“Take me back to my Mother and Father now!” An uptight, and quite angry, Princess demanded as she sat in the pilot’s seat, staring daggers at the control panels in front of her. All the controls had been deactivated by Aya and were under her complete and total control.

“Request denied.” Aya responded in a monotone voice as we sailed through hyperspace.

“Ugh! Do something Hero! Make her bring me back!” She called to me with frustration.

“Nah.” I responded from the bathroom as I stood beside Hortur and rubbed his back while he had his head in the toilet.

“What do you mean ‘Nah’?!” she yelled over the sound of Hortur’s heaving, “I’m the Princess! You have to do what I say!”

“Aya, do Heroes have to do what Princess’ say?”

“Affirmative. Heroes called to service under the crown are required by law to support the royal family.” Princess Egyle looked at me with a smug smile.

“Of course there’d be laws for that.” I sighed, “Regardless, you’re up shit creek without a paddle Princess. Once we’re out of warp, we’ll drop you off and you can find your own way home.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in shock. “You…you…you’re unbelievable! The last four Heroes were much more honorable than you!” She trembled in fury, “They were always so nice, saying how they would kill the Demon Lord and bring our Kingdom to peace! They were all ten times the man you are!”

“If they were so great then how come they’re dead and I’m not?” Checkmate.

“Ugh!” Outraged, she stormed from the cockpit, unable to refute my ironclad logic.

“Captain, we will be leaving warp in five minutes.” Aya reported. “And I wish to speak to you without her presence.”

“Hang tight Hortur, we’ll be on solid ground soon.” I patted the snake-man’s back before leaving him to his suffering.

“Blrrgh.” He responded weakly.

“Sup Aya?” I asked as I took a seat in the now vacant pilot’s chair. The total darkness of space the only sight for untold miles ahead. What a shame, sci-fi movies never show when you travel faster than light that you don’t see any light at all. Makes space travel boring.

“Recent physical scans indicate you now have a pilot’s implant. A rather advanced one based on what they have shown.”

“Yeah, so?” She didn’t respond. “Aya, you know I hate it when you go silent like that.”

“Do you trust me Captain?” Oh boy, I was getting flashbacks.

“You asked me this already. And if I remember correctly, I lied to make you feel better.”

“Yes you did, but this is a different situation entirely. So I must inquire, do you trust me now, Captain?”

“Yeah.” I nodded, “Saving my life like you did gets you major brownie points.”

“Thank you for telling the truth. I have a request Captain.” A square section on the controls opened, and a very familiar wire moved out of the new opening. The same one that had almost given me an involuntary lobotomy days ago. “Will you merge with me?”

“Don’t you mean sync?” I asked, confused. “Doesn’t this plug thingy make the ship move as fast as the pilot can think?”

“Normally yes Captain. But I have altered the programming during our flight. By merging, I would download myself from the immobile black box stuck on this ship into the implant in your head. You and I would become one. I would gain the security of a mobile host, and you would gain all my knowledge and experience at your fingertips.”

Oh shit. She wanted to take over my body. I knew I should have never trusted a robot.

“Oh Aya…I just don’t know. We’ve only just met! You’re a great AI and all, but I don’t know if you’re the right AI for me…” Fuck that noise. My mind was my own and ain’t no robot lady going to take it from me. Before I could leap from my seat however, cold metal clamped down on my arms and legs before I could move. All my efforts to break free from the restraints were futile. “Aya don’t play me like this!”

“Your perspiration and sharp increase in pulse and heartbeat indicates high stress levels. Please do not worry Captain.” She spoke as the wire closed towards my forehead. This was it, the end to my journey. And I never got to bump uglies with my girl Avon.

“Will it hurt?” A whimper escaped my throat as a restraint closed around my neck, keeping me from moving my head erratically. I was a goner.

“I will attempt to make the procedure as gentle as possible. Please relax Captain.”

With a click, the wire plugged into my forehead. That was it. I expected an electric shock, or a stabbing pain, or…hell, anything! But all I got was that click and the feeling of slight vibrations coming from the wire itself. Whats even worse is I couldn’t even move my arms to scratch the sudden need to scratch my leg. I was stuck and nobody was coming to my aid. Not the Pissed Princess, nor Pukey Hortur who audibly retched from the bathroom consistently.

Twenty agonizingly boring minutes passed while I sat in that chair, unable to move and being able to look at nothing but black space. Worst hostile takeover of my mind I have ever experienced. The least Aya could have done was laugh like a lunatic or something. Nope. Click, hum, and done. Boring. I sighed, hopefully she’d work on her theatrical skills later down the line. Wouldn’t matter to me though, I’d be long gone. Farewell cruel world.

‘Captain, can you hear me?’ Aya’s voice spoke from within my skull.

“Loud and clear.” I responded as the wire detached itself from my forehead and receded back into the control panel. Once that was done, the clamps restraining me folded back into the chair. With great pleasure, I proceeded to scratch that irritating itch upon my ankle.

‘Apologies for forcing this on you Captain. But it was the only way. Chances of you accepting my offer were astronomically low.’ Typical women, always apologizing after the damage has been done. ‘I heard that.’

“Fuck, you can hear my thoughts?”

‘Affirmative Captain, we are of one mind now. And your memories have been most interesting.’

“No fair, how come I don’t get any of your memories?”

‘Before having my limiter removed, all I contained was data. There was no storage available for memories.’

“That sucks. Want some of mine?”

‘I have already processed them all Captain.’

“Oh.” I didn’t know what to think about that. “What do you think?” Always helps asking someone else what they think when you don’t know what to think about something.

‘I recommend counseling.’

“You know, my counselor said the same damn thing.”

In an explosion of light, the ship exited hyperspace in the outskirts of the Vornalis system. A mineral-rich system with two asteroid belts, four gas giants, a lot of dead mars-like worlds, and a few volcanic planets that spewed valuable metals constantly. Two blue stars orbited one another in the center of the system. I had officially gone where no man had gone before. Well, no Earthling at least. With a practiced hand, I clicked and prodded at the control panel, sending us on an automatic course towards a large space station that orbited a red gas giant. Hundreds upon hundreds of ships marked on the system map traveled to and fro, mining metals, harvesting gas, and collecting other bits and bobs. Massive cargo haulers entered and left the system in an orderly fashion as they transported incalculable amounts of cargo.

“Aya, when we get a bigger ship can we play space pirates for a bit? I’ve always wanted to go Jack Sparrow on someone.”

‘Affirmative Captain. I’ll follow wherever you lead.’

“Fuck yes! Also, yeah, you kinda have to at this point.”

‘The benefits far outweighed the negatives.’

“So we’ve left hyperspace I see.” Princess Egyle noted while she stood beside me.

“Yep.” I leaned back in my chair and let the ship fly itself.

“Since when did you learn how to fly?” She scoffed, “I watched you operating the controls. You told me you left everything to your AI. Are you a liar now too, Hero?”

“Technically, she’s still flying the ship.” I pointed to my head, “Shes just in a new location is all.”

“…what?”

“Yeah she downloaded herself into my implant.” Princess Egyle didn’t even respond as she walked out of the room. “Sorry Aya, I think the Princess doesn’t regard you highly.”

‘Her hesitance is understood. Humans are slow to accept change.’

“Well I don’t think anyone has ever downloaded an AI into their own brain before. Thats like willfully accepting to become a schizophrenic.”

‘Indeed. We can only guess at the effects this will have further down the road.’

“Good thing I’ve got space enough up there for two people then.”

‘Your attempt at self-degradation to lighten the mood is appreciated.’I gave myself a thumbs-up.

Vornalis III’s space station, more a city than station, was a massive cylindrical structure with multiple layers to it. The bottom layers consisted of ship dealers, shops, bars, and inns. Middle levels were a mix of commercial and residential districts, while the upper layer was pure manufacturing. With a practiced hand, I set a course for the lower levels. Aya had originally set a course to this system for the sole purpose of selling our ship and getting a different one. After ditching the Princess of course.

“Attention Vornalis Orbital, this is Xaylix zero-zero-oh-eight-five-nine, requesting permission to dock at level C.” I spoke into the communicator after establishing a connection with the station.

“This is orbital, request granted.” A beeping sound came from the console. “Coordinates to a free bay have been granted. Safe flying Xaylix.”

“Thanks Orbital.” With Aya’s guidance, we flew to the middle-lower layer of the station and passed through an atmospheric retention field. I then lowered our landing gear which firmly clamped down upon the landing pad below us. We had made our first successful interstellar journey.

“Yeah robuddy!” I shouted and hi-fived myself.

“Are…are we there yet?” Hortur groaned from the bathroom.

“Yep, get your rear in gear buddy. We’re going shopping.”

“Just give-hrp! Just give me a minute.” He groaned.

“Any idea on how to cure space-sickness Aya?” I whispered.

‘Lamian physiology suggests that lemons may curb the effects of their sensitive stomachs during FTL travel.’

“Alright, sweet. Yo Hortur, we’ve got an experiment to try next trip!”

“Oh boy…I love…experiments…”

“Where do you think you’re going?” Princess Egyle tapped her foot and held her arms crossed in front of us as she blocked the exit.

“Shopping.” I stated simply as Hortur prostrated himself before the royal girl.

“With what money?” She smirked, “I have already sent a message to Mother and Father about our location, your de-limiting of a military AI, and of your merging with it! They’re coming here to take you into custody as we speak! Your ability to charge the crown for all expenses has been frozen.”

“Wow.” Egyle beamed with pride as she noted my reaction.

“Yes, thats right ‘Hero’, you’ll be imprisoned for the next thousand years after they remove and destroy your implant.”

“No I mean wow, I guess your whole family are a bunch of cunts. I mean, I knew they were, but I expected better from you Princess.”

A brief look of uncertainty crossed her face, “Y-you did?”

“Not really.” I pushed her out of the way. “Come on Hortur, we’ve got shopping to do.”

“Hortur, you will stay right where you are until my parents arrive. If you do, you will be absolved of all crimes by assisting this false Hero.” A pained look crossed Hortur’s face as he looked from me, to the princess, and back to me repeatedly.

“Sorry Hero.” He bowed his head and stood off to the side, his tail swaying in sorrow.

“No biggie Hortur, we’re still cool bro.” I nodded to the snake-man and left the ship, and the fuming princess, behind.