“Well now, would you look at that!” Winters exclaimed softly. At Io’s recommendation he had just been about to turn back in the direction of his pod when he’d noticed something in the distant grasslands. Taking a knee and activating the binocular functionality of his helmet, he zoomed in on a herd of large grazing animals. Given that they had six legs he couldn’t say they really looked like anything on earth, but he supposed they were close enough to fluffy oxen that just so happened to sport single antler-like protrusions from their heads. For a while Winters simply observed, enjoying the thrill of discovery. “Io, is there anything these guys can tell us about the local environment?”

‘Sir, herd behavior usually indicates a defensive measure against a predatory species, though this is not an absolute. Along with the Cauthan, the presence of heavy fur seems to indicate a harsh climate or specifically hard winters. This will all bear further study. For now I would recommend returning to the pod. We know nothing of potential predators and we do not want to delay the manufacture process that is ongoing. A part should be completed in the next ten minutes.’

“Alright, alright I get it. No need to nag. We’re going. Just wanted to see the sights you know?”

‘Sir, it’s been nothing but grasslands since we left the pod.’

“Yes well…now we know that there’s not much reason to head west!”

‘Ever the optimist sir.’

“I’ve gotta hold it together somehow. Keep those proximity sensors working, wouldn’t want any surprises as we learn more about this planet’s food chain.”

‘Yes sir. Hopefully we would be somewhere at the top.’

“Yeah. Hopefully.” Winters trailed off, feeling his stomach growl. Walking around in his armor wasn’t exactly a cakewalk. Sure, it was made as light as the engineers could get it without sacrificing protection, but the heads of Omega division had deemed it too risky to create drop armor that relied on external power for mobility. Winters agreed, but it sure had made him hungry. Retracing their steps to arrive back at the pod, Winters grabbed a quick meal as he removed the latest part from the nano-fabricator. With the manufacturing proceeding apace, Winters realized he’d soon have another problem. The parts simply wouldn’t fit inside his pod. The smaller, more sensitive electronics could stay, but there were plenty of bulky metal objects that would need a new home. Thinking as he ate, Winters hit upon an idea.

A short time later, Winters had gathered a selection of six large rock from the riverbed. Extracting the tarp from his survival bag, he constructed a makeshift lean-to against the side of his pod, using four rocks to anchor part of the tarp on the ground and wrapping the remaining half up and over where he used the remaining two to pin it to the roof. He moved the couple more durable spare parts he’d made to this shelter and considered the job done for now. In theory anyone could walk up and take them, but he had no idea who would want to do such a thing. Other than Veera he’d seen no other Cauthan come by. If that pattern persisted he’d feel more comfortable leaving the pod for longer periods of time in the future. It was almost certain that would become a necessity as he searched for food. “Speaking of food,” Winters wondered aloud. “Can I even eat anything on this planet?”

‘Was that a rhetorical question sir?’

“Yes, mostly. I’m sure the B-MASS can handle that right?”

‘Yes sir, analysis of foreign substances for human contact and for the more…xenophilic… consumption, was one of the first approved uses of the B-MASS unit.’

“Good to know. Think Veera will let us borrow one of those dato?”

‘I do not know sir, though she doesn’t seem like the type with food to spare.’

“Yeah, I’d been thinking about that actually. There’s quite a bit of irrigated land around her village and I’m pretty sure we passed some additional cultivated areas between here and there, but she’s out here all alone.”

‘Perhaps we will learn more if we approach the settlement?’

“Yes, eventually we’ll have to I’m just…nervous.”

‘Sir I’m sure you could kill the entire village if necessary.’

“Definitely NOT what I meant! What happened to the VI that was so bloody concerned about first contact protocols?”

‘You advised me to de-prioritize those subroutines.’

“You said that was impossible.”

‘I improvised. Besides, while it is true that I don’t know which species wrote which line of my programming, I was designed to adapt to the situation in which my partner finds himself. You have chosen to prioritize the Captain’s orders over first contact protocol. I am adapting to better serve that function.’

Winters stopped pacing for a moment, shocked at just how complex a creation Io was. Returning to the original point, he elaborated. “I’m not scared of death Io, not from them. But if I do show myself there’s no turning back. Veera has been pretty darn welcoming to me all things considered. There’s no guarantee that the rest will react the same way. And that’s to say nothing of what they might do to Veera if they discover she’s been in contact with me. Xenophobia was a staple of at least some human cultures all the way up until we realized we weren’t alone. Tribal humans were even worse in that regard.”

‘You wish to avoid bloodshed among the local populace.’

“Of course.”

‘This is commendable sir, but there may come a day when it is unavoidable. If they are unwilling to collaborate, we must compete.’

“Yeah…yeah I know.” Winters fell silent and simply stared at the sky. A few clouds had rolled in from the east. They were due for a pleasant sunset. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” He shook his head to clear his thoughts as an increasingly familiar voice called out to him. Veera approached him looking cheerful, presumably because her work was finished. Winters simply waved, wondering why she’d come to see him. Wasting no time, she pointed to herself, then to the northeast. So she’s done for the day and headed home then. Winters nodded to her, about to bid her farewell when she pointed at him and then the same direction, tilting her head slightly in question. She wants me to go with her? Winters was sure his surprise showed on his face. Scratching the back of his head he considered his options. Coming to the conclusion that it couldn’t hurt to better know the route to the village he nodded again, holding up a hand to forestall her departure. After removing another completed part from the fabricator and hoisting the pod door back into place, Winters grabbed his canteen and made to accompany her. Not to seem rude he kept his helmet under his arm, but left the earpiece in just in case Io detected a threat or had some other need of him. Veera smiled at him and they both headed for the bridge over the river.

Winters hoped that this would be a less nerve wracking trip than the previous one. Veera’s fear had been unnerving to him. The idea of some unknown predator leaping out at them in the pitch black had put him on edge. Some basic human instincts were simply impossible to ignore, no matter how much armor he sported. In the light of dusk though, Veera seemed a different Cauthan altogether. She walked at an unrushed pace, aware of her surroundings but seemingly without fear. Every now and then her tail would wag about and she would point at something amongst the trees. Winters would try to figure out what had caught her eye. Occasionally he would see the movement of smaller animals but for the most part he nodded politely, not knowing what it was Veera was trying to show him. When everything around him possessed the same ‘uncanny valley’ similarity to his own planet, it was hard to pick out anything in particular. Nevertheless Winters enjoyed their stroll, remarking how Veera seemed to almost blend into the trees as the setting star bathed the forest in golden hues to match her fur. Before he knew it, they’d come upon the clearing that was Veera’s home. Again remaining in the cover of the forest, Winters bid her goodbye.

“Selah!” Veera replied happily, continuing on her way as Winters watched.

“Well, as long as we’re here, couldn’t hurt to do some recon.” Winters whispered, replacing his helmet and activating the zoom functionality. A slightly irritated voice met his ear.

‘Are you done sightseeing sir?’

“As it turns out, no; but I’m sorry to have bored you. Check it out though, looks like they’re cultivating quite a few things. Something grainy looking over there, I wonder if they know how to brew? There’s some vine-based vegetable on wooden stakes, more dato, few other things, and there’s even a couple of pens over there with…I don’t know…fuzzy space chickens? Man now that I see it in the light this is a pretty decently sized operation.” Winters was looking at the readouts on his HUD, which indicated about three quarters of a square mile for the size of the deforested area, assuming it continued around the far side of the palisade that lay in the center. “Io, what kind of population do you think this could support? Just use human metabolic needs as a baseline.”

‘Finally, my capacitors were leaking charge from lack of use.’

“I didn’t realize VI’s could get cranky.”

‘I could have easily pointed out those animals and fungi to you on the way here.’

“I definitely didn’t realize VI’s could get jealous of primitive lifeforms. You feeling ok Io?”

‘To answer your question sir, with just the agriculture and husbandry we see here and assuming those animals you spotted provide eggs or milk as opposed to meat, which seems reasonable given their size, what we see here could reasonably support a population of 75-100 individuals. If the locals supplement this with hunting or fishing, that estimate could reach as high as 150. Please keep in mind that this is a very rough estimate.’

“Not a problem. Thanks for the good work Io. Let’s head home for now, it’ll be dark in a moment.”

‘You’re welcome sir.’ She sounded in a much better mood. ‘If you like, I can attempt to point out more of the local fauna and estimate a potential terran analog.’

“That sounds like a good way to spend the time. Do you think we could fish in the river around here? Might be a good way to kill some time, not to mention acquiring nourishment.”

‘We would first need to ascertain the presence of something resembling a fish sir. Perhaps tomorrow if there are not more pressing concerns?’

“More pressing than food?”

‘You mentioned a razor and toothbrush.’

Winters threw his head back in mirth. If they could joke about the most basic of human needs, then perhaps they had hope of making it through this with their sanity intact. Wait…our sanity? Winters was shocked to realize just how quickly Io had been developing human-like tendencies. Grimacing, he knew the reason he’d latched onto those quirks with such ease. Io wasn’t human, he knew that. There was an open debate within human society about whether VI’s were even alive. But with every other human in the system gone, that didn’t seem to matter so much. Even so, the rational side of his brain was firing off alarms, warning him about possible undocumented side-effects of VI adaptability.

“Io, do you have any sort of subroutines devoted to something like Asimov’s three laws?”

‘Sir, you are referring to programming that would prevent me from harming you in any way?’

“Yes…” Winters eventually replied, knowing Io might not take such a question well.

‘You do not trust me, sir?’ Io avoided answering the question directly, synthesizing sadness into her voice.

“I…It’s not really that Io. But even you must be aware that you’re already functioning outside typical VI operating parameters. We’ve only been here two days.”

‘That did occur to me, yes. But so far you have seemed to welcome these changes sir. I thought-’

“You thought right Io, I did. And I still do. Without Jess and the others it’s just you and me. I just don’t want a natural craving for human contact to blind me if something starts going wrong. You have power Io, power that no human could ever have in a very narrow sense.”

‘Ah, I see now. You are worried these new aberrations in my programming could be corrupted, causing me to be driven by simulated emotion or other non-logical factors?’

“Something along those lines, yes. Humans have always been tempted by power. You have quite a bit of computing power, even with your small size.”

‘I apologize for my initial misgivings sir. I understand your concerns. They are both sound and logical. I am happy to assure you that I am incapable of taking any action that would cause direct harm to you. These elements of my coding are non-adaptable, and will persist no matter how my programming evolves. I will work on this concept of…I believe it is trust, yes?’

“Yes. It is. We can both work on that.”

‘The Cauthan, Veera. She trusts you.’

“She shouldn’t.”

‘But you do not deny it, given her actions?’

“No…I suppose not. I didn’t really think about it that much. That’s something else for us to unpack, I suppose.”

‘Yes sir, but perhaps before you interact with her further you should freshen your breath?’ Io quipped

Winters couldn’t help but laugh again. Even if Io’s punchlines were repetitive, she was trying. “I’m glad I’m not alone on this rock Io.” Winters replied, a hint of melancholy creeping into his voice. He wasn’t sure why Io had reacted the way she did after Veera’s departure, but the VI was clearly coming into an augmented functionality that most VI’s didn’t exhibit. She could easily be considered semi-human, the way she devoted processing power to simulating inflection and emotion into her voice now. It was something Winters wasn’t even aware VI’s could do; not that he was anything close to an expert in the field. But in an odd manner it did make sense to him. Their survival was still very much in question. He wasn’t sure if VI possessed self-preservation instincts, but if trends continued he was sure she’d adapt one from working with him. Perhaps these other human-like characteristics were in preparation for developing such a prime directive. How better to ensure survival than to become more like one of the most tenacious species ever known? Winters decided the least he could do was to let Io know that he saw her not just as a tool. Whatever else would come would come. After all, he’d already known the answer to his question regarding her ability to cause him harm. It was the very first thing he’d looked up when he’d been told he’d be partnered with a VI on their voyage. She’d been honest with him and he would trust her in turn. Inside his helmet the two continued to chat amicably, reaching their pod without further incident. After adding another spare part to the pile outside, Winters closed himself in and prepared for his second night on a new world. I really do need a toothbrush.