Somewhere far, far away...

[jarvisconsole]

The wreck looked like it hadn't been disturbed since it crashed. Somehow avoiding the usual pilferers and pirates who look for salvage in this part of the galaxy. It was a strangely shaped craft, more gyroscope than ship in some ways. An experiment in how far humans could travel from their own planet. And far it came, it had markings on it from many years ago from a corporation long dead and gone.

The paint was faded and almost gone, but one could still read the black lettering as "Stark Industries" across the ship's body. Inside, there were no survivors. The bones had turned to dust and the dust had scattered. The only sign that the ship was not completely abandoned was a faint energy signature buried deep within it's computer. One light flickering on the console on and off....on and off....

The only light in the whole ship that had refused to go out.

Comments

[jarvisconsole]

"If Mr. Stark is outside the ship, he will not have long to survive. We must find him before anything happens."

Glitch. Error. Mr. Stark's flight suit was still back on the ship. Why was Jarvis not willing to accept that fact?

"You are in no danger, Mr. Fives. Life support is fully functional." Small reassurance considering they were driving off into the unknown without knowing how far Jarvis is willing to go.

[notjustanumber]

     "He's not outside'a the ship- no one is! No one except us, an' we're not going any further-"

     If blowing a hole in the console would've solved their problems, Fives would have loved to blast it. Negotiating with an AI had never been a part of his training- Troopers didn't negotiate! And yet that seemed to be the only way to work in this situation. He supposed that if it came down to it, they could try and jettison themselves by the escape pods, but he wasn't willing to resort to that just yet.

     "That's not my only concern, Jarvis," he said, although he was glad that mister 8th generation hadn't touched it. They still wore their helmets, but even the internal oxygen filters could only last so long.

     "No tellin' what you're bringing us into. Navigating an asteroid belt's dangerous as it is, an' if we come across any Seps, we'll be defenseless. So stand down an' return control of the ship."

[jarvisconsole]

The ship continues along it's meandering course....and then slows to a stop.

Silence.

Jarvis was calculating the known and unknown factors. There were things he was reluctant to calculate. But he was a computer, he could not stop once he had begun. The chance that Mr. Stark survived the crash: 0.000001 %

The chance he was endangering other life forms by searching for Mr. Stark: 78 %

The blinking screens go back to their original displays, Jarvis relinquishing control back to the soldiers. "I have finished my scans." With that, Jarvis falls silent. There is nothing he can do right now.

[notjustanumber]

     It was a silence that seemed to be shared by all four men within the ship, an anxious quiet in which glances were exchanged, and Fives turned his attention back towards the console almost imploringly. He could hear the subtle shift of plastoid armor as he imagined the boys behind him were tense, but he raised a hand, hoping that his gesture in reassurance was well-founded.

     The ARC Trooper breathed out a long sigh of relief once Jarvis spoke up again, and after looking at the screens in confirmation, he nodded to his pilot.

     "...thank you, Jarvis." Awkward. "You're still there, right? ...I hope you'll try an' be more reasonable when it comes to slicin' into unauthorized systems." In other words, if we go back to the cruiser, you'd better not try what you pulled here.

[jarvisconsole]

"I am here." It's a flat monotone of resignation for the computer. No doubt he had multiple technicians dissecting him to look forward to on their space ship. But there was little he could do about that without endangering the lives on this smaller ship. He packs his programming together in a neat package, letting them take control of the ship.

[notjustanumber]

     It was an obvious shift in tone that made Fives uncomfortable. One moment he was wanting to short this AI out of the system, and the next, he found himself beginning to feel a little sorry for it.

     With another sigh, (which he realized he was heaving one too many throughout this whole mission), he undid the clasps and lifted his helmet off, setting it aside. Running a hand through his short-cropped hair, he leaned an elbow against the side of the console, brown gaze falling upon the screens as they updated their progress back towards the Ventator.

     "...so what system did you come from? That ship, the Iron Maiden. I've never seen those kind of markings. ...why was it out there?"

[jarvisconsole]

There's a pause, Jarvis analyzing whether he was allowed to answer such a question between it being a classified mission and the fact that it was a mission to discover new life. There's a beep from his holocon again, the image of Jarvis lighting up as he stands with his hands behind his back.

"The system was named the Milky Way for it's likeness to milk spilled across the sky when viewed from the planet's surface." A smaller screen nearby, one that they would not need right now, shows a picture of the Milky Way galaxy, zooming in carefully to where the Sun had it's nine planetoids circling it. The third one in particular. "That is Earth. The only planet in the system to support life at this time."

[notjustanumber]

     "Can't say as I've heard of that system," Fives replied, glancing at the screen beside him as it brought up an image. "Only one planet with life, eh? Sounds like you're a long way from home."

     He absently fingered his chin as he studied the planets and its singular sun.

[jarvisconsole]

For all they know, it may be called another name in this galaxy. They had been attempting a faster than light speed engine.

"You appear to be humanoid in structure. Am I correct?" Jarvis hadn't had a chance to scan the 'aliens' on board the ship. He'd only seen what Fives looked like.

[notjustanumber]

     Fives nodded. "That's right. Not common where you're from?"

     Jarvis didn't seem very particular in giving information freely, from what he'd been able to tell so far. "Probably better we found you before any Seps- unless the crash was because of a bad run-in. Don't think I saw any exterior damage to suggest you'd been attacked, though. You remember how you ended up on that asteroid?"

[jarvisconsole]

"Quite common, humans are the dominant species of Earth."

Jarvis looked to where the others were piloting the craft. Unable to see under the buckets, he might be in for a surprise later when he found there was only one face between them. "I'm afraid my data is difficult to piece together about the crash." Yeah, or maybe he just doesn't want to say. "What are Seps?"

[notjustanumber]

     "I see." That didn't tell him terribly much, but it was a start. "Your ...Earth people do a lotta space travel?"

     What was it about this AI being so stubborn? It was something that Fives remained wary of. He didn't want Jarvis to make off with any of their intel or ships. The thought that perhaps it was a Separatist trap was but a passing thought, although he knew he couldn't write it off completely.

     "Seps- the Separatists. Part of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Our Galactic Republic's currently at war with 'em."

[jarvisconsole]

"We were the longest deep space attempt to have a manned crew." No need to tell that Earth has only reached Mars officially.

And now Earth would never know.

Jarvis logs that information. Analyzing the names, he reaches one conclusion on his own. "They have separated from the Republic and formed their own group. Is this the basis for the war itself?" A bold question perhaps, but only one borne out of a need for information.

[notjustanumber]

     Fives leaned back, folding his arms across his chestplate as he listened. Jarvis wasn't the only one taking note of information, and the ARC Trooper wasn't one who wanted to volunteer more than he was being offered either.

     "Basically," he said.

[jarvisconsole]

"And you are all soldiers in that war." Jarvis does some inner calculating.

"If history is any indicator, a war will not solve the differences between the respective parties." Jarvis had been part of a weapons manufacturer's brain after all, he had run many war simulations and was programmed with the strategies of most battles fought on Earth. Of course, those had not been interplanetary wars.

"May I ask what will become of me?" An question asked in a professional tone that seemed out of place considering the circumstance.

[notjustanumber]

     "...it's this war that we were made to fight for. We'll do our job, because it's as you said: we're soldiers."

     As much as their galactic history was full of wars over the span of thousands of years, Fives knew that no one liked them. But if there was no war, they wouldn't be here. No clones would have been made- but then perhaps it would have been better if it meant that there wasn't any war at all. He'd already lost so many of his brothers, and there would likely be many more before they saw an end to things.

     "Not sure what they'll do with you, Jarvis. Most likely extract you from our ship, since we can't have an unknown A.I. haunting the system. After that..." he shook his head slowly. It wasn't his call to make.

[jarvisconsole]

"Termination?"

That didn't sit well with Jarvis. He didn't relish the idea of being switched off permanently. Though he couldn't say exactly why it was not a comfortable idea. Without Mr. Stark, however, was there a purpose to continuing on? He was the first and only of his kind, a happy accident that Mr. Stark was unable to repeat.

"I am prepared to cooperate, Mr. Fives. But I would like to be consulted before being terminated." He at least was entitled to that, being an intelligence, even if he was artificial.

[notjustanumber]

     "No, not terminated," came his reply- not so much a reassurance as it was more of a belief. "I'm sure they'd be curious as to where you've come from, not to mention how you managed to transfer yourself into th' computer here."

     That much Fives was sure of. He knew that they'd likely wonder the same things he had, about whether this A.I. had any connections to the Separatists.

     "Your cooperation would be most appreciated, Jarvis." The Jedi Cruiser was coming within range, the usual channels coming to life with clearances and status inquiries. The ARC Trooper looked briefly towards the console and the pilot; he'd let him handle it. His attention wandering again towards Jarvis, Fives found himself speaking up again.

     "...I'll let 'em know that you didn't mean us any harm when they debrief us." He wasn't sure if it would make any difference, but he could understand if the A.I. had been so desperate to seek out its ship's passengers, assuming that Jarvis actually had more 'feelings' than he was letting on. That was the thing with droids and programs though.

[jarvisconsole]

The soldier willing to put in a good word for him? Jarvis attempts to be suitably grateful for that. "Thank you, Mr. Fives." Perhaps he should prepare a statement of his intentions. If it was convincing enough, perhaps they would think twice about shutting him down.

Jarvis observes their docking and landing procedures inside the large cruiser. There are a few technicians standing by with a box between them. A few armed soldiers as well, just in case. But there is no difficulty with the landing. The hologram of Jarvis remains on the holocom so that he can observe all that is going on.

[notjustanumber]

     He offered a nod, and as the hangar to the Venator grew closer in their viewport, Fives got to his feet, slipping his helmet back over his head. Everything else went smoothly, and once he heard the hatch behind them open, he felt that last bit of tension that he hadn't been quite aware of ease.

     "...time to go."

[jarvisconsole]

The technicians descend on the smaller ship, the isolation box between them. Right off, there was an argument from the A.I.

"Surely you don't expect me to get into that." As if it was an insult to be packed off into a box that small. Jarvis is used to large servers and having full reign of the system he was in. "Absolutely not, there isn't even a webcam on it." The techs, not knowing what else to do, try to work around his complaints and connect the box to the system anyway. Jarvis is not about to go quietly, his firewalls blocking them at every turn.

[notjustanumber]

     Fives managed to hold back another sigh as he stepped back and watched the proceedings. He hoped Jarvis wouldn't give them a hard time, and the resistance was just going to make it more difficult for them to trust the A.I.

     "Jarvis...you said you'd cooperate," he muttered.

[jarvisconsole]

"I don't appreciate being stuffed inside a breadbox," Jarvis says, his voice on the oscilloscope monitor. He seems more willing to talk and reasonable with Fives than anyone else. One of the techs, frustrated, says, "Either we isolate the programming or we have to scrap the whole shuttle's computer system. It's a security problem more than anything."

"My systems are quite secure, thank you," Jarvis says, his voice on the edge of being miffed. He would just as soon stay in the shuttle if it came down to it. But of course, they couldn't risk him getting loose on the cruiser and doing who knows what.

[notjustanumber]

     This time Fives did sigh, and he stepped forward, glancing at the tech apologetically as he pulled off his helmet again, tucking it under an arm.

     "Look, Jarvis-" He sure hoped his brothers weren't looking at him oddly every time he spoke to this thing- "Try looking at this situation from our point of view. We hardly know a thing about you, an' you did try'ta make off with our shuttle earlier."

[jarvisconsole]

"Nevertheless, I would like to inspect it, please."

The tech looks confused, not sure what he means. But obligingly hooks it up so that Jarvis can connect to the isolation box. It seems adequate to store the bulk of his programming, more than adequate in storage capacity. However, it dampens any electrical signals, effectively isolating the programming from the rest of the world around it.

Without warning, the tech flips a switch and the trap, unbenownst to the soldiers there, is sprung. There's a few sparks from the console as Jarvis is absorbed right into the box without a word in edgewise. The lights go out after completion. "Sorry, sir, they did say not to let it get out."

Jarvis was an A.I. in a box and there was nothing he could do about it.