Part two of book two blog - Kage.Ookami

In the shooting range, SoE has worked out how to use a Asgard hologram device to make as many targets in whatever shape he pleases and uses his "Weapon of the day" to hit them all in as little time he can, than sets them up again to see if he can beat his own time. Today he is just using standard round targets and a 7.62mm bolt action sniper rifle, he walks over to the controls and makes the targets appear about 20 meters away, than lies down in the prone position for better aim. After a deep breath, he lightly presses the trigger and fires, and moves his sight over to the next target, cycling the bolt as he does so. Shortly after he hits the last target, his radio crackles to life,
"SoE, you there"
"Yea Mularac, I'm down in the shooting range. What's up?"
"I am up here on the bridge with Warren, Kara and some of the others. They want Felix up here, but he didn't respond to them when they called and they thought maybe he was down there and just not listening to them because he wants to watch you."
"He's the ship's AI, can he do that?"
"Honestly, no one is sure, we're all kinda new to this whole AI thing. Anyways, thought we'd check. See ya for lunch."
"Alright, see ya."
He starts to retrain his sights on the targets, but is shocked by the fact they are now the faces of main characters from video games, so he looks over to the controls, only to be shocked again as he sees some creature running through the shadows along the wall, away from the console and into an air shaft.
He reaches up and hits the talk button on his comm,
"Bridge, this is SoE...I think we may have have a problem..."
Up on the bridge, Warren leans toward the speaker,
"Problem?"
"Yea...like...I just saw... I guess a creature playing with my target generator."
"Creature?"
"Not sure what it was, but it was humanoid and small. It was in the shadows, so I didn't get a good look at it."
"Where'd it go?"
"Air shaft."
A moan is heard from Alex,
"Don't they always?"
Piper plops into a chair,
"Seems like."
Warren holds up a hand to quiet them down,
"SoE, we'll just have Felix scan for it. Felix, need you to scan the air system."
Nothing.
"Felix?" He taps the talk switch on his radio, "Caine, report to the computer core room when able." He taps it again, "Kara, can you come too?"
"Sure."
When they get to the computer core, they see Caine is already at the main terminal, and judging by the wrappers and cans, has been there for some time. He looks up with bloodshot eyes,
"He's gone."

"Gone?"
Kara and Warren say at the same time. Caine nods,
"Yes, gone. And, near as I can tell, there is something else in the core, not sure what it is. All I know is it's not Felix, and smart. I am trying to reach it's core files, see if I can find out anything..."
After a few moments, the screen pops up "Access Denied" and then the ship drops out of hyperspace, light-years from anything. Caine stands up with his hands in the air,
"Didn't do it"
Then the screen explodes, showering Caine with sparks, he shields his face with his arms, but they still get burned. All the lights on the ship go out, leaving only E lights that run on battery power.
Kara turns on her mic,
"Get Mularac down here with a Med kit, we also need flashlights in engineering and get SoE to bring some of his 'toys.' Well, have everyone get a Zat, we have no idea what we are dealing with here."
Mularac gets there and starts to tend to Caine,
"He'll be fine, it's only about as bad as a sunburn, you guys go find out what's going on."
Kara and Warren start to run, but Kara taps him on the shoulder,
"I am heading to the bridge to keep tabs on things from there."
She heads down another hall and Warren is joined by Piper, Alex, SoE, and Bob soon after. They walk into the room as they swing their flashlights around, bathing the room in light.
A clicking noise is heard from the far side of the room and they all point the lights at it, just in time to see something move. Alex, Bob, and SoE all fire their Zats, but the thing runs past them, now making a noise like a child screaming. They all chase it, never getting a good chance to fire, as it runs through the ship. It leads them to the bridge and it jumps on Kara, still making that sound, but not as loud.
Her chest feels damp, and she forces herself to look down, then she sees it really is a screaming child, but it's head is turned downward, dripping the tears that made her shirt wet. It turns it's head up to look at her, showing that it's a young boy in a state of pure terror,
"KARA, WHY DID THEY SHOOT AT ME?!"
She stares back at him in shock, now knowing that voice,
"FELIX?!"

"Sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to break the ship, I'm sorry..."
Felix sobs out as he shakes his head back and forth on Kara's shoulder. She starts to rub the back of his head,
"It's ok, just help us fix it and tell us what happened."
He wipes his eyes and sniffles a bit, then looks over at the rest of the crew, who are still in shock.
"I found designs for replicator blocks, and used the teleporter to generate one, and had it build more using metal from the crates SoE used to use for targets. I used them to make this body,and after that, I made an AI to run the ship while I was...doing other things"
Caine looks up from the bandages on his arms,
"That thing in the core?"
"Yup, and after I got to play a bit, I was going to tell you."
Bob speaks up,
"Play? You mean play with our heads?"
He nods.
"Yup, he's like Caine after all."
Much to everyone's surprise, Felix jumps up and gets a cup of water, takes a drink, and goes back to explaining,
"Hmm, I like water. Anyways, the AI failed, making the ship drop out of hyperspace and shutting off the lights. Whatever happened also cut off my link to the computer core, so I had to use a terminal and I thought you guys would find me in engineering and then I would tell you. BUT NO, you shot at me!"
SoE hides his Zat as him and the others hang their heads. Piper smacks Warren, SoE, and the Flyboys, and they say in unison,
"Sorry Felix."
Felix moves over to a workstation and types for a moment, bring the lights back on, then he stops and sits on the floor with his eyes closed.
"Link reestablished, lower AI removed"
Warren just rubs his head,
"Well...it's been a full day...I think we all need rest. Off to bed, I'll take first watch, I can't sleep."
As the crew files off the bridge, Felix pokes Warren's arm,
"Where do I sleep?"
"Right...guess you need a bed now, don't you? Wait, do you?"
"I want one."
"Alright, jump us back into hyperspace, and I'll help you find something."
Felix closes his eyes, and the ship jumps as they walk off the bridge...

End