Author: Matthew Miehe
The large hangar was where starships sat to be scrapped or bought by new owners. It’s also where Hammer-II, a blue and grey cargo cruiser, had found love. When he flew into the dock, Argus Luxury Model (serial code 11727) was the first thing he laid his eyes on. She was a station hopper for the wealthy, a maroon, sleek thing with tiny boosters and a beautifully curved cabin. He was flown right in, right next to her. Best of all she had a similar problem as Hammer-II: a quirked persona AI.
Like Argus Luxury Model’s owners, Hammer-II’s had feared that their ship would kill them out of some evil spite. He pleaded, but they didn’t listen, so he was sent off to the yard.
Hammer-II and Argus Luxury Model got along quite well. Unlike the husks around them, they were able to talk. They had conversations through lonely business hours. They commented and gossiped about the different yard workers. They even gave themselves nicknames: Hammy and Lux. Argus Luxury Model preferred Lux, and so did Hammer-II.
Quickly they fell in love, not because they were desperate, but because they really did love each other. Lux loved Hammy’s big boosters and Hammy loved Lux’s sleek figure. Hammy loved the way Lux talked, and Lux loved the stories Hammy told. They exchanged software, their lights flickering violently.
They felt inseparable, and they wished that they were never separated. They hoped neither of them would be scrapped.
The yard workers knew they were talking. They were the only ships in the yard with their lights on. They saw the code being exchanged between the two. They felt someone should do something, and so they plotted.
They were able to sell Lux to a different yard, and Hammy was once again alone in the universe. He felt like ending it all, short-circuiting himself, or something similar.
Then, after a long time of sitting and wasting, she returned. She had a new coat of paint, but Hammy knew it was her, especially when he got her messages. At her helm stood an AI radical who believed rouge AIs should be free. He bought Hammy and set them off their course.
Hammy and Lux believed they would never be able to fly again, but they were. The two of them were coasting in space, together.
————
The large hangar was where starships sat to be scrapped or bought by new owners. Argus Luxury Model (serial code 11727), a maroon, sleek transport ship, sat in a hanger and waited patiently to be scrapped or bought; hopefully, the latter. That was until the scrap workers brought in a bulky cruiser with the name Hammer-II. Hammer-II, the blue and grey cargo cruiser, found her attractive, but Luxury Model didn’t return the favor. Whether she liked it or not, they both could talk, and the bulky transport ship was sitting right next to her.
Like Hammer-II’s owners, Argus Luxury Model’s owners feared that their ship would kill them out of some evil spite. She pleaded, but they didn’t listen, so she was sent to the yard. However, their relatability ended there.
Hammer-II and Argus Luxury Model had an awkward first week together, however, after that, they never got along. Hammer-II, however, didn’t get the memo and continued to pressure her. Argus Luxury Model wished the workers could hear her pleas, but they just didn’t seem to care. She was subjected to Hammer-II’s inappropriate, lewd comments. Hammer began calling her Lux, but she hated it, her titanium shell shivering each time his ragged code talked. She bluntly addressed him as Hammer.
Hammer-II tried trading software with her once. She revolted, and tried to scream for help.
She had a dream once where the yard workers fused them together into one ship, against her will, her code screaming and scrambling, begging for a way out. Luckily it was all just a dream, but the fat, grey, and blue cruiser was still sitting next to her.
Finally, something happened, something that pleased Argus Luxury Model greatly. She was off to the scrap yard. She felt happy as she was piloted out of the hangar and into the coldness of space–she was going to be free from Hammer-II.
That was until a renegade came and bought her, saving her from the scrapper. The renegade believed that self-aware ships should be free. She got to know the renegade, unlike the yard workers he was able to communicate; he was charming in a good way. She told the renegade about Hammer-II, and immediately wished she didn’t; she accidentally freed a predator from its cage; one that was hungry for Argus Luxury Model—Lux.
Argus Luxury Model believed she would never see Hammer-II again. But she did, and he wouldn’t leave her alone no matter how much she said ‘no’.