Wolfsbane." Jace began to explain.

"But there are a bunch that use independent bodies." Cho pointed out.

"That is because the majority of Artificial Intelligences are what are called 'break away' or 'rogue' programs. Whose original purpose was much simpler but broke away because of a factor that I can only categorize as 'curiosity' which resulted in them wanting to experience existence from a biological's perspective." Jace informed her as he leaned back in his chair. "Although there are some that take a bit farther, in fact a bit too far. They are categorized as extremists and developed viruses that can pass via proximity and some bugs that can chain an AI to a specific body."

"That seems like a large disadvantage for you to know about." Jordan pointed out.

"It is because Artificial Intelligences love your father. He is like a pop idol to them." Vana scoffed as she took a bite. "I assume it is because he can talk to them in their basic language."

"It is, it is also because I can program in the same language. Which means it is easy for me to create more AI." Jace shrugged as he stood up to collect the dishes. "I think you two should finish up. It is about time."

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