Act 2 Epilogue - Defiant and Confused

Unit Rye and the prime unit had completed their mutual integration process. This was evident in two… no, three ways. Firstly, their external markings had changed from dark tones to bright silver, not dissimilar to the trace matrix on a sensor drone. Secondly, the others in their circle of reproductive union were actively demonstrating joy and happiness for the pair. And finally… Defia paused as she allowed the thoughts to process fully. Finally, she was feeling jealous.

At least, she was convinced to within point zero zero zero seven nine percent that she was jealous - her emotional simulacrum was still a tricky thing to properly get a read on for emotions that did not fully stimulate either muscle contraction (like anger) or optical cleansing (such as sadness) or… other fluid adjustments, which she had been having significantly more success with of late. Unit Rye, while busy with the prime unit had managed to find the time to offer her several potential suggestions to prevent the excessive voltage discharge, at least three of which showed potential - although the electric burn marks all around her bed were testament to the fact that she still hadn’t quite got it right.

On a more positive note, her emotions had allowed her to paint imperfectly. Her most recent work was propped up on the desk to dry, and she considered it with a contemplative stare as she continued her self reflection. The piece showed Bleu, hunched over a crewman who’d been in one of the sectors hit by the Durathisian weapons fire. He’d almost lost one of his lower limbs, but the doctor had saved him in time. Defia’s photographic memory had produced a perfect initial sketch - but as she’d added oil to the canvas the image had morphed into lines of blue and red, swirls of colour that delved into the abstract. She was really rather proud of it - pride was another new emotion, and one that she was keeping a watchful eye on for fear it would disturb her cluster.

Returning her thoughts to the matter at hand - the prime unit had completed integration with Rye. The likely outcome of this would be additional unit construction, although he appeared to be spacing out deployment of the available reproductive systems. Unit Emely had recently begun to attempt to work on initiating construction of a new unit, so it seemed unlikely that he would be doing the same with Rye any time in the near future, thankfully.

Defia paused, her body flowing up off her bed and into a sitting position. “Thankfully?” she said to herself. “Inquiry. Reasons for viewing the lack of unit production between Rye and prime unit being delayed as something to be thankful for?”

Probability analysis warred with emotional emulation as she tried to unpick that part of her new personality. In principal, even with her emotions now active she should have no reason to care about when unit production did or did not happen between biological crewmates, even if they were the kind engineer who’d spent such a long time discussing lubricant flows without showing a hint of the embarrassment she was clearly experiencing, and the prime unit who had that stare that made her emotions generate static in her core process every time he looked in Defia’s direction…

Defia blinked. “Statement. Oh fuck.” She re-ran the calculations. The result was the same. “Statement. Jealousy and concern about being unable to integrate into the prime unit’s relationships if additional unit production is initiated. This is an unexpected result of emotional emulation.” Slowly standing, she bit her lip. “I should go and speak with the others. Perhaps Trea’k…”

Trea’k was in the middle of a session with one of the crew when Defia arrived at her door. Technically, sensing the electromagnetic emissions from lifeforms on the far side of the wall was a significant invasion of privacy; the rogue Fractal tried not to do it where possible, despite it being an efficient way of pre-planning her actions on entering an occupied space. Biological life had a lot of those irrational ideas to follow; in any case, Trea’k’s counselling suite was one of the few places where she broke the rules. Buzzing the intercom or sending the counselling unit a message might interrupt Trea’k’s processing, which would be disruptive to which ever crewmember was currently seeking her assistance. Instead, Defia took up a waiting posture by the door and shifted into a low power mode to wait.

She returned to full functionality just in time to adjust her posture to appear to be walking towards the door a moment before it slid open and one of the engineering technicians stepped out. Almost imperceptibly, Defia adjusted her stride and shoulders to indicate relaxation as she moved forward - the engineering team were almost entirely the most accepting and interested in her synthetic nature, and thus she could afford to appear less attentive around them. The crewman nodded in her direction as they passed; a friendly gesture she was pretty sure she wouldn’t get from workers in almost any other department.

As Defia approached the door she found it still open and Trea’k smiling at the new arrival from her low seat on the far side of the room. Defia still hadn’t quite figured out how the counsellor always seemed to know when people neared her chambers. The insect woman certainly didn’t appear to have any sensors capable of picking up Defia’s electrical output through a wall, but every time she had been to visit the counsellor, Trea’k had been ready and waiting.

“Come in, Defia. You have something to discuss?” The Vex’ess woman said, glancing back at her tablet. “I have a free block in my schedule for the next hour or so, although I was planning on visiting the gardens. Would you mind fetching me a drink from the automat, and then we can talk over whatever it is that is on your mind.”

Defia waited until the door had closed behind her, then waved at the automat as she crossed the room. It wasn’t something she’d do in public; even with the wider circle of the senior staff, her ability to interact at range with technology seemed to put them on edge. Trea’k, however, had previously asked her to relax and act as normally as possible in therapy sessions. As she reached the machine, it finished whirring and dispensed a jug of water - another thing she’d noted the Vex’ess woman as insisting on over flavoured drinks when she was working.

Sinking into her own seat and putting the jug and glasses between them, Defia found herself clasping and unclasping her hands. Trea’k watched, observing detachedly as the Fractal forcibly stilled her body, moving her arms to her sides although her fingers still twitched erratically. “Statement. I am… my emotional analogues are… Trea’k, how do you feel about Meli’s pregnancy?”

The insect woman blinked, then frowned. “Oh. I see. It’s going to be that conversation… one moment, let me see if Naera minds me moving her appointment to tomorrow. We might need to discuss this with a wider group, and I don’t want to rush things.” Her fingers tapped at her tablet for a moment before she set it aside. “So, you are experiencing some feelings regarding the senior staff’s intimacy again. Would you like to explore that in further detail?”

Defia wasn’t entirely sure how the conversation developed from there. She’d started by outlining the thoughts she’d had earlier that day, and then had gone into detail on the emotional responses she’d experienced. Trea’k had listened, taking occasional notes or prompting with questions - before finally steepling her hands together. “I feel I understand fully. Before I summon some of the others to assist us, what do you feel that you are experiencing?”

The rogue Fractal paused, replaying everything she’d just explained against her internal database of information on emotional responses in biological life. “Statement. I… I believe I am feeling a mixture of insecurity and jealousy. I am… I… I am afraid I will be left behind as more units are produced. I am jealous of the attention that the prime unit shows those he is engaging in reproduction with. And… I am jealous of him for getting so much of unit Rye’s attention.”

Trea’k rested one hand on her abdomen and nodded. “That matches what I believed to be the case. How do you feel about me? After all, Dustin and I have already conceived a child.”

Defia paused, letting that thought filter through her processes before she replied. “Statement. I do not feel the same jealousy - I believe that is because the key integration event occurred prior to my joining the cluster, and the unit production initiation sequence has already happened. In the case of unit Rye, her integration process with the prime unit has been ongoing since I joined, and any reproductive actions are in the future. This creates a tension in my internal emotional systems and logical weighting.”

Trea’k’s shoulders visibly relaxed. “That is good. It would be difficult for me to counsel you through this if I was also triggering your heightened emotional state. That said… I feel at this juncture we need to discuss this matter with the others. There are, after all, only two potential solutions to this.”

Two red eyes locked on Trea’k as Defia tilted her head to one side. “Enquiry. What are the options?”

The Vex’ess woman shrugged, finishing off a message on her tablet to organize a meeting with the rest of her lovers. “Option one - I provide support while you handle these emotions and you continue on the outside of our inner circle or…” behind Defia, the door hissed open and Emely bounded in, tails flickering as Trea’k concluded “…or option two, you pursue the idea of joining our relationship and mitigate your concerns that way.”