“I don’t know.” She finally answered. “Perhaps I will shut down, go back into hibernation.”
“Let me offer you an alternative.” He said. “A gift for being a delight to me this past millennia.”
He signaled for his aide, spoke briefly and the young man hurried off.
“As Madroleeka you have been sentient for as long or longer than any other beings in this galaxy.” Sharaal said. “You have seen empires rise and fall, great wars and small battles. It was your duty to carry on. You’re no longer just a machine, Maddy. You have become a living, feeling creature. A human in many aspects and as such, you should be able to stop existing if you choose. I know you cannot self-destruct; it is in your base level programming but many advances have been made these past thousand years since we first met.”
“I don’t think I want to stop existing.” She said.
“No, of course not.” He continued. “But I believe the option should be there if you ever change your mind. You’re part human now, you will eventually grow tired of living. Immortality is not for the likes of us. Someday he will leave and not return and you will never know what happened to him. He may have found his Scarlet and they have a happy life. He may have been killed before he could engage the bracelet. It may malfunction and cease to work. You will wait for years and he simply will not reappear and you will never know what happened.”
The words stung but they were the truth and he was only voicing what she already knew.
The young man strode briskly back and placed a decorated box on the table.
“Thank you, Braataan.” He said and he slipped back to his bench far enough away to give his elder privacy but close enough to come quickly if needed.
He opened the box and pulled out a travel bracelet.
“Technology has advanced since I reprogrammed a pair of these for Jessie.” He said. “This one I designed for your uniqueness, you only need to assimilate a bit of human DNA into your system for it to become functional. I’m not entirely sure how time travel would affect you. It may destroy your essence and you could come out the other side a collection of cells, not as a living being. The DNA, the very thing that gives us life, will ensure you remain sentient. Once you assimilate human DNA you will be able to travel with him back to his world or help keep him out of trouble if he finally does abandon his hopeless quest.”
He had a glint of merriment in his eye.
“You speak of the bounty on his head.” She smiled. “It seems to grow larger every century.”
“Yes, the pirates still hold a grudge. The Consortium, too, since that altercation on the Traders Moon.”
“They don’t give up easily.” She said. “My first time out in the old ship after that incident, I was attacked twice trying to get to the hub. I purchased a different model, one they wouldn’t recognize. The old one hasn’t been off our moon in five hundred years.”
“They won’t stop until they find him.” Sharaal said easily. “It’s part of their ethos, they have long memories. I’ve been told they still have his image in all their halls. His face is an easy one to remember and a lot of thievery, kidnappings and killings get blamed on him. If he ever gives up and decides to stay, you should convince him to see one of the skin doctors.”
“I will but he won’t.” Maddy said then thanked him for the bracelet. “But it’ll be better with this.”
“Time travel is a toll road.” Sharaal said. “And everyone must pay the toll. I worry about your wards mental state. He has been too long in limbo.”
“As do I.” Maddy agreed.
“If you decide to jump with him, use your natural form to wrap tightly around him. Bond yourself so you aren’t separated or you most likely will be.”
His assistant seemed to be getting visibly impatient. In his eyes Sharaal was ancient and was being exhausted by the strange woman. He should have been back to his rooms a half hour ago.
“Once last thing before I bid you goodbye and good luck.” Sharaal said, his voice losing strength. “If you activate the bracelet, you will have the option.”
“The option of dying?” she asked.
“Yes.” he said. “You can decide then. It becomes a choice. But know this before you make your choice. Once you incorporate human DNA into yourself, you will eventually make that choice. We are not designed to live forever.”
She could have chosen any human DNA, Sharaal even offered his, but she brought back kits and swabbed Scarlets journals. They were teeming with her memories, the pages with her sweat and one of the bindings with her blood. As she incorporated it into her cells and started imprinting each one, she felt something change. It wasn’t an apparent alteration and she had a hard time reasoning out exactly what the difference was but she felt something subtly being altered.
It became apparent that her body didn’t like doing things she’d never thought about before. It clung to human norms when she went outside to make one last check of the ships and house. She felt the cold. She felt the pressure of zero vacuum. She extended her legs to check the roof line and felt discomfort, almost pain, at the unnatural shape. The DNA had made her more human. She was already a near
