Judge Moore's expression softened and she smiled at Ayan. “Congratulations young lady, you and anyone like you are free by law. This session is adjourned.”
“All rise for the departure of the Judiciary Council,” called out one of the Clerks.
Ayan just watched as the seven black robed judges stood, turned, and filed out of the chamber through a small door. She had at the same time been given rights, freedom and had the opportunity to continue her life as she knew it stripped away.
The few congratulations and quiet praises offered by the closer members of the house were hollow comfort to Ayan. The Clone Rights Organization President said something she hadn't considered; “you've set an important precedent for anyone with memory imprints in the Freeground Nation and anyone who has a deep scan made of themselves. Not to mention the rights and expectations you've established for people who are cultivated the way you've been,” he praised quietly, shaking her hand briefly before moving on.
Memory scans and recoveries weren't foreign, but what made her different was the utter completeness of the imprint. It took a lifetime, thirty years, but she couldn't find any gaps. She was physiologically different, but other than having trouble concentrating for the first few days and slightly lower test scores, all of which could be explained by the absence of genetic enhancements, her memories, her basic cognitive abilities were perfectly fine.
Minh-Chu, Doctor Anderson and Milan met her at a side door and they were quiet as they navigated through the thick crowds in the halls outside. There were several more congratulations offered, a few dark looks from people who didn't support starting life in an artificial environment, but they were able to get to their shuttle quick enough.
“I hear you have a ship of your own Minh, why didn't we use it instead of renting a shuttle?” Asked Doctor Milan.
Minh cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly. “It needs a little more work. Besides, it was a troop carrier before, um, whatever it was used for after.”
“What's it called?”
“It was called the Gull, but I'm renaming it the Warpig, ” he smiled as he sat down at the basic shuttle controls. It was an eight seat passenger carrier, streamlined with the pilot and copilot seats set just ahead of two rows of four comfortable reclining seats.
Ayan couldn't help but burst out laughing at the new name before she calmed herself down. Everyone in the small craft knew her mirth came more as a stress reliever than anything else.
Minh fixed her with an injured look over his shoulder before turning around and preparing to detach from Freeground station.
“I'm sorry, I knew you were renaming it, but…” she shrugged and looked to Doctor Anderson, who smiled at her, waiting for her to continue. “I just don't see that ship as a Warpig.”
“Oh, you will,” he reassured as he took the controls and watched for the green light from Freeground Control.
The four of them quieted as Minh gently detached from the station and followed the preplanned trajectory to the wormhole Freeground Station was generating for them. They were among several ships leaving at the same time, but since Ayan was the focus of the assembly for the first session of the afternoon she had high priority.
Once they were inside the wormhole that would take them back to the colony, Doctor Milan turned to Ayan and put a comforting hand on the younger woman's arm. The therapist's blue vacsuit gloves were retracted, something she always did when she was speaking to a patient. “I'm sorry they didn't grant you ownership of everything form your old life.”
Ayan half smiled back at her and nodded. “I would have liked to see the logs from the last few years. It feels like I'm missing time. I'm just surprised my mother couldn't attend. She would have had some choice words for the Council when they announced I wouldn't be able to rejoin Freeground Fleet.”
“She's on the Paladin, running advanced missions in the blue belt,” Doctor Anderson said quietly. “Or so I've heard.”
“Was re-entry into the military something you really wanted?.” asked Doctor Milan.
Ayan thought about it for a moment. To her, just two weeks ago, she was busy working on the first two major developments in the new Special Projects Division she and Laura had restarted. It was still difficult to fully grasp that over five years had passed since then, great things had already been accomplished. That was the military she most recently knew, before that she was busy improving and maintaining starships. The sims came to mind, boarding operations, infantry, fighter and epic ship to ship battles all with Oz, Jason, Minh, Laura, and Jonas. Whether it was boots on the ground, rushing into an airlock or holding the engineering deck together while ships tried to blast each other into oblivion, it was always amazing with them. Those were simulations, she was well aware, and when it became a reality on the First Light it was so different and so much better.
“Ayan?” asked Doctor Milan gently.
“I miss the First Light. I missed it even when I was running Special Projects with Laura.”
Doctor Anderson and Doctor Milan shared a knowing look for a moment. The pair were subtle, but it was impossible for her to miss as she sat right between them.
Ayan sighed and tried not to sound as irritated as she was. If there was one thing she wouldn't permit, it was having things hidden from her. They'd have to realize she wasn't some delicate flower, especially after leaving her illness behind. “What is it?”
The low rumble of the engines accelerating the ship through the wormhole was the only sound in the cabin as the occupants to either side of her hesitated and Minh turned around.
Doctor Anderson cleared his throat and straightened in his seat. “Ayan, there's a position open on my staff if you'd like to work with me. I'm going to be busy for the next few years explaining how you were born. You have a firm understanding of the non-medical technologies involved, the ship, the wormhole and the rest of the systems. Would you be interested?”
Ayan was at a loss for words and just started trying to get a response together when Minh gave Doctor Anderson a confused look and turned around in the pilot's seat. There was nothing really for him to do there while the shuttle followed a strictly predetermined path through the wormhole, but his point was made. That wasn't what he or Ayan expected to hear from Doctor Anderson. Even if she did have the qualifications for the job she was being offered, and she did, Ayan would be the focus of attention for what she was, not what she knew.
The thought of being put on display for several years while Doctor Anderson and the rest of his team walked the rest of the scientific community through what they had accomplished was about as palatable as being a waste disposal technician. At the same time she didn't want to offend him or Doctor Milan. “I don't know,” was all she could say.
“Ayan, if you could pick anything, go anywhere, what would you do? Absolutely anything,” Probed Doctor Milan encouragingly.
She thought about it for a moment then delivered her response, looking her therapist right in the eye. “I'd join Laura on the Triton.”
“Yesss!” Minh exclaimed quietly.
“I don't know about going in the Gull though,” she smiled.
“It's called the Warpig now.”
“And you're going through with your trip Minh?” Doctor Milan asked.
“Unless there's a military blockade in my way I'll be gone as soon as the ship's ready.”
“You know Freeground can't officially know your intended destination, right?”