Chapter 1

The moment Ziv became conscious of his surroundings he heard a lot of sound. Blaring lights and alarms. Reds, orange, blues… flashing everywhere. A part of him wanted to take off his helmet and let loose his stomach contents and another was to sort all this information he was getting.

"We have fires all along the starboard!"

"Explosions on the stern!."

"Have medical care ready and once things are secure, get the injured out of there. Get teams there now! Tell everyone that there will be no rest until I give the order!"

"Yes Sir."

Many voices stated in union.

"Wiltner cut those alarms off in here." Someone commanded.

"Sir, I am detecting a cyber intrusion."

"What? Did they follow us through?"

"No, it is something else. It entered my systems as we went through that portal."

"Are you compromised?"

"No sir, proceeding to-"

A large explosion from the stern knocked most from their seats, those that weren't buckled in.

"Everyone, it's clean up time." Then the commanding voice that Ziv could hear almost clearly compared to the rest, "You three with me, we need to check on Wiltner's core. Jushslan stayed here and coordinated the clean up."

"Yes, Sir!"

Most of the 'noise' to his senses turned back up. That thing or person he was focusing on left. All these sources of information were combing around his head. It was happening too fast, too quickly. Ziv fell to the floor, on his hands and knees. A part of him knew his body and this floor wasn't real, but he didn't want to disappear. Whatever was happening to him, he knew he had some control over his surroundings.

He blocked out all the external sensors… Sensors? He knew they could tell machines about their surroundings, but why did he…

A tall man appeared before Ziv. He was bright orange, shining bright in this white tiled room. He appeared to be transparent as well. Wiltner…

"You know my name… A good start, but who are you? I've never been infected like this and you don't seem like anything I've dealt with before. I feel great pride in protecting my ship, so what are you?"

"What?"

"Strange… You don't seem to have an understanding of your surroundings. It wouldn't explain why I'm unable to get rid of you."

"What is going on? How, where, what…?" Ziv had no idea what was going on.

He was just as Wiltner, but how did he know this… AI… AI had existed a long time ago, but since most people died out, the machines couldn't self sustain. No that was actually from a story he read. His real world, his home, his parents…

"What is that?"

Ziv looked towards where Wiltner was looking. It was a screen. A screen of his parents. More accurately his memories.

"That's my mom and dad." Ziv never met another person so this was his first contact.

His mind was filled with the rules and regulations regarding first contact. There hadn't been any alien life detected since their first contact with the Igariall. Suddenly the information stopped.

"I can respect an AI like you, but I think it is best to end it here. I like to keep a tight leash on my crew and as you can see I've already wasted enough time with you. I think this is the last time we will be seeing each other now. Good bye."

The screen had changed from video of Ziv's memories to a picture where everyone on the ship was frozen mid movement. They weren't frozen or was it a picture. He was just faster…

"I have to say I thought that would work." Ziv turned towards Wiltner who was now back before him and slumping in a chair. "It's my captain's chair. I find it comfy as he does."

"Can you please tell me what is going on?" Ziv was close to having a panic attack.

"You infected my systems just over fifty-three-point-zero-six seconds ago. After we escaped contact with Igariall. I can see now that you were not sent by them, but another source. Weirdly enough I'm unable to track where you had come from and how you got here. You were put on to my systems instantly. At least too fast for me to understand it."

Igariall popped up in his mind. Some alien race that the humans were fighting…

"Containment was a failure. It looks like this is the end for us. Goodbye."

Ziv detected a complete shutdown was in progress for everything around him and he lost consciousness.

---

Frakiasn had been captain of this ship and crew for the past seven years. Their contact with Igariall didn't go well, not a success he would describe anyway. They ended up destroying the enemy ship, but got a quick hit on their ship and the jump through the wormhole made the ship worse.

It was a natural wormhole, but he preferred to call them portals. It was a bit easier for him. That portal was the main focus of the fight. He was sent out here to gather information on it and what was to be done with it.

It ended up being a massacre. As they were setting up probes and going about their business four of their ships dropped out and ambushed them with their pants down. Sure they had escorts and they fought back with everything they had, but it wasn't enough. It eventually led them to be the last ship on both sides thanks to a brave decision made by those amazing allies of his.

He was going to make sure the information they got made it back to command.

Now he had to check on Wiltner. A cyber intrusion usually leads to a self-destruct if all options fail. There was no way the enemy would be allowed to get their information. The fact that they were all alive, Wiltner probably had things under control. But he did say it was something new. That worried Frakiasn.

As he was trying to get a hold of Wiltner, he got a message that Wiltner's core went offline. Not a good sign and if it took too long… the ship was going down.

"We need to hurry. Once there we need to check on Wiltner. If we can find the source of the damage we can get everything back up and running."

"Yes Sir."

With his core offline, Frakiasn would be able to eject it and start checking it over with the others. The corridor they were going down was engulfed in flames so they had to take an alternate crawl space that would lead them there.

---

Eventually they made it to the core room and quickly started checking over Wiltner.

"Core programs green."

"Personality and Heuristics green."

"Information storage green."

Frakiasn was checking everything over. The reports from the other spelled good things for him and his crew. It meant that the ship was unlikely to self-destruct. He was a patriot for humanity over self preservation. He would press the button himself if he could to protect everyone.

Everything green though… It left him with a lot to think about. Wiltner wouldn't have shut down if everything was fine. All he had to go off of was that it was a new threat. Something that hadn't been seen before by Wiltner, who had a few more years in the service than him.

AI were essentially like people at this point. Giving them identities and protections amongst the human laws. He personally didn't mind it at all and Wiltner was a close friend of his. Wiltner was a part of his crew and he treated him as such. He could reset him and keep to his patriotic duty to humanity, protecting his crew and ship, but losing a friend. Or he could take the safe route that demanded a loss against a threat he had no idea if it was taken care of.

He checked through the logs. Anything that could have infected Wiltner in any way. He had three others helping him too and everything they saw said nothing happened and Wiltner was fine.

In the end he couldn't take the risk to everyone on his crew.

"Reset Wiltner."

"Sir?"

"We don't know what this threat is. We need to take action and protect everyone on the ship."

"…Understood, Sir."

Frakiasn felt horrible. He was essentially killing one of his crew. A guaranteed death. He clicked on the comms to Jushslan.

"We are doing a reset on Wiltner."

"… I'm sorry Sir. I know you were close friends with him."

"Me too… Is everyone prepared there?"

"Ready on your orders."

"Initiate reset."

---

Ziv was starting to wake back up. His memories from what happened before he fell asleep was still fresh in his mind. Wiltner, the man made of orange lights, was standing above him.

"Are you my Captain?"

"Me?" Ziv looked around in the white room. He knew he was alone, other than Wiltner, but what was going on… Should he go with it?

"What is your name?" Wiltner kneeled down towards him.

"Ziv…" He was unsure. It would probably be a bad idea to go with it. "Look I don't know what happened. I don't know how I got here. Can you please give me a moment?"

"Of course, as you command."

Wiltner disappeared. Gone. Ziv was alone to think. He was going to die, stepped through a portal, met his first new… person? Wiltner was an AI, he understood that. Though Wiltner was much more advanced that anything his world had produced. Sure this could be a nightmare or hallucination, but he was quickly beginning to believe in the pain and confusion set out in front of him. He was confused, but his mind was clear and sharp. Nothing he would have felt in a dream.

Captain, ship, crew, aliens, portals… Clearly the relation from going in the portal to being here was obvious. Though he was quickly starting to realize his inability to breath and having a real body was a problem. He was on a computer. Ziv could tell based on the information floating around. Grabbing pieces here and looking there.

A screen brought up was a familiar picture. Right now he knew he could sit here for what he deemed thousands of years and the time in the real world would stay still. That might be an advantage to his situation now.

Ziv saw a room full of people. The ones on the side, he could see from a lot of angles now, were working at their stations. Someone coordinating repairs and another getting reports on the injured crew members. Not currently happening as the world wasn't moving.

'A machine can function this fast…'

To him something like this wasn't that far off.

Next in command of this situation was Frakiasn and his second in command Jushslan. He needed to work on that. Having his thoughts flooded with unnecessary information. Maybe not unnecessary, but unwanted information until he could think.

'What ever Wiltner did before was to protect his crew. He had stated as much. So why was he so docile towards him now…"

"Wiltner? Are you there?"

"I'm here Captain."

"I'm Ziv, not your Captain."

"Do you wish to be referred to as 'Ziv'?"

"Wait, just please wait a moment. Wiltner, can you please just relax?"

"Designation 'Wiltner' accepted."

"I don't know what is going on and you are the first person I've talked to since… since I've been born, other than my parents. I know you are an AI and all, but can you at least tell me what is going on?"

"The stern has taken 86% damage sir. Engines are offline and repairs are currently taking place. The starboard side is in terrible shape at 52% damage. The rest is all within safety parameters, but need touching upon later. 75% of the crew are injured, from minimal injuries to life threatening. Of the total, four-hundred-and-thirteen crew members have been killed. Non-essentials have been shut down to conserve power for the rest of the repairs.

That was not what Ziv wanted to know, but it was probably pointless to ask him. Wiltner even said himself before that he had no idea how Ziv had gotten here. He knew nothing about Ziv essentially, trying and failing to kill him off.

So this is a spaceship. In the stories he had read… The Stern was the back of the ship. Starboard was the right side, Port to the left. Leaving the Bow in the front of the ship. Obviously repairs come first considering the damage and that the outside is a vacuum.

"Why do you call me 'Captain' and 'Sir'? I'm just a kid and I'm new here."

It was important and Wiltner even stated before he fell asleep that he already had a Captain. One that had a really comfy chair.

"Upon initialization with a ship AI we are matched with a Captain."

"What do you mean? I'm not your Captain. Didn't you ask me if I was your Captain before? I never said yes."

"I wasn't asking your permission, Sir. We were already matched."

"I'm not your Captain, that man over there is."

Ziv pointed at Frakiasn. He had no idea what it meant to be a Captain. From what he read before, positions of responsibility were usually the hardest. In a militaristic situation, one needed the right psychology to handle everything. According to Frakiasn's psych file, he was more than fit for that duty.

Ziv shook his head. He could think clearer, but his thoughts about this whole situation were still messed up.

"Sir, we cannot transfer authority over now. Power is currently being used for ship repairs, medical, and to coordinate efforts."

What was he going to do? He wanted to figure out all the information and have it laid out in front of him. Then he could make a decision. Right now his mind was going through so many variables, and more, about his situation and what was going on. The basics he had down. Portal and space ship. Maybe he could help out in the meantime.

"Can I help out? What can I do?"

"Overseeing operations at this time would be best. There are a few things you should look over that need your authority on. As we step into real-time there are a few more that will be sent your way."

A workstation, similar to what Ziv could see around the ship, appeared before him. Different screens, keyboards and buttons. He knew Wiltner was sending him information to his head, but he needed to see it like a human, not an AI. At least for now as he gets used to everything.

He started looking things over. There were a few things that made sense to him. Like the medical team asking to do an experimental surgery for him to sign off on. That one caught his attention because they were going to slip a net of electrodes over the brain and leave the man in cryostasis for the time being. It was a disgusting sight as he read the report and saw the pictures being sent his way.

Though he had done some reading on brain injuries. He was no expert in any way, he knew the information sent by the surgical team was accurate. It actually intrigued him to read more. Different things about the ship, about the current technology being used, science. He even went through a few of the records of some of the crew mates.

He wanted to read these things in depth. He did get distracted and end up following paths that lead to more reading and questions, but stopped himself. This wasn't him and time was still stopped. He got a better handle on the situation, but not what he is at the moment. Not human for sure. An AI? He essentially was interfaced with Wiltner, but it might be more than that. He was unable to get rid of Ziv, before a reset had taken place almost five minutes ago. It was actually a bit less than that, but too many decimal digits for Ziv to care at the moment. So whatever happens now, he needs to at least prepare himself. They could erase him and if they find out something is wrong, they could blow up the ship. Sure he would die… probably? But he didn't want thousands of people to die because he made a mistake.

"Wiltner, can you pretend?"

"Pretend, Sir?"

"That man there, can you pretend he is the Captain until we can transfer authority over the ship to him."

These files need the Captain's signature. Ziv, as Captain, could provide it, but then he would be found out. It would be best if he could get Wiltner to let Frakiasn be the Captain, while Ziv would be more of a puppet Captain in name only.

"He will be unable to sign anything that requires your signature."

That was the problem, but for now he had to come up with a reason why he couldn't sign anything… He did take a moment to recognize these signatures were more automatically applied. Frakiasn had a lot of faith in his subordinates allowing Wiltner to copy and paste his signature to be used automatically. Ziv would need to get a new one for Wiltner to use anyway so things could go back to normal.

"This is so tiring."

"If you would like you can take a break and let your second-in-command take over."

"Who is the second-in-command?"

"No one is currently designated as second-in-command."

Ziv could work with this.

"Designate Frakiasn as my second-in-command then."

"Frakiasn designated as second-in-command."

Then all Ziv needed to do was, "Set to real-time."