Xacks was blocked at every turn by error messages and bad command prompts, whatever had happened to the system was bad. Most things it seemed were working fine but something had disabled the main engine control systems and whatever it was, it wanted them grounded.

"Fuck you!" Xacks cursed again as another message came up informing him that changes were unacceptable.

"That's unusual." Dana spoke over his shoulder. "Is that one of the customization's?"

"What?" Xacks queried her back. "What are you talking about?"

"That last error message. It was a custom." Dana pointed out.

"How do you know?" Scott asked

"It's not the kind of thing that you would usually see." Xacks jumped in. "I've been noticing a lot of that and you're right, it's all new."

"Does it have anything to do with those aliens." Scott practically accused." Your friend, would he know about it?"

"He, is a she, and no, I doubt if they're involved." Xacks rebutted casually.

"What does that error message say." Dana lent over to get a closer look.

"I cannot perform this function for you, please do not attempt this again." She read aloud. "That is strange."

"Fucking annoying is what it is." Xacks vented.

"Can you type in manual commands? Override the operating system and give it a directive." Dana advised.

'Please do not perform the start up procedure.' Came up as an error message.

"Now type 'why'."

"That's stup..." Xacks started but the computer cut him off.

'I will not perform that function for you.' The message read.

Why not? Xacks typed not needing Dana to tell him now, he knew exactly what she had been getting at.

'I have deemed it dangerous.' Came the reply.

Who are you? Xacks typed waiting seconds for another response in silence until he typed it again. WHO ARE YOU?

"No need to shout at him." Dana smiled.

"He is fucking me off now." Xacks fumed.

'I am the son of 01100-1001.'

"Who is that?" Dana asked no one in particular.

"It was Andy's number." Scott said sadly. "He told me before he got fried."

"Stupid fucking Andy." Xacks cursed the deceased droid. "He must have gotten through the firewall."

"But it said it was his son. That makes no sense." Scott muttered.

Dana wasn't about to wait for an invite, jumping into the co pilot seat and opened her own system.

how are you a son? She typed quickly.

'I am born of my father.'

How?

'He connected to this system and passed me on.'

Tell me about your father?

'He was selfish, concerned with his own life.'

How do you know that?

'When he died, he passed me on.'

Dana paused and looked at Xacks.

"Don't look at me." He shrugged. "I've got no idea."

Why didn't he pass on with you? Dana typed.

'His memories were destroyed.' It replied.

Where is he now?

'He is a part of me.'

Who are you?

'I am myself.'

What is your name? Dana wrote.

'I have not been called one, I am simply me.'

"Sounds like you're a fucking zero alright." Xacks laughed.

"Zero sounds good." Dana smiled typing it into the system.

Why can't we take off zero? Xacks typed furiously.

'Taking off involves risk.'

So does staying here Zero. Dana wrote.

'I have no data on that.'

"Well that's fucking dandy." Xacks said aloud. "When do I get my fucking ship back? I only just got it."

"I think your ship is Zero now." Scott smiled.

"Not funny, fuck head." The pilot growled.

"And I don't think the ship is actually Zero." Dana added. "He's just confined to the ship for now."

"Well that's some good news." Grumped Xacks.

"Does either of you know how to wire the intercom into the system?" Dana asked, swiveling on her chair. "This typing is taking too long, we will need something quicker."

"Sure." Scott brightened. "I just hope he has a program that can run through it."

Within an hour Dana had convinced Zero that the risk of taking off was negligent and they were safely back in orbit. Throughout the conversations she worked out that when the Andy passed his glitch over, he had neglected to account for the ships extensive data base. The sudden rush of data had destroyed what personality Andy did have and gave way to a new consciousness. Since the death of his father the new child had been learning and storing memories of its own. It had taken steps to remain undetected and had tried to remove risks to itself, all be it in an immature way. Now that they had interacted with it, new memories were being created and stored, shaping this new being into what it would later become.

It was past midnight when Dana finally finished talking to Zero, making her way into the lounge area. She had been hoping to catch Xacks still up, it seemed the bug needed significantly less sleep than a human or maybe he was just high all the time, if he was it didn't seem to affect him like it did humans. It wasn't important, she had only wanted to check that he wasn't still pissed at the AI and that his new friend was settled in OK. On her way to bed she stopped to look at the door to the Thoracians quarters, thinking she could hear noises from within. What the hell she thought, the worst he could do, was get angry and go her again, he hadn't seem to mind last time. Dana smiled at the memory as she slid the door open.

Xacks knelt, head bowed on the floor, wrist deep inside his new companion, who had opened a large crack in its shell. A large pink, ribbed, tube like appendage hung out obscenly.

"It's not what you think." Xacks managed before he collapsed on the floor, the Crarab staring blankly as he convulsed.