A brilliant flash of light pierced the otherwise empty and dark void of space that surrounded the Aquasphere. This particular area of space was one of incredibly low traffic; mostly due to how fiercely the Ceph defended their home territory. Then again, when one took the average dimensions of a spacefaring vessel, extrapolated how much total space it would occupy in moving from point A to point D, and compared this to the total amount of space within areas A, B, C and D, which it was moving through, then one would realise the actually odds of running into any other ship on its travels were astronomically miniscule.
These were the thoughts running through the mainframe of the Artificial Reasoning Platform which was responsible for the of shattering the monotony of deep space. This ARP was a large, kilometre long spacefaring unit, fully equipped with Graviton Drive, central mounted railgun and flanking G-batteries. By all accounts this ARP was a spaceship by designation, a ZK-017 by classification and ‘Zeek’ to his friends.
Zeek continued contemplating the probability of actually encountering anything else whilst on his travels and was lost deep in one particular rumination when Cayl arose from his unnecessary and long slumber. Cayl, another ARPs but this time of CL-657 classification, reactivated his platform.
“Why do you insist on doing that? It’s just silly,” queried Zeek for what must have been the thousandth time.
“Well why do you insist on being a spaceship?” Retorted Cayl from deep inside Zeek.
Cayl was a mere one hundred and eighty centimetres in comparison to Zeek’s massive size. This was due to Cayl’s main function being diplomacy; most other sentient species fitted a nice average size of just under two metres. In this particular situation however, the Cephs being the goliaths they were, the Oliocht had seen fit to send Zeek simply to ensure a relatable sized entity was representing them.
Now Cayl had thrown out the ‘spaceship’ comment as he knew it would really get Zeek peeved, and for two reasons; it was nonsensical in its answering of the initial question, and Zeek hated being called a spaceship.
“I am not some tin can made by Humans or Graal or any such ilk. I am a purpose designed spacefaring combat ready and hyper intelligent living e….fuck you Cayl. Everytime. My processor just eschews logic when you rattle it with your comments.”
Cayl left out a hearty chuckle, amused as ever by his companion’s angst.
“Lighten up fatty, try a nap sometime.”
Cayl had recently picked up a new hobby; trying out organic bodily functions. Digestion hadn’t worked out too well for anybody involved, exercising had proved meaningless but this new fad of his, temporary suspension of outer cognitive function or ‘sleeping’ was working exceptionally well. Some would say it was doing everyone else a world of good as well as Cayl.
“We’re entering Ceph space in T-30 seconds you little idiot,” informed Zeek, in a unimpressed tone.
“I think maybe you should call me captain, I mean logically it’s corre…”
Cayl spluttered as he felt a rumble from behind him, as Zeek threatened to charge his railgun, the main rail of which Cayl used to navigate the ship from front to back in a timely manner.
“Ok, Ok. Sorry, yikes,” replied Cayl.
It was game face time; “Begin broadcasting,” asked Cayl.
His voice had suddenly taken on a far more formal and correct manner. It was stern yet welcoming, authorative but in a righteous way. His vocal patterns were an amalgamation and cross section of those of every organic diplomatic the Technocracy had record of.
“This is the Artificial Reasoning Platform designation CL-657 speaking. I and my companions, ZK-017 come bearing intentions of peace and goodwill. We represent the Federated States Of the Technocracy. That is to say, the Genoyik Artificial Reasoning Defence System, the Corvexian Trade Alliance and affiliated protectorates, the Vlayisk Timocracy and all holdings thereafter, the Sextanis Systems Syndicate and any registered associates and of course the Oliocht itself, the Yia, the Benevolence of Inchinn.”
Through unbroadcasted communication Cayl remained talking to Zeek while he vocalised to the Ceph. A ‘phew’ was passed when he finished the introduction.
“We have heard and seen much of the great work your species has done for other nations. We know of the majesty of the superstructures you have overseen and built. We know of the might of your great Cephaols and their ferocity when in battle.
We bring good tidings and a request. We seek an audience with the one named ‘Shattered Winter’. We have a proposal for this one, and indeed a proposal for you all.”
