"Sorry, girls, yet another emergency. You know I try to give you only the really fun or the really serious stuff, though. Well, this one might be both. Over the past few months, some adjacent Firewall servers to ours, have noticed a new oligarch putting up an even-newer Fisher hab, in the orbit of Mercury. Usually we'd just file it as almost-certainly-yet-another-antimatter-corp and cease to care. But this oligarch, one Quinn Harcrow, sole owner of the hypercorp Taushev Evolved Technologies, decided to make some interesting choices.

In particular, we are pretty sure that they are the newest FNG oligarch to not have a clue, and so decided to try their hand at ASI dev. But instead of recruiting staff from other corps or finding some interested and/or AGI folks, like normal and predictable ASI-aspirant oligarchs, instead it seems they decided it would be a good idea to egonap some fucking Argonaut TITAN researchers. Firewall and Argo have some pretty good circumstantial evidence and Mesh traces that this is the case, which is why ...

... the common benefactors of Firewall and the Argos are very concerned, and want this person, their hab, their staff, their projects, their everything, investigated ASAP, and if necessary, dealt with.

I have arranged transit aboard a fast courier shuttle, Hera's Dream, docking soon just outside, with a travel time of about a week from here to Taushev. Cover for Foxfire will be as a middle-manager department director in the corp, with Megaera as her bodyguard.

Taushev has very tight security checks on entry and regularly while inside, but your forged credentials and backstories should provide a little leeway. Pack and/or smuggle appropriately. For investigation, we recommend social engineering and a light touch, but if you have to go loud, don't look or be weak about it. Concerning the hab itself, we're pretty sure but not certain that there are at least four main structures: a server cluster for the egonapped Argos, corporate quarters and common areas, a small spaceport with a security area and farcasting/resleeving facility, and core infrastructure in the center disk. We also think it's very likely that Harcrow's got the whole place coated in cutting-edge low-to-null-albedo materials, and spun up for Mars-equivalent gravity.

You are both authorized by this server, and the other servers supporting this mission, to exercise plenary and discretionary authority. Find out what's going on; do what you have to do. We trust you to be aligned with Firewall's interests and judgement criteria, particularly concerning whether it all is bad enough. Bad enough as in -- grudgingly, by most proxies involved -- we're authorizing usage of Meg's pet swarm; overt, and even, only if necessary, unshackled, to do whatever has to and must be done. But do not act lightly, if you must act beyond investigation. There will be no witnesses, in that case, one way or another. Are we clear on the mission, and especially this?"

"ASI research?" Foxfire — a lithe, beautiful woman with violet hair, violet eyes, violet fox ears, and a violet fox tail — lets out a considering hum.

Megaera, a tall, fierce-looking woman with piercing green eyes and a messy, asymmetric bob of raven hair, nods. "Can't think of a better reason to steal some Argonauts."

She scowls. "Void-damned oligarchs disrespecting everything Mom fought for," she mutters.

"I've only heard rumors of Dahlia Pallas -- hard to believe she ever had a kid, but if anyone would be hers, it would be you, Megaera. From what I have heard of her legend, especially about her supposedly having been the one to tame that swarm of yours -- yes, disrespecting very much indeed." Artemis replies, with a somber look.

"And that won't stand," Foxfire adds. She squeezes Megaera's hand, nodding. "If Harcrow has crossed the line, and is doing ASI research with egonapped Argonauts, then they clearly missed an important lesson. Bad things happen to you when you break these Rules."

Meg nods firmly. "Namely us."

A ghost of smile flickers across Artemis' face, and is gone.

"Yes. Hence the -- reluctant -- full authorization I mentioned.

Do you have any questions or further preparations you need to do here, on this Mesh or hab?

If not, I urge you to board Hera's Dream and complete such actions while in transit. It's a week's journey, true, but in idiot-oligarch ASI research, every second does count."

Foxfire nods, and notes a data packet Ember just received for her. "Not much left to say then. I see you've sent our muses the usual details about our false faces for the mission, and the full breakdown of everything we know about the security we're facing. We'll review all of that on the way, unless there's anything you'd recommend we bring outside our standard kit."

"No, your standard gear and morphs should be enough, but if not, you have as much permission as we can give to go loud.

If you take a look out this hab's optical sensors, or exit this Mesh and look out the windows, you shouuld see Hera's Dream arriving right about ... now."

Whichever way Foxfire and Megaera choose to take a look, the ship does in fact come alongside the hab, match V, and initiate docking, right at the moment that Artemis says "now". It's a bit spooky how the Firewall proxies always manage to do that.

Megaera nods, takes Foxfire's hand, and waves at Artemis. "We're off, then. Thank you."

And after any goodbyes from Artemis, they disconnect.

"The stolen fire be with you both," Artemis says, as she waves goodbye back. She then terminates and deletes the simulspace, and lastly the fork of her ego that she'd beamed to the hab. No such thing as too much opsec, at least in her Firewall server.

"Welcome abord," says Hera's Dream, on both the ship Mesh and announcement speakers, once the two transhumans walk across the airlock's threshold.

"We will not have a spin-up after initial burn; instead, please use the magnetized foot- and hand-wear tools -- multiple sets are available on storage hooks in each room -- to assist with walking or holding on to surfaces. After initial burn, please feel to move about.

I have private quarters for both of you if desired; adjacent berths can be opened to each other, as well, and bedding and other furniture in berths and the common room can be re-configured by housekeeping robots, within some limitations.

There are an observatory, a common room, and VR chairs for your use; the common room also has two medium fabbers and two autocooks. Please use feedstock responsibly.

Lastly, please be seated in a crash couch, in your berth or on the bridge, for securing for initial burn."

Megaera and Foxfire nod, stow their bags securely, and then head to the bridge where they each strap themselves into a crash couch, then reach out to hold hands and enjoy the launch.

"I hope it never gets old."

Foxfire nods. "Yeah, no matter how many times we do this, I want to retain a bit of the sense of awe at living in a society where we get to travel through space regularly, where there are talented pilot AIs, where we get to do important things like this. Transhumanity has managed to make it safe to travel through space. That doesn't get to stop being cool."

Megaera nods and squeezes her girlfriend's hand.

"Thank you for being secured promptly.

T-minus sixty seconds to mission start.

Warming reactor ...

Priming mass pumps ...

Aligning plasma waveguides ...

Energizing containment fields ...

Disengaging docking electromagnetics ...

Abort guidance armed.

All systems reporting go for launch.

T-minus five seconds. Four. Three. Two. One.

Main torch ignition!"

At main torch ignition, the deuterium and tritium reaction masses are introduced to each other and ignited with extremely-high-power lasers and then cycled as toroidal plasma; with the lesser-than-antimatter but no-less-primordial energy of nuclear fusion, the main torch blazes to life.

Megaera and Foxfire are thrust back into their couch with great force. They feel the ship disengage from the dock, and then the ship accelerating toward the Fisher hab at the inner reaches of the Solar system.

They feel their bodies compressed against their couch, their vision taking on a by-now-familiar blur, as the ship accelerates at several gravities. It even shakes briefly, at the height of the burn.

But as quickly as it began, so does it stop again: "Main torch extinguished", Hera's Dream announces.

Their bodies relax, and Hera speaks again:

"Launch successful. We are on course for Taushev. Now releasing couch restraints. You are free to move about my interior. Estimated arrival time: seven standard days."