Bo's boots were magnetized to the floor, but the rest of him floated in the restraint cradle — weightless and restless.
The pod trembled slightly as it bit into the upper edge of the planet's atmosphere, the hull glowing faintly orange. Through the polarized viewport, he watched the curve of the world stretch endlessly below. Silver forests. Violet grasslands. Thunderheads gathering over some distant plateau.
He'd studied it in briefings. Ran simulations. But the real thing was always stranger. Always quieter. Colder.
"Ten minutes until surface contact," the onboard display blinked. Then again, in red:
NO AI ONLINE. PILOT IN MANUAL OVERRIDE.
Bo sighed. "Might as well wake her up."
He blinked up the neuralpad and muttered, "LIRA. Boot up."
There was a faint whine in his spine, a flutter of static across his skull that sent a shiver down his spine.
Then, a familiar voice stirred, warm and tired.
[Mmmm… five more minutes... I was enjoying my nap. One year of nothing and you wake me for...]
Bo could feel her digging in his memories as she paused. [Oh... You've changed, pilot...] Her tone soft and somber for a moment.
"We're punching atmosphere. Thought you'd want a window seat."
[You're descending at 11.8 kilometers per second into a triple-layered atmosphere. This isn't a window seat. This a front row seat to a crash test dummy and I so happen to be the passenger.]
She materialized in his field of view, miniture woman in her late 30s in a scientist lab coat and looked out the regarding the planet.
Her voice syncing to the suit's inner ear. A soothing maternal tone. Slightly exasperated. Somehow always judgmental without ever sounding harsh.
[I suppose the mission's too important to crash and burn, then?]
Bo rolled his eyes, "I'd like not to die and by extension you because of a minor miscalculation, please."
[Since you asking nicely...] She looked at him and smiled warmly.
The pod rattled harder now, as gravity finally took hold in the pod. Plasma licked the edges of the viewport in arcs of red and blue. Shields were holding.
LIRA's voice returned, with a tone more logical.
[Altitude: 98,000 meters and dropping. Entry angle stabilizing at 21.4 degrees.]
[Velocity: Mach 17. Deceleration imminent. Initiating thermal shielding cycle, ceramic layer flexing, temperature rise within safety margin.]
"Appreciate it," Bo muttered, gripping the armrest as the pod began its hard bank.
[I would appreciate you not giving me brain damage. You really shouldn't plug me in while punching 9 Gs. There was a 6.333% chance of neural misalignment.] She chided.
"I missed you too." Bo tensed against the harness.
[You need a human partner.] The miniture digitised a chair and sat down observing with him.
"I tried." Bo offered.
[I know.]
Bo breathed deep, "I'll leave it to you then."
[Shall I tell you what I'm doing to keep us alive?]
"Sure." Bo breathed uneasy as he felt the rising of acid and vomited as it got siphoned into the bag in his the mask. His head bobbed as he felt the drowsiness take hold of him.
The mask didn't allow it activating breathers laced with drugs that will keep him awake.
[Atmospheric density: 1.24x Gaian standard. Expect slightly stronger lift and heavier sound propagation. Adjust internal dampeners accordingly.]
[Descent velocity falling, now Mach 9... 8.5... 7.2. Retrorockets armed. Will fire at 8,300 meters.]
He took another deep breath through the mask regaining some semblance of conciousness trying to focus.
[Altitude: 12,000 meters. Weather system—stable. No windburst interference.]
[Bo, brace for terminal braking in 15 seconds. If you experience discomfort, blame physics.]
[3... 2... 1...]
[Burn begins... now.]
His body is racked with a wave of violent tremors that rattled his bones. His teeth clench around the mouth gaurd grunting through what it felt like being made into a milkshake. If there was shaking involved in it's name sake.
[Deceleration at 5g. You'll feel that in your spine later.] LIRA tried at comedy.
"You live in my damn spine you-"
[Impact site acquired. Collision cushion enabled. Gear locked. ETA: 4... 3... 2...]
Bo looked at the planet in growing detail in the night and the purple grass burned away as he slammed into the ground. His body took one final impact that took his breath for a momment. The miniture avatar blinked away with it.
[Touchdown complete.]
[Exiting combat hibernation. You may now disembark, point a weapon at something, and pretend that wasn't terrifying.]
He shook his head and ripped the mask coughing as the tube slipped out his throat. Replacing it for his helmet, "Activate parallel piloting, 20%."
[Are sure? Please note that-]
"Yes." Bo groaned.
[Parallel piloting engaged. Motor functions at 20% AI assist. Reflex optimization and spatial corrections enabled.]
He felt his limbs suddenly aligning, balance instinctively grounded. His back straightened, he grabbed his SMG expertly checking his gunpullinf out the magazine before expetly reloading in you fluid motion.
"What's this for?" He wondered.
[Potential hostiles outside this pod.]
[Monitoring cardiovascular strain. Compensating microtremors. Targeting overlay synced. Welcome back, Commander.]
"Yeah, yeah let's go see who're our neighbors." He mumbled shook his head trying to shake off the vertigo.
He shouldered the SMG when LIRA opened the hatch and he unstrapped himself. Stumbling out LIRA was quick to autocorrect him to be in a stance ready to face the lifeforms mentioned.
His boots hit the soil like he'd meant it.
His HUD lit up - three figures downrange, tagged in red. Humanoid. Aggressive stance. Abnormal limbs. Claws. Mismatched head to body. They were short hairy things, except for one.
The fourth figure separate, perched on a rise, silhouetted against the stars in bright silver. Silently watching, LIRA deterimining to tag it yellow.
[Three immediate hostiles have shifted focus on you. One unknown lifeform. Scanning... No biomatch, of course. Telemetry reads high stress response — assuming elevated heart rate, though baseline is unconfirmed. Abnormally high temperature, Behavioral profile: not hostile. Information subject to change given new data.]
"So I'm guessing those three are the ones I don't shake hands with," Bo muttered, raising the SMG slightly.
[All if given reason. Auto dispatch immediate action? Calculations complete. Three rounds confirmed lethality.]
The three already moved to Bo suddenly in all directions.
"Do it."
Like a magnet clicking into place, Bo's SMG snapped to the three swiftly moving from each one.
BRR-BRR-BRRT
Three rounds spat from the weapon in rapid succession. The shots snapped through the air. Finger pulled fast to simulate semi-auto function on an automatic weapon.
Three targets dropped before they could get within 4 meters of Bo. One hit square in the chest where a heart would hopefully be. One in the neck. The last took a round just beneath the jaw through the spine. Silent, instant. No theatrics. Just bodies in the grass.
Bo exhaled through his teeth. "Could've let one crawl, y'know." he glance at his spasming trigger finger. The nerve misfiring not used to LIRA after so long.
He could feel his muscle in his forearm equally effected but shook of the feeling.
[All displayed lethal intent. You gave authorization. Efficiency prioritized.]
The heat of the pod bled behind him. He stepped foward stopping at the radius of the burn. The night was still, save for the slow collapse of the last body.
His eyes settled on the lone figure, the picture of serenity. It hadn't flinched. Not at the pod. Not at the shots. Not at him. It watched, it's ears pressed to it's head.
[Still unknown. Cloaked in partial thermal irregularities. It's temperature is too high for it to be alive.]
Bo raised the SMG halfway again, not aiming yet. Just... present.
"Let's not make this weird."
LIRA's voice came quiet.
[It was their target. Not yours. Treat it like every other fauna and leave alone.]
"I know." He clicked the safety on but didn't lower the gun.
Just then the beast moved. Not in a sudden but slow and deliberate. It rose on two hind legs to a towering height and aproached him qith a certain trill in it's throat.
The HUD display flickered feom yellow to red then to yellow again. Bo's stance dropped as LIRA tensed his trigger finger and stopped him from blinking.
[Unknown is mobile. Standing bipedal, estimated height: 2.3 meters. Mass: 130+ kilograms. Now shifting to quadruped gait. Behavioral inconsistency detected.]
"I see that." Whispered Bo.
[Sending parameters to you now]
———————————————————
>> ENTITY ANALYSIS <<
- Species: Unknown
- Threat Level: Indeterminate
- Posture: Elevated - quadrupedal to bipedal shift
- Visual Lock: Confirmed (19.2s)
- Aggression Indicators: 34% (Rising)
- Velocity: 1.4 m/s (Walking)
- Distance: 21.3 meters and closing
>> RULES OF ENGAGEMENT <<
1. Do NOT fire unless:
• Distance < 7m AND Speed > 5 m/s
• Sudden posture change toward charge
• Hostile vocalization or weapon draw
2. Use (Command Word: "Red" to authorize immediate lethal fire
3. Use (Command Word: "Yellow" to issue deterrent warning shot
4. Use Command Word: "Black" to disengage and prep evasive maneuver
5. Silence = Monitoring Only
>> AI RESPONSE CHART <<
[ ] Profile A: Lethal burst — 3 rounds, center mass
[ ] Profile B: Warning shot — 1 round, 2m ahead
[✓] Profile C: Observe, stabilize posture, maintain aim lock
>> HEART RATE MONITOR <<
Pilot BPM: 112 (stable)
Adrenaline: Mild elevation
Reflex override: 13% engaged
Aim compensation: 5.7% active
———————————————————
Bo blinked away the sudden block of information blocking his view as LIRA pull back open his eyes.
"Mute." He whispered looking at creature before him.
It raised it's head higher as it aproach closer, a hoarse growl came from it. The a series of vocalized trills again. Bo lowered his gun and relaxed despite the pull of LIRA to raise it.
He waited for it to come, he felt the flood of information for him to to shoot at it's general direction.
The creature was close enough to touch now. Warning silrens shot through his mind to shoot it, but he couldn't bring himself to do. His arm straining lighting and his HUD blinking in morse code in red, he switched it off too.
The creature layed it's massive head on the ground looking at Bo invitingly before closeing it's eyes. It was beautiful, cute even. Compelling his hand to touch it's shimmering head.
He reached out and his left hand hesitantly feeling his joints try to lock and muscles twitch. He took off his glove and he buried his barehand in the soft tuft of fur scratching it's head and the creature let a satisfied growl, he think.
It sniffed the air like it remembered a fond memory.
To him this animal is not hostile. It seems like those humanoids were after it for some reason and even then it was defensive.
It reminded him of his dog Cleo. Quiet, curious and brave. The bravest dog in the world to him. So how could he kill something that almost looks and acts like her, he couldn't.
He scratched it behind the ears softly, half-hoping hear it growl with content before patting it lightly on it's massive head.
Satisfied himself he pulled back to LIRA's relief probably putting on his glove and backing of from the creature and walking the other way to close the hatch door.
Looking back to see the beast still there, watching now as it sat.
After confirm the pod secure. He walked to other direction leaving the creature behind entering the forest.
Bo sighing dreading opening his HUD and Lune forbid unmuting LIRA but he need to kmow where food is and what is edible or drinkable in this world.
Having co-pilot helped him stay up-right but it also consumed more energy the brain already does already.
He opened the HUD that was filled with twxt sticky notes that he blicked away. Now for the real unsinkable cutscene that was the voice in his head.
"...unmute..." Bo sighed.
[UNMUTED]
A low, pointed inhale sounds in Bo's ear. Not anger. Not scolding. Just the tired disappointment only a mother would have.
Her avatar blink into existence in his view, not miniture now but full sized and striding towards him, her head burried in her had. Her glasses sit on her black hair.
Her voice sounded equally so.
[Tch, So... just to recap, you muted your AI, ignored red threat warnings, disabled override permissions, and approached an unknown Class-4 biological lifeform during open-mouth display and scent dispersal without armor protocols or biohazard filters.]
A pause. Not rhetorical. She was waiting for a very logical explanation from him because she couldn't find one in his braincells. Literally.
[Did it smell nice, Bo? Did you think petting the apex predator might make you friends? Maybe braid each other's hair and talk about your feelings?]
A small flick of static runs across Bo's left temple where his neuropad is. Not painful, just enough to feel like a disapproving finger tap as she did so as her avatar.
[Use your brain, it's right there. You had a 71.4% chance of initiating a fight-or-flight reflex. You disabled me during a "do not disable me" situation. And now you want... water suggestions? Nutritional readouts?]
A flicker of blue text in Bo's HUD emerged:
[EMERGENCY AUTONOMY OVERRIDE: LOGGED – 2.1 sec]
[RESULT: Lethality Avoided. Risk Margin Narrow: 12.8 cm tolerance window.]
[I am re-enabling minimal threat tracking. You may mute me again, but if you tamper with core safeguards a second time, Bo, I swear on every neural circuit in this suit -I will override your legs and walk you back to orbit myself.]
Then silence, for a moment.
LIRA continued.
[I understand you have been out of action for a year but you need to come back to your original condition I previously found you in.]
Bo gritted his teeth, he felt like a child being scolded for something he shouldn't be doing. Should he have done that? It was right to him. He promised himself he'd do what felt right after that day.
He looked to the visual manifestation of his AI, the one he can't get away from, for a while now.
"Yeah, I'm working on it. I'll try and get to my peak performance, it'll take some time." He answered shallowly.
He raised his head, "You need to do better on your end a well. You cannot be hijacking my body because I'm doing something you don't like. It's my body and you're my AI."
[You're absolutely right, Commander. I'll be sure to improve the next time you decide to pet an apex predator mid-combat like it's a stray puppy.
But just for clarity—when you reached for an alien predator's muzzle with the same hands that served Lune amd built orbital drones—I had two options: possibly let you die, or try to choose the best course of action to compensate for your sudden lapse in judgement. I tried to choose the one where you keep breathing. Do NOT confuse my priority of our survival, the completion of the mission and to serve Lune as some sort of betrayal.]
[We should re-establish better synergy or you will surely die.] Her tone was final.
Her avatar's black eyes flickered glaring at his before she stormed off before glitched away.
A smaller line of text beneath the warning, reading in softer blue:
["Glad you're not dead.]
Bo looked up at the trees and canopy sighing. Why did command have to give him a mom for an AI.
His HUD filled with another line of text.
["There are rations in the pod."]
He walked back to the empty camp. He checked his thermals to confirm that the beast was gone and all was left were the dead bodies somewhere in the grass.
He'll need to burn them tomorrow, for now he needed proper rest.