Vai

Warpaint, can you seriously not hear me? I'm still here.

The mechatronic didn't respond. He stood faithfully by the bed where the Other Vai looked through my okulus.

Warpaint!!

Nothing.

I used my green light to try and lift out of the mechatronic. At least this time I got as far as the bedroom door before I was sprung back into the head of Warpaint.

"Warpaint," Other Vai said.

"Yes, sir."

He's not me.

"How many K'thaktra are onboard the Shadow?"

"Thirty-two, sir."

"Are there any onboard with quarters on this level?"

"Yes, sir. There is a young couple in quarters 5102."

"What are their jobs?"

Is this really important? Warpaint, please hear me. That Other Vai isn't complete. He is only memories. My computer mom said so.

I was beginning to feel uneasy about Other Vai's obsession with K'thaktra. I remembered the K'thaktran war and how I used to feel about the K'thaktra. I had struggled a lot to befriend Thrissko and to have an open mind about the K'thaktra in the Gathering.

"The wife works as an engineer in the engine room. The husband is a nurse in medical."

"I see." Other Vai never looked up from the okulus. "Have either of them broken the law before or been in trouble of some sort."

"No, sir."

I lifted up and away from Warpaint's head and hovered over Other Vai. He went through old news articles from the K'thaktran war. He stopped on a particularly gruesome image of a zek clouded K'thaktra tearing apart a Starwatcher with the same cream colored fur as Minmin. I turned away from it. Other Vai didn't. I reentered Warpaint's head.

"What about the other K'thaktra onboard? Have any of them ever been in trouble with the law or anything close to it?"

"No, sir." Being inside Warpaint's head had allowed me strange, random insights to his inner workings. Most of the time I couldn't determine anything, but at the moment I knew Warpaint lied. He lied on purpose as his programming told him that was how to protect Other Vai.

Other Vai sighed out and reclined on the bed. He held the okulus in one hand to his side. He stared up at the ceiling.

"I don't remember Lieutenant Tanpo being so weak," Other Vai said.

She isn't weak. Just surprised. I never wanted to hurt her. Jerk.

Warpaint didn't say anything.

My okulus chirped with an incoming call. The fingers of my spirit self wriggled and tingled as I suddenly - desperately - wanted to physically answer that call.

Other Vai sat up, reshaped the okulus to fit around his wrist and answered the call. My dad's image was projected through my volo.

"Vai, my son."

"Father."

"How was your first day back? School? Your friends? Did you go spar?"

He had never shown so much interest with me. Maybe that wasn't fair. Looking back on it, I think he had tried when I first woke up - or became a clone. I was angry with him for putting me to sleep for 79 years and didn't want anything to do with him.

"Everything was fine." I recognized the annoyed tone as one I usually used with my father. Same inflections and timbre and everything. "I did go spar. I gave Lieutenant Tanpo a bloody nose."

My father seemed surprised for the briefest of moments. "Be careful with yourself. You are important to me."

So important he'd go crazy without his son clones.

"I'm not the one who needs to be careful." Other Vai stood up. "Lieutenant Tanpo is the one with the bloody nose."

"Next time she will be more wary. And you no longer have your light."

"Isn't that weird? Why don't I have it?" He opened his palm and stared down at it as I did when I called the green light to it.

"Your injuries," my dad said.

"How injured was I that my light is completely closed off to me now?"

"Don't worry about that now. I can take a break. Do you want to meet at the Starrise and have something to eat?"

Other Vai hesitated. I assumed he hesitated for the same reasons I would have. We killed Spencer's mom - Adi - the owner of Starrise. Would Spencer be there? Should I not go incase I reminded Spencer that something happened to his mother? Should I go to show my support even though I was partially responsible for what happened to his mother? Adi Pines had the Corruption inside her. She tried to kill Owen. We would have killed her even if she hadn't tried to kill Owen.

"Sure," Other Vai said. "I guess I need something to do now that I can't deal with the Corruption anymore." There was that familiar annoyed tone again. I was beginning to hate it.

"I'll meet you there," our father said. The call ended.

Other Vai walked from the bedroom, through the living quarters and into the Corridor without saying anything. Warpaint obediently followed at his side. I followed less obediently as I was still attached to Warpaint's head.

Other Vai didn't make any stops on the way. He did pause once when a K'thaktra in the Gathering uniform passed him.

Father was already seated when we arrived. Other Vai went and sat across from my father at a small table. He looked around. His eyes stopped briefly on Spencer before settling on my father.

"Can't you let me at least sit in on the conversations about the Corruption?" Other Vai said. "I need to do something."

"No," my father said in that tone that left most people cowering.

Other Vai frowned hard at my father.

A server came to the table. "Are you ready to order?"

Other Vai looked through the menu. "Teriyaki Chicken," he said.

I want steak and potatoes. Weird how I had a craving even though I didn't have a body.

"Steak and potatoes," my father said.

Strange. Was it really my craving or had I picked up on my father's craving somehow? Or maybe he had picked up on my craving. Or maybe it was purely coincidence.

It didn't take long for the food to arrive. I couldn't even smell it. I wanted to be able to smell it. I could imagine the smell. I wanted to eat.

Spencer kept glancing at the table as he came and went from the kitchen and served other tables. My father and Other Vai didn't talk as they ate their food. I couldn't remember if I had been so silent with my dad last time we came here together. I mostly remembered the shock of seeing the pink in Adi's eyes.

Adi's disappearance hadn't slowed down business. If anything, there were more people coming in and out than before. People would pat Spencer's arm comfortingly. He always smiled and thanked them, but when he turned away from them, his expression would become blank.

When Other Vai and my dad had finished their meal, Spencer brought to their table peach cobbler. "On the house," he said.

"It looks delicious," my father said. "But I must insist that it be included in the bill."

"No," Spencer said. He glanced at Other Vai. "It's on the house. Out of all the words of comfort people have tried to give me, Vai's words were the ones that worked the most. He was the most honest with me."

Words of comfort? I hadn't said much to him - that I was sorry and I warned him to stay away from anyone with a pink glint in their eyes.

My father looked at Other Vai in surprise. Other Vai seemed surprised too.

"We've had our disagreements," Spencer went on, "but I wanted to thank you for that moment. I hope we can put our disagreements behind us."

Of course.

"Of course," Other Vai echoed my words.

"I'm going to take the accelerated test and graduate early," Spencer said.

"But school is important," my father said. "There are many things to learn."

Spencer half smiled. "I can learn without being in school." He looked back towards the kitchen. "I like running this place and it's doing well." He turned back to my father. "I don't think my mother is alive. School seems pointless. Especially when I already have a business it seems I'm good at running. I will eventually take courses on management, accounting, cooking, anything I think will help me run this place. Just not right away."

"Well," my father said, "of course it is your decision. I just hope it's the right one for you."

Spencer nodded. "It is." He patted the table next to the peach cobbler. "Enjoy it. We won't have fresh peaches for long. They are running out fast."

My father took a bite. He nodded. "It is delicious," he said to Spencer.

Other Vai took a bite too. "It really is."

"Thank you," Spencer said.

He started to walk away, but my father asked, "How much supply do you have left? In general?"

"Some things will run out this week. Probably the peaches and apples. The chocolate is already gone. I kind of wish now that Owen hadn't been caught smuggling. I could really use that chocolate. Most of the other food will last for another month or so before we run out."

"When it's gone," my father said, "will you have enough profits to restock for the next trip? Will you be able to continue Starrise?"

"Yes," Spencer said. "We won't be returning to Earth for several more months so I won't be able to restock on many of the favorites. I've been making a list of foods I can possibly restock on other planets. The food won't be quite as popular as those from Earth, but it should still be good until we can get back home."

My father nodded. "It sounds like you've got a good understanding of the business. I'm glad it's going well for you."

Spencer nodded. He took a step away, but then turned back to my father. "Have you heard anything about my mother or any of the others that have gone missing?"

Other Vai tightened. My father didn't look at Other Vai as he answered Spencer, "No. Security seems to have reached a dead end. I think you're right though. I don't think those that disappeared are still alive. If they were, there would be some clue, something left behind."

Spencer nodded. He tried to smile, but it didn't quite work. He turned and walked away. My father looked at Other Vai.

Other Vai poked at the peach cobbler. "You all did what you had to," my father said quietly. "Those with the miasmids can't be saved."

Other Vai took a bite of the cobbler. My father studied the clone a moment before he also took a bite. Nothing more was said between them until they parted. Other Vai went back to our quarters and my father went back to his lab.