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Seth took a deep breath, hands carded and resting against his forehead. He leaned back and ran his fingers through his hair. He checked on Iris in her room and made sure that she was preoccupied, probably talking to Peri about this whole SecUnit situation. Definitely gushing about its new friend that it was so excited about. Probably both of them lamenting the horrible things Peri told them all about what a SecUnit actually is and how they're treated. And he agreed that it was terrible, unconscionable, unfathomably evil.
It still didn't justify Peri's behaviour.
“Peri,” he said finally.
Yes, Captain Seth? Peri replied.
“No,” he said. “I'm not talking to you as captain. Yet. You're talking to Dad.”
Oh. It sounded hesitant, which was unusual.. It had also paused a lot longer than he expected. Okay.
“That was so irresponsible,” he said. “You can be a cocky brat sometimes, but you've never done anything this bad. What were you thinking?”
Peri paused for five seconds. That was another thing that it never did, not since it was a drone.
I revealed myself, it said carefully, but I didn't intend for it to be able to tell anyone after we reached our destination.
Seth tensed. “What do you mean?”
When I saw it in the station’s embarkation zone, I identified it as a rogue SecUnit. I thought that rogue SecUnits were dangerous. I thought that rogue SecUnits went on murderous rampages. I thought that it would have been irresponsible to let it go unaddressed. I thought that it would hurt people.
“Peri,” Seth began.
I intended to euthanize it, Peri said before he could continue. I didn't know it was a person. I wanted to study it, learn how to disable it if we encountered one in the future, and then I intended to terminate it. Seth took in a sharp breath, struggling to form a response when Peri spoke again. No. I am downplaying my actions. I intended to kill it. That is what I intended to do.
“You already knew that constructs were partially organic,” Seth said, “you must have known on some level it was sentient, if not sapient.”
…I did. And…
It trailed off. It had never done that before. Not even as a drone.
I know I acted very confident during my presentation, but… Another pause. Seth didn't know what to make of it. I'm ashamed of myself, Dad.
Peri didn't call him Dad very often anymore. Not like it had when it was younger.
I was thinking like a regular bot. Logical and emotionless. Then it started talking. It pulled up footage in their shared feed. It had shown some during its presentation to the crew, but not much. This was the SecUnit curled up in a chair in the lounge, terrified, presumably of Peri. There was no way to look at it and not know it was a person, not with that expression, eyes wide and shoulders hunched. It sent me memory files of it being hurt by its governor module. In some of them it tried to resist orders to hurt people, only for it to be hurt so badly that I didn't even know how to process it. I've never felt physical pain before. It was horrible.
Seth felt a cold chill up his spine and in his heart. No, Peri had never felt physical pain before, or anything analogous to physical sensation. For its first experience to be that…
It hurt. I was afraid.
Peri didn't get afraid. It didn't… do that.
SecUnit was good. It helped people even though it didn't have to. Even when it knew they would hate them if they knew what it was. Even if it suffered, even if there was no benefit for it. It was good, and it wanted to help people, not hurt them, and I was going to kill it. More hesitation. That also feels… bad. It feels like the files it sent me. It hurts.
“Peri…” Seth breathed. He focused on his hands, clasped on his desk. “That is… I think that's good. Growing and changing can hurt, but it can make us better people. No one learns without making mistakes first.”
I know.
“I am… proud of you, for accepting that you were wrong, and admitting it. I know that was hard for you.”
Yes. It was.
Seth didn't reply at first. He wasn't sure what to say. Before he could think of something, Peri sent him another clip.
The SecUnit was sitting inside what looked like a short range shuttle, speaking to three nervous looking people.
“I’m on a private channel with a friend in the ring who’s monitoring the shuttle’s departure," it said. “Just making sure everything’s okay.”
“Friend,” Seth echoed. “It meant you, didn't it?”
Yes. It is my friend.
Peri had never called anyone its friend before.
“...I am…” Seth said slowly. “...upset with you, as a captain. I am… proud of you, as a father.”
Are you certain?
“Very.”
Thank you. Please don't tell Iris.
“It can stay between us,” Seth agreed. “I appreciate you telling me.”
I would be happy if we saw it again. I would like you to meet it.
“Then I hope we run into it,” Seth told his strange, difficult, wonderful child. “I'd like to meet the person who had such an impact on you. I'm sure it's very special.”
Yes. It is.
“I need a little time to think,” he admitted. “I'll speak to you as captain later.”
Okay.
Peri exited their shared feed. It was still there, of course, it was a little performative of a gesture, but Seth always appreciated that it tried to make him feel like he had a little bit of space to himself. It could be cocky, rebellious, and stubborn sometimes— all the time— but it was good. It had always been good. Like its new friend, apparently.
And this… was almost certainly going to make it better. He huffed a laugh through his nose.
Yeah.
They weren't telling the University about this.