Brinus sat at one end of the table while Admiral Nelson and Captain Plato sat opposite. They were in the officer’s conference room. Brinus nursed a cup of coffee.

  The officer’s meeting room smelled like Tarken Tea cigarettes and had ashtrays by every leather office chair. The conference table was long and made of polished mahogany. The walls were paneled in classical mahogany style. The room was sterile, and beautiful, but had a worn look to it.

  After a few moments, Admiral Nelson hissed in a low rowling cat growl, “Care to explain why the ship is acting drunk this morning?”

  “Sir, with respect...”

  Admiral Nelson stood and made another low growl as his lips curled over his fangs with every word. “You will not drink with Fish again. You will not use any substances with him again. You will not even smoke Tarken Tea with him again! Clear!”

  Brinus looked down at his feet as he mumbled something under his breath about slavery and how Captain Plato was a slavemaster.

  “WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY HELIOS?!”

  “I mean sir, yes, sir.”

  Admiral Nelson and the Captain exchanged looks knowing full well that now what he said.

  Thought Admiral Nelson to himself,

  After a moment of awkward silence, Captain Plato skimmed Tangent’s report. He then commented in an effort to move the meeting along, “I think Helios uncovered something. To be sure we need them to spend more time together.”

  Admiral Nelson howled and then shouted, “You can’t be serious! What the fuck do you mean?!”

  “Think about it, an AI has a human create an avatar, goes out and gets drunk, commits felonies, expresses a desire for freedom, and then shows up to work intoxicated. What does that sound like if we weren’t talking about a computer?”

  “It sounds like a rowdy teenager on a frontier world.”

  “Right! But not a computer. What if we created a new lifeform?”

  Admiral Nelson stopped for a moment. Through his anger at Brinus, it seemed his captain of the fleet made a point.

  The admiral put his paw on Captain Plato’s shoulder. “I agree, have Brinus meet with Fish once a week. If he is a person he will likely feel guilty about what he did and reach out to him after Brinus gets off work. I will pull some strings with the police and see if we can’t get the charges dropped under qualified immunity. Pray Fish visits you tonight because if he doesn’t you’ll have your parole violated. Dismissed Helios.”

  Brinus saluted and left the officer’s meeting room.

  His hands shook with nerves as he breathed heavily with his left hand over his chest.

  Brinus stood against the wall, trying to take control of his breathing. He used a deep breathing technique Calnori taught him. Closing his eyes, he envisioned his home on Otis Datis. Fishing for food in the wilderness and learning welding and metalworking so he could make metal sculptures by the side of the road at an early age.

  Captain Plato received a ping on his TriQuarter. There was a situation on the bridge that required the first officer. He sent a DM to his commander to report to the bridge immediately. Captain Plato had to do his duties as Captain of the Fleet.

  At the Bridge, the Commander of the Fleet sat in the captain’s chair. The bridge had twenty computers, each with a human technician. It was smokey as Tarken Tea smoke swirled with overhead lights. The floor and walls were white tiles with white metal composite material. The walls were lined with computer screens filled with the ship’s information, camera footage from all over the ship, and flight schedules for the day. The view screen showed a ring of planets around a gas giant.

  “Punch it, helmsman!”

  The helmsman set the course and then pressed the red button. Over the intercom, laughter erupted, which sounded humanlike but not like any of the crewmates on the ship.

  “What the fuck?” asked the chief AI officer.

  “Petty Officer Smith! What is going on?” asked the commander, getting up from his seat and walking to the AI control station.

  “Sir, these readings are like the human neural patterns of someone who is intoxicated. This isn’t a normal AI code. I don’t know what to do.”

  The commander laughed and then put his hands on the Tech’s shoulders. “Quit talking bull shit. AI is not human. Override the AI and use the command codes.”

  “Sir, this is a human intelligence. I can’t.”

  “I gave you an order.”

  Petty Officer Smith crossed his arms and shook his head, “No, sir. I will not. That is an illegal order.”

  The Commander of the Fleet yelled, “Commander, remove this man for mutiny and put him in the brig.”

  The Ex. O. on the Bridge stood and crossed her arms. She stated firmly, “No, sir I won’t. If the AI has a human neural pattern, then by law it is entitled to human rights. According to the First Commandment of the AI Bill of Rights, a sentient AI with a human consciousness is by all rights human in every aspect and will be given the same legal protections and legal rights as a human being under the confederation constitution.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  The AI Bill of Rights came out with the advent of wetware just before Operation Divide and Conquer, but most AI was not sapient. Most officers viewed AI as property and not as a person.

  The Bridge was dead silent; Only the hum of machinery could be heard as the Commander walked into his seat, sitting down in silent contemplation.

  The commander sent a message to Plato that the situation was resolved. He also said that warp travel was not possible currently due to the AI refusing lawful orders.

  Captain Plato was in his office reviewing some paperwork for Brinus’s bad conduct

  Thought Captain Plato.

  Admiral Nelson entered his office and saw the burning paper on his desk. “Have you processed his dishonabled discharge yet?” he growled, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

  Plato looked Nelson directly in the eyes and then stated firmly, “I am afraid it was lost, sir. I don’t know where it went.”

  “What? Why do you shield him? He should be discharged!”

  The captain’s pupils dilated, and his ears went back to his head. “Sir?”

  “Did you really think I want someone like him in the military? Discharge him! That's an order!”

  Captain Plato thought. “No, sir,” he snapped.

  Admiral Nelson howled and then yelled. “Why? What the fuck has he done to be so special to you? Why are you refusing a lawful order to dishonably discharge Brinus?”

  Plato looked down at his desk and adjusted his one of his battle ribbons for the third pirate war. "Because he reminds me of my son who died at the battle of Klondor. My son was a sergeant in the Navy troopers, and I was a commissioned lieutenant. Sergant Plato committed a felony and was drafted into the Navy Troopers at the beginning of the war. When he first joined, he had similar issues that Brinus had."

  Admiral Nelson looked Plato in the eye. "The only way he stays in the service at this point is if he becomes your responsibility. If he continues misbehaving, you'll be held liable too. Do you accept these terms?"

  "I do."

  "So you take legal and moral responsibility for Brinus Helios?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Once you do this, it becomes irreversible. Are you sure?"

  "Give me the paperwork. I'll sign it."

  Admiral Nelson sighed. "Very well. You'll give him his punishment, but from now on, his performance reflects on you as well."

  Admiral Nelson left the office, leaving Captain Plato alone with Fish. His avatar appeared in Plato’s hologram projector. His officer cadet’s uniform looked wrinkled; his hair was uncombed; his uniform shirt was unbuttoned, showing his cream-colored undershirt. Overall, he looked like he’d been out drinking all night the previous night and threw on his uniform at the last minute before arriving at work.

  Fish leaned onto the projector and shuffled his feet. “Should I tell Brinus?”

  "No, I don't want him to know how close he came to going back to prison."

  "Why?"

  Captain Plato began typing a meeting summary on his computer terminal. “I know you're unfamiliar with human behavior. To sum it up, the idea is to hold him accountable for stealing the shuttle but not scare him. I don't want him to know I'm taking responsibility for him.”

  “Why?”

  “It would be chaos if we let people do what they wanted. Also, I don't want him to owe me anything, and it would be seen as favoritism.”

  Akmal was silent for moment and then said, “From now on, my name is Akmal Enlance. ” Amkal disappeared back into the void, waiting to hear from Brinus.

  Plato sighed and returned to typing up the report. It was like dealing with a child, and both of them needed to learn.

  Meanwhile… on the other side of the ship:

  Brinus was in a class about using sentient AIs in Warp Core Cooling Systems. He tuned out most of the lecture because the professor was wrong. He was on his TriQuarter playing the online game Clash of Radiers. It was a free-to-play online game paid for with targeted ads rather than microtransactions. He didn’t even notice the professor standing in front of him and his classmates laughing.

  Brinus noticed people laughed at him, so he put his TriQuarter away.

  “What’s your high score?” asked the professor, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

  “Oh! I was building an outpost on a deserted level four castle.” Brinus flashed his screw you smile.

  “Oh, nice! Good for you! And that was more important than class time?”

  “Actually, yes! You can’t just order a human-like AI against its will to do something it doesn’t want to do. It has a conscience, a personality, hopes and dreams.”

  “No AI is human-like.”

  “Computer! Summon Fish! Command code Woodstack 4546.”

  Akmal appeared. He was in a naval cadet’s uniform. “Hey, Brinus! Oh, my name is now Akmal Enlance or just Akmal. So who’s this?”

  The professor and the class were stunned into silence. “Why don’t you tell the class about yourself?” asked Brinus with a sly grin.

  “Oh, I am going to help Brinus with his capstone project. I am the ship, but I want my own body. I want to experience life. I see several of y’all have lit sticks on fire and are inhaling them. What is that called?

  Brinus laughed and then said, “It’s called smoking. It’s a gross habit. When you get your body, you’ll find out why.”

  Akmal clapped his hands together and smiled. “Do I get to try it?”

  “Not under my roof. My quarters, my rules.”

  The class burst out laughing.

  The professor finally looked at Akmal, “What are you?”

  “Classified. I can tell you I am an experimental form of computer technology. You aren’t read into the project.”

  “Why did you show your face?”

  “Because Brinus is my friend. He summoned me because he needed me.”

  The professor stammered for a moment but then looked the avatar in the eyes, “You understand the concept of friendship?”

  “A friend is someone who comes to help you in a time of need and who has common interests. I like being with Brinus because he’s fun.”

  “You understand fun?”

  “Yes, I enjoy being with Brinus because he gives me hope.”

  “Well, class, this basically demonstrates everything I have said in theory and then some. If you want to learn about sentient AIs, now is the time.”

  The rest of the class was spent asking the AI questions. After class, Brinus came up to the professor who shuffled papers.

  She handed him a business card. “You disrupted my class, and I should report you, but that was probably the best lesson I ever have taught. If you’re interested in working with me for your master’s thesis, you know where to find me.

  Brinus received a ping on his TriQuarter to report to courtroom 47.

  After class, Brinus was summoned for his disciplinary hearing. He was in dress uniform and dress shoes. He entered and saluted. The courtroom had no jury. Only the captain sat in the judge’s chair. Brinus sat in the defendant's chair.

  “Lieutenant. You have been busy today, haven’t you?” Asked Captain Plato.

  Brinus said nothing.

  “We aren’t here to have a trial. Your punishment under normal circumstances would be six months in the brig and then probation for two years. However, it seems that Akmal has bonded with you. If we are going to understand this AI and give it personhood, you are the best bet. I want you to understand how serious your actions have been today.”

  Brinus said nothing and sat in military posture.

  “Do you have anything to say 9before I give you your sentence?”

  “I’d do it again.”

  “Very well. You are sentenced to attend 30 hours of classes on AI ethics, 30 hours of classes on military hierarchy, and 30 hours of classes on military ethics. You will also do 20 hours of community service at the local trade school where you teach courses on welding and programming. You will be supervised by Tangent and Castor.”

  Brinus saluted and left the courtroom.