Upon Vestia: Chapter Twenty-Eight

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"Cause Esk is lazy and he wants someone to wait on Dawn, even though he has a massive crush on her and could wait on her himself," James grumbled. "At least that's what I assume was his motivation," he amended. "Your brother is weird. So Dawn's probably okay and not infected, that's good at least."

Hytar nodded. "Very well." He took note of this particular Dragon's appearance, this would be his liaison after all.
"Five hundred dragonssss, to be essscorted to the mimossssa empire unlessss they dessssire otherwisssse, isss thissss correct?"

---

Mourn glanced around at the commotion, the movement distracting him from his computer. "What?" He looked at Helen, tilting his head. "Oh, she dragon too. They funny, like to look different sometimes. " he shrugged as if this was absolutely no big deal. He was way too used to magic now.

Helen looked from one android to the other and shifted back, now sitting where she had curled up. "It's alright, that is my true form. I simply shifted to it." She said calmly then sighed softly "My people are mostly slaves right now, the only way to be safe is to use another form like the Terran one I am in now. There are many of my kind on this ship now, so you will see them around as you explore, even little babies that are too young to shift. Be careful with them, they like to climb and may scratch you when playing since you are 'blank' telepathically to us. Just tell them to stop if they do and why, alright?"

~~~
"Five hundred dragons minimum and whatever other slaves are freed, unless they want to go elsewhere on their own." Starr said, reminding him of the other part. "Some will certainly wish to go and find their families instead of going to the safe place."

Travis was rather average looking as a Terran. Brown, shaggy hair over brown eyes and a face one could easily overlook, especially in a crowd. Nothing about him was something to draw attention, at least not now. He had mastered many disguises, both magical and mundane. He dipped his head to Hytar when the other stared at him.

Hytar nodded. "yesss yesss. Five hundred, and whatever other sssslavessss can be freed." His wording was vague intentionally.

Esk shifted uncomfortably, he wasn't so sure about all this.

Matt noticed James' looked worried and tried to catch his eye, mouthing the words 'you okay?'

---

"Yes yes, lots of dragons." Mourn waved a hand dismissively, the subject didn't interest him in the slightest. He went back to setting up the computer and put out a hand for the data cable.

The four androids all just gaped at Helen for a while.

"We were bought by a telepathic, shape-shifting dragon?" Carlos said a bit dizzily. He was still sitting down on the bed, he didn't want to move yet.

"I'd heard stories about such creatures, but I never thought we'd meet one," Mei said. "There are babies here too?"

Ivan stared at Helen for a while longer, then mechanically held out his data cable to Mourn.

~~
Asher frowned, watching Hytar. He felt like there was some trap in Hytar's wording to make the job as easy for him as possible, but Asher wasn't nearly a smart enough guy to see exactly what the trap might be.

James tried to figure out how best to tell the guy. Text him? Go over and whisper to him? Hmm. {Where's Rigel?} He tried mouthing to Matt.

Mourn took the cable and plugged it in, ignoring the whole conversation now and focused on the computer and the code.

---

Matt stared at James, nope, he wasn't at all good at reading lips. He shot him a bewildered look and nudged Ellie to get her attention. Maybe she was better at lip reading.

Ivan's system prompted Mourn to input a password and username, which Helen had probably been given when the androids were sold to her, the text on the screen saying that the password would give access to view files.

It also helpfully said that [Terran United does not recommend or endorse any third party modification firmware. Modifying your android with custom code modifications WILL void your warranty!]

~~
Ellie jumped, and followed Matt's gaze to look at James.

{Where's Rigel?} James tried again.

Ellie shook her head, she couldn't lipread that well!

James sighed, and got out his tablet to text the message to Ellie, hoping that her notification tone wasn't too obnoxious.

Mourn glanced over at Helen. "Need password." He told her. Well, he could hack it, but it was easier to just type the password in.

---

Matt frowned, well this was confusing. Hair Nigel? Wha?

Esk glanced over at the three of them, what the heck were these idiots up to now?
He tried to focus on his father, he didn't like how smug Hytar looked.

Starr nodded softly, glancing to James then to Matt and Ellie curiously before looking back to Hytar. "My people will help as much as they can to free as many slaves from each of the holds as is possible." She said, they would also be watching him.

~~
Helen looked to Mourn, getting up and going to put in the info it asked for, making sure Mourn could see in case he needed it again. "Yes, star dragons are telepathic and can change our forms." She confirmed for Carlos, looking to him again when she was done. "I won't hurt you, not on purpose anyway. I want you to be free, if you want it. You met the other group here, some of them are free and others aren't because they are not ready yet."

With the password entered, Ivan's system let Mourn in, giving him access to view files and tweak settings. The directory tree of files and indices was similar to the ones of the MegaBrainTech androids, but viewing the processes in Ivan's code would reveal that Terran United androids' thoughts processed very differently. Also even with the password input, the system was still read-only. Hmm.

"Star dragons, I've heard of them," Carlos said quietly. "They're all enslaved, aren't they?"

The androids all seemed reassured by Helen's words. A promise that they wouldn't be hurt, and the assurance that she wanted them to be free, was nice.

~~
Ellie's phone made a noise like an antique car horn. She squeaked and checked it hastily.

James looked sheepish.

Ethan glared at him.

"Have you seen Rigel?" Ellie whispered to Matt.

Tala watched Hytar. "You will not attempt to take advantage of the gratitude of the freed slaves and star dragons," she said, remembering what Lope and Eleven had mentioned while repairing Hytar's ship. "You will not attempt to convince them that they owe you a debt. The dagger is full payment for your services, and no star dragon will owe you more than that."

Mourn read through everything carefully, taking mental notes as he worked out how to get into debug mode. There was always a way to access code, it just involved some back doors.

---

Matt shook his head, frowning a little. He looked to James and shrugged, shaking his head again. He mouthed the word 'sorry'.

Hytar smiled to Tala. "They have free will do they not? I sssshall not assssk of them anything they do not wissssh to freely give. You can ressst asssured of that."

Mourn would be able to get into debug mode before too long, the option was hard to get to, but it was available for anyone who knew the right commands to give the system. There, it would be possible to change config settings, and even load new firmware. Of course, the three laws were behind a lot of additional security, and all the code that obeyed them was similarly protected.

~~
James nodded, looking unhappy. He wanted Rigel to be here, but more than that, he thought this might mean Rigel and Luka were still out there, which suggested they were enjoying each other's company, which meant maybe they were changing their relationship... James didn't want to think about that too much.

Ellie didn't look too worried, she went back to watching the meeting.

"I think you should add it to the contract," Tala said. She looked at Starr though, ultimately the details of the contract were her call, not Tala's.

Starr listened and nodded when Tala looked to her. "She is correct, this contract pays for your services, so no other debt will be owed. I will not however stop them from making smaller contracts on their own if they are so inclined.
~~~
"Not all, our queen and those here are working on freeing them. Some managed to stay free or get free on their own also, but now we are getting organized." Helen replied, going back to sit down again.

Mourn kept working, ignoring any of the conversation, searching through the code and working out what everything did and how to access whatever he needed to gain access too.

---

Hytar nodded. "of coursssse." He smiled a sickeningly smug smile.

Esk bristled a little, glaring at his father, trying to puzzle out what his plan was here.

Matt was kinda oblivious to the whole Rigel/Luka thing, or rather, he assumed Rigel was not interested so their absence mostly just concerned him with regards to their safety. Were they okay?
Maybe they'd come back tired and not wanted to come to the meeting? Or Luka had gotten into a fight and got herself arrested. Hmm.

Swarm settled near James, he looked worried and unhappy but they'd have to talk after this.

Asher shifted nervously. Hytar knew something they didn't, and after all he'd heard about Hytar from Esk and his brothers, that was unnerving.

Tala twitched her ears. "Good." She sniffed suspiciously. She liked Hytar, but she didn't trust him.

James smiled a bit forcedly at Swarm. He'd ask them about his worries after the meeting, they tended to know a lot of things.

~~
Carlos was fascinated. "So you guys are making an effort to free all the dragons. Doesn't that involve fighting a lot of magical beings?"

Unlike MegaBrainTech androids whose Laws interacted fairly directly with the android's mind to force them to obey, Terran United ones had, essentially, two separate operating systems that controlled their bodies. One being the OS that gave them a personality and the ability to understand complex ideas, the other OS being the one that followed the Three Laws, and took control of the android's body if the android tried to resist orders.

The OS that handled the Laws monitored the android's thoughts and actions, but any orders it decided to follow skipped the personality OS entirely and went straight to the android's body. There wasn't really a good way to block the Law OS from monitoring the android and periodically talking control.

And of course the Laws OS wasn't designed to be modified. Even for Mourn, who was crazy good with computers, trying to break into that code was likely to take many weeks of effort. By comparison, the MegaBrainTech androids had been easy.

Helen nodded then shrugged a little "We do have to fight magical beings at times, some of the others were involved in a war and learned well how to fight them. Of course that war was because they came to fight, not because our people here went looking for a fight. With the little ones here, we likely won't see any fighting unless they come to us and we have to defend ourselves." She said to assure them they wouldn't be looking for fights.
~~~
Starr glanced around again "Does anyone have anything else to add to this?" She asked curiously, wanting their input too.

Mourn muttered to himself, but he liked a challenge. He made notes, already planning how he'd go about overwriting that OS or figuring out a way to prevent it from overriding the personality system and thus just run in the background, useless.
His mind was whirling with ideas and chittering a little, he tapped away.

----

Matt shook his head, nope, he couldn't think of anything.

Esk looked suspicious, but he couldn't figure out what Hytar's scheme here was. "Get it in writing."

Hytar just smiled, extending a hand to his valet who handed him some paper and a pen.
"asss you wissssh."

Carlos nodded. He didn't totally get it, but at least it sounded like they might be safe for now.

"So is your queen hiring other people to free the dragons?" Tori asked. "Since this ship is trying to stay out of danger."

Breaking into the system would take a lot of sifting through code. If there was a way to get the darned Laws to stop interfering, it wasn't easy to spot.

Ivan watched Mourn work. "Do you really think it's possible?" He asked.

~~
"I have nothing to add, but I want to read the contract when it's written," Asher said.

"I desire all of this crew to read the contract," Tala said firmly. Except her, she couldn't read.

Mourn was too distracted to notice Ivan trying to speak to him, he was studying the code in minute detail, examining every little piece of it and running it through his computer brain. Though this was faster than an organic processing speed, it still was a lot of info to churn through. He knew this would take days, weeks even, perhaps even months but he wasn't one to quit.

---

Hytar nodded. "Of coursssse of coursssse." He started to write.

Helen looked over to Ivor then back to Tori, nodding. "Yes, they are working on making a contract. Ivor, remember that he is deaf, you have to get his attention and speak when he's looking at you."

~~
Starr dipped her head, waiting for the contract to be written so they could give it a final look over.

Ivan ducked his head. "Sorry ma'am, I guess I forgot."

Tori looked curious at the idea of them working on a contract, but didn't ask. "Do you think it's all right for me to work in the medical facility, ma'am?" She asked Helen instead.

~~
James fidgeted, watching Hytar writing.

"Don't use any invisible ink," Ellie called suddenly.

Hytar laughed at Ellie's paranoia. He was careful and precise in his writing, the script beautiful but very clear.

It summed up what they'd discussed. The wording quite careful.
Basically it stated that Hytar would liberate and transport at LEAST 500 Star Dragons and any other slaves that may be reasonably and realistically rescued at the same time.

The Star Dragons were to be transported to the Mimosa empire and left in the care of a friend of Starr's, unless they desired otherwise.

Hytar was not to expect or insist upon any further debts from the dragons or the crew of Vestia beyond what they willingly chose to give or had already been discussed.

His payment was to be a single Dakon dagger, to be given to him in advance of the job being undertaken.

He offered the paper to Starr "Anything you would like to add?" He asked.

---

Esk watched Starr now, she was fairly sensible right? She wouldn't let Hytar screw them over... he hoped.
He didn't look overly happy though. Something about his father's smirk really unsettled him.

Matt looked uneasy as well, but he did somewhat trust Starr's judgement. She was at times a little too eager to believe in the goodness of people, but this was her people and her contract, she'd make sure it was all okay yeah?
He didn't know nearly enough about contracts or law to offer any advice anyway.
He looked to Ellie and Shane.

Silence, sitting quietly in the corner just watched and waited for this to be done with. Honestly she was kinda bored by all this talk of terms and conditions.

Swarm remained with James, humming softly.

Helen looked to Tori again and smiled "Oh, you are trained as a medic, that's wonderful. We can use more medics on board. We have James, Dawn, Asher and Dawn now, two of them are androids too, though not fully trained as medics. Dawn is the only fully trained doctor we have right now. Kay has training, though mostly for his own kind." She explained.

~~~
Starr read it over, satisfied with the terms as they were written, then passed it to the others so they could give it a look over if they wanted.

Asher looked at the contract carefully, but didn't see anything wrong with it. He had read a bit about laws recently, but he sure wasn't a lawyer. "It looks all right to me," he said quietly.

Tala watched but didn't read the contract. Hey, she couldn't read.

James only glanced at the contract briefly, he was mostly good at unskilled labor, not law, before handing it on.

Ethan read carefully, mostly because he was curious, and passed the contract in without comment.

Ellie read carefully, not that it made much sense. "I think it's okay," she said.

~~
Tori smiled softly. "I'm glad. If they're good people, it might be nice to take up my old job again."

Matt read it, shrugged, he had no idea.
This was all Starr had stated right?

Esk practically snatched it off his brother and read over it, frowning. He wasn't a lawyer, he also wasn't as much of a bastard as his father so figuring out what loopholes he'd left himself, and Esk knew he must have, was a bit tricky for him.
He shook his head. "What do you mean by reasonable and realistic?" He asked.

Hytar smiled. "Precsssisssely what it ssssayssss, if it is neither reassssonable nor realisssstic to ressscue the non dragonssss, resssst asssssured, they will not remain ssslavessss."

"you mean you'll kill them right?" Esk asked dully.

Hytar waved a hand dismissively. "Better dead than a ssslave, isss that not what the Imperium ssssay?" He smirked.

Esk grit his teeth.

"You have to at least try to save them!" Matt protested.

"Oh I sssshall, I ssshall, but the priority isss the dragonsssss issss it not? Freeing every sssslave from a location issss quite difficult and quite time consssuming, the longer we sssspend doing sssso, the more rissssk there issss that thosssse we have already ressscued will be killed or recaptured. Isss that what you want?" Hytar smiled to Matt.

Matt wilted under that one eyed gaze. Damnit, he had a point. He nodded slowly.

Esk grumbled and handed the contract on to whoever was nearest.

----

Mourn tapped away a bit more, then turned to Ivan. "It complicated." He declared. "United system work different to Megabrain. Take time decode, work out way in. " He nodded. "Like challenge, will fix robot, just no today." Nope, he wasn't admitting defeat, he'd solve this just like he'd solved the megabrain code and the 8s block.

James shifted uncomfortably. 'Better dead than a slave' was a phrase that bothered him every time he heard it. "You don't have to intentionally target them. If you leave them alive, they have the chance to be free later," he said. "I don't know about anyone else, but I wouldn't choose death if there was even a chance I might get freedom someday."

Ethan gave James a glare. "Then again, nobody ever tortured you, so maybe you shouldn't be speaking for people who can be tortured. Trust me, after the first couple times, a quick death sounds like a fucking blessing. If these guys can't rescue everyone, they sure as hell shouldn't leave them alive."

James winced and looked at the table.

~~
Ivan frowned, but nodded. "That makes sense. Thank you for trying Sir, we'll hope for the best."

Matt frowned.

Esk shrugged and nodded. He agreed with Ethan.

"A merciful death is preferable to a lifetime of pain" Swarm bobbed up and down.

"Still, give them a chance. Everyone deserves a chance at freedom right?" Matt suggested.

"not everyone." Esk countered.

"Alright, all the people who've been kept as SLAVES deserve a chance to be free." Matt glowered at his brother.

Hytar chuckled at all this. "Of coursssse, and they sssshall get a chance. All reasssonable effortssss will be made, assss the contract sssstatesss." He didn't bother to clarify what he considered reasonable though.

---

Mourn grinned. "I good at fix robots, I find a way."

Helen smiled and nodded at Tori "If it is something you like I am sure we can give you that job, right Vestia?"

~~~
Shane looked at the contract curiously then shrugged and nodded "As the dragons are freed, they can help with freeing the others." He said, handing the contract off to whoever was next.

"Exactly" Starr said softly, looking around. "My people have hope again, one thing that has been lacking in the last century or so."