Avi was back on Luna's spaceship, proud as a peacock that she had done so good. When she was at the bridge, Luna was still sleeping, so Avi put the robot on her back under a wall, saying. - “This is Luna, and I'm Avi, as you already know. Our pet fox is nad Aurora. What's your na?”
“No na. Just Model. C-4138.” - The robot answered.
“Hmm...” - Avi pondered. - “That's like 'Caleb'. Can I call you by this na?”
“Caleb. I like it.”
“Nice to know you, Caleb! From now on, we'll be good friends.”
“Friend. Caleb will do their best.”
---
Luna woke up, automatically scanning the bridge. In its corner, leaning her back against the front panel, Avi was sleeping with Aurora on her lap. A bit farther, Caleb was hibernating, but Luna decided to ignore him.
Luna shifted her form, then descended lightly to the floor and downloaded the recordings from Avi's helt. They made her slightly sad.
She then walked to Caleb and, seeing he was inactive, picked him up. - “If that's Avi's wish, you'll be repaired.” - She also picked Scout up, then moved to the garage.
---
Avi woke up, covered in drool from the fox's tongue. She wiped her face, then looked around, finding no signs of Luna or Caleb.
“Oh! Luna must already be working!” - Avi stood up. - “Aurora, co, let's find her!”
She moved to the recreational room right away and found Luna covered in soot and oil. A lot of tiny parts were levitating around her, and she was working on Caleb's ripped-open skull.
“Luna?” - Avi asked, thoroughly confused. - “What... what are you doing to Caleb?”
“I'm extracting his intelligence unit, control matrices, and speech processor.”
“Why?”
“I'll transplant them.”
“Transplant?”
“Yes, the diagnostic system of his shell shows signs of severe obsolescence. He won't survive in his old body.”
Avi cald down. - “I won't bother you, then.”
“You don't bother . Quite the contrary, I like your presence.”
“Are you sure you will be able to focus?” - Avi asked, flicking one of the levitating screw nuts with her finger.
Luna nodded quietly, then pulled her laser scalpel closer and began to cut inside Caleb's skull. There were a lot of sparks, so Avi moved to a safer distance.
“...and how is it going?” - Avi asked.
“Good, I'm almost done.”
“Okay.” - Avi uttered and pressed her index fingers together, standing there in awkward silence. Seeing that Luna is very absorbed in her work, she wasn't sure what to talk about. - “Should... I turn so music on?”
“It would be nice.” - Luna replied, pushing away her scalpel to levitate passively. She grabbed two thin sticks, one with miniature pincers, the other with a sensor.
Avi chose a vinyl nad 'Fragnts' and put it on the gramophone, then lay on the couch and started to stare at the ceiling, waiting until Luna was done.
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Luna, however, wanted to talk. - “Avi.”
“Yes?”
“Did you have fun in the robot outpost?”
“I...” - Avi felt bad for going without Luna. - “...am sorry that I didn't wait for you. I lost Scout, then tried to retrieve him, and things turned out that way.”
“You know that it's dangerous.”
“I'm sorry, I didn't an to.”
“At least, you are uninjured... but please, don't leave without ever again.”
Avi felt guilty. - “I will wait next ti, I promise.”
Luna turned to Avi, giving her a heartfelt smile, then got back to work. - “Will you tell about your little adventure?”
“I saw many robots die, but... I saved those who were still remaining.”
“That was kind of you, but you should rember – those are only robots, they imitate intelligent life. Your life, compared to theirs, is priceless... so don't risk it to protect them.”
Avi felt stupid, but still tried to explain herself. - “They... life and understand like us. It's hard to see any difference.”
“I know, that's why you have .”
“...but even then, if by any chance, an innocent, sentient being walked in there... sothing far worse could happen... and now, it should be safe.”
Luna was shocked by her shortsightedness, she had never considered it. She looked at Avi, amazed, yet in shock. - “Avi...”
“Yes?” - Avi's and Luna's eyes t.
“You have a kind heart, and you're very brave. You're the only person in the stars that I would ever want to follow.”
Avi blushed and tried to hide it by turning her face to the ceiling once more. - “T-thank you.”
The slow music continued to play. It was the only sound that was interrupting the silence until Luna started to hum to the lody. Avi's eyes closed, she didn't know why Luna's voice was so calming. She lay for almost half an hour, listening, until Luna stopped.
“Ready!” - Luna declared, lifting Caleb's new body.
“What?” - Avi opened her eyes, a bit groggy after her short nap, then looked at Luna, who turned to her and displayed Scout. - “Do you want to say that he's there... inside?”
“You don't like it?” - Luna was surprised.
“I like it...” - Avi was unsure. - “It's just not what I expected.”
“I can always move him elsewhere.” - Luna added.
Avi considered it for a mont. - “First, let's ask Caleb if he's okay.”
“Okay! Activating the energy cell!” - Luna inford, and the bird's eyes opened. Avi's face reflected in their lenses.
“Feels... weird.” - The robot said, moving its right wing.
“I upgraded his linguistic and mobility modules, but their proper calibration will take ti.” - Luna added.
Caleb turned to Luna, his steel pupils widening. - “Did you... repair Caleb?”
Luna smiled. - “Yes! I improved the diagnostic algorithms. You should test them, then explore your new functionalities.”
“Caleb... checking.” - For a mont, Caleb remained motionless. Then, he lifted his wings and jumped down from Luna's hands. His arms flailed awkwardly, and he landed hard on the floor.
“Caleb!” - Avi ran to him, making sure that he was okay.
“Caleb... is fine.” - Caleb inford. - “New body, very durable. Mobility module, complicated.”
“I'm not sure if it was a good idea to put him in there.” - Avi said, knowing that they still might need Scout. - “Caleb... what do you think? Do you want us to move you to a different body?”
“Caleb is happy.” - The robot answered. - “Caleb never had that many available algorithms. Computing power exceeds the capabilities of the old body.”
“Okay, that's good to hear.” - Avi said. - “If you change your mind, then let us know.”
“Directives acknowledged.” - Caleb replied shortly, then began to walk around the garage. - “Caleb likes your ship, reminds him of Yggdrasil.”
“That's right!” - Avi shouted. - “Yggdrasil! Caleb, tell us where your ship is from and where to look for Keter station or God's Sickle.”
Caleb stopped. - “Keter station. I don't know. God's Sickle. I don't know. Caleb only served, but Caleb rembers where he was manufactured and transferred aboard the spacecraft.”
“That's where can can learn sothing new!” - Avi said, excited. - “Do tell us!”
“Caleb rembers a large ship, thousands of miles long. It had a big, round core in the center.” - Caleb paused. - “Caleb sending the mory to the remote screen.”
Avi looked at her wrist guard imdiately. The front of the four long pieces of the gargantuan spaceship ford a cross.
“Luna?” - Avi asked. - “Does it help us in any way?”
Luna moved next to Avi. - “It has a traditional propulsion engine, and it traveled from the forty-second star, aiming to cross the center of the cluster. Its curvature radius is almost zero. I'm unable to asses the velocity. Its current coordinates are unknown to , but if it stopped or plans to stop, it'll be on this part of a straight line... around the twenty-fourth star.”
“That's quite far.” - Avi said.
“I agree. Our prior clues are more certain.” - Luna replied.
“Then, to the sixth star! If we find nothing there, then right to seventh!” - Avi suggested.
“Should I start the ship right now?”
Avi looked out the window at the unvisited planets. - “Yes... We don't know how much we should hurry.”
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