Jess chuckled. “She's done okay. I took her to Jonton's in Quebec City and introduced her to hopping shrimp.”
“Ahh.” Kurok's eyes lit up a bit. “Now that, I miss. Even given all the product we have on station, I remember those shrimp.” He licked his lips in memory. “And Jonton. Quite a character.”
Jess leaned back in her chair and hiked one boot up over onto her knee. “I hear you're going to make more of her.”
Kurok studied his glass for a moment, then he looked up and met Jess's eyes. “I'm going to design a production set, for operations techincal.” He said. “But there'll never be another one of her.”
Jess nodded. “Too much of you in there?” She ventured, seeing a sharpening of those pale eyes. “C'mon doc, look in the mirror.”
A moment of delicate balance, then Kurok smiled, and his expression softened. “For a minute I almost forgot who I was talking to.” He said. “Yes, I contributed a few spirals to Dev. But she's turned out to be her own construct. She's grown so much just in the short time she's been here I hardly recognize her anymore.”
“Uh huh.”
“So yes, I will create techs for Interforce.” Doctor Dan said. “Who knows? Maybe I'll figure out how to make some of your type too.” His eyes twinkled at her. “I have some Drake DNA up there, somewhere I'm sure and now that I know about those gills of yours I want to have a closer look at it.”
Jess's expressions sobered, though. “Oh, doc.” She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. “You don't want to do that.” She exhaled. “After all, what would they do with us then? Give us a shot of trank and out-process us at age six?” She saw his face go still. “We all know what the battery is.”
“Jess.”
“We know.” She shrugged a little. “We know it finds the misfits. The psychos.” Her voice took on a slight huskiness. “The serial killers. The twisted loners. Finds the kids with no conscience and prone to violence.” She looked up and met his eyes. “Finds them and separates them out and gives them to Interforce.”
Kurok exhaled, looking into those calm, resigned blue eyes.
“Hey it gives us structure and discipline.” Jess's tone turned a bit mocking. “Make us feel special, and trusted and noble right up to the point they put a gun to your head at grad and you either go in, or go down” She glanced off into the distance. “When you find out what kind of monster you really are.”
Doctor Dan had put his cup down, and leaned forward towards her, resting his elbows on his knees so his hands were very close to Jess's. “Except they're wrong.”
Her lips twitched. “You know better than that.”
“I do.” He spoke gently. “I know better. I'm a geneticist now, Jess. I study humanity for a living.” He reached out and touched Jess's fingers. “More to the point, I was able to study someone like you at very close quarters for quite some time. Trust me. Your father was no monster, and neither are you.”
Jess reluctantly met his gaze.
“You have too much heart.” He smiled gently. “You care too much, Jess, and you love too easily.” He saw the blush, and closed his hand around hers. “That's the only reason I agreed to leave Dev here. I trust her with you.”
They were both quiet for a bit. “Push comes to shove, they don't want you to have hooks in her.” Jess said, in a serious tone.
“Reasonable.” Doctor Dan admitted. “But I won't transfer her legal status to Interforce.” He stated. “I trust you. Not necessarily them.”
“No, you wouldn't.. and shouldn't.” Jess's eyes took on a glint. “But you might consider transferring her contract to the controlling stakeholder of a long established settlement.”
Kurok studied her warily. “What settlement?” He asked, in a puzzled tone.
“Drake's Bay.”
“Dr..” Doctor Dan leaned forward and stared intently at her. “And the other half of this story is??? I know how they feel about bio alts at the Bay, Jesslyn. I was surprised you took her there.”
“She's my partner.”
Kurok shrugged one shoulder. “Yes, of course.” He admitted. “That would matter but I still don't understand.”
Jess signaled the server. “That'll take another round.” She said. “It's a quirky string of circumstances.” She cleared her throat. “And a delicate piece of timing.”
Kurok laughed gently. “Now I know I”m talking to a Drake.” He shook his head, and set his glass down, folding his arms and waiting. “Quirky is the only kind of circumstance they have.”
**
Dev wiggled her toes in contentment, turning a page of her book as she lay comfortably on the couch in her quarters. She had a cup of hot tea by her elbow, and a pad nearby showing the ops consoles, and it felt very very good to just relax for a while.
She had one of her off duty jumpsuits on, and she'd had herself another shower, and she'd actually gotten a chance to order some resupply on top of it, though she didn't expect to happen until they got all the rest of the citadel sorted out.
The agents and officers who had come from HQ were standing watches, and at the moment she thought he man Alters was the one who was in charge.
Everyone still seemed to be looking to Jess for answers though, and Dev thought that was good, and right, and that Jess was enjoying it. After all, she managed to fend off the whole bunch of bad guys by herself and as April had said, it was a trust thing.
So funny, really since she'd been brought here specifically to address a trust thing, hadn't she?
Dev read a few pages, then she put the book down, and folded her hands on her stomach, gazing quietly at the ceiling of her relaxation area. So much had happened since then.
Doctor Dan had spoken to her. Dev still felt a warm sensation thinking about it, he'd praised her so much she hadn't even known what to say after a bit. She felt like she'd really just tried to do her best with everything, but he seemed to think she'd overrun even the highest expectations he'd had for her programming.
So awesome.
Dev stretched luxuriously and settled back onto her couch, then glanced up at her door as it opened and Jess entered. “Hello, up here.”
“Devvvieieeee!” Jess surprisingly gamboled up the steps and pounced on the couch, nearly bowling both of them off it and onto the floor. “What are you up to?”
Dev goggled wide eyed at her. “Um.” She she looked around “Up to my relaxation space?”
Jess rolled off onto the floor and stretched out on the padded surface, extending her long legs out and crossing them at the ankles. “Just visited Jason. He's gonna be all right.”
“Oh. I'm really glad to hear that.” Dev sat up and regarded her supine partner. “Brent was worried.”
“Yeah me too.” Jess admitted. “Looks like most of the support staff's checked in and most of the bios too. Things are coming back into normal trim.”
“The sets really liked being on comms.” Dev ventured. “And also, helping defend this place. They're really excited about what they did.”
“They and the mechs saved our asses.” Jess agreed. “Maybe we can... “ She paused. “I talked to Alters. We'll see what happens.”
“Excellent.” Dev tucked her legs up under her and rested her elbows on her knees, looking down at Jess. “Maybe you could speak to them? They think you're amazing.”
Jess pointed her thumb at her own chest. “Me?”
Dev looked around the space. “Yes.” She said. “Did you think there was someone else I was referring to?” She watched her partner twiddle her thumbs. “You seem in good spirits.”
“It's been a good day, in the end.” Jess's eyes twinkled gently. “I got what I wanted.”
“Me too.” Dev smiled at her.
The comm crackled over head. “Ops to Drake.”
“Ah, work is never done.” Jess rolled over and punched the commset on Dev's console, tapping in the keys for ops. “Drake here.”