(Photo by Julia Filirovska)

Once a month, everyone in the RCC got together for an all-hands meeting. Usually those meetings were more akin to a work party with food, drinks, and maybe a few actual work-related announcements. Dressing up for the meeting wasn’t a requirement but somewhere along the lines it had become a sort of tradition. The last all-hands meeting took place not long after the incident with the meteor. No one dressed up for that meeting. It was not a fun one.

As Min stood in front of her mirror, smoothing out the lines on her dress, she tried to put on a smile that both looked and felt genuine. The all-hands meeting was scheduled to begin in just a few minutes and she was dreading it, hoping it would be a success but fearing it would be a catastrophe. It wasn’t that she didn’t like working with people. She was worried it was too soon to have this sort of party. A boring meeting was far better than a dead party.

“It’s the last time,” Min comforted herself. “Jancy’ll be back in a couple weeks, and then everything’s going to go back to normal.”

It was a familiar mantra she’d begun using ever since the situation with BaBS-Y started. There was a reason Jancy Chol was suppose to be in charge, not Min. They both had their strengths and, well, Jancy was better at keeping everything and everyone running smoothly while simultaneously keeping the public and the Thesis leadership out of everyone else’s hair.

Of course, everything wouldn’t go back to normal. Mr Jorgenson was dead, ship security was full of robots, and the stupid salon robot that had made her life so stressful was now sitting in the mission director’s seat up on sector one.

No, that wasn’t quite accurate. BaBS-Y wasn’t sitting in the mission director’s seat. Its puppet, ISaCC was sitting in that seat. BaBS-Y was somewhere down on twelve.

Someone knocked on her office door.

“Come in,” she said, turning away from the mirror.

Rine stood there with Matiew not far behind in his new, motorized wheelchair. Both were done up in their finest. Rine’s hair was a masterwork of curls and Matiew was groomed far better than Min had seen him in weeks. If it weren’t for the slightly pained expression on Matiew’s face and the careful way he still moved, he would have looked as good as he’d ever done.

“I don’t want to alarm anyone,” Matiew whispered as he replaced his grimace with a smirk, “but I think they’re gonna have to outlaw the three of us from going out in public looking so sharp.”

“Why is that?” Min asked, knowing Matiew was leading her into a joke of some kind.

“We might breach the hull,” he replied, and then added, “because we’re so sharp.”

“Ha ha,” Min faked her laugh while Rine rolled her eyes. “But don’t you dare tell that joke to anyone else,” she warned and then let the two of them come fully into her office.

“It’s not him you have to worry about,” Rine said as the three of them sat down around Min’s desk. “It’s BaBS-Y who told us that one.”

Min gave them both a blank stare. “It’s telling jokes now?”

“Humor’s always been part of its programming,” Matiew explained, “we just weren’t ever in a situation with it that warranted it.”

“So when did it tell you this joke?” Min asked.

“This morning,” Rine said. “BaBS-Y had ISaCC come down to the hospital and offered to do our hair for us.”

“That would explain…” Min gestured to the two of them, especially Rine’s intricate hairdo.

Rine nodded.

“Yeah, I’d never have the patience for this,” she said.

“So, you ready for your last all-hands?” Matiew asked.

“That sounds ominous,” Min laughed, “I’m still planning on attending them when Jancy comes back.”

“Right, right,” Matiew shrugged. “So are you ready for the last one you have to be in charge of?”

“So ready I wish it was tomorrow,” Min admitted with a heavy sigh. She leaned back in her seat, looking up at the ceiling and rubbed her forehead. “More than ready.”

“Any announcements you want us to make for you?” Rine offered.

“No, no. There’s nothing really to say fortunately. Just gotta remind them all that Jancy’s coming back soon. Keep on going and all that. Pat yourselves on the back for a job well done even though we failed to stop BaBS-Y and now she’s in charge of the whole ship but thank goodness that’s all worked out in the end so no need to panic.”

She opened her eyes and found both Rine and Matiew staring at her in shock. Matiew even had his hand raised, pointing up at the security camera as though to remind her that BaBS-Y was most likely watching them and listening in.

Right.

Min’s heart skipped a beat and she felt her hands tremble for a moment but BaBS-Y’s familiar voice did not break the silence. That didn’t mean there wouldn’t be trouble later on but for now, at least, it didn’t seem as though Min had crossed any lines with that last comment.

“Shall we then?” Rine asked at last and gestured towards the door.

“Is it time already?” Min asked even though she knew it was.

The large meeting room was already a buzz with chatter when Min, Rine, and Matiew arrived, music playing in the background. Food and drinks were all along the back wall and there were a number of tables and chairs scattered throughout. At the front of the room was a small stage where Min could deliver whatever announcements or words of encouragement she needed to give. For now she just mingled.

“Good choice on the food,” one of the older programmers told her as she made her way over to the back of the room.

“It’s the new sandwich place on sector twenty,” Min smiled. “They’re my new favorite spot.”

It was only then that she remembered that she never got around to telling the rest of the RCC that Nadia and Sacha had invited them all to eat there, without fear of having their food spit on. Oh well. They’d know about it now. It wasn’t as though the sandwich shop was hurting for diners. It was usually pretty packed in there these days.

“Well there you are,” a warm and friendly voice spoke from behind Min as she was loading up her plate.

Min knew that voice but hadn’t been expecting to hear it. Not here, not today.

“Jancy?”

She turned and, sure enough, there was Jancy Chol. She was taller than Min, older too, and smiled broadly when Min met her eyes.

“How are you?” Jancy asked and gave Min a firm hug.

“I’m good, good,” Min lied, although she was glad to see Jancy.

“First things first,” Jancy said as soon as they ended the hug, “I have to say it, I’m sorry you had to handle everything that’s been going on. I thought about coming back early a few times, but you did your best and I don’t think I would have done any better. You are truly remarkable.”

Min nodded her head in thanks a bit awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

“I guess that’s why BaBS-Y likes you so much.”

“What’s that?” Min asked, not sure she’d heard her right.

“I said that’s why BaBS-Y likes you,” Jancy repeated herself. “You do your job well and even a salon bot can appreciate that.”

There were a number of things Min could have said in response to that but her recent reminder that BaBS-Y could be listening in was still fresh on her mind.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ready to hand it all back over to you,” Min told her.

The two of them had found an empty table to sit at and were both taking turns speaking while the other ate.

“Even before the whole BaBS-Y incident I knew your job was not for me,” Min continued. “Give me back my glamorous lifestyle of leading robot maintenance scheduling. You can handle the concerns of rogue robots and Thesis leadership.”

“Hmm,” Jancy nodded. “Now I’m the one who’d be lying if I said I enjoyed those meetings.”

They each ate in silence for a while, listening to a song they’d both grown up listening to and watching the others around them. A few noticed Jancy and came over to say hi or ask about her baby, but for the most part they were left alone. Min realized she hadn’t asked about Jancy’s baby, but felt it was too late now that a half dozen others had come over and asked that very same question. Jancy made a few jokes about who was getting more sleep during the BaBS-Y incident, them or her. Min doubted she could get away with telling that sort of joke but everyone laughed comfortably when Jancy did. She admired the easy way Jancy got along with everyone.

“Jancy!” Matiew’s voice cut through the noise around them as he moved over to their table. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here for a couple more weeks.”

“Well the robot suggested that I come and see everyone and I thought, why not.”

“You mean BaBS-Y sent you?” Min asked, suddenly worried this was somehow in response to what she’d said earlier in her office, but then she realized there hadn’t been enough time for BaBS-Y to have done that.

“Yeah, it’s a funny robot, that one.”

Min wasn’t sure how to take that comment. It was impossible to read Jancy, to know whether she liked BaBS-Y or not.

“Was that just earlier today or have you been planning on surprising us all for a while?” Matiew asked with a knowing look.

Jancy just laughed and shook her head.

“It was a couple days ago,” she smiled and sat as though she didn’t have a care in the world. “It even complimented you both on how well you’ve been running things. Even gave me a breakdown of how you almost caught it before it became mission director.”

To hear her say it, it sounded as though this wasn’t some serious situation that could result in all of their deaths. A difficult situation, certainly, but one that they had all done well in.

“I can’t wait for you and Cassandra to start chatting again,” Min said, remembering the number of conversations the two women had had over the years. To say there was friction would be an understatement. Jancy loved all things robotic. Cassandra was the opposite.

“Oh, we’ve been in contact,” Jancy replied and gave a slow nod with her head. “Not the most productive calls but, well, she has her concerns. Not all of them unfounded, but I think it’s all mostly overblown. All of this that’s been going on? We’ll be fine.”

Min was about to reply, express her shock and surprise at how easily Jancy was accepting BaBS-Y as the new mission director when she of all people should know the dangers inherent in such an arrangement, when she noticed Jancy give her a little wink. For a moment her expression was serious and Min saw past the smiles and the laughter. There was worry there, carefully tucked away and out of sight.

“Oh, why don’t we give Cassandra a call, eh?” Jancy suggested in an off hand manner that didn’t quite sound authentic now that Min was paying more attention. “Maybe invite her to come join one of our all-hands meetings once the repair work’s all done.”

She was pulling out her comm already. Min felt that something was about to happen. Something big. Matiew seemed to have caught on and was watching Jancy with rapt attention.

It was odd that her brain chose that moment to notice something odd about the all-hands. While the party-like atmosphere was normal, as Min looked around she realized there weren’t any robots present. Normally there would have been serving bots, cleaning bots, and perhaps a few robots performing music. Instead, the food was just laid out on tables and the music was just being played from someone’s playlist.

“Cassandra,” Jancy’s voice caught Min’s attention once more, this time sounding serious, all humor and levity gone, “I’m just about ready up here.” She turned back to Min and Matiew. “Meet me up on the stage,” she said, “Rine too. Find her and get her up there. I’ll join you in a few minutes. Just talk like everything’s normal, say whatever you were planning on saying, Min.”

With that, she stood up and walked away from their table in deep conversation with Cassandra Kokkinos.

“I guess I’ll go find Rine,” Matiew said, still in a bit of shock himself. “See you at the stage.”

Min was left alone, only now realizing that she hadn’t prepared anything to say.