<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/YaH7ZzS.jpg)</div>Tamrithra would be lying if she said she wouldn't miss Shokyou. She was by no means a programmer or VI specialist, but the benefits of a VI-controlled ship couldn't be denied for...well, any manner of things.<br/><br/>Heading back to the cockpit, she set course for the coordinates. "I presume you heard all of that, Shokyou. I should be honest, sorry for putting it off. When I arrived at Harris 4, it was for two purposes. One was to cripple the space pirates, the other to retrieve this shi-well, you really, for my client Soyokaze. I figure that you’ll find out along the way there, so I’m telling you this now.”<br/><br/>She sat, waiting for a response. But only for a bit before inevitably continuing. “I know how this sounds; I’m sorry, but doing something that risky isn’t the kind of thing I do just because. Also I don’t know if they know a VI’s onboard. If they asked for the ship maybe they just mean a physical shell. Maybe we can transfer your consciousness into something...else, perhaps?”<br/><br/>Tamrithra knew that VI were artificially created simulations, and that they were programmed to be happy with their chosen roles. Maybe it was how...Nyemian, they seemed, in their apparent sentience that made her reluctant. Maybe after freeing Tip from slavery, the idea of giving over another intelligent being for money (that wasn’t a criminal) left a bad taste in Tamrithra’s mouth.<br/><br/>But she knew that she couldn’t delay the inevitable. Soyokaze would be wondering about any delays, and given Shokyou’s omnipresence in the systems it would be a fool’s errand concealing things from her. The most she could hope for was that Shokyou wouldn’t do all “rogue VI” and shutdown in the middle of space or fly off course to ancestors know where!