That had never occurred to me. I knew my own drones obeyed my wishes, but I'd never considered how the other Powered had stuck together. Hot Stuff was not exactly natural leadership material to have led such a gang, and some of the others had been even worse.
I wondered if that was why Anna was so reluctant to accept Ophelia's blood.
It didn't change the realities of the situation.
"You were always going to be someone’s inferior. You lack the will or the strength to be otherwise," I said.
Mechos glared for a moment and then looked away. "Hot Stuff, then."
From a research standpoint this was the possibility I was most interested in. It was also the riskiest.
"I've improved her virus, but it is still only working about eighty-five percent of the time. Without a core to protect you there is a real chance this will be fatal," I said.
"I'm dying anyways," Mechos said.
True. I didn't think Anna would appreciate him making this choice, but really it was her fault for giving him the opportunity in the first place.
35
We reached Grim Harbor right on time. It was a cluster of shabby-looking buildings alongside a rocky coast. What they lacked in aesthetics they made up for in docks of all types, and they did business with a host of pirates and explorers this far out on the Rim.
Unlike at Reevesport there were no military vessels at all here. I'd been able to get a sense of the place before pulling in and started work on the hull accordingly. Where once I'd gone to great ends to make us appear in better repair than we actually were, here I did the opposite. We looked like an explorer vessel coming into port after a rough journey.
We raised few questions, were given a dock and we settled in. Only Anna went ashore to recruit, we'd decided to leave our Powered individuals aboard this time out. We didn't want anyone in Grim Harbor getting any sense of our real capabilities. The recruits, we could split between the various Powered section heads later for conversion. Given what Mechos had said, loyalty wouldn't be a question once that took place.
Mechos survived his encounter with Hot Stuff. More than that, it did save his life. His metallic components melted to reform a circuit pattern throughout his flesh that was something alltogether new, and different than the powerset had influenced Hot Stuff herself. I suspected his upgrade core was not quite as completely gone or missing as it had been feared and perhaps this was giving it a new life.
Using Candice and Diana, I hit the markets to look for parts for our dimensional drive. Anna had explained it would play a major role in what she had planned. Getting it in working order was critical. Fortunately, ship parts weren't difficult to find in a place where piracy and scavenging were such lucrative enterprises.
For trade goods I was using some of the high-value plants I'd been cultivating in my growth vats. Semhar Root, in particular, was fetching a great price here. It was enough to buy the parts I needed and to acquire several new cookie recipes.
It was strange to see this many humans gathered in one place in relative peace. Perhaps that was because of the lack of Power cores, While my scans for them were still imprecise and I wasn't getting any hint of them, and could only accept it was true.
I caught up with Anna in a tavern near the docks. She had a mug of something sinister and green, and several charts placed before her.
I settled Candice into an open seat with Diana taking a guard position nearby.
"We need to build a booze still—not that you drink. Although you could probably drink. Do you drink?" Anna asked.
How would I know? We didn't have a still. I had Candice take a sip from Anna’s mug. It was foul.
"Well, in addition to being infected by your diseased slobber my drone has now ingested one of the foulest things she has ever tasted," I said.
"Isn't it awful? I want more," Anna said. "How many actually showed up to the ship?"
I'd been logging Anna's recruits as they came aboard.
"One hundred and seven so far. We'll lose some during conversion, but that should see us decently crewed. They must be desperate signing up to fly with you," I said.
"I'll get some more," Anna said, and slid one of the charts towards Candice. "We're actually on the edges of Scholar territory. Not that you can tell."
"There is almost a complete lack of core usage among the population. They are as weak as you are," I said.
"And sane, and mostly happy despite being thieves," Anna said, a little wistful.
"Is the Queen of the World actually a pirate? Suddenly the poor fashion sense and terrible hygiene make far too much sense."
"Everyone comes from somewhere, Emma. Even you," Anna said with a frown. "And yeah. Core distribution around the world isn't exactly balanced, but the lack you see here is because this is Scholar territory. It has been pretty much been picked clean, and in the event of a rare drop people rush to grab the chance."
"Drop?" I asked, I hadn't heard the term before.
"Cores come from somewhere. I know it doesn't seem like it when we keep just taking them from other people, but originally they simply appear and typically bond with whoever happens to be closest," Anna said.
"If only romance happened the same way, you might have hope. I haven't scanned that happening," I said.
"It doesn't much these days. It happened more after the world got broken, then slowed down," Anna said, and took another swig from her drink. "Did you get the parts you needed?"
"They had what was required. It will be a few days, but we can get the drive back up and running, even make a few improvements."
Anna thought about it and nodded. "Stock up on luxuries for the crew too, anything you'd have trouble making yourself or that you don't know how to make."
I supposed there were worse ideas, in a vast universe there had to be.
"I'd like to collect some research samples as well. Some of us care about more than simple hedonism," I said.
Anna chuckled. "I'd believe that more if I didn't think you got some sort of a high out of science."
Anna knew me too well. I didn't like it.
"At least I'm not drinking alone in a bar," I said.
Anna stared hard at Candice and then shifted her gaze to Diana. She grunted, "I think we both know I'm drinking with my best friend. Get your samples. We'll indulge in our vices together."
Her best friend? Had Anna been bonding with my drones when I wasn't watching? Candice did seem to have a certain perkiness that might be confused with friendliness. I'd have to keep an eye on this, autonomy in my drones was dangerous.
36
The conversion of our newest crew went well enough. I tranquilized them and we sorted them into departments. Most were willing to take what they got, although Hot Stuff wanted to select hers on the basis of attractiveness. Given they'd wind up going around largely unclothed, the rest of the humans had no problems with this.
I was proved right about Ophelia's blood being able to make people her lieutenants, although the process turned out to be more fatal than I'd expected. In about forty percent of cases the healing potential applied itself only to specific cells and essentially became self-healing and powerful cancer at the same time. The cancer won.
Anna provided the coordinates for the dimensional drive, ordered shields up and all crew to battle stations, then we made the jump.
We appeared in a landscape that made my sensors ache. Overhead were what appeared to be three suns. The world below was sand in all directions. A tiny settlement clustered beneath a glowing bubble of force shielding.
"We've finally found a place as bleak as your future," I said to Anna.