RE: SeaWyrm's Talon Exercises
11-06-2012, 09:39 PM
There's someone in my head, but it's not me!
That's okay, though. It's just my pilot, Samantha Norbus. Sam's in charge of plotting courses, keeping a lookout, and making sure my passengers are okay. Also, if something goes horribly wrong and my mind stops working, she can fly my body to the nearest landing station with the emergency controls.
You might think it would be invasive, having someone inside you all the time, but we have a good relationship, her and I. She tells me stories during long flights. We make smalltalk. Sometimes we tell riddles. And I trust her, too. She's gotten us out of some crazy scrapes before - she has lightning instincts and a deft hand. Sometimes, when the light from the setting sun comes in through the wind screen and strikes the side of her face just so, I wish that...
But no. That's impossible.
Anyway, it's not such a bad life. I get to see the world. I get to fly - can't imagine not being able to do that! I have companionship, free fuel and electricity, shelter from storms. So I don't mind so much, going where they want me to go, doing what they want me to do. It's what I was built for, after all.
But I've heard that secretly, they consider me to be a mistake, that they think they made me too intelligent. There's a newer, dumber model coming out soon. I'm not too offended, really... until I stop and think about it, wonder if they intend to complement their fleet or replace it. About what they really think of me.
Sam reads to me a lot from corporate brochures. I know all my design specs, all the marketing lines about me. I used to find it comforting, but I've noticed something lately - sarcasm. Not in the brochures, but in the way Sam reads them. Just a faint edge, but it's there. I wonder if she realizes she is doing it. I haven't asked her about it yet.
As for the passengers, I don't pay much attention to them. Sam keeps them comfortable and fed, and there are no cameras down there for me to see them. I try to fly steady for them, avoid turbulence. I try to reach the destination as fast as I can, so they can get on with their business, whatever it is - but sometimes I think I hear strange sounds from back there, like moans or screams, and I'm still not sure what to make of that.
---15 Mins---
That's okay, though. It's just my pilot, Samantha Norbus. Sam's in charge of plotting courses, keeping a lookout, and making sure my passengers are okay. Also, if something goes horribly wrong and my mind stops working, she can fly my body to the nearest landing station with the emergency controls.
You might think it would be invasive, having someone inside you all the time, but we have a good relationship, her and I. She tells me stories during long flights. We make smalltalk. Sometimes we tell riddles. And I trust her, too. She's gotten us out of some crazy scrapes before - she has lightning instincts and a deft hand. Sometimes, when the light from the setting sun comes in through the wind screen and strikes the side of her face just so, I wish that...
But no. That's impossible.
Anyway, it's not such a bad life. I get to see the world. I get to fly - can't imagine not being able to do that! I have companionship, free fuel and electricity, shelter from storms. So I don't mind so much, going where they want me to go, doing what they want me to do. It's what I was built for, after all.
But I've heard that secretly, they consider me to be a mistake, that they think they made me too intelligent. There's a newer, dumber model coming out soon. I'm not too offended, really... until I stop and think about it, wonder if they intend to complement their fleet or replace it. About what they really think of me.
Sam reads to me a lot from corporate brochures. I know all my design specs, all the marketing lines about me. I used to find it comforting, but I've noticed something lately - sarcasm. Not in the brochures, but in the way Sam reads them. Just a faint edge, but it's there. I wonder if she realizes she is doing it. I haven't asked her about it yet.
As for the passengers, I don't pay much attention to them. Sam keeps them comfortable and fed, and there are no cameras down there for me to see them. I try to fly steady for them, avoid turbulence. I try to reach the destination as fast as I can, so they can get on with their business, whatever it is - but sometimes I think I hear strange sounds from back there, like moans or screams, and I'm still not sure what to make of that.
---15 Mins---