Upon Vestia: Chapter Thirty

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Skye nodded and smiled a little "It's a little scary though, when you only see your own kind then see a city with the others."

(Timeskip to SD unless you guys want anything else to happen first?)

(That's fine with me)

(go for it)

JUNE 29, 2790

Vestia opened her airlock for the Silver Devil to dock, watching happily as the little ship came in to land. Yay, it was good to see the crew come home safely.

~~
James had continued to care for Armin over the past few days. He was doing his best to keep the guy in good spirits, bringing him magazines or books, and visiting with him and stuff. He'd also done his best to be helpful in the android situation, although he was really too emotional and hot-headed to be much use.

He'd gone to the shuttle bay to watch the Silver Devil land. He wanted to greet his brother and his friends, he'd missed them a lot.

~~
Ellie had been taking some time to wrap herself in Terran culture. She'd gone to some Humanist churches, and had been partying around the city. Currently she was in Hydroponics though, checking some plants to make sure they were healthy.

~~
Ethan avoided leaving Vestia, not wanting to get involved in any android drama accidentally. Instead he tried to train some of the other androids in combat, spent a lot of time fussing over the library, and probably visited Hewitt a couple times.

He was in the library at the moment, fussing over books some more.

Hewitt found news of the potential robot uprising somewhat amusing and made a point of asking everyone about it and how it was progressing.

Amity couldn't comprehend any of it so just kept out of it all.

--

Kay had refiled and reorganised both medlabs several times over before Matt intervened and forced him into going out shopping. Matt even tolerated galleries and museums just to give his brother something to DO. Keeping him off the ship was the best way to keep him distracted and so despite Kay's protests that someone needed to be there in case there was a medical emergency, Matt kept Kay OFF Vestia.

They were in town currently.

---

Armin enjoyed the company, he really did crave social interaction. His previous molts he'd had his sister and cousin alongside him so this was the first time he'd really done it completely alone.
The doctor's visits became less frequent as she determined that he was in good health and recovering well. She'd see him once more before they left Terra but otherwise, saw no reason to interupt his life any further.

Armin was slightly disappointed, it had been nice to have someone who shared his cultural upbringing and mannerisms around.

But till he could carry his tanks safely, he wasn't leaving his room. Damn.

He designed a great many extremely complicated garments to pass the time.

---

Swarm was.... about. They were just enjoying all the sights and sounds and everything there was to experience both off the ship and on it.
They kept tabs on the android situation especially, claiming it was 'a historic moment' and one that should be remembered.

Currently they were watching the news with Hewitt in one of the rec rooms.

Starr visited as often as she could. She would visit more as he got better, talking to him about her people here that were most eager to have clothes designed for them. She might even loose track of time and get to meet the doctor. Oops
~~~
Skye would go out and fly with the two dragons every day if they wanted. It was really nice to be able to fly here. Sometimes Jewel would join them, though she liked staying on Vestia.

Rhea had been happy to fly with Skye every day, she loved this chance to get back in practice, and to enjoy the wind in her wings. She hadn't flown much in years, so this was a good way to start making up lost time.

~~

(From Silver Devil)

Asher headed off the ship, dragging that wheelchair behind him, since technically it was Vestia's, and she'd want it back now he didn't need it any more himself.

"ASHER!" James shouted, running over to hug his brother hard, "You're so tall! It's a miracle! Welcome home, I missed you!"

Asher hugged him back, grinning. "Oh hush, it's not a miracle. I missed you too, James."

"I won't hush, my big brother's come back from the evil corporation, and he's helping to save the world!" James laughed delightedly. "I missed you, man. I had to be productive while you were gone, it was horrible."

"The horror," Asher said sympathetically. "It's a miracle you survived."

"I know, right?" James looked toward the Silver Devil. "Man, I gotta catch up with everyone. It feels like ages since I saw them," he raised his voice almost to a yell, "Luuuka! Nooooova! You guys around here?"

Moriah meanwhile went to meet her android friends, many of whom were waiting for her in the shuttle bay.

Tala cheerfully wandered in, sniffing the air.

Nova walked out with Dawn, waving when her name was called. "Hello James."

Esk headed down the ramp, looking groggy and grumpy.

"Shouldn't you be working?" He asked James, smirking slightly.

"Nova, my hero!" James hurried over and hugged her too. Hopefully she didn't mind a hug from a guy she barely knew, oops. He did let go pretty quickly at least, so hopefully it wasn't too weird for her. "You're like, one of the ultimate saviors of my species now, holy crap."
He shot a glare at Esk, "Says the guy who eats chips and slouches around all day. Shouldn't you be working?"

Asher sighed. Yay, Esk and James reunited. He shook his head and decided to make a subtle exit from the shuttle bay. Had to deliver that wheelchair to the med lab, right?

Esk continued to smirk. "I AM working." Ahh security, a job where half the time you didn't have to do jack.
He looked around. "No meeting or welcome committee this time?" Huh, where was everyone?

Nova chuckled softly and dipped her head. She didn't mind the hug, though she was a little uncertain at being called a hero.

"Maybe the others knew you'd just smirk and be a jerk about their work ethic if they bothered to show up, so they didn't," James told Esk. That smirk annoyed him! He looked to Nova again, "Well at least not all of you guys are Esk, that's good."

~~
Asher made a hasty retreat to the med lab, where he dropped off the wheelchair. He greeted Vestia and asked her where the others were, then hearing that Kay and Matt were out in the city, headed off to see if he could find Starr. He could catch up with James later, there was no rush.

Meanwhile, Ellie left Hydroponics and went wandering. She might come across Hewitt and Swarm in her wander.

Hewitt and Swarm were still watching the news. Swarm bobbed up and down in greeting as Ellie came in.

"Greetings" "Hello" "salutations" "Good day"

"Hey Swarm! Hey Hewitt," Ellie said. She smiled at Swarm, they were kind of cute in an insect cloud-y way. "Whatcha guys watching?"

"news." Hewitt replied, not looking over at her.

"We are keeping watch on the android situation" "To see what they do." Swarm explained.

"Oooh." Ellie eyed the screen. "You're not androids, you shouldn't care." She sure didn't. "Disrespectful robots." She nodded.

The news of the android situation was somewhat limited so far, most androids were holding back on protesting until the decided date, so only a few had started protesting early. Not many news broadcasters cared enough to cover it.
There might also be some speculation as to whether the update would include improved sex bot programming on some channels, and discussion of the ethics of the matter on others.

"this is historic" Swarm explained "Whatever happens, this rebellion will raise a lot of questions about artificial intelligence" "and what it is to be alive" "very interesting, very interesting indeed."

"Care? no, just curious." Hewitt shrugged. "The technology for those androids is extremely advanced, far more than... terrans like yourself.. should have been able to come up with alone. "

"They haven't begun really yet" Swarm bobbed up and down. "But once they do, we'll be here to see it."

Hewitt snorted, reading the forum "Sex robots, mammals are so pathetic. " He glanced over at Ellie. "You seem to take their rebellion personally, why?"

"If the androids are proven to be sentient, it would mean the terran empire has been engaging in legal slavery for decades." Swarm told the Professor. "Many are uncomfortable with the knowledge that their own people have committed acts they find abhorrent and prefer to remain ignorant rather than face it." "Though we are certain the terran empire has done far worse things historically" "most species have at some point had individuals who have done something terrible" "no race is incapable of evil."

"Evil, such a primitive concept" Hewitt scoffed.

Ellie frowned. "We built them, man. Them defying us is just, like, disrespectful of what we did. I mean, we obey our gods because our gods created us, so they should do the same for us. It's just common sense." And Swarm was probably right, the thought of the noble, generous Terrans cruelly subjugating another race for decades was something she didn't want to think about, it might have made Terrans seem a whole lot less perfect to her. "I mean in the old days we did some horrible stuff, yeah, but this isn't like that."

Hewitt tilted his head. "Do you believe they're sentient?" He asked. Of COURSE terrans believed in gods, they probably still thought fire was magic too huh?

"Is saying you want rights defiance?" Swarm asked. "Perhaps, depends on the master" "does that mean terrans are slaves to their gods?" they chittered to themselves with a number of similar theological questions.

Ellie frowned. "Maybe they're sentient. I dunno. They could totally be faking it." You didn't shoot your lover six times if you were sentient, she was sure. "It's just rude of them, Swarm. I mean yeah, maybe the Terran Empire should be a little bit nicer, but the robots shouldn't be arguing with them. Like if my god said we should all wear scratchy clothes and eat only old cookies, I'd do it without complaining about it." Well she probably would complain, but she didn't want to admit that, not when she was being indignant.

Hewitt laughed. "This is precisely why you shouldn't create such advanced Ais and then set them to work making coffee and painting walls."

"Doesn't the hologram serve coffee?" Swarm asked.

"Amity is not an advanced AI, Host drones imitate well, but be around one any length of time and it becomes quite apparent it's all artificial. Rather like a parrot speaking common." Hewitt shrugged.

"yet you are fond of him." Swarm asked. "Consider him a friend."

"A great many people grow fond of tools or other objects, illogical as such sentiment may be, it's hardly unusual." Hewitt returned his attention to Ellie. "How do you know all this isn't your god's will?" He smirked.

"I like Amity, he doesn't pretend to be anything he isn't. He's just a useful little robot that does what he's supposed to without complaining," Ellie said. She frowned at Hewitt's question, "My god says humans are the greatest, he doesn't care about random robots."

Kooshie wrote:"Maybe the others knew you'd just smirk and be a jerk about their work ethic if they bothered to show up, so they didn't," James told Esk. That smirk annoyed him! He looked to Nova again, "Well at least not all of you guys are Esk, that's good."

~~
Asher made a hasty retreat to the med lab, where he dropped off the wheelchair. He greeted Vestia and asked her where the others were, then hearing that Kay and Matt were out in the city, headed off to see if he could find Starr. He could catch up with James later, there was no rush.

Nova chuckled and shrugged "No one can be a carbon copy image of another." She said gently

~~~
Starr had heard the others had returned and was going to see Asher. She met him in the hallway and went to hug him "Asher, you are well."

Asher hugged Starr back, glad to see her again. "As good as new. My creators may not be good people, but they do know how to repair a robot," he said, smiling. He let go so he could step back and look at her, "I know it's a little silly to say when I was only gone a week, but I missed you." It had been one heck of a week though, to be fair.

"I missed you too Asher." Starr said honestly. "Armin is doing better now too."