Snippet #1955549

Gap sleep was different for each individual, but James T'Brook theorized that his experience was typically unique, though that could be human narcisscism talking. However, the fact remained that despite the attitudes of his fellow crewmates, he enjoyed it. There was still much about Gap Travel that the Hegemony's greatest minds still didn't understand and James was different. For most people, their consciousness was limited to their Gap-tank or within their own subconscious. James', however, expanded.

He did not know what it was about the wormhole that made it possible, but the signal of the computer portion of his brain grew stronger as they traveled through the Gap. Perhaps it was because they were neither here nor there, but his brain became aware of the signals of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousand's of computers and machinery. He could hear the codes they broadcasted throughout his entire being from the binary of the Hegemony to the more instinctive code of the Gir Empire's machines to codes that no one yet knew about. Sometimes, he thought he heard the codes of organic consciousness, perhaps other cyborgs such as him. Then there was the message he received. The same one everytime.

01001111 01101110 01100101 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110101 01110011 00100000 01100010 01110101 01110100 00100000 01100100 01101001 01100110 01100110 01100101 01110010 01100101 01101110 01110100

One of us, but different.

He had tried explaining this to his sister, about the longing he felt at that simple transmission. The alien, but familiar feeling of it. He hoped she understood his excitement. Someone should.

With a sigh, he felt the Nimble Griphon exit Gap space. His tank opened and he stepped out, fighting the urge to reject the oxygen rich gel within his body and to keep his legs study before muscle memory kicked in. He chose to put on his robe, though his body was not unattractive and each of his body parts were healthy-looking. It was simply impolite to walk around naked in front of people who were not members of his family. He quickly walked towards the shower rooms and cleansed himself of the gel while spitting out any of it remaining in him.

After dressing himself, he headed for the bridge of the ship and found he was the fourth one to enter, shortly after Jensen. Had he been so absorbed in the Gap that he hadn't risen in time? Sometimes, it was hard to tell. He smiled politely at Jensen when he heard his comment.

"My sister does not currently have any gambling debts registered in the systems of either legal or underground casinos, race tracks, fight clubs, or brothels. However, I cannot speak for Captain Jager. His name is blacklisted in two dozen establishments," he reported. He smiled slightly and closed his eyes before continuing, "The ship's computer is working at 100% capacity. Firewalls are triple-layered and system scramblers stand ready to interfere with law enforcement equipment."

He paused for a moment, considering recent security footage, "Michaline, please walk around the ship with your robe on. I do not need to see it when I check for the security cams."

He glanced at Captain Jager and Jensen, "That goes for you both. Jensen seems to have gained 1.5 pounds since last jump. Deirdre..."

He blushed slightly, showing human embarrassment for the first time since he awoke, "Is in fit condtion..."

He bowed his head slightly, "I apologize for any invasion of privacy. I always check the security cams."