Memoirs of a Timelord (24 page)

       But now that I was a mature student, just a few decades from my own internship, I had the technical savvy to know what the hell I was doing with her controls.  The system let you configure the interface like you were editing her DNA.  It didn't really work to that finite degree, but if you had the skills to wield such an interface, there was a lot you could do.  My boring old tutor was really quite a complex gal.  For some reason the Boss had left her on default settings all these years.

       I had two near-fatal crashes of her system before I got her transferred to a new fluidic controller and added a morphic energy cell.  I was happy to have her stabilized because it meant I could start loading her engrams and base personality tracks.  She already had a massive knowledgebase so what I needed to give her was the wherewithal to be able to understand what it all really means.  No sooner had I done that than I saw that her matrix needed to be expanded.  Out of the box Didra had about ten thousand decision-settings, but true living beings are driven by so many more factors than simple configurations.  I had to increase her capabilities until she was on par with a human.  Actually, on most developed worlds humans would be considered short-bus candidates, so she needed to be better than human.  I had to cram a lotta stuff into that fluidic frame of hers.  

       Finally I had to just rip it all off and go to level V morphic material because it would allow her to incorporate random matter into her matrix as she needed to maintain sufficient mass for the components I was stitching into her.  With polymorphic parts it's a little hard to explain because they have no form.  It's really more of a molecular lattice that is woven into the morphic flesh.  You can change the pattern, or structure the layout of the sub-atomic particles.  But some layers can't be too close to each other; for instance power and logic have to be specially layered to occupy the same area.  Think of it this way; you are building an atomically distributed system so that she can change shape at will.  If you used solid state components then she would only be able to move within the confines of those physical components.  But if you distribute her devices a few molecules here and a few there, she can rearrange herself all she wants as long as the lattices remain intact.  Am I making sense to you?  

       So by the time I had her the way I wanted her, she stood five foot nine, red hair, and had this whole ethnically-ambiguous look going on.  She was smarter than any three PHDs combined, and could emulate over a million different species.  Yet still, she had the social intellect of a cow.  I went over those systems a thousand times, and when I say a thousand, I really mean 1,024 times.  I just couldn't understand why underneath it all she was still just boring old Didra.

       I realized that I had been working on this pet project for over two years when I finally stopped to take a break.  I'd been circular on so many problems that I was losing track of where I was in the project.  Imagine that, even with quantum processing abilities I was getting frazzled.  It was like playing too many games of MahJongg in a row.  Pretty soon all you see are frickin' schematics and logic plans.  I had to get away from it for a while.

       So we jump in my Hot Rod and blast our way over to Morbesta's place.  He'd promised me a peek at something new he had on the show room floor.  It was good to get out into open space.  Sort of a Sunday drive with Didra. She stared out the window like a little kid the entire way to Morby's place, so I took the scenic route.  We scare some traffic cops, violate a patch of restricted airspace, and outrun three cruisers, but otherwise the trip was uneventful.  

       Morbesta looked like shit.  I don't need my fancy DuNai eyes to see that the guy is being eaten alive by cancer.  I suddenly feel bad because I'd neglected him for so long.  Some kinda friend I was, here he is using his last breath to build me a new fluidic hot rod, and I've been so busy I haven't stopped by to see him in a three years.  It may seem like a drop in the bucket to me, but to a corporeal being it's a helluva chunk of time to not see someone who claims to be a friend.  Fuck, he really looked bad.  How bad?  Bad enough to make me say stupid shit like this little gem:

       "Sir, you know what I do for a living.  Either Master DorLek or I would be proud to have you work for us for as long as you choose to walk this plane of existence." I said it with a tear in my eye.  I was seeing Roxy all over again.  I had these great powers, yet I still had to watch people die.  

       "No!" He waved an angry finger as his lip curled.  "Do not even hint of this sacrilege."

       "I'm not talking about Ouija boards and satanic chanting, just harvesting you from the dead like you were brand new.  Nothing but Mister Science here." I made a gesture like a magician showing I had nothing up my sleeves.

       "Heresy!" He objected in a way that surprised me.  The old guy was never big on church that I knew of, but then again I had no idea what religion Morby even subscribed to.  It wasn't the kinda thing we talked about when I was at his place.  But when he slammed the door in my face I was a little stunned.  Standing there with Didra I did not fully understand the rookie mistake I had made.  

       "Two actually." The Boss corrected me from across the path.  "Your first mistake was not considering his frame of mind.  Morbesta is unusually faithful of late because imminent death often does that to people.  Had you consulted the Derre Gospel you would have known that the mere whisper of reincarnation is contrary to the teachings of Zaire and therefore heresy.  To even consider the possibility in your own mind is regarded as a menial sin.  Speaking of it is unheard of."  DorLek detached himself from the wall he had been leaning against and walked over to me.

       "And the second mistake?" I asked.

       "Asking him." The Boss was matter-of-fact.  "Timelords have domain over the dead.  They are our chief resource.  You do not negotiate on the living side of the equation.  We take them after their life is spent and they have faced their own demise, take them when the bargaining power is in our hands, and then we negotiate from a point of strength.  No, strike that.  We don't negotiate.  Temporal Editors present a deal and the harvested soul takes it.  No one ever wants to go back where they came from.  Don Corleone referred to this as the offer you can't refuse."

       "But if I harvest him and then he refuses the deal, then I'm forced to put his obstinate ass down for good.  I just don't know if I could do that to Morby." I wined a little, knowing it would have no effect on the Boss.  Across from me he only shook his head sadly.

       "Again, had you studied the theological literature of his people you would know that they regard the sanctity of life as absolute.  To have a life, regardless of how you obtained it, would be a gift from the Gods and therefore sacred."

       It popped in my head as I blurted out the answer aloud.

       "So if I brought him back, he couldn't reject the deal because that'd be suicide and a mortal sin in his Val Halla.  He'd have no choice but to set up shop and live his life out again." I smiled as I saw it all fit together neatly.

       "Assuming he is willing to work for a blasphemer like you.   You would be the one who sullied his spirit by your unholy act, how could he work for anyone like that?  Besides, he's pretty obstinate.  Even if he did take the deal, he would likely be more trouble than Dorat Tuva." The old guy cautioned me.

       "Y'know, you were right, I shoulda read the holy books first.  I think I have a way to make it all work out right.  According to the Book, the way I should go is hostages." I Gave the Boss a wink.

       "Very good.  He will want to have his family about him.  Adding that to the dowry could make him a loyal asset for a millennia or more.  You do not have a master craftsman in your cabinet yet.  He will be a good addition." DorLek took the rare act of throwing an arm over my shoulder.  I could tell he was new to the tradition.  

       "I'd been thinking about putting together my crew.  I have a few picked out as prospects, but I was figuring that I would wait to shop until I got home." I gave a snarky grin.

       "Good help is where you find it.  Never pass up an opportunity to pick up specialists wherever you can." 

       And with that, the DorLek vanished.  Here one second, gone the next. He was the most temporally efficient being I ever met.  The Boss never wasted a second.

       So there I am; my mechanic won't talk to me.  My boyfriend dumped me, my girlfriends are gone, and my robot still doesn't work right.  Shit fuck hell penis dammit crap!

       

       I muddled on from there, adding little bits of personality to Didra between Medical school and advanced Factorization.  I still had years of training, then my residency phase for thirty or forty years.  I woulda felt bad about abandoning her half-done but I was fracking busy.  Sure I have infinite time and I could go back to school anytime I wanted to, but I'm also a little OCD so I have a hard time leaving a thing undone.  In fact, it bothers me more to dodge a project than to just go and do the damned thing.  Yes, I'm one of those people, the ones who have to fiddle with a thing until its perfect.  Now with my enhanced brain, it is virtually impossible to conveniently forget about some work.  I've tried, but the Onkx is too good.  Sometimes I wonder who the damned thing really works for.  Me or the Boss?

       Anyhow, I'd been in & out of the house.  The Boss had five new students living there now, so I avoided the noobs.  They always had so many questions, and DorLek preferred to reveal these things in his own way, so I stayed out of sight.  

       I was walking past the living room when I passed the FNGs.  They were Feljor so the atmosphere was hydrochloric gas throughout the house.  I was just modifying my skin to the environment when I noticed there were now six students chatting in the living room.  I was almost ready to ignore the addition when my eyes revealed to me that the new Feljor female was actually Didra, morphed to match.

       I pretended to keep going, Didra's detection systems were pretty good so I had to be sure and come back fully phased if I wanted to spy on her.  I hung around for a few hours and listened to their talking.  Mostly I was curious what Didra was contributing to the conversation.  It took a while but I finally managed to nail down the topic that fascinated her the most; stories about each of their home worlds.  What struck me the most about the whole scene was that Didra had this deep-rooted desire to learn.  Sure, everything else she rendered was what I had plugged into her, but the desire to learn more was genuinely her own.         Then it hit me.  Didra had fantastic knowledge of all things in the universe.  What she didn't have was any firsthand experience in any of these places that filled her brain.  In fact, she'd only ever left the house that one time when I took her to Morbesta's.  That's when I realized that she was dying to get the hell outta the house.  

       So I started to travel with my girl in tow.  She actually made a pretty good assistant.  Smart enough for complex duties, yet strong enough to beast her way through the assholes.  She was the whole package.  I didn't even have to feed her since she had solar cells in her skin.  The more places I dragged her to, the happier she seemed to get.  

       I could see her coming alive with each new experience.  Along the way she was picking up food and culture along with the breathtaking sights that we Temporal Editors are privy to.  It wasn't long before I was making side trips to show her some of the cool places I'd discovered in my travels.  She loved these detours and would bug me for more.  

       Didra had such a hunger for these new places and experiences that it didn't take long for the side trips to start interfering with the main trip.   I had tons of work to do before I started my residency, and she was driving me nuts about taking a trip or a vacation, or mebbe go see the next galaxy over...what's it like? Can we play in the gas giant?  I would have put an end to it but the mother in me just couldn't get enough of that look she got on her face when I showed her something truly amazing.  She had this gleam in her eye that made me so proud.  I just didn't have the heart to put the kibosh on her exploration.  So instead I gave her my hot rod and ordered her to go and see it all.  Or at least what could be reached in a Slipspeed class vessel.  I felt a little like a stupid bumper sticker as I watched her fly away; 

If you love something set it free. 

If it doesn't come back then it was never yours in the first place.

       But really, that's what I was doing, wasn't I?  Setting my little robot free to go find herself in a fast ship?  

       I didn't see her again for a few years.  I was busy with medical school, Industrial Development training, World Finance, and doing a stint as a lawman.  No, I did not misspeak; for my Species finals I had to...not be a law woman, let's just leave it at that.  I don't wanna talk about it. Okay?

       Although I picked up snippets about her in the Guf, I had enough on my plate to make me forget about my Didra until she showed up one day at the house.  

       She looked different as she leaned up against the battered transport that she had morphed the hotrod into.   My eyes were telling me all sorts of interesting things about the mods she had done to my old ship.  To say the changes were interesting would be like saying the X15 was a neat airplane.  Some of the work she had done to the vehicle was downright fascinating.  For instance, she had duplicated the systems in such a way that the ship could split into multiple craft, each managed by Didra's incredibly powerful mind.  She could be her own attack squadron.  Seemed pretty cool to me anyhow.

       What really caught my eye was the cloaking assembly.  It was massive, like you would use if you wanted to pretend to be a moon or planetoid.

       "Didra girl, what'd you do to the family station wagon?" I kidded her as I ran a hand over the hot rod.