Settling in the chair I looked across the embassy office at the alien, and tensed.
Large the creatures were vaguely humanoid in shape, two legs, two arms a torso and a head. Beyond that general shape it was different from a standard human. Its legs had two knees and claws that curved upwards. Its skin was a vibrant purple flecked with green in places. The hands were six fingered and stubby the claws cut back.
Its robes were a dull brown, and the regal pose combined with the very humanlike glare from its two eyes the creature was plainly trying to intimidate me.
I gestured at the chair in front of my desk, “Councilor, would you please sit?”
The Beami snarled, “I will not sit.”
“Very well then, what is the issue Councilor,” I checked his nametag, a woven string of characters on the top of his robes telling his life’s journey from hometown to the Hub, “Jarali? Am I saying that correctly?”
He waved his hand dismissing my pronunciation, “You and every other member of your species has been lying to us! To this entire Council, every member of the Hub! Your petition to join with us will be denied and I am of half a mind to order you be imprisoned here to answer for what you and your people have done!”
“What have we done?” I asked keeping my voice cool. The diplomatic group had been at the Hub for nearly a year, and besides a few heated negotiations over trading regulations everything had been moving along at a steady pace.
Jarali narrowed his eyes and clicked his talons on the floor. I ignored the display.
“You are a machine.” Spat Jarali.
I looked down at the gray synthetic skin that covered my frame and the mechanics that were moving underneath it.
“We have never hidden that fact Councilor.”
“No, but it does make you a curiosity. Only two other synthetic races have joined the Hub. You are like neither of them. You act as if you are a creature of blood and gore.”
I nodded in agreement, the other two synthetic races were nothing like us. The Hala were obsessed with the acquisition of knowledge, and simply hoarded all they could. Paying massive amounts of credits and resources to acquire the libraries of new species when they first joined the Hub. They never created anything of their own though, and never processed what they had in any meaningful way.
The Binaries were the other race, if von neumann probes could be called a race. Uninterested in talking or trading the machines moved slowly, between star systems terraforming planets.
Whoever had programmed them had been single-minded, but ethical. The probes never moved into star systems that had life. The machines had no data on who created them, and the small central ship controlling the rest of them simply drifted on the outskirts of the Hub system talking only when prompted, otherwise content to wait for its brethren to slowly move across the stars and transform the planets to support life.
“We act as we have always acted. We are not going to change.”
Jarali’s talon dug into the wood of my office floor, I winced at the damage. It had taken a long time to ship in the Oak from Earth. “You are raising a fully biological creature as your offspring!”
I frowned, this had not been the direction I had seen the conversation going.
“David? What about him?”
Jarali scowled down at me, “You are not the child’s parent. You are a synthetic, and all documentation points to both of you being Human. You have lied to us, and manipulated the Hub.”
Slowly I stood. “We are both Human, and David is my son.”
“You are a machine, one that is pretending to be a biological creature! You may lie to the creature you say is your son, but we are not as easily fooled. Which is Human, you or your son?”
I ground my teeth together, “Both. If, however you mean biologically my son is Human.”
Jarali sneered, “And what are you? Surely you are not Human ‘biologically’.”
I considered the Hub creature. “No. I am as you pointed out a synthetic. In Sol culture I am Human, four hundred years ago my kind of Human was created in a lab, and we have ever since continued to grow in harmony with those who created us. We are not wholly like them, but together we are Human.”
The Beami stamped its talons down.
“You are a machine, raising a biological creature, and you claim it is your son this is wrong!”
I narrowed my lips, “In your opinion. This is the way of Humanity. Some Humans raise and train infant synthetics, small algorithms and lines of code that take years to grow. Some Humans raise biological creatures of similar helplessness. Most biological Humans raise biological children, most synthetic Humans raise synthetics. Sometimes it is more important the child has a home. My wife is biological, and she is on Earth at the moment raising our daughter Nickel, who is a machine like me.”
I stepped towards him, “This is what Humanity is.”
Jarali raised his stubby hands up, “It is wrong. I have done what I must. No machine should have a biological child in its care. The child is being taken into custody as we speak, and will be looked after by the Council until such time that,”
I jumped out of the body I was in. Vaguely from one of the hundreds of camera feeds of the Hub I saw it drop to the ground in my office. The body would need to be replaced, the Councilor had begun clawing at it with his talons as soon as it hit the ground.
The sparking wires and connections from my emergency jump out of it making the thing smolder.
Unfurling my mind into all the alien computer systems I broke diplomatic protocol, and simply rammed through every form of cybersecurity. I sent the last several minutes of my perception to every other Human on the Hub.
Those who were on our ship docked at the outer edge, dropped their bodies as well and moved into the computer systems with me. Other Humans watched a summary of the events someone had edited together in an instant and began to either collect their own items and move towards the ship, or gather weapons.
David had been touring one of the alien markets with Helena, a young synthetic who was working with the diplomatic teams as part of an internship. She hadn’t been brought along to the Hub to watch David, but she said she enjoyed taking him off my hands for meetings.
I had no doubt she was attempting to earn some favoritism for jobs after graduation. She had earned that.
Helena hadn’t jumped out of her body at my message. Limited by the amount of processing power on a mobile platform and her inexperience she was only slightly faster reacting than the biological creatures around her when the guards moved into the market.
The two scaly Yaeik stepped out from behind a stall selling small figures David had been looking at. The Yaeik bore the official Hub markings, a black a yellow mashing of colors that to Human eyes at least was an ugly thing. The weapons they were holding marked them as security.
David didn’t see them, still intent on the trinkets. Helena burst forwards slamming a fist into one Yaeik’s chest. Its scales cracked and a sound like gunshot went off. The officer grunted in pain, taking a step back. The second security guard swung his gun towards her. Helena jumped out of her body leaving her brain sparking and ruined.
The alien fired, a bolt of plasma seared through the synthetic platforms skin and ate at the internals.
“Ambassador!” Helena had joined the mass of other Humans in the computers. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know what else to do, and I panicked, I left David alone!”
I shook my head, a motion communicated through code and shorthand bursts of data. It wasn’t the same as an organic motion, but the meaning carried.
“You’re not in trouble Helena. We weren’t expecting this. I’ve got a plan.”
Helena blinked, and looked around at every other Human. Someone tossed her a data packet of the hasty plan I had contracted and her eyes widened. “Oh.”
The events outside computer accelerated time were slow, but still happening. David had turned around at the sound of Helena’s fist hitting the guard. His scream as she was shot in front of him echoed through the compartment.
Every single Human on the Hub was lending me their power and expertise.
The code breakers were feeding me the access codes to every device in the Market.
The soldiers were feeding me tactical analysis. The training of the Hub guards, and the skills of the two in front of my Son.
Those who had no skill to add, donated computer power lending me their own runtimes and processing resources. It pushed them out of machine time, and into a perception close to a biological Human. Leaving me and those working more time, to solve all the problems.
The Biological Humans on the Hub were also moving, they had only been informed of what was happening seconds ago but they were moving, I already had the plan worked out.
“Run David!” I shouted the words through every device in the Market.
David’s eyes widened his gaze flicking up to meet the Yaeik’s. He ran straight at the lumbering creatures, weaving between the two of the before they could react. His small legs were a blur, and not a blur, while he ran.
I could approximate his exact physical condition down to the small oddly formed callous on his right pinkie toe based on the data and analysis every Human was feeding to me, based on every source of data in the Hub.
I paid it little mind, my hundreds of eyes focused on my Son as he ran through the aliens and creatures around him.
“Which way?” shouted David, his voice cracking as he ran through one aisle of the market.
“Right!” I shouted.
The alien’s in the market all looked down at their devices, wondering why they were speaking in an alien voice for the second time in only moments.
Aliens in the market were watching David now, running as guards continued to stream out of the different segments of the market. The old-style radio communicators they were using not something that could be jammed in such proximity.
I checked on the status of the ship.
“Dad, what’s going on?” asked David to the open air as he continued to run, taking in sucking breaths as he did so.
“The Hub does not like the idea of Synthetic Human’s raising Biological Humans.”
David frowned and his paced slowed by a fraction, “What?”
“Keep running David!”
A large alien, one I didn’t even bother to identify barreled through one market stall sending materials in every direction as he moved to grab David.
A piece of some building material flew into David’s path, and he tripped. In machine time, I could only watch the spectacle with painful slowness. By the time he hit the warn metal floor, I had an analysis of all injuries he would sustain with 97% accuracy.
The ship was on the move now, the biological Humans inside of it moving with as much haste as they could.
They ripped the ship away from the dock it was moored at inside the antigravity field, and spinning it around in space gleefully ignored all warnings the Hub control was shouting at them.
Several code breakers hastily disabled the weapons of the Hub.
“I’m hopping out, Helena!” I shouted it through the digital void.
Helena was pulled back to me.
“Ambassador?” she asked.
“You take over. I need to get him myself.”
She nervously swallowed, “Got it!”
Slipping into the position of control I had been in only a millisecond before Helena continued to direct every Human in the market computer systems.
Jumping out of the alien computer systems into the ship I stepped out of one alcove and grabbed the shotguns off the rack. The androgynous body I had taken out of storage quickly began to morph into my usual form. Grabbing a pistol, I slid it into the holster that had formed at my waist.
“Ambassador!” George slammed a hand down onto my shoulder.
I glanced at him, “How close?”
The scarred veteran glanced at his HUD. “Twenty seconds.”
I chambered a round into the shotgun, “We’re going to try to not kill. This appears to be a social impasse, and miscommunication.”
George frowned, “One big enough they want to take your kid?”
I huffed in annoyance, “They don’t appear to have much faith in Machines.” I spat the final word out. “They’re fine trading and making peace with us if we’re machines, but biological and technology apparently shouldn’t mix.”
“That’s it?”
“As much as I could wrangle from the Councilor, I cut the body when he said he was taking David into custody.”
George shook his head bewildered.
Neither man said nothing as a stranglet fueled, nanite controlled charge was jettisoned from the bay of the ship. It tore into the hull of the Hub, tunneling though the compartments towards the inner hull where David and the Market was.
The stranglets were being chaperoned, and contained by the small machines which directed them to remove all solid inanimate matter through subspace to a location 100 meters off the Hub. All creatures contained in the path of the weapon, including those only large enough to be seen with a microscope were pushed into other compartments of the Hub.
A small network of the nanites quickly formed temporary atmospheric shields as the ship dove backwards into the hole that had been created.
The back hatch of the ship opened, and I threw myself out through it.
Pulled down by the Hub’s gravity well I watched as the last compartment bulkhead dissolved far below.
David glanced up at the small disruption in the air, and his eyes widened, a smile appeared on his face and I felt one tugging at my own even as I consulted with Helena and looked around for threats.
The floor bowed inwards and screeched in protest as I landed. George slammed into the plating next to me, falling to one knee from the impact before quickly standing.
“Dad!”
David ran to me, and threw his small hands around my waist.
I kept the shotgun raised as the guards and aliens all around the small shopping district stared at us.
“Are you Ok?” I asked David glancing down at him.
He nodded, “I’m fine, what’s happening? Is Helena OK?”
“I’m fine David!” Her voice streamed out of the small communicator at my waist.
A commotion to the side drew my eyes, I watched waiting as the ship continued to move carefully down through the hole it had excavated in the hull of the Hub.
The purple alien burst out of a door, and his eyes went wide at the destruction.
“Councilor Jarali.”
The alien did a double take looking at me, and then back at the door. He had just left a body in my office, only three compartments away. It was the same body I had used since David had been born
“Ambassador?” asked the alien.
I inclined my head.
The alien swallowed, “I fear we have stumbled upon a cultural impasse.”
I curled a lip at him, “You were attempting to take my son.”
Jarali took a hesitant step forward. His robes were rumpled now, and I took some amount of vindictive pride in the fact that the talons on his feet were dulled. Ripping up the other body had no doubt been difficult to do with only biological appendages.
“Daaaved, that is not your father! That is a machine!”
My son scoffed, “Dad is Dad!”
“It is a machine! It should not be raising you! You are flesh and blood!”
David pouted, and raising his hand slowly extended a middle finger at the alien. I had to fight to contain my laughter. George not so controlled scoffed.
“Helena?” I silently asked.
The girl remained silent, sheepish embarrassment filtered through all of the Humans in the computer systems. Most had moved into the ship, now only a few still in the alien computer systems.
“David, go with George.”
He dropped his hand, and quickly nodded his face red.
“OK.”
George leaned down and picked him up, “Come on little guy, we get to use the jets.”
David’s eyes widened, “Really?”
George nodded, and activated the devices on his boots. Quickly he shot up into the air and back into the ship.
The Hub security having had time to regroup watched him leave, and their gaze shifted to me. I was a single creature in a crowd of hundreds now. With only two guns.
Not that it really mattered.
I stepped towards the Councilor.
His gaze dropped from the hole in the Hub, “You have no doubt ruined your chances of joining the Hub with your actions here.” Said Jarali.
My face hardened, “Councilor, I prevented a war. What you just witnessed was every single Human, biological and Synthetic working together. With only a second warning we decimated your cybersecurity, physical security, and prevented a war. I will not apologize for that.”
“A war?”
I let my eyes darken, “You tried to take my Son.”
Jarali opened his mouth to say something, but quickly thought better of it. “We would not have harmed the human. The Hub does not wish to bring harm to any creature.”
“I don’t care. Humanity will not stand for any culture that does not recognize all of us.”
Jarali frowned, he stepped forwards. “I do not understand.”
I lowered my weapon.
“Admitting that is a start. For now, though, we are leaving the Hub. When you are ready to talk again, and recognize all of us. Humanity will be eager to join the Hub.”
The Councilor clicked his talons. “I look forward to that day.”
Turning from him, I activated the jets in my own legs and drifted up to the ship. The ship quickly began to move away from alien structure as I settled into my seat.
“Dad?”
I relaxed at the sound of his voice. He was fine. He was safe. We were on a Human ship.
“David?”
He extended his hand, one of the small trinkets from the stall was in his hand, “I didn’t pay for this.”
I blinked at the small thing. It was a figurine of the same species as the Councilor, dressed in what looked like formal regalia.
“It’s King Zea, I was watching one of the shows he was on. The Hub had these different shows, he’s the King of the educational building on planet Imagine.”
I sighed and picked David up, “I’ll send payment to the vendor. You’re not in trouble.”
David’s face brightened, and then fell. “What about the bad hand?”
I rolled my eyes, “You shouldn’t do that, definitely don’t show your mother, but you’re not in trouble for that.”
David nodded absorbing everything, “Will we be going back?”
I pulled him into a hug, “I hope so. Assuming your mother doesn’t kill me for all of this trouble.”
“She’s going to be mad?”
“She’s going to be mad.”
David squirmed in my arms, “Good luck Dad!”
He jumped out of my lap and falling into the seat next to me started to play with his figurine.
Settling in the chair I looked across the ship at my son, and relaxed.