his noticing. Either his situational awareness wasn't nearly as good as he had been led to believe, or the synth was extremely sneaky. Shrugging, he stood up and stretched, enjoying the normal gravity, and strode out of the room on his way to the bridge.
Walking onto the bridge, Jason was further impressed at how alive the ship seemed now. Deetz stood in the middle of the raised dais in the center, feet shoulder width apart and hands on its hips. Jason had already become accustomed to the human-like gestures and mannerisms the machine exhibited, so its appearance no longer startled him. "So, what's the play?"
"I'd say that depends on what your decision is. So, what will it be? Ready for the adventure of a lifetime?" The cheesy, used car salesman act Deetz was doing grated on Jason's nerves.
"Yes. I'm going with you," Jason began, ignoring the wide smile that appeared on the synth's face. "But, I want it made clear that I'm simply a glorified passenger. I'm trusting that you aren't planning on tossing me into anything more... involved... than just being a biological at the pickup." Jason realized how idiotic his speech was. He would be a de facto prisoner once they were there, marooned God knows how many light years from Earth. If Deetz had nefarious intentions, Jason would be in no position to do anything about it. Still, the risk to reward ratio was still tipping the scale in favor of going along for the ride.
"Not an issue. You'll just disembark, tag a couple forms, and we'll be on our way. You'll get to see some incredible things before I bring you back to your planet."
"Ok. We ready to rock then? I'm assuming this bird it at 100%." Jason especially appreciated the clean processed air that the environmental system was pumping out. It was a vast improvement over the acrid aroma of burnt electronics and ozone.
"Oh not quite at one-hundred percent, the damage control system is good, but it can't work miracles. There are some things that will require some better equipped facilities to get back to full strength." Deetz was settling into the left hand seat on the dais and motioned to the seat at his right for Jason to sit in. As soon as he sat in the seat it began to subtly adjust itself to his body shape. It gave in the right places and bolstered in the others, the result was one of the most comfortable seats he had ever sat in. It gave the initial impression of suede leather, but upon further inspection was definitely some sort of synthetic material.
Jason looked bemusedly at the array of controls and displays before him. It was an interesting mix of familiar toggle and tactile switches along with the more expected glass touch panels and, he noticed with delight, a pair of holographic displays. One of them showed the ship in its entirety, slowly rotating, with key information being displayed with arrows indicating to parts of the model. The other seemed to show the Solar System with Mars clearly highlighted by a rotating halo. On a whim, he closed two fingers and his thumb together and pushed his hand towards the Mars icon in the model. Once he felt like he was "touching" it, he quickly splayed the three digits outward. The result was satisfyingly as he expected; the holo zoomed quickly until it was showing only a rotating Mars in exquisite detail along with more scrolling text. There was also a red strobing crosshairs flashing near the Valles Marineris that he knew must indicate their position. He assumed if he "swiped" again that the holo would zoom in even further and maybe even show the ship itself. Instead, he inserted his open hand into the holo and quickly closed all his fingers together, zooming the display back out to the original display of the Solar System. Too cool. It also shows that humans must not be that unlike whoever designed these
Walking onto the bridge, Jason was further impressed at how alive the ship seemed now. Deetz stood in the middle of the raised dais in the center, feet shoulder width apart and hands on its hips. Jason had already become accustomed to the human-like gestures and mannerisms the machine exhibited, so its appearance no longer startled him. "So, what's the play?"
"I'd say that depends on what your decision is. So, what will it be? Ready for the adventure of a lifetime?" The cheesy, used car salesman act Deetz was doing grated on Jason's nerves.
"Yes. I'm going with you," Jason began, ignoring the wide smile that appeared on the synth's face. "But, I want it made clear that I'm simply a glorified passenger. I'm trusting that you aren't planning on tossing me into anything more... involved... than just being a biological at the pickup." Jason realized how idiotic his speech was. He would be a de facto prisoner once they were there, marooned God knows how many light years from Earth. If Deetz had nefarious intentions, Jason would be in no position to do anything about it. Still, the risk to reward ratio was still tipping the scale in favor of going along for the ride.
"Not an issue. You'll just disembark, tag a couple forms, and we'll be on our way. You'll get to see some incredible things before I bring you back to your planet."
"Ok. We ready to rock then? I'm assuming this bird it at 100%." Jason especially appreciated the clean processed air that the environmental system was pumping out. It was a vast improvement over the acrid aroma of burnt electronics and ozone.
"Oh not quite at one-hundred percent, the damage control system is good, but it can't work miracles. There are some things that will require some better equipped facilities to get back to full strength." Deetz was settling into the left hand seat on the dais and motioned to the seat at his right for Jason to sit in. As soon as he sat in the seat it began to subtly adjust itself to his body shape. It gave in the right places and bolstered in the others, the result was one of the most comfortable seats he had ever sat in. It gave the initial impression of suede leather, but upon further inspection was definitely some sort of synthetic material.
Jason looked bemusedly at the array of controls and displays before him. It was an interesting mix of familiar toggle and tactile switches along with the more expected glass touch panels and, he noticed with delight, a pair of holographic displays. One of them showed the ship in its entirety, slowly rotating, with key information being displayed with arrows indicating to parts of the model. The other seemed to show the Solar System with Mars clearly highlighted by a rotating halo. On a whim, he closed two fingers and his thumb together and pushed his hand towards the Mars icon in the model. Once he felt like he was "touching" it, he quickly splayed the three digits outward. The result was satisfyingly as he expected; the holo zoomed quickly until it was showing only a rotating Mars in exquisite detail along with more scrolling text. There was also a red strobing crosshairs flashing near the Valles Marineris that he knew must indicate their position. He assumed if he "swiped" again that the holo would zoom in even further and maybe even show the ship itself. Instead, he inserted his open hand into the holo and quickly closed all his fingers together, zooming the display back out to the original display of the Solar System. Too cool. It also shows that humans must not be that unlike whoever designed these
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