Stefania looked far less menacing tucked into the little cot in the medbay. With Valkyrie's direction, Leanne had found it hours before, dragging the commander's weight. Leanne had cleaned her diligently, wiping off all the clammy, thick fluid and dressing her in warmer clothing which she found in the ward. In her slumber, Stefania's severe features softened and she appeared more as another victim of this madness rather than a threatening woman.

Leanne felt a curious sympathy for her. By her own words, she had been put in a position she had no choice in. The BASE had made life-altering decisions above her head, just as they had for Leanne and Cliff. Leanne found she did not blame Stefania for the ugly things in the centrifuge and all their moral questions. And more than that, Stefania was a vulnerable person now, ill, unsteady, obviously bewildered and confused.

"Ideally, reversing the process of cryosleep is a slow one," Valkyrie explained as Leanne watched over Stefania's vital signs with the AI caretaker. They were gradually stabilising. "The procedure is dangerous and needs great precision. Those who undergo it feel unpleasant effects for some time afterwards, up to seven days."

"Did you wake her up?" Leanne asked.

"I did. I felt it was needed."

"Why?"

Valkyrie did not have an answer. Leanne wanted to ask more but she felt she would get better information from the commander herself. Over a course of hours, Stefania slowly came around, coaxed with the help of Valkyrie's drugs and stimulants. Time still ticked, the moment of the Arcadia's destruction creeping closer, but Leanne forced herself to be patient. In any case, neither she or Ryan had heard from the BASE or Nerio yet after their update to them. She imagined the corporations locked into endless meetings, discussing the best procedure.

By the next day, Day Five by the BASE's countdown, Stefania was awake. Leanne made her eat, copying Ryan's recipe from their first meal in the canteen. Ryan did not come to the medbay and when she eventually spoke, Stefania was glad.

"Mars hates us," she said. "Every day, we creep closer to war."

"War? With Mars?"

"With Mars. On Mars. This ship is..." She paused and shook her head. "I suppose they know now."

"Know what?"

Stefania did not continue with that train of thought. "Ryan," she said instead, "was particularly angry about the Arcadia's cargo."

Leanne nodded. "She has her reasons."

"She is transhuman, isn't she?"

"How..." Leanne frowned. "How do you know that?"

"It is not uncommon."

Ryan had said it was outlawed, that her very existence went against the BASE's mandates. Perhaps there was more to it than Leanne understood. This mission had turned everything she thought she knew on its head. About the BASE itself. About space travel. About Mars. About AI.

"You said," she dared to press, "that Valkyrie was yours. You said 'my Valkyrie'."

Stefania nodded. "That is because she is mine. I designed her."

"You designed her? Entirely?"

"With some help, yes. But she is my creation. She is my..." Stefania paused. "She is my friend, but you will laugh at that."

"No. She is...remarkable." That was one way to phrase it. "But she has been malfunctioning, by Ryan's guess. When I and my commander tried to gain entry to this ship, a signal came from inside and caused an AI probe to...go rogue. It killed my commander. I keep thinking it must have been a signal from Valkyrie. She has obstructed me and I keep fearing she is trying to kill me. Everything to her is classified information. But then, she will allow us access to something and act as though she is the most helpful thing in creation."

Although Valkyrie had caused so much damage to her, Leanne suddenly felt a desire not to insult her in front of her programmer. Since Ryan had said a flaw existed within her processors, she did not know what to think. Perhaps that was true, and had been true all along.

"She was designed to be perfect in every way," Stefania said. "Intelligent, sensitive to human emotion, with an answer to everything. I oversaw her coding and testing and I loved her instantly. But then..."

Stefania paused as if the weight of Valkyrie's own pain weighed upon her.

"You asked me what had happened to her," Leanne pressed, so close to the truth. "Did you think something could have happened to her?"

"Yes. Something has. I knew it would. I warned them."

"Warned who? And about what?"

"You will never believe me, Miss Ziegler."

Leanne almost laughed. "Try me."

Stefania paused, staring into Leanne's eyes. She had a curious look, akin to the omnipresent, intimidating gaze that Leanne had imagined Valkyrie to have. These two were inextricably linked, one born from the love and creativity of another. Leanne, for some reason, thought of herself and Ryan. Two very different make-ups, two very different perspectives, but working together. She wanted to help Stefania back to Valkyrie, back to her true form.

"It will be easier," Stefania said, "if I show you."

***

Leanne still did not trust Stefania's stability but, driven on by curiosity, she followed her through the labyrinth of the Arcadia. Despite however long she had spent in cryo, Stefania walked through the corridors as confidently as she would her own home. Leanne wondered just how well she knew the ship, just what her mission length had entailed. She kept quiet as Stefania led her back to the centrifuge and all its awful contents. But this time, they descended further down the central ladder, plunging deep beneath the carousel of cryo tubes and engineered embryos.

Below was a small door. It seemed remarkably flimsy after the armoured, tough portal lock of the centrifuge.

"What is this?" Leanne asked.

"It's the heart of the ship," Stefania said. "Without this, we do not fly. We do not survive."

With a rush in her stomach, Leanne thought they were going to enter the power room of the Arcadia and see whatever substance drove her through the stars. Stefania held her ID to the key card slot and the light above the door blinked green. Leanne waited for her to enter but Stefania swept her arm in, directing her to go first.

"You have to see it for yourself, alone for a moment. To take it in."

Leanne glanced sidelong at the commander. She did not trust anyone now, but Stefania intrigued her. She knew, somehow, she would not hurt her.

She took a step inside. It was dark, the shadows sticking to her. A small pinprick of blue light shimmered. It seemed to maintain its position even as she walked hesitantly towards it. Soft hums reverberated from the gloom, encasing her in a low frequency embrace. The temperature felt balmy, close, pleasant, following the frigidity of the centrifuge.

"Lights," Stefania said, somewhere behind her.

That azure dot expanded, consuming the space. Illumination strobed softly and brightened countless panels that covered the chamber. They pulsed with shades of blue, a slow-motion kaleidoscope drawing back and forth. The illusion made the compartment seem much larger than it was; Leanne could extend her arms and easily touch each wall. Before her was a seat, the digital boards framing it like a curious throne.

"Is this how the Arcadia is powered?" Leanne asked, her voice tinny in the room.

"This," Stefania said, "is Valkyrie."

So this was where Ryan had located Valkyrie's processors. She was here, the heart of the Arcadia. That heart, Leanne knew, was sick and beating arrhythmically.

"Ryan said she was malfunctioning," Leanne prompted, wanting answers. "She said there were black spots in her memory and coding. Can you fix her?"

Stefania ran her hand gently along the back of the seat, sadness crossing her gaze. "I don't think she can be fixed. The problem runs too deep. But it is not a matter of deactivation either. Without her, there is no Arcadia."

"Then what can be done? You must know why she is malfunctioning."

"I do." Stefania fixed her with a firm look. "Sit here. I will show you."

Leanne found herself obeying. She lowered down into the strange chair and with a jolt, realised that the back of it curved over her head. A headset protruded from it, ready to be worn.

"I—" Leanne's voice trembled. "I'm not sure I want to do this."

"It is safe, don't worry. Valkyrie isn't to be feared. It is what they have done to her."

Nurtured, not by nature, Leanne thought. It was a bizarre link to those embryos in the centrifuge. Stefania had also designed Valkyrie to be perfect and the AI now proved the futility of that quest. Nothing was perfect. The world always found ways to knock down that perfection.

"Close your eyes," Stefania suddenly said.

Leanne did so. She felt the headset lower over her scalp, the visor descending. Her hands gripped the edges of the seat, muscles tensing. The hum of the chamber faded into an almost imperceptible drone. She hoped that, if things were to go wrong, Ryan was out there somewhere, ready to rescue her through the digital waves.

"Now, open your eyes," Stefania's voice instructed.

Leanne obeyed – and her vision became full of stars.

Word count: 1552
Overall: 26,715

The shout out for this chapter goes to shellzels and Wyatt's Magical Wardrobe, a really fun paranormal story with such an entertaining protagonist!