Chapter 115: Malfunction
“A day spent in bed is a day wasted. There’s so much out there waiting for you.”
—Famed Explorer Jeana Legran
Boredom wriggled like a worm in Zaina’s brain. She was back in her little hut in the woods at least, but this was still only her second day of bed rest. She’d already exhausted most of her favorite vis-films and now mindlessly watched a comedy show she’d seen at least twenty times over the years. Every punch-line and story arc were ingrained in her head; sometimes she found herself speaking along with the show.
Today her thoughts turned to where she’d be in ten years. Either dead as a lancer or renounced and alive, but still marked—she honestly didn’t know which option suited her.
Her attention drifted back to the vis-screen. Zaina’s recital of the lines was interrupted by a mumble and a few roiling bubbles from her stomach.
How long has it been since I ate something?
She sighed. Bed rest sucked. “Hey, Gizmo? Buddy?”
Her little glyph friend, a floating mass of light and metal about the size of her head, hovered over. “Yes, Master Zaina?”
She shook her head. “It’s Zaina. That’s it—Zaina. I’m not your master, I’m your friend.”
“It is polite for a glyph to refer to their sentient operator as Master,” Gizmo chirped in reply. “I would not like being impolite to you, Master Zaina.”
“Well, I don’t like being called master. Sentient operator doesn’t exactly have a ring to it, either. Can you think of something else to call me?”
Gizmo chirped, then gave a strange, low-pitched whirring noise for about a second. A completely different voice came from it and said, “Reset complete. Hello, Master. May I have your preferred name?”
“Are you fucking with me or something? You know my name.”
Gizmo beeped twice. “Input complete. Hello, Master Aryufa. Would you like me to go over my functions and performance schedule?”
“No, I—why did you reset? Did I do something wrong?”
“I’m not sure what you mean, Master Aryufa. There is no wrong way to interact with your personal glyph.”
Zaina thought for a moment. “Did I do something to trigger the reset? Is there even any way you would know that?”
“Of course, Master Aryufa! A log is kept of every reset, and the sentient operator who initiated said reset is listed in each instance. Would you like me to retrieve that information?”
She glanced over at the show she’d seen over a dozen times, then back to Gizmo. Yeah, she didn’t have anything better to do. “Sure, go for it.”
“Affirmative, Master Aryufa!” Gizmo whirred and clicked, then chirped and said, “It appears one Girxorgian of Clan Ra-Folgoth, the previous sentient operator, is the one who initiated the reset.”
A twinge of sorrow struck Zaina’s chest. “Buddy, I—I’m sorry, but Gir’s gone.”
“Affirmative—however, the reset was initiated by him.”
Zaina shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense. Are you okay, Gizmo? What’s going on, little buddy?”
“Yes, Master Aryufa. I am—” it was interrupted by the same low whirring as before, and then Gizmo said, “Reset complete. Hello, Master. May I have your preferred name?”
“Zaina,” she replied. Then she continued, “Did you get too hot on the last mission or something?”
Gizmo whizzed and whirred. “Retrieving memory from mission databanks.” It spat out the same whir as before and said, “Reset complete. Hello, Master. May I have your preferred name?”
Zaina stood, hobbled over, and tenderly held Gizmo. “I’m Zaina. Gizmo, you’re scaring me. I think we should get you checked out.”
“If you wish, Master Zaina, though you should know according to my sensor readouts I am meeting or exceeding all standards related to my performance, and my battery is fully charged. A checkup may not be nec—zzz—ess—zzz—ary.”
The vocal tick was back. She sighed. Gizmo didn’t understand—every time it reset it forgot what the problem was, and Zaina didn’t have time to explain it to the glyph between resets.
Maybe the problem is somewhere in the memory? It reset immediately when the little guy tried to access it.
It was worth a shot. She reached for her vis-screen, but hesitated—the only person she knew to ask where to get a glyph repaired was Xyrthe, and she’d made it clear she was in no mood.
There has to be a way to get hold of someone who can help me. Or at least knows where I should be looking.
She snatched up her vis-screen and went through her contacts—it was embarrassingly sparse, with Xyrthe being the only one. She hadn’t exactly made any friends during her time in the Order of Riiva, and she didn’t much expect to.
Still, there had to be some sort of directory for lancers to find things on Kaado. If anyone knew it was her glyph companion—it was worth a shot.
“Hey, Gizmo,” she said, “can you help me with something?”
“Of course, Master Zaina!”
She cringed. We’ll get that worked out later.
“Well, here’s what I need help with,” she said. “I need you to help me find a mechanic who works on glyphs. Is there any way to do that?”
“Of course, Master Zaina! ORDSEC is the definitive resource for navigating all Kaado has to offer its lancer and non-lancer population.”
“ORDSEC? What is that?”
“Zzz—ORDSEC is accessible from your vis-screen, or I can interact with it directly on your behalf.”
“I’ll look into it, thanks,” she said. Nurse Rele still had her on bed-rest, so it was better if she found someone willing to come meet her here—and she didn’t want to put too much strain on Gizmo, so it was better to do this herself.
She held up her vis-screen and said, “Access ORDSEC.”
“Credentials and location confirmed. Welcome, Zaina Quin. Which directory would you like to access?”
A holographic menu popped out of her vis-screen, showing the word ORDSEC at the top. Right beneath it were the words, “Order of Riiva Directory—Services, Equipment, Commerce.”
“Huh. So that’s what it stands for. Uh, what’s each directory all about?”
“The services directory is for requisitioning professionals for any number of tasks including repairs of issued lancer equipment, home maintenance, and many other services. The equipment directory is where lancers can submit forms to gain access to the armory and be requisitioned fresh equipment. The commerce directory is for all exchanges and purchases unrelated to being a lancer.”
It was a lot, but it made sense. “Okay, it sounds like services is what I want.”
“Affirmative.” The services directory pulled up with a list of categories. It was much longer than Zaina anticipated.
Welfare check services, ship repair, moving services, renovation services. Ah! Glyph diagnostics and repair—that’s it.
She touched the corresponding spot on the holo-image, and the sub-directory pulled up. After fiddling with the settings she was able to see which mechanics made house calls and which didn’t. She sorted them by rating.
Looks like I’m in luck.
The second highest-rated mechanic did indeed make house calls, and the record within the database contained his contact hash for the vis-screen.
That’s perfect.
She turned to Gizmo and said, “Don’t you worry, little buddy. We’ll get you fixed up soon.”
“Affirmative, Zaina. Zzz—reset complete. Hello, Master. May I have your preferred name?”
Zaina sighed. This little glyph was all she had left of the first lancer she’d ever met, Gir—he really should have been her mentor, not Xyrthe. She’d barely known Gir for more than a day, but she still felt like she connected with him more in that time than she had in several months with Xyrthe. She didn’t want to lose the last piece of the hero who saved her life.
I’ll get him working right again, Gir, she thought, hoping he was listening from whatever afterlife he believed in. I promise.