Next one. Ok, several things first.
1: THIS IS NOT FANFICTION. No, this is a story taking place in an original universe. I hope no one minds.
2: Don't expect regular updates. This is an attempt at a professional novel so I want to plan it out and get all the good stuff in it. Foreshadowing, multiple plot lines, character interaction, cool hardware and a god, or maybe two.
3: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Also known as: Technobabble and Handwaves explain everything.
4: The laws of robotics are not implemented here. Sorry Isaac, but I want them to drive the cool stuff. They don't have time to babysit some organic wimps.
WINGS OF LIGHT
CHAPTER 1: Lights, colours, not here.
Without a sound, the SS Hesphire moved to its destination. It would have been useless to expect any sound as such a phenomenon had a hard time travelling through the vacuum of space.
,,This is your captain speaking. We are approaching the wormhole leading to the Eden system. The estimated time for our arrival is approximately half an hour from now. There will be a short burn for course corrections. We advise that all passengers strap themselves in till we’ve entered the wormhole and stabilized our course. If you require any help, our crew is willing to assist you. Thank you.” The disembodied voice echoed through speakers all over the ship.
With this announcement, everyone dropped whatever he or she was doing and moved to the observation deck. Entering a wormhole was always an exciting event for those who were new to interstellar travel. There were also those who were not new to interstellar travel. They also moved to the observation deck, though for a different reason.
Belonging to the second group was Paul Anthony Detroit. Every single cell of his body revealed him as a true veteran of space. He smoothly sailed from wall to wall, without any of the awkward bouncing of the average tourist. His clothes were tight fitting like those worn by all true space farers, yet without looking like a diver’s suit, oversized pyama or any other kind of embarrassing outfit newbies wore. The passengers he passed were mostly less successful in their choice of clothing. Wide, flowing clothes were fashionable these days yet had the unpleasant habit of getting stuck between doors or flowing away from the areas they were supposed to cover. Easy to use belts for strapping down clothes to the limbs were standard issue on civilian ships carrying passengers.
Thanks to his skill at zero g manoeuvring, he arrived well before the other passengers and secured the best place of all, the ceiling. Instantly, a steward pushed off against a wall to reach him.
,,Please mister, you may want to sit in one of the seats. Free floating during course corrections are not advised.” The young man, barely in his twenties, warned. Detroit looked down at the traditional name tag and smiled.
,,Well mister Rein, I can assure you that part of a g is not going to be a problem for me. Unless the SS Hesphire is using an illegally rigged High-performance Fusion torch and will be running multiple gees. In which case I would have to arrest everyone onboard.” He responded with the cool tone of voice that could come from only one kind of person. Military officers, the high-ranking ones.
The steward wisely backed off, allowing Detroit to enjoy the view. The man looked how everyone else entered the observation deck and got strapped in. There was some chaos but the stewards managed to get their job done and everyone strapped into a chair. He smiled again as he thought of the faces they would pull upon seeing a wormhole.
,,This is your captain speaking. We shall initiate our burn in 30 seconds. Anyone who is not yet secured should grab the nearest support and hold on for the next few minutes. Thank you.” This time, Detroit did follow the advise. He reached out and grabbed a small handle jutting out of the glass dome that covered the observation deck at the nose of the ship.
Little puffs of hydrogen jetted out of the minuscule thrusters spread across the Hesphire’s hull. The long cylindrical vehicle turned its nose around slowly. Two minutes later, the thrusters fired again to stop the rotation. Now the main thruster at the far end of the ship fired. Unlike during the turn, the acceleration caused by the main thrusters was felt by the people onboard. It felt as if you were suspended in the air under a parachute with a gentle breeze pushing you along.
,,This is your captain speaking. We are entering the wormhole in five…four…three…two…one…entering now.”
Necks were stretched in awkward positions, eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets. The stars disappeared, to be replaced by pure darkness. Slowly, a hint of disappointment spread across the two dozen or so faces gathered on the observation deck. Detroits smile grew bigger.
,,No lights, no fancy colours, no humming sounds, no sudden acceleration. This ain’t your average holovision show. Welcome to real space. It is boring, it is slow and it rarely takes you anywhere interesting. At least you won’t find bad looking aliens with worse looking rayguns at every corner.” He spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. Then, he laughed. Yes, the passengers would be angry with him for the rest of the trip but why should he care? It would only be a week or so and then he would be back where he was supposed to be. On a ship of his own. One with guns, big guns.
“And twenty-two wormholes away from the action.”
Full Version: Wings of Light.
QUOTE
The stars disappeared, to be replaced by pure darkness. Slowly, a hint of disappointment spread across the two dozen or so faces gathered on the observation deck.
Lousy tourists, it's like they never research this stuff beforehand
They think every thing has substance and flash.Nice story so far Jacky, it's nice to read some original stories every now and again. I'm planning for part 3 and 4 of Revan to be in a original universe. And no I'm not offened by this made-up 'verse.
Well it certainly seems like you're a fan of science fiction, jack. I thought the introduction to your story was rather interesting and refreshing. I all ready have gotten an impression on Detroit's personality, and it looks like he'll be a fun character to write.
Whenever you update next, I will be looking forward to reading it. Novels certainly take a lot of work, I know I wouldn't call 'Bloodlust' a novel, but I have the impression it's all ready too long to call a short story. So I'm going to settle calling it a novella.
It'll be interesting to see what your going to do in the realm you created, especially since you're taking your time in creating it.
Whenever you update next, I will be looking forward to reading it. Novels certainly take a lot of work, I know I wouldn't call 'Bloodlust' a novel, but I have the impression it's all ready too long to call a short story. So I'm going to settle calling it a novella.
It'll be interesting to see what your going to do in the realm you created, especially since you're taking your time in creating it.
Heh, I was humored by the way the character describes space in the last few paragraphs, good work here Jack.
I know you said you probably wouldn't update this much but please do continue when you can.
I know you said you probably wouldn't update this much but please do continue when you can.
Hmm, I'm not quite satisfied with the next bit. The talking all feels like a mess and I have to think of slowing it down. Right now, any foreshadowing is useless. Take this update for example. The final words are a bit of foreshadowing yet I reveal what they meant five seconds later. (not included in this update.) I'll have to think of something.
“So that’s what we need you to do. Any questions?” The bulky man leaned down on the desk an stared his guest straight into the eyes. The other man shrugged. He was used to this kind of treatment.
“Just one. You said that there was enough mass in there to be counted as a planet and you said that it was one heck of a dense field. So when did that planet get busted?” He responded casually. He then ignored his employer as he went over to the coffee machine.
“According to our simulations, the planet was shattered approximately 760 years ago. We don’t quite know what caused it though we assume that a high-speed impact with a very large comet or perhaps even a moon was what did it.”
“Geez, that’s robbing the grave before it’s been dug. On a cosmic scale. Sounds like fun.” The bulky man frowned at the visitor’s back.
“I would have preferred to hire a human. These Genos are freaking me out.”
“Just get the job done. That’s what I’m paying you for.” He grumbled.
The Geno waved goodbye and got out of the room as fast as he could. Even after all these years, humans were still fearful of their own creations. That was an obstacle he couldn’t overcome.
“It’s probably one of the reasons why I like space. No one who bothers you there. On the other hand, it can get damn lonely sometimes.” He thought to himself with a hint of sadness in his eyes. When he climbed through the airlock, that sadness vanished without a trace. His ship might not be an example of neatness or style, but it was his own. This time, he would be flying with a passenger.
“Ready to disembark and explore the seas?” He joked to the man who was already waiting impatiently.
“I’ve been ready for hours. Why are you Genos so freaking slow? As if taking away our jobs isn’t good enough. And what’s with the name?” The bearded bodybuilder complained. The Geno took on an angry expression.
“Oh, are we going to play by those rules? I came, so be grateful. Then, we do not take your jobs. There is only one Geno for 5 million humans so if anyone is taking your job, it’s probably your Gorilla nephew. And finally, Glorious Rustbucket is a nice name to give to a ship. Now shut up and sit down before you make me decide on a 2.7 g burn all the way there.” He snapped back. He then rolled his eyes.
“This is going to be a long trip.”
In the meantime, several lightyears away, Detroit had just transferred to a military shuttle. The people from the SS Hesphire were happy to see him go. Military personell had a bad effect on the morale of everyone else.
“So, sir. Did you read the files we sent you?” An aging man asked him. Detroit shook his head.
“I stopped after reading the registration of the ship, admiral. I’ve been in command of four vessels now. In the end, they’re all the same on paper.” He answered while looking out of the window.
The admiral chuckled.
“But you aren’t familiar with this one. There was an article about the AMF-13 type in Captain’s Log, a few months ago. Did you read it?” He asked the only slightly younger captain. Detroit shook his head again.
“I don’t read magazines, even the ones that are about my work area.” This response caused the admiral to chuckle again.
“Maybe you should have.”
“It’s useless to read about a whole class. You need to be onboard to learn the details. All ships are unique, admiral. You know that.” Detroit spoke absentmindedly. He didn’t hear the admiral’s response.
“Especially this one, especially this one.”
“So that’s what we need you to do. Any questions?” The bulky man leaned down on the desk an stared his guest straight into the eyes. The other man shrugged. He was used to this kind of treatment.
“Just one. You said that there was enough mass in there to be counted as a planet and you said that it was one heck of a dense field. So when did that planet get busted?” He responded casually. He then ignored his employer as he went over to the coffee machine.
“According to our simulations, the planet was shattered approximately 760 years ago. We don’t quite know what caused it though we assume that a high-speed impact with a very large comet or perhaps even a moon was what did it.”
“Geez, that’s robbing the grave before it’s been dug. On a cosmic scale. Sounds like fun.” The bulky man frowned at the visitor’s back.
“I would have preferred to hire a human. These Genos are freaking me out.”
“Just get the job done. That’s what I’m paying you for.” He grumbled.
The Geno waved goodbye and got out of the room as fast as he could. Even after all these years, humans were still fearful of their own creations. That was an obstacle he couldn’t overcome.
“It’s probably one of the reasons why I like space. No one who bothers you there. On the other hand, it can get damn lonely sometimes.” He thought to himself with a hint of sadness in his eyes. When he climbed through the airlock, that sadness vanished without a trace. His ship might not be an example of neatness or style, but it was his own. This time, he would be flying with a passenger.
“Ready to disembark and explore the seas?” He joked to the man who was already waiting impatiently.
“I’ve been ready for hours. Why are you Genos so freaking slow? As if taking away our jobs isn’t good enough. And what’s with the name?” The bearded bodybuilder complained. The Geno took on an angry expression.
“Oh, are we going to play by those rules? I came, so be grateful. Then, we do not take your jobs. There is only one Geno for 5 million humans so if anyone is taking your job, it’s probably your Gorilla nephew. And finally, Glorious Rustbucket is a nice name to give to a ship. Now shut up and sit down before you make me decide on a 2.7 g burn all the way there.” He snapped back. He then rolled his eyes.
“This is going to be a long trip.”
In the meantime, several lightyears away, Detroit had just transferred to a military shuttle. The people from the SS Hesphire were happy to see him go. Military personell had a bad effect on the morale of everyone else.
“So, sir. Did you read the files we sent you?” An aging man asked him. Detroit shook his head.
“I stopped after reading the registration of the ship, admiral. I’ve been in command of four vessels now. In the end, they’re all the same on paper.” He answered while looking out of the window.
The admiral chuckled.
“But you aren’t familiar with this one. There was an article about the AMF-13 type in Captain’s Log, a few months ago. Did you read it?” He asked the only slightly younger captain. Detroit shook his head again.
“I don’t read magazines, even the ones that are about my work area.” This response caused the admiral to chuckle again.
“Maybe you should have.”
“It’s useless to read about a whole class. You need to be onboard to learn the details. All ships are unique, admiral. You know that.” Detroit spoke absentmindedly. He didn’t hear the admiral’s response.
“Especially this one, especially this one.”
Hmm this new race you introduced seems rather interesting. He sounds quite human so far, excluding that fact that their race is very few. I wonder what's so fearful about him...
I look forward to what's going to be revealed in the next update.
I look forward to what's going to be revealed in the next update.
No updates yet, I thought I would just give a bit of explanation about the human technology base here in WoL. (Crap, only one letter away from WOW. AAGHH!)
Propulsion: Propulsion comes in several forms though it can be slapped into two categories. Nuclear and non-nuclear with nuclear being the choice for long duration burns. Civilian ships are all limited to less than one g. Not because they can't pull more, but because of some obscure law. Military ships are generally capable of reaching a lovely 4.6 g though that's only in case of 'violent' situations.
There is one more category of propulsion, but that one has proven to be quite unstable and is not used. At least, that's the official story. *hint, hint*
Gravity: There is no such thing as artificial gravity like the kind that is commonly found in sci-fi. Humans use what is called Hard Science-fiction. So the only way to make gravity onboard a ship is trough either spinning or acceleration. As a result, the deck layout of a ship is like that of a skyscraper with the big engine at the bottom.
STL (Slower-than-light) travel: This is the normal kind of maneouvring. It involves a lot of slingshot maneouvres and getting the most out of your ship without thrusting. Military ships have the fuel reserves needed for interplanetary flights with the engine on all the way. (Going from say, Earth-Jupiter in just a few weeks instead of years) Still, all flight is as slow as it is now unless there is some emergency.
FTL (Faster-than-light) travel: All of mankinds experiments with technical gadgets to break the light barrier have been unsuccessful. So the only known way of going to the stars quickly is through wormholes. These are natural links between two places. There's nothing fancy about them, they best resemble a tunnel through a mountain. The time it takes to pass through a wormhole depends on the length of the tunnel (which is directly related to the distance between the two entry points in normal space.) and the speed of the ship. A funny departure from traditional wormholes is their general uselessness. 93,673% of all wormholes emerge in deep space, lightyears away from the nearest star. So mapping out wormhole routes is one heck of a frustrating job.
Now finally, a short word about the Genos. There are several aliens in the story and Genos are the most human-like of the bunch. That's all I'm going to tell about them right now.
Propulsion: Propulsion comes in several forms though it can be slapped into two categories. Nuclear and non-nuclear with nuclear being the choice for long duration burns. Civilian ships are all limited to less than one g. Not because they can't pull more, but because of some obscure law. Military ships are generally capable of reaching a lovely 4.6 g though that's only in case of 'violent' situations.
There is one more category of propulsion, but that one has proven to be quite unstable and is not used. At least, that's the official story. *hint, hint*
Gravity: There is no such thing as artificial gravity like the kind that is commonly found in sci-fi. Humans use what is called Hard Science-fiction. So the only way to make gravity onboard a ship is trough either spinning or acceleration. As a result, the deck layout of a ship is like that of a skyscraper with the big engine at the bottom.
STL (Slower-than-light) travel: This is the normal kind of maneouvring. It involves a lot of slingshot maneouvres and getting the most out of your ship without thrusting. Military ships have the fuel reserves needed for interplanetary flights with the engine on all the way. (Going from say, Earth-Jupiter in just a few weeks instead of years) Still, all flight is as slow as it is now unless there is some emergency.
FTL (Faster-than-light) travel: All of mankinds experiments with technical gadgets to break the light barrier have been unsuccessful. So the only known way of going to the stars quickly is through wormholes. These are natural links between two places. There's nothing fancy about them, they best resemble a tunnel through a mountain. The time it takes to pass through a wormhole depends on the length of the tunnel (which is directly related to the distance between the two entry points in normal space.) and the speed of the ship. A funny departure from traditional wormholes is their general uselessness. 93,673% of all wormholes emerge in deep space, lightyears away from the nearest star. So mapping out wormhole routes is one heck of a frustrating job.
Now finally, a short word about the Genos. There are several aliens in the story and Genos are the most human-like of the bunch. That's all I'm going to tell about them right now.
Update time!
Detroit smiled faintly. It felt good to have gravity under his feet again, even if it was caused by rotating a giant ring. He took a short look around before turning to the admiral.
“Goodbye, sir.” He said formally and was about to walk off when he felt the admiral’s hand on his shoulder.
“I just thought you wanted to know. There is a prelaunch celebration going on at the Starview café. Most of your crew should be there.” The old man told him with a sparkle in his eyes. He remembered his own celebrations. They were either very wild or very calm and formal, depending on the personality of the highest ranking officer around. Detroit nodded.
“I’ll go take a look after I’ve done my medical checkup.”
The hospital was small yet state-of-the-art. Detroit took a moment to sniff the unique scent of overwhelming hygiene and medicine, complete with a bit of ozon coming from all the electrical devices. He then stepped forward to the nurse who sat behind the desk.
“Paul Anthony Detroit. Number 129-758-463. I’m here for the check-up.” He said calmly. The nurse smiled at him.
“The doctor is already waiting inside. I hope you’ll like your ship, captain. It has been the only point of discussion for weeks now among the techheads.” She said and then shrugged.
“My husband works at the shipyard. He has been annoying me about it ever since he first got the chance to see it. Seriously, I would start worrying that he was cheating on me if it was a woman.” She added with a chuckle.
Detroit walked through the door.
“Ah yes, captain Detroit I presume? I’ve already read your medical file and everything seems to be fine. Do you have anything to say to me?” The doctor spoke. Detroit understood that making jokes would not fall well with this man.
“Nothing at all. Just a bit of weakness in the legs. It’s been a few months since I last enjoyed gravity.”
Several scans, a skin sample and an urine test later, Detroit walked out of the hospital.
“Now didn’t the admiral say that my crew was having a celebration at the Starview café? It wouldn’t be a waste of time to meet some of the people who will be following my orders.” He thought as he made his way to the other side of the ring. It was a ten minute walk till he saw the neon sign hanging above the door.
The celebration in this case turned out to be reasonably calm, despite the large amount of alcohol being consumed. Detroit slowly walked to the center of the room where he cleared his voice. One of the people standing nearby saw him and shouted over the music.
“Hey, the captain is here! Pay attention!”
Detroit smiled.
“Thank you. Now, I believe it is my place to give a speech here. Since we all hate speeches, I’ll keep it short. This is likely my last command before retirement to a desk job. So I hope we don’t run into any problems. Fortunately, we are quite a few lightyears away from any troublespots so I have no doubts that I will survive. Now the most important thing is, could anyone get me something to drink?”
The man standing next to him spoke again.
“You heard him. Drinks are on me! Whoever gets the man his beer will get two beers himself!” He shouted. He then turned to the com unit mounted on the wall that had absorbed his attention before the captain arrived.
“How about you, do you want anything?” He asked.
“Well, what about a paintjob? I could really use one.” Was the answer from the other side. The man frowned.
“A paintjob? Why do you need a paintjob?” He asked warily.
“Oh, I’ve got some very good arguments. Maybe you want to hear them in a private discussion? You can play around with my internals as much as you like.”
The man laughed.
“Ok, deal!” He said before bolting out of the door.
Detroit looked out of the window. There wasn’t much to see beyond the stars. He then looked down at his feet. The floor, outer wall and the roof of the Starview café were all transparent. Right below him, there was a huge deepblue wedge. Several spots shone on the gleaming surface. Detroit’s eyes followed the smooth curves, starting at the nose and moving along the hull till he saw the round engines, each looking as if they could move a planet. His eyes landed on the registry painted on the bow. AMF-13-46. The name was painted nearby. TMS Crystal Star.
Detroit whistled.
“I can see that the Techheads love this thing. It’s big, really big and much smoother than the usual flying brick. I can’t wait to get onboard.” He shook his head. “I can take it out for a spin later. Right now, let’s just enjoy a cold beer.”
And now, enjoy this little gift. I wished my computer could actually run Poser so I could make pictures of the characters. Oh well, I guess that means you are limited to enjoying the hardware. So meet, the TMS Crystal Star.
Detroit smiled faintly. It felt good to have gravity under his feet again, even if it was caused by rotating a giant ring. He took a short look around before turning to the admiral.
“Goodbye, sir.” He said formally and was about to walk off when he felt the admiral’s hand on his shoulder.
“I just thought you wanted to know. There is a prelaunch celebration going on at the Starview café. Most of your crew should be there.” The old man told him with a sparkle in his eyes. He remembered his own celebrations. They were either very wild or very calm and formal, depending on the personality of the highest ranking officer around. Detroit nodded.
“I’ll go take a look after I’ve done my medical checkup.”
The hospital was small yet state-of-the-art. Detroit took a moment to sniff the unique scent of overwhelming hygiene and medicine, complete with a bit of ozon coming from all the electrical devices. He then stepped forward to the nurse who sat behind the desk.
“Paul Anthony Detroit. Number 129-758-463. I’m here for the check-up.” He said calmly. The nurse smiled at him.
“The doctor is already waiting inside. I hope you’ll like your ship, captain. It has been the only point of discussion for weeks now among the techheads.” She said and then shrugged.
“My husband works at the shipyard. He has been annoying me about it ever since he first got the chance to see it. Seriously, I would start worrying that he was cheating on me if it was a woman.” She added with a chuckle.
Detroit walked through the door.
“Ah yes, captain Detroit I presume? I’ve already read your medical file and everything seems to be fine. Do you have anything to say to me?” The doctor spoke. Detroit understood that making jokes would not fall well with this man.
“Nothing at all. Just a bit of weakness in the legs. It’s been a few months since I last enjoyed gravity.”
Several scans, a skin sample and an urine test later, Detroit walked out of the hospital.
“Now didn’t the admiral say that my crew was having a celebration at the Starview café? It wouldn’t be a waste of time to meet some of the people who will be following my orders.” He thought as he made his way to the other side of the ring. It was a ten minute walk till he saw the neon sign hanging above the door.
The celebration in this case turned out to be reasonably calm, despite the large amount of alcohol being consumed. Detroit slowly walked to the center of the room where he cleared his voice. One of the people standing nearby saw him and shouted over the music.
“Hey, the captain is here! Pay attention!”
Detroit smiled.
“Thank you. Now, I believe it is my place to give a speech here. Since we all hate speeches, I’ll keep it short. This is likely my last command before retirement to a desk job. So I hope we don’t run into any problems. Fortunately, we are quite a few lightyears away from any troublespots so I have no doubts that I will survive. Now the most important thing is, could anyone get me something to drink?”
The man standing next to him spoke again.
“You heard him. Drinks are on me! Whoever gets the man his beer will get two beers himself!” He shouted. He then turned to the com unit mounted on the wall that had absorbed his attention before the captain arrived.
“How about you, do you want anything?” He asked.
“Well, what about a paintjob? I could really use one.” Was the answer from the other side. The man frowned.
“A paintjob? Why do you need a paintjob?” He asked warily.
“Oh, I’ve got some very good arguments. Maybe you want to hear them in a private discussion? You can play around with my internals as much as you like.”
The man laughed.
“Ok, deal!” He said before bolting out of the door.
Detroit looked out of the window. There wasn’t much to see beyond the stars. He then looked down at his feet. The floor, outer wall and the roof of the Starview café were all transparent. Right below him, there was a huge deepblue wedge. Several spots shone on the gleaming surface. Detroit’s eyes followed the smooth curves, starting at the nose and moving along the hull till he saw the round engines, each looking as if they could move a planet. His eyes landed on the registry painted on the bow. AMF-13-46. The name was painted nearby. TMS Crystal Star.
Detroit whistled.
“I can see that the Techheads love this thing. It’s big, really big and much smoother than the usual flying brick. I can’t wait to get onboard.” He shook his head. “I can take it out for a spin later. Right now, let’s just enjoy a cold beer.”
And now, enjoy this little gift. I wished my computer could actually run Poser so I could make pictures of the characters. Oh well, I guess that means you are limited to enjoying the hardware. So meet, the TMS Crystal Star.
Ooooo sexy ship, I wouldn't mind being in that thing if the journey was safe.
As for the update: wonderful! I can't wait to see where this story goes from here.
As for the update: wonderful! I can't wait to see where this story goes from here.
Sexy? You should see the other ships. I'll try to make a model of those. Now some of them are what I would call really sexy. 
Ahem, enjoy the short update.
The Geno sitting behind the controls of the ‘Glorious Rustbucket’ stirred.
,,Hmm, nothing beats a good nap. So, what’s the big deal? All I heard was that you found a recently cracked planet and wanted me to go take a closer look.” He said while stifling a yawn. His human companion rolled his eyes.
,,What if I tell you that it is a secret?” He grunted, not really interested in a conversation. The Geno laughed.
,,Listen, monkeyboy. I’m a Geno. I’ve dealt with secrets before I could walk. Which means, within ten seconds after getting out of my tank.” He countered. The human sighed.
,,Alright, you’ve got a point. Our point is that our telescopes picked up artificial objects resting on some of the bigger pieces. Also, you may have noticed that dustcloud orbiting at high speed. High enough relative speed, and even a fleck of dust will tear through this bucket like a knife through butter. Well, our techs also revealed an empty ‘corridor’ of sorts, about 87 metres wide. The Daedalos doesn’t stand a chance in hell at squeezing through.”
,,So you want me to squeeze through instead since the Glorious Rustbucket is both smaller and capable of pulling a few more gees.” The Geno interrupted.
,,Sure, no problem. I was meant for stuntflying anyway. Got any specific locations you want to visit?” He continued.
The human looked into the being’s pitchblack eyes.
,,If I told you that that corridor drops us off in a relatively empty bit of space within spitting distance of a continent-sized rock with a mostly intact wreck on it, would you believe me?” He inquired. He grinned when the Geno looked surprised.
,,Wreck? You mean as in, spaceship that made a rough landing?” He stammered. He then grinned widely.
,,Now that sounds damn cool. I can’t wait!”
The Human shrugged.
,,Just make sure we don’t get a rough landing of our own.” He said dryly.
Detroit winced and clutched his head.
“Too much alcohol yesterday. Ow, I hate hangovers.” He thought as he checked the time. Seeing that eight hours had passed since he went to bed, he got up and entered the bathroom. Ten minutes later, he’d showered, brushed his teeth and stepped out of the door fully dressed in his uniform. Forty years of experience in a military organisation had made him an expert at quick hygiene.
He moved to the required airlock at a running pace. Seeing as how his work involved long terms of zero gravity with short terms of intense gravity, he trained his muscles at every chance he got.
,,Airlock 26. That’s the one.” He muttered and pressed the small button next to the door. The door slid open, allowing him to pass. The guard standing on the other side snapped a salute which Detroit returned. Apparently his face had been shown to those who needed to know. That was fine with him, he absolutely couldn’t stand delays.
Detroit took a moment to look at the empty corridor stretching out before him. He felt how he was beginning to sweat due to barely controlled excitement. Getting a new command always produced this feeling. He sniffed up the air that would fill his lungs for the next few months and then listened to see if he heard anyone. The only sound was the soft whisper of the air flowing through the ship. Everything else was silence. Detroit shrugged. Perhaps he was simply early. He certainly wasn’t the only one with a hangover from last night’s party.
A loud thumping approached him from behind. Detroit turned around to see how a short spider-like robot clattered around. It unfolded one of its many arms and detached a wallpanel, revealing the complex electronics behind it. Detroit watched with interest how the robot crawled into the mess of wires. Little sparks pointed out where its arms were working.
,,Excuse me.”
Detroit looked in all directions but failed to see the source of the voice.
,,Excuse me. Are you by chance the captain of this ship?” The voice said. Detroit now knew where it was coming from. He moved over to the nearest communication unit mounted on the wall.
,,Yes, I am. Why didn’t you contact me earlier?” He asked a bit annoyed for the delay. It was tradition that the captain’s arrival was announced when he came onboard.
,,Sorry, local intercom connections were busted. I’ve got ARU-179 working on it to your right. Anyway, it will be a while before the crew has boarded. You could go to the observation deck. There’s a lovely view of the local planet.” The voice informed him. Detroit looked at the robot once more.
,,Apologies accepted. I’ll be up on the observation deck in a few moments. Perhaps we could meet there in person?” He answered.
,,Sorry but no. That would be quite…inconvenient right now. Well, enjoy the view.”
As the robot sealed the wall, Detroit walked away. Soon again, the only sound was that of the air flowing and a soft thumping of robotic feet.
Ahem, enjoy the short update.The Geno sitting behind the controls of the ‘Glorious Rustbucket’ stirred.
,,Hmm, nothing beats a good nap. So, what’s the big deal? All I heard was that you found a recently cracked planet and wanted me to go take a closer look.” He said while stifling a yawn. His human companion rolled his eyes.
,,What if I tell you that it is a secret?” He grunted, not really interested in a conversation. The Geno laughed.
,,Listen, monkeyboy. I’m a Geno. I’ve dealt with secrets before I could walk. Which means, within ten seconds after getting out of my tank.” He countered. The human sighed.
,,Alright, you’ve got a point. Our point is that our telescopes picked up artificial objects resting on some of the bigger pieces. Also, you may have noticed that dustcloud orbiting at high speed. High enough relative speed, and even a fleck of dust will tear through this bucket like a knife through butter. Well, our techs also revealed an empty ‘corridor’ of sorts, about 87 metres wide. The Daedalos doesn’t stand a chance in hell at squeezing through.”
,,So you want me to squeeze through instead since the Glorious Rustbucket is both smaller and capable of pulling a few more gees.” The Geno interrupted.
,,Sure, no problem. I was meant for stuntflying anyway. Got any specific locations you want to visit?” He continued.
The human looked into the being’s pitchblack eyes.
,,If I told you that that corridor drops us off in a relatively empty bit of space within spitting distance of a continent-sized rock with a mostly intact wreck on it, would you believe me?” He inquired. He grinned when the Geno looked surprised.
,,Wreck? You mean as in, spaceship that made a rough landing?” He stammered. He then grinned widely.
,,Now that sounds damn cool. I can’t wait!”
The Human shrugged.
,,Just make sure we don’t get a rough landing of our own.” He said dryly.
Detroit winced and clutched his head.
“Too much alcohol yesterday. Ow, I hate hangovers.” He thought as he checked the time. Seeing that eight hours had passed since he went to bed, he got up and entered the bathroom. Ten minutes later, he’d showered, brushed his teeth and stepped out of the door fully dressed in his uniform. Forty years of experience in a military organisation had made him an expert at quick hygiene.
He moved to the required airlock at a running pace. Seeing as how his work involved long terms of zero gravity with short terms of intense gravity, he trained his muscles at every chance he got.
,,Airlock 26. That’s the one.” He muttered and pressed the small button next to the door. The door slid open, allowing him to pass. The guard standing on the other side snapped a salute which Detroit returned. Apparently his face had been shown to those who needed to know. That was fine with him, he absolutely couldn’t stand delays.
Detroit took a moment to look at the empty corridor stretching out before him. He felt how he was beginning to sweat due to barely controlled excitement. Getting a new command always produced this feeling. He sniffed up the air that would fill his lungs for the next few months and then listened to see if he heard anyone. The only sound was the soft whisper of the air flowing through the ship. Everything else was silence. Detroit shrugged. Perhaps he was simply early. He certainly wasn’t the only one with a hangover from last night’s party.
A loud thumping approached him from behind. Detroit turned around to see how a short spider-like robot clattered around. It unfolded one of its many arms and detached a wallpanel, revealing the complex electronics behind it. Detroit watched with interest how the robot crawled into the mess of wires. Little sparks pointed out where its arms were working.
,,Excuse me.”
Detroit looked in all directions but failed to see the source of the voice.
,,Excuse me. Are you by chance the captain of this ship?” The voice said. Detroit now knew where it was coming from. He moved over to the nearest communication unit mounted on the wall.
,,Yes, I am. Why didn’t you contact me earlier?” He asked a bit annoyed for the delay. It was tradition that the captain’s arrival was announced when he came onboard.
,,Sorry, local intercom connections were busted. I’ve got ARU-179 working on it to your right. Anyway, it will be a while before the crew has boarded. You could go to the observation deck. There’s a lovely view of the local planet.” The voice informed him. Detroit looked at the robot once more.
,,Apologies accepted. I’ll be up on the observation deck in a few moments. Perhaps we could meet there in person?” He answered.
,,Sorry but no. That would be quite…inconvenient right now. Well, enjoy the view.”
As the robot sealed the wall, Detroit walked away. Soon again, the only sound was that of the air flowing and a soft thumping of robotic feet.
Oooo, things are starting to develope with that Geno creature. A wreak eh? Must be something important on it...
Well written and easy to follow; signs of a good read! Continue as soon as you can!
Well written and easy to follow; signs of a good read! Continue as soon as you can!
The continuation. Detroit meets his greatest foe.
Chapter 2: Far away from home.
The Human watched his Geno companion with nothing short of amazement. The being’s hands flew over the consoles, tapping buttons and flicking switches, all while whistling a complex tune.
“How do you do all that?” He asked, his voice struggling to get past his throat that was being squeezed shut at every dizzying turn. The Geno stopped whistling for a moment.
“Type-678 military Geno. I’m optimized for combat manoeuvres, targeting, fleet coordination, damage control and a healthy dose of multitasking. I’ve been designed, programmed and trained so I can do about a hundred different things, all at the same time. Not too bad for something based on the human genetic pattern, eh?” He replied with a smug grin. He then continued whistling as he pulled the Glorious Rustbucket through another twist of the ‘corridor’.
Finally, the smooth metal dart cleared the path through the swirling cloud of dust. It turned around and fired the large thrusters at its back to slow down. The human rubbed the sore parts of his body as he took in a few deep breaths.
“The wreck is located on the largest asteroid, approximately fifty kilometres from the southern tip. Please take it easy this time, I’m not born for high-g manoeuvres.” He informed his companion. The Geno grinned and jabbed towards the back of the cabin with a thumb.
“Just fire up the coffeemachine. The next forty minutes will be a smooth run with nothing but gravity to steer us by. Ever heard about decaying orbits? Well, we’re in one now.”
Detroit gazed down on the planet below. He wasn’t alone on the observation deck. There were two astronavigators working on a portable telescope and one of the spiderlike ARU robots was cleaning the windows.
“Paradise, the only non-earth planet that was completely habitable right from its discovery in 2346. Local lifeforms are all single-celled organisms, though most of them have been wiped out by imported earth lifeforms, including plants and multi-celled organisms like a horse. Current population is hovering around eleven million with two million living in the planet’s capital, Heavenly Garden. The naming system used around here is a throwback to the Christian religion that has been losing influence since the late 20th century. It makes it awfully clear that most people consider this place a paradise and a good place to spend your vacation. The booze is lousy though.” Detroit looked at the communication unit nearby with a hint of annoyance.
“I didn’t ask for a lecture.” He said sharply.
“Well, sorry dude. I’m just trying to be helpful. As the ships AI, keeping people from pulling the plug is a very high priority on my list.” The voice responded through the speaker.
Detroit was surprised, yet he hid it behind a stony expression. He had heard of Artificial intelligences before, but none of them could actually pretend to be human for any length of time. Their vocabulary was limited and they always had a trademark neutral voice. Not this one.
“Really? And how often does this priority make you act like a serious pain in the behind? And I prefer to be called captain, not dude.” He spoke quizzically.
“Whatever you want, captain dude. Frankly, I’m always seen as a pain in the behind, except when I’m saving your lives.” The AI cheerfully said.
Detroit rolled his eyes.
“I said to call me captain, not dude. Where’s your plug? I think I’m going to pull it out right now.” He snapped with a harsh voice.
“I am calling you captain, captain dude. Sorry, but I’m not going to tell you where to find the plug. Self-preservation is a very high priority as I already said.” The AI answered stubbornly.
Detroit gave up and turned his eyes back to the planet.
“Just shut up before I activate the self-destruct sequence. Then I won’t need to find the damn plug.”
The next few minutes were silent, much to the captain’s relief. He absentmindedly noticed a large storm over the ocean. White clouds spiralled around the central eye, moving slowly to the southeast.
“It looks like the landlubbers are in for a rough week.” He muttered.
“Not necessarily.” The AI interrupted. Detroit’s eyes shot back to the communication unit.
“I told you to shut up! I know enough about the weather to know what kind of wind and rain this is going to bring.” He barked.
“Though the storm can be dispersed beforehand by a single salvo of precisely aimed explosives. It’s really a piece of cake that can be done within the hour. It would cause some global reconstruction of the climate from paradise to hell but that’s only an unimportant detail.”
Detroit winced.
“Let’s not fire our explosives. Now shut up!” He shouted with his face redhot from anger. The last words from the AI only managed to make him even angrier.
“Humans, they’re so simpleminded. Yup, an outdated chapter in the story of evolution.”
Chapter 2: Far away from home.
The Human watched his Geno companion with nothing short of amazement. The being’s hands flew over the consoles, tapping buttons and flicking switches, all while whistling a complex tune.
“How do you do all that?” He asked, his voice struggling to get past his throat that was being squeezed shut at every dizzying turn. The Geno stopped whistling for a moment.
“Type-678 military Geno. I’m optimized for combat manoeuvres, targeting, fleet coordination, damage control and a healthy dose of multitasking. I’ve been designed, programmed and trained so I can do about a hundred different things, all at the same time. Not too bad for something based on the human genetic pattern, eh?” He replied with a smug grin. He then continued whistling as he pulled the Glorious Rustbucket through another twist of the ‘corridor’.
Finally, the smooth metal dart cleared the path through the swirling cloud of dust. It turned around and fired the large thrusters at its back to slow down. The human rubbed the sore parts of his body as he took in a few deep breaths.
“The wreck is located on the largest asteroid, approximately fifty kilometres from the southern tip. Please take it easy this time, I’m not born for high-g manoeuvres.” He informed his companion. The Geno grinned and jabbed towards the back of the cabin with a thumb.
“Just fire up the coffeemachine. The next forty minutes will be a smooth run with nothing but gravity to steer us by. Ever heard about decaying orbits? Well, we’re in one now.”
Detroit gazed down on the planet below. He wasn’t alone on the observation deck. There were two astronavigators working on a portable telescope and one of the spiderlike ARU robots was cleaning the windows.
“Paradise, the only non-earth planet that was completely habitable right from its discovery in 2346. Local lifeforms are all single-celled organisms, though most of them have been wiped out by imported earth lifeforms, including plants and multi-celled organisms like a horse. Current population is hovering around eleven million with two million living in the planet’s capital, Heavenly Garden. The naming system used around here is a throwback to the Christian religion that has been losing influence since the late 20th century. It makes it awfully clear that most people consider this place a paradise and a good place to spend your vacation. The booze is lousy though.” Detroit looked at the communication unit nearby with a hint of annoyance.
“I didn’t ask for a lecture.” He said sharply.
“Well, sorry dude. I’m just trying to be helpful. As the ships AI, keeping people from pulling the plug is a very high priority on my list.” The voice responded through the speaker.
Detroit was surprised, yet he hid it behind a stony expression. He had heard of Artificial intelligences before, but none of them could actually pretend to be human for any length of time. Their vocabulary was limited and they always had a trademark neutral voice. Not this one.
“Really? And how often does this priority make you act like a serious pain in the behind? And I prefer to be called captain, not dude.” He spoke quizzically.
“Whatever you want, captain dude. Frankly, I’m always seen as a pain in the behind, except when I’m saving your lives.” The AI cheerfully said.
Detroit rolled his eyes.
“I said to call me captain, not dude. Where’s your plug? I think I’m going to pull it out right now.” He snapped with a harsh voice.
“I am calling you captain, captain dude. Sorry, but I’m not going to tell you where to find the plug. Self-preservation is a very high priority as I already said.” The AI answered stubbornly.
Detroit gave up and turned his eyes back to the planet.
“Just shut up before I activate the self-destruct sequence. Then I won’t need to find the damn plug.”
The next few minutes were silent, much to the captain’s relief. He absentmindedly noticed a large storm over the ocean. White clouds spiralled around the central eye, moving slowly to the southeast.
“It looks like the landlubbers are in for a rough week.” He muttered.
“Not necessarily.” The AI interrupted. Detroit’s eyes shot back to the communication unit.
“I told you to shut up! I know enough about the weather to know what kind of wind and rain this is going to bring.” He barked.
“Though the storm can be dispersed beforehand by a single salvo of precisely aimed explosives. It’s really a piece of cake that can be done within the hour. It would cause some global reconstruction of the climate from paradise to hell but that’s only an unimportant detail.”
Detroit winced.
“Let’s not fire our explosives. Now shut up!” He shouted with his face redhot from anger. The last words from the AI only managed to make him even angrier.
“Humans, they’re so simpleminded. Yup, an outdated chapter in the story of evolution.”
Haha, a very humourous update today Jack. Nice stuff! I can certainly see why the AI would be Detroit's worse enemy if it acts like that.
I also noticed that you've changed your punctuation for when characters speak to what's normally seen on these forums. Why the change?
I also noticed that you've changed your punctuation for when characters speak to what's normally seen on these forums. Why the change?
I don't usually read the non-fanfics on the boards, but I needed a break so I thought I'd take a gander at this one. So far, I'm quite intrigued. I'm particularly curious about the Genos, who sound like they are quite amazing. I'll keep an eye on this one to see where it goes.
Thank you all. Now as for the punctuation, I had problems with it in one of my other stories. You see, When it rains, it pours chapter 2 was rejected due to 'warped opening quotation marks'. After a bit of research, I concluded that the people of Elfwood meant that the thingies should be floating high instead of low. I learned to open low and end high when quoting at school. It's just a case of no longer being stubborn.
And yes, I do plan on posting it there after finishing. (Which is a long time from now.)
Anyway, our AI gets a name!
The coffeemachine announced the completion of its task with a loud ping. The Geno moved over to it and released two blobs of coffee which he scooped up with a pair of plastic cups.
“Now the trick to drinking in zero gravity with a cup is that you prevent the coffee from flying away by angling the cup.” He explained while demonstrating. The human chuckled as he took his cup. Upon his first attempt, the coffee shot up and splashed into his face.
“Ouch! That’s hot!” He yelled and grabbed for a towel.
“Anyway, I was wondering. Are you sure this is going to work?” He asked a bit later. The Geno took one last sip from his coffee.
“What do you mean? No one told me I had to land on the rock. The Bucket simply isn’t meant for that. The only way to get close enough to go take a look at that wreck personally is by hovering on the thrusters.” He answered, not quite sure what the human was trying to tell him.
The human shook his head.
“No, that’s not it. I understand the bit of balancing on a pillar of superheated gas. What I mean is, you just coded a program for this, barehanded and without any manual to check for references. I know I can’t code even if my life depends on it but what if your program has a glitch? Our lives depend on it. What if the Bucket flips and burns us alive with its exhaust or worse, shoots off into space? At least the fiery death is faster than choking when the air runs out.” He elaborated. Now the Geno understood the man’s worries.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve done this before during operation GGF.”
The human wondered what GGF meant but decided not to ask. To his surprise, the Geno answered on his own.
“GGF stands for ‘Gas Giant Fishing’. It happened a few years back when I was in control of the TMS Black Hole. Anyway, I brought the ship into the atmosphere of the gas giant and even hovered in place for a few moments using the thrusters before pushing back up into open space. We got in…..and out.” He spoke and then fell silent.
“But look at the mess it ended in.” He thought bitterly.
Without a word, the Geno left the kitchen. When the human had finished his coffee, he went to search for his companion who he finally found in the cockpit. Complex lines of coding flickered across a display, becoming further refined with each tap of a button.
Nothing managed to relax Detroid more than looking at a planet from orbit. So, despite his anger, he calmed down within just a few moments. Soon, he’d completely forgotten about himself. He let out a tired sigh.
A dirty man with the standard uniform of a techhead, a belt filled with all sorts of tools, ran up to the observation deck. He skidded to a halt in front of his captain and snapped a salute.
“Sir! Karl Forest, A-class Techhead. The lady wanted to let you know that all crew is onboard and all supplies have been loaded. She’s requesting permission to detach from our dockingport and move into a geostationary orbit to commence the loading of military supplies, the things that go boom. We are then to proceed to a rendez-vous point at one lighthour distance where we will receive our full supply of fuel.” He shouted loudly. Detroit frowned, he didn’t enjoy being disturbed. As such, his voice was slightly cool when he responded.
“And why did the lady send you instead of asking me personally?” Detroit asked with a raised eyebrow.
Forest looked at his feet, his cheeks turning a bright red.
“Well, you see. The lady is Soul, our AI. She uh…You told her to shut up, sir.” He stammered. Detroit let out a weary sigh.
“Whatever. So our AI has a name? Hmm, Soul. Now that’s a fitting name. That’s one thing a machine will never have.” He spoke, the anger returning to his voice.
“Just tell it that it has permission to do that. And also tell it that it has permission to speak when it is directly related to duty.” He added, already turning away.
Forest stared at his captain’s back for a moment and then shrugged.
“You heard him.” He said into the air.
“I sure did, dude. Did you know that you are cute when you’re blushing?” Every face on deck turned to the communication unit. Forest’s cheeks turned even redder.
“Nothing to see here, people! Just hold on to something for support while the lady takes us into orbit!” He shouted. He then descended through the entrance shaft as fast as he could.
“I’ll get you for that. You just ruined my reputation.” He whispered once he was away.
“Hey, I’m sorry. Look, I like the paintjob you gave me earlier and I really think you’re cute. So I could make it up to you. What’s your bank account? I have some very good hardware for hacking purposes. How does Karl Forest, the billionaire sound?” Soul said from the nearest speaker. The techhead rolled his eyes.
“No thank you, just a sorry and the chance to work on the latest and hottest piece of technology in the universe is enough for me. Besides, people would get suspicious from that. No lottery goes as high as a billion.” Forest laughed.
And yes, I do plan on posting it there after finishing. (Which is a long time from now.)
Anyway, our AI gets a name!
The coffeemachine announced the completion of its task with a loud ping. The Geno moved over to it and released two blobs of coffee which he scooped up with a pair of plastic cups.
“Now the trick to drinking in zero gravity with a cup is that you prevent the coffee from flying away by angling the cup.” He explained while demonstrating. The human chuckled as he took his cup. Upon his first attempt, the coffee shot up and splashed into his face.
“Ouch! That’s hot!” He yelled and grabbed for a towel.
“Anyway, I was wondering. Are you sure this is going to work?” He asked a bit later. The Geno took one last sip from his coffee.
“What do you mean? No one told me I had to land on the rock. The Bucket simply isn’t meant for that. The only way to get close enough to go take a look at that wreck personally is by hovering on the thrusters.” He answered, not quite sure what the human was trying to tell him.
The human shook his head.
“No, that’s not it. I understand the bit of balancing on a pillar of superheated gas. What I mean is, you just coded a program for this, barehanded and without any manual to check for references. I know I can’t code even if my life depends on it but what if your program has a glitch? Our lives depend on it. What if the Bucket flips and burns us alive with its exhaust or worse, shoots off into space? At least the fiery death is faster than choking when the air runs out.” He elaborated. Now the Geno understood the man’s worries.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve done this before during operation GGF.”
The human wondered what GGF meant but decided not to ask. To his surprise, the Geno answered on his own.
“GGF stands for ‘Gas Giant Fishing’. It happened a few years back when I was in control of the TMS Black Hole. Anyway, I brought the ship into the atmosphere of the gas giant and even hovered in place for a few moments using the thrusters before pushing back up into open space. We got in…..and out.” He spoke and then fell silent.
“But look at the mess it ended in.” He thought bitterly.
Without a word, the Geno left the kitchen. When the human had finished his coffee, he went to search for his companion who he finally found in the cockpit. Complex lines of coding flickered across a display, becoming further refined with each tap of a button.
Nothing managed to relax Detroid more than looking at a planet from orbit. So, despite his anger, he calmed down within just a few moments. Soon, he’d completely forgotten about himself. He let out a tired sigh.
A dirty man with the standard uniform of a techhead, a belt filled with all sorts of tools, ran up to the observation deck. He skidded to a halt in front of his captain and snapped a salute.
“Sir! Karl Forest, A-class Techhead. The lady wanted to let you know that all crew is onboard and all supplies have been loaded. She’s requesting permission to detach from our dockingport and move into a geostationary orbit to commence the loading of military supplies, the things that go boom. We are then to proceed to a rendez-vous point at one lighthour distance where we will receive our full supply of fuel.” He shouted loudly. Detroit frowned, he didn’t enjoy being disturbed. As such, his voice was slightly cool when he responded.
“And why did the lady send you instead of asking me personally?” Detroit asked with a raised eyebrow.
Forest looked at his feet, his cheeks turning a bright red.
“Well, you see. The lady is Soul, our AI. She uh…You told her to shut up, sir.” He stammered. Detroit let out a weary sigh.
“Whatever. So our AI has a name? Hmm, Soul. Now that’s a fitting name. That’s one thing a machine will never have.” He spoke, the anger returning to his voice.
“Just tell it that it has permission to do that. And also tell it that it has permission to speak when it is directly related to duty.” He added, already turning away.
Forest stared at his captain’s back for a moment and then shrugged.
“You heard him.” He said into the air.
“I sure did, dude. Did you know that you are cute when you’re blushing?” Every face on deck turned to the communication unit. Forest’s cheeks turned even redder.
“Nothing to see here, people! Just hold on to something for support while the lady takes us into orbit!” He shouted. He then descended through the entrance shaft as fast as he could.
“I’ll get you for that. You just ruined my reputation.” He whispered once he was away.
“Hey, I’m sorry. Look, I like the paintjob you gave me earlier and I really think you’re cute. So I could make it up to you. What’s your bank account? I have some very good hardware for hacking purposes. How does Karl Forest, the billionaire sound?” Soul said from the nearest speaker. The techhead rolled his eyes.
“No thank you, just a sorry and the chance to work on the latest and hottest piece of technology in the universe is enough for me. Besides, people would get suspicious from that. No lottery goes as high as a billion.” Forest laughed.
When we first met the AI, I thought it had a male personality. I guessed wrong; must've been the "dude" part that threw me off. Still, it's a rather interesting "character".
Keep it up!
Keep it up!
I can see that this hardware to wetware couple won't be like a MC to Cortana relationship......
LOL!!
Finally, the next update. Lots of talking in this one.
The Glorious Rustbucket shot off, back into space.
“There she goes. It looks like your program works, for now.” The human commented as he watched the ship shrink into a tiny dot. Once the Bucket had disappeared beyond the horizon, he redirected his gaze towards the alien wreck that was half submerged inside the rock.
“Alright, my job is mapping wormholes while you are the military type with knowledge of how to blow up things in the most spectacular fashion possible. So what do you make of this thing?” He asked the Geno.
The Geno took the time to inspect the hulk before drawing any conclusions.
“A simple design. Nothing fancy but it gets the job done. A metal frame holding all the necessary systems like fueltanks and the combustion chamber, no exterior shell to cover everything up. The crew area is as far away from the engine as possible which appears to be an early fusion variant, if that oversized radiationshield says anything. It has been modified somewhere in its life to hold a small missile box. Easy to attach and eject, can fire a lot of explosives quickly but not handy for any fight longer than a single salvo. It also has serious reload issues.” He spoke flatly without any emotion. His eyes focussed on every single detail he saw. Now he was examining the rock it was embedded in.
“I think that these guys or girls ,or whatever gender would be most appropriate, pissed off the wrong people. If you can built interplanetary spaceships, you don’t need to worry about a meteor big enough to crack the planet. Anything like that would be stopped and redirected before it got even close. No need to weld on a bunch of little improvised missiles. No, whatever did this was definitely a lot worse. When the planet cracked, its outer surface had turned into a liquid state. This ship tried to get away but couldn’t get enough acceleration to escape the big brick heading its way. That’s why it is half inside the rock, the lava sealed it in with the back end first before cooling off and turning into solid rock. It did manage to lower the relative velocity enough to survive mostly intact, with the exception of the bits that have gotten into contact with the lava.”
Both men gazed upon the mysterious wreck some more. What the Geno had said sounded right, though it was also frightening. The power to destroy planets was nothing new. In warfare, it all came down on sending a projectile at such high velocities that the kinetic force from the impact shattered the target. This principle could be upscaled pretty much without any limits. The only practical limit was the amount of thrust required to bring a projectile to the required speed needed to shatter a planet. Even with the most advanced engines available, such an undertaking would require truly massive amounts of fuel. Who, or what, was willing to go this far?
The human looked at the crewpod at the far end.
“Now that shape looks vaguely familiar. I can’t be sure though.” He muttered.
“Hydras. No way to mistake that shape for anything else.” Was everything the Geno said in response. The human’s eyes widened. Hydras, the only known sentient race besides humans and also the only ones who had been involved in a galactic war for the last few decades. He shivered as his mind conjured the well-known image of a snakelike creature with three tentacles at the front, just like the Hydra Heracles fought in the stories. But the alien itself wasn’t the only frightening thought.
“So they had spaceflight centuries before we had. I don’t know what’s more scary, the fact that the Hydras were already out in space back then or the fact that we somehow managed to close the technology gap.” The man muttered. The Geno nodded silently, his eyes now fixated on a small sphere that hung in the center of the skeletal frame.
“True, their ships are better than ours, though not by much. The war isn’t all that exciting nowadays. We just send a swarm of missiles down the wormhole whenever one of the snakes tries to come trough. What bothers me is that we found a Hydra ship all the way here, nearly thirty wormholes from the frontier.” He complained.
“You know what? This thing can’t have gotten that far, it’s too primitive. I think we might just have found the Hydra homeplanet, or what’s left of it.”
The Glorious Rustbucket shot off, back into space.
“There she goes. It looks like your program works, for now.” The human commented as he watched the ship shrink into a tiny dot. Once the Bucket had disappeared beyond the horizon, he redirected his gaze towards the alien wreck that was half submerged inside the rock.
“Alright, my job is mapping wormholes while you are the military type with knowledge of how to blow up things in the most spectacular fashion possible. So what do you make of this thing?” He asked the Geno.
The Geno took the time to inspect the hulk before drawing any conclusions.
“A simple design. Nothing fancy but it gets the job done. A metal frame holding all the necessary systems like fueltanks and the combustion chamber, no exterior shell to cover everything up. The crew area is as far away from the engine as possible which appears to be an early fusion variant, if that oversized radiationshield says anything. It has been modified somewhere in its life to hold a small missile box. Easy to attach and eject, can fire a lot of explosives quickly but not handy for any fight longer than a single salvo. It also has serious reload issues.” He spoke flatly without any emotion. His eyes focussed on every single detail he saw. Now he was examining the rock it was embedded in.
“I think that these guys or girls ,or whatever gender would be most appropriate, pissed off the wrong people. If you can built interplanetary spaceships, you don’t need to worry about a meteor big enough to crack the planet. Anything like that would be stopped and redirected before it got even close. No need to weld on a bunch of little improvised missiles. No, whatever did this was definitely a lot worse. When the planet cracked, its outer surface had turned into a liquid state. This ship tried to get away but couldn’t get enough acceleration to escape the big brick heading its way. That’s why it is half inside the rock, the lava sealed it in with the back end first before cooling off and turning into solid rock. It did manage to lower the relative velocity enough to survive mostly intact, with the exception of the bits that have gotten into contact with the lava.”
Both men gazed upon the mysterious wreck some more. What the Geno had said sounded right, though it was also frightening. The power to destroy planets was nothing new. In warfare, it all came down on sending a projectile at such high velocities that the kinetic force from the impact shattered the target. This principle could be upscaled pretty much without any limits. The only practical limit was the amount of thrust required to bring a projectile to the required speed needed to shatter a planet. Even with the most advanced engines available, such an undertaking would require truly massive amounts of fuel. Who, or what, was willing to go this far?
The human looked at the crewpod at the far end.
“Now that shape looks vaguely familiar. I can’t be sure though.” He muttered.
“Hydras. No way to mistake that shape for anything else.” Was everything the Geno said in response. The human’s eyes widened. Hydras, the only known sentient race besides humans and also the only ones who had been involved in a galactic war for the last few decades. He shivered as his mind conjured the well-known image of a snakelike creature with three tentacles at the front, just like the Hydra Heracles fought in the stories. But the alien itself wasn’t the only frightening thought.
“So they had spaceflight centuries before we had. I don’t know what’s more scary, the fact that the Hydras were already out in space back then or the fact that we somehow managed to close the technology gap.” The man muttered. The Geno nodded silently, his eyes now fixated on a small sphere that hung in the center of the skeletal frame.
“True, their ships are better than ours, though not by much. The war isn’t all that exciting nowadays. We just send a swarm of missiles down the wormhole whenever one of the snakes tries to come trough. What bothers me is that we found a Hydra ship all the way here, nearly thirty wormholes from the frontier.” He complained.
“You know what? This thing can’t have gotten that far, it’s too primitive. I think we might just have found the Hydra homeplanet, or what’s left of it.”
Ooooo a new race is revealed, one that isn't very nice to the humans it seems. It's also an interesting prospect to know that they were actually close-by in the space.
Great work jack!
Great work jack!
And we skip back to Detroit and co.
Detroit had retired to his office the moment the Crystal Star had abandoned orbit. With the excitement of the launch fading, the monotony of everyday work settled in. In his case, this work consisted of reading countless files and reports. Even being as far away from the frontlines as was possible, the paperwork hadn’t diminished at all. In fact, being in command of what was arguably the most advanced and complicated warship in the universe only served to increase the load.
The man let out a weary sigh as he observed the latest list showing the position of every ship in the system.
,,TMS Clarity just came in and has engaged on its course to the rendez-vous.” He muttered to himself and checked his watch.
,,Looks like we’ll meet tomorrow at 0800. File signed and progressed, next please.” He spoke louder to the screen on his desk.
[Next up is the monthly log of relay 1456. AC 8.] The screen blinked at him with simple green letters on a black background. Before their relation became too hostile, the AI and he had agreed to a cease-fire and moved to using text messages for communicating, much to Detroit’s relief.
He frowned. AC 8 was not part of the message, as indicated by the red colour Soul used for it. Alarm code 8, commonly translated as: ‘Something isn’t feeling right but I don’t know what.’
,,Alright, what is it? Blew a fuse?” He asked after having taken a moment to think over the possible reasons. None of them stood out, seeing as how they were rather far away from the normal lines of traffic. That removed the possibility for an external reason, leaving only internal reasons. In the case of the Crystal Star, it was probably a mechanical defect.
[AM fuel storage does have a few problems, it is being worked on. No, the reason is something relay 1458 just transmitted.]
The small screen lit up with a simple representation of the system. Wormholes were drawn as thin blue lines, a blinking dot next to one of them. The captain took in his bearings.
,,That’s away from controlled space. A mapping expedition?” He now asked, taking the only plausible explanation.
[MEAS Daedalos, standard wormhole mapping program. They’ve contacted a private contractor to investigate the remains of a stellar object up close. The remains of a planet roughly one and a half times the size of earth. Possible identification of Hydra vessel.]
Detroit blinked a few times. Hydras, here? They should be at least twenty-two wormholes and over sixty lightyears away from here. The only reason why there was a military presence here was because the system contained the only known earthlike planet.
,,Right. I want a full report, now.” He ordered.
[Sure, dude. One report coming right up.] Detroit blinked again when his screen was flooded by a large mess of numbers and terms only a computer could comprehend.
,,In a readable format, please.” He explained, surpressing a sigh. He couldn’t blame Soul. Even after all the advances in AI systems, there were still a few communication problems between the computer and its human user. As such, he’d always learned to keep his orders either simple or so detailed that there was no possibility for a wrong interpretation.
[I’m not programmed for that. Please wait while I contact the experts. Your report should be available by tomorrow. Don’t worry, the Hydra contact is a dead one. It won’t paint you with a missile.]
Forest reached out behind him.
,,Screwdriver, please.” He said without looking at the ARU robot sitting behind him. When the screwdriver still hadn’t been pressed into his hand after five seconds, he did look up, bumping his head against a pipe in the process.
,,Ow! I asked for a wrench but I now think I’d prefer an aspirine.” He grumbled, rubbing the sore spot.
,,Listen, sweetie. I’m so in big trouble!” Soul yelled at him in a genuinely desperate tone.
,,I told you not to overclock your processor.” Forest joked but stopped laughing when the ARU hit him with the screwdriver he’d asked for a moment earlier.
,,The captain dude wants me to write a report and I told him I’m not programmed for it. I need someone to help me, preferably someone I like. You.” Forest’s mouth fell open at the demand.
,,Huh?” He muttered, still trying to take it in. He wasn’t a software specialist, but that wasn’t necessary to understand which bit was wrong.
,,I know, I am programmed for it. I lied to him. It’s just that, how can I explain to a human the concept of trust when said human sees you as nothing more than a dumb collection of wires and processors?” Soul admitted reluctantly.
Forest stabbed a finger at the ARU.
,,Hold it, you lied?! They built a computer that can lie?! And you know that the captain doesn’t like to be called dude.” He spoke with a stern voice. The robot emitted a few sharp curses.
,,Duh, that’s why I call him like that. It’s better than calling him a flatnosed gibbon. And I can lie, it’s part of what allows us to understand such things as sarcasm, humour, rhetorical questions and all that other stuff that would make an older model self-destruct without thinking. Now can you help? The matter happens to roll over a whole lot of military secrets I can’t reveal.” The AI then told the still dumbfounded Techhead.
,,Ok, I’ll help. Just one more thing. If those are confidential secrets, then why are you telling me?” He wanted to know, still looking at the ARU.
,,Because I like you, remember? Besides, technical details regarding the NLO-AI, that means me, just happens to be one of those secrets I’m telling about. Now get moving and grab a shower. I’ll finish up the work here with the ARU.”
Detroit had retired to his office the moment the Crystal Star had abandoned orbit. With the excitement of the launch fading, the monotony of everyday work settled in. In his case, this work consisted of reading countless files and reports. Even being as far away from the frontlines as was possible, the paperwork hadn’t diminished at all. In fact, being in command of what was arguably the most advanced and complicated warship in the universe only served to increase the load.
The man let out a weary sigh as he observed the latest list showing the position of every ship in the system.
,,TMS Clarity just came in and has engaged on its course to the rendez-vous.” He muttered to himself and checked his watch.
,,Looks like we’ll meet tomorrow at 0800. File signed and progressed, next please.” He spoke louder to the screen on his desk.
[Next up is the monthly log of relay 1456. AC 8.] The screen blinked at him with simple green letters on a black background. Before their relation became too hostile, the AI and he had agreed to a cease-fire and moved to using text messages for communicating, much to Detroit’s relief.
He frowned. AC 8 was not part of the message, as indicated by the red colour Soul used for it. Alarm code 8, commonly translated as: ‘Something isn’t feeling right but I don’t know what.’
,,Alright, what is it? Blew a fuse?” He asked after having taken a moment to think over the possible reasons. None of them stood out, seeing as how they were rather far away from the normal lines of traffic. That removed the possibility for an external reason, leaving only internal reasons. In the case of the Crystal Star, it was probably a mechanical defect.
[AM fuel storage does have a few problems, it is being worked on. No, the reason is something relay 1458 just transmitted.]
The small screen lit up with a simple representation of the system. Wormholes were drawn as thin blue lines, a blinking dot next to one of them. The captain took in his bearings.
,,That’s away from controlled space. A mapping expedition?” He now asked, taking the only plausible explanation.
[MEAS Daedalos, standard wormhole mapping program. They’ve contacted a private contractor to investigate the remains of a stellar object up close. The remains of a planet roughly one and a half times the size of earth. Possible identification of Hydra vessel.]
Detroit blinked a few times. Hydras, here? They should be at least twenty-two wormholes and over sixty lightyears away from here. The only reason why there was a military presence here was because the system contained the only known earthlike planet.
,,Right. I want a full report, now.” He ordered.
[Sure, dude. One report coming right up.] Detroit blinked again when his screen was flooded by a large mess of numbers and terms only a computer could comprehend.
,,In a readable format, please.” He explained, surpressing a sigh. He couldn’t blame Soul. Even after all the advances in AI systems, there were still a few communication problems between the computer and its human user. As such, he’d always learned to keep his orders either simple or so detailed that there was no possibility for a wrong interpretation.
[I’m not programmed for that. Please wait while I contact the experts. Your report should be available by tomorrow. Don’t worry, the Hydra contact is a dead one. It won’t paint you with a missile.]
Forest reached out behind him.
,,Screwdriver, please.” He said without looking at the ARU robot sitting behind him. When the screwdriver still hadn’t been pressed into his hand after five seconds, he did look up, bumping his head against a pipe in the process.
,,Ow! I asked for a wrench but I now think I’d prefer an aspirine.” He grumbled, rubbing the sore spot.
,,Listen, sweetie. I’m so in big trouble!” Soul yelled at him in a genuinely desperate tone.
,,I told you not to overclock your processor.” Forest joked but stopped laughing when the ARU hit him with the screwdriver he’d asked for a moment earlier.
,,The captain dude wants me to write a report and I told him I’m not programmed for it. I need someone to help me, preferably someone I like. You.” Forest’s mouth fell open at the demand.
,,Huh?” He muttered, still trying to take it in. He wasn’t a software specialist, but that wasn’t necessary to understand which bit was wrong.
,,I know, I am programmed for it. I lied to him. It’s just that, how can I explain to a human the concept of trust when said human sees you as nothing more than a dumb collection of wires and processors?” Soul admitted reluctantly.
Forest stabbed a finger at the ARU.
,,Hold it, you lied?! They built a computer that can lie?! And you know that the captain doesn’t like to be called dude.” He spoke with a stern voice. The robot emitted a few sharp curses.
,,Duh, that’s why I call him like that. It’s better than calling him a flatnosed gibbon. And I can lie, it’s part of what allows us to understand such things as sarcasm, humour, rhetorical questions and all that other stuff that would make an older model self-destruct without thinking. Now can you help? The matter happens to roll over a whole lot of military secrets I can’t reveal.” The AI then told the still dumbfounded Techhead.
,,Ok, I’ll help. Just one more thing. If those are confidential secrets, then why are you telling me?” He wanted to know, still looking at the ARU.
,,Because I like you, remember? Besides, technical details regarding the NLO-AI, that means me, just happens to be one of those secrets I’m telling about. Now get moving and grab a shower. I’ll finish up the work here with the ARU.”
Ooooo, this AI seems to have some actual brains. I keep picture A Space Odessy now Soul better not got HAL on them!
I can't wait to see more of this, jack. It's quite interesting, the the sci-fi vocabulary isn't overwhelming me.
Soul better not got HAL on them!I can't wait to see more of this, jack. It's quite interesting, the the sci-fi vocabulary isn't overwhelming me.
Indeed it would seem that she does..... Anyway, it would probably be wise to eventually make a lexicon/glossary so that people (specifically the people with little creativity) could understand what these guys are saying without looking at some post five pages ago........
Just a tip, with no actuall statistics to back it up.
A glossary sounds like a good idea. Should I post it in a different thread though? Things will get added as I progress. Hey, I still need to add a bunch of different aliens, more ships, more high-tech fanciness. Hmm, a separate thread sounds right. I just don't know if that is allowed in the rules.
And Soul going HAL? Sorry kids, but unlike HAL, she isn't confused by strange orders. That's what HAL's problem was, he got the wrong set of orders and caused accidents to remove humans from the equation. HAL is not a murderer, not directly. Directly would mean something along the lines of removing the internal atmosphere. That's not what happened. The stasis pods lost power, killing their inhabitants. The guy who went to collect that radio part got rammed by an EVA-pod gone out of control. The last guy nearly got killed when the airlock refused to open. He would die eventually from lack of oxygen, but HAL wasn't in control of that.
Ah well, back to the update.
Exactly twenty minutes later, Karl had showered, changed clothes, shaved off his beard and brushed his teeth. ,,So, what’s the big deal? Start from the beginning.” He asked as he strapped himself into the only chair his office contained.
,,Sure, I already finished up the technical details. All I need from you is a way to cover up the personal details.” Soul replied slowly.
,,Personal details?
The screen on his desk lit up with a single picture. Pitchblack eyes surrounded by a pale face stared at him.
,,Karl, meet the type-678 Geno, my big brother.” Karl examined the picture closer, knowing that the information it provided was worth more then the countless lines of text that accompanied it.
,,A type-678? Let me guess, he was involved in the NLO-project?” The Techhead inquired.
,,Yup. The Geno dudes were right in the middle of it. It won’t say so in the profile, but big bro was in charge of AMF-12-01 TMS Black Hole. That pretty much means he was involved with the prototype of the AMF-13 as well. And that is where we get to the core of my problem.” The AI continued.
,,Big bro is a wreck ever since he messed up operation GGF. Casualties count as seven military and thirty civilian personnel. Normally, a Geno would be……recycled in such a case but we just happen to be expensive so the fat guys in command decided to retire him into civilian life instead, as well as appointing him to the further development of the NLO project.”
,,Hold it. Civilians on a military prototype?” Karl interrupted hastily. He’d noticed that Soul planned to keep talking in the hope that he would forget about that single detail. Bad luck for her.
,,No, civilians on a civilian freighter that wanted to do some gas giant sightseeing and ended up in the planetary atmosphere. The Black Hole was the only ship with enough trust and close enough to pull it out. That was, till an atmospheric storm hit and knocked out the central processor. Without that, AM propulsion is unstable and therefore unusable. Without AM propulsion, the fusion backups were barely able at dragging the Black Hole out. They had to leave the freighter behind and eject both AM thrusters.” Soul admitted reluctantly.
,,So mind if I continue?” The AI commented.
,,Now my problem is this. We have no true proof of a Hydra ship except the eyewitness account of a Geno who is mentally wacko. The captain dude would never belief it but I trust big bro. No matter how messed up he is, he still knows his stuff. If he claims to have found a Hydra, he has found a Hydra. So, do you know how to help me out?” Soul questioned softly. Karl frowned and scratched his chin while in deep thought. After a few minutes, his eyes lit up.
,,Got it!” He exclaimed.
,,So?” Soul asked him impatiently.
,,You lied before. Then lie again! You simply need to add a bit of evidence that would fit in with what you already know. I’m sure you’ve got everything you need in the database.” The man explained carefully.
,,You want me to lie? Oh well, why not?” Soul’s answer was frighteningly enthusiastic.
,,Thanks, Karl. Next time we hit the station, I’ll give you the VIP suite. Don’t worry, an anonymous admiral will pay the bills.”
And Soul going HAL? Sorry kids, but unlike HAL, she isn't confused by strange orders. That's what HAL's problem was, he got the wrong set of orders and caused accidents to remove humans from the equation. HAL is not a murderer, not directly. Directly would mean something along the lines of removing the internal atmosphere. That's not what happened. The stasis pods lost power, killing their inhabitants. The guy who went to collect that radio part got rammed by an EVA-pod gone out of control. The last guy nearly got killed when the airlock refused to open. He would die eventually from lack of oxygen, but HAL wasn't in control of that.
Ah well, back to the update.
Exactly twenty minutes later, Karl had showered, changed clothes, shaved off his beard and brushed his teeth. ,,So, what’s the big deal? Start from the beginning.” He asked as he strapped himself into the only chair his office contained.
,,Sure, I already finished up the technical details. All I need from you is a way to cover up the personal details.” Soul replied slowly.
,,Personal details?
The screen on his desk lit up with a single picture. Pitchblack eyes surrounded by a pale face stared at him.
,,Karl, meet the type-678 Geno, my big brother.” Karl examined the picture closer, knowing that the information it provided was worth more then the countless lines of text that accompanied it.
,,A type-678? Let me guess, he was involved in the NLO-project?” The Techhead inquired.
,,Yup. The Geno dudes were right in the middle of it. It won’t say so in the profile, but big bro was in charge of AMF-12-01 TMS Black Hole. That pretty much means he was involved with the prototype of the AMF-13 as well. And that is where we get to the core of my problem.” The AI continued.
,,Big bro is a wreck ever since he messed up operation GGF. Casualties count as seven military and thirty civilian personnel. Normally, a Geno would be……recycled in such a case but we just happen to be expensive so the fat guys in command decided to retire him into civilian life instead, as well as appointing him to the further development of the NLO project.”
,,Hold it. Civilians on a military prototype?” Karl interrupted hastily. He’d noticed that Soul planned to keep talking in the hope that he would forget about that single detail. Bad luck for her.
,,No, civilians on a civilian freighter that wanted to do some gas giant sightseeing and ended up in the planetary atmosphere. The Black Hole was the only ship with enough trust and close enough to pull it out. That was, till an atmospheric storm hit and knocked out the central processor. Without that, AM propulsion is unstable and therefore unusable. Without AM propulsion, the fusion backups were barely able at dragging the Black Hole out. They had to leave the freighter behind and eject both AM thrusters.” Soul admitted reluctantly.
,,So mind if I continue?” The AI commented.
,,Now my problem is this. We have no true proof of a Hydra ship except the eyewitness account of a Geno who is mentally wacko. The captain dude would never belief it but I trust big bro. No matter how messed up he is, he still knows his stuff. If he claims to have found a Hydra, he has found a Hydra. So, do you know how to help me out?” Soul questioned softly. Karl frowned and scratched his chin while in deep thought. After a few minutes, his eyes lit up.
,,Got it!” He exclaimed.
,,So?” Soul asked him impatiently.
,,You lied before. Then lie again! You simply need to add a bit of evidence that would fit in with what you already know. I’m sure you’ve got everything you need in the database.” The man explained carefully.
,,You want me to lie? Oh well, why not?” Soul’s answer was frighteningly enthusiastic.
,,Thanks, Karl. Next time we hit the station, I’ll give you the VIP suite. Don’t worry, an anonymous admiral will pay the bills.”
And here we go again. I'll probably make a glossary and put a link to it in my sig. Anyway, time for the new chapter.
Chapter 3: Into the black night.
The Geno stood in front of the mirror, carefully examining his teeth. Satisfied, he flushed his mouth with water and held the tube of toothpaste in front of him.
“After all these centuries, we still lug around little sacks of white goo. It’s funny how little some things change.” He mumbled with a faint smile.
“Funny how much some things change.” He added with a sigh as he looked out of one of the few windows onboard the Glorious Rustbucket. A large group of spaceships dominated the view. Among them was a blue wedge he knew only too well. That was also why he was feeling down right now.
The Bucket’s computer drew the Geno’s attention with a simple beep. He forced himself back to reality and went to see what required his presence. A single look at the screen answered his question. He had received an email.
“Hmm, I didn’t rent any digital storage at Eden. And even if I did, no one would be able to send me a message out here, beyond civilization. So that means, someone stepped on quite a few toes to contact me. Oh, I hope it is not about that.” He muttered to himself and brought up the message. According to the ship’s details, the message had been sent from a stationary object only fifty-six kilometres away which clearly ruled out the possibility of an interstellar transmission.
Interstellar transmissions didn’t really travel across interstellar distances. Instead, each mapped wormhole had a relay at its two points of entry. These relays could send a simple transmission through the wormhole to the relay on the other side, effectively taking a shortcut and avoiding lightyears of unnecessary distance. Any transfer of information was done by either radio or a laser and bounced from relay to relay till it got to its destination at speeds only limited by the processing and bandwidth of the relays. In effect, communications between different systems were quicker than originally envisioned, yet there was still a noticeable lag in response varying from several hours to days, depending on how far the transmission had to travel. Light was a merciless barrier.
“Ok, who is it?” The Geno asked himself and after a long hesitation, he opened his email. Whoever had taken the time to contact him would likely know if he ignored it.
5-10-2521, 10:13am
To: SS Glorious Rustbucket, G. Cloudy
Subject: Dunno, just boredom I guess.
Hi, Jacky bro. How are you? Over here, I just managed to convince the captain dude of the plan. We’ll be widening that corridor thingy with some major firepower. There were some complaints but I silenced them before the captain dude got to hear them. Heh, threatening with a kinetic missile of doom always works. Don’t tell anyone I told you, it’s supposed to be a secret so they’d try to pull out my plug. Not that they’ll be able to find it, we’re operating on our own independent powersupply.
And did you get a look at my ride? I bet you did, its only natural after all. I have to admit it, I’m really impressed with what the Techheads did with the Black Hole after you wrecked it and stuff. Not only did they got it fixed, they also upgraded it to the AMF-13 design. I’m happy with that, 23% of improved AM stability can make all the difference. I hate to be killed by something as simple as engine trouble. They also changed the ship’s name. It’s called the Crystal Star now. Nice name, sounds like something out of a book.
Speaking of Techheads, I met this real sweety. A-class Karl Forest. He just loves to poke around inside me and we have the best conversations ever. He’s so nice to me, he even painted smilies on my missile hatches! You two should meet someday, I’m sure you would get along. Anyway, I’ve got to wrap this one up before it becomes too long. I don’t want the communication department to notice when I sent it. Watch after your health, bro. When this little situation here blows over, we’ll have a good drink back at Paradise and go shopping. I look forward to it.
Bye.
This message was sent by: Anonymous (No, your little sister. Lo. Dumb messenger program.)
Origin: Classified. (AMF-13-46 TMS Crystal Star. No need to make a secret out of it. How many warships are around here? One at last count.)
The Geno let out another sigh, this time one of both relief and sadness. Relief, for he hadn’t been called by an overzealous Admiral who hated to see his expensive Geno run in the wild. Sadness, for Lo had not been very subtle with him. Her message had brought the memories of that incident back to the surface.
He opened the small medical cabinet and retrieved a small bottle. His eyes read the label he’d read countless times before.
Mental Stabilisation Medicals. Only use at doctor’s request. These medical supplies have been granted to G. Jack Cloudy at the request of Terran Military. Expiration date: 2606.
He’d never learned how to deal with his feelings. Coping with failure had not been in the design. Any failure was expected to be fatal, a quick reaction of matter and antimatter annihilating each other. Giving psychological treatment to a pocket of spacedust was not exactly useful. Unfortunately for him, his failure had not been fatal. At least it hadn’t been fatal for him. With slow, methodic movements, Jack unscrewed the top and put swallowed one of the small pills. He pulled a face as the bitter taste filled his mouth.
“A bitter cure, but it is the only cure.”
Note: I guess I'll be clear on this one. Jack Cloudy had already been in my mind before I joined the forum. He's changed a lot since then, going from human to alien to human construct. It's going to feel odd, writing about my avatar.
Chapter 3: Into the black night.
The Geno stood in front of the mirror, carefully examining his teeth. Satisfied, he flushed his mouth with water and held the tube of toothpaste in front of him.
“After all these centuries, we still lug around little sacks of white goo. It’s funny how little some things change.” He mumbled with a faint smile.
“Funny how much some things change.” He added with a sigh as he looked out of one of the few windows onboard the Glorious Rustbucket. A large group of spaceships dominated the view. Among them was a blue wedge he knew only too well. That was also why he was feeling down right now.
The Bucket’s computer drew the Geno’s attention with a simple beep. He forced himself back to reality and went to see what required his presence. A single look at the screen answered his question. He had received an email.
“Hmm, I didn’t rent any digital storage at Eden. And even if I did, no one would be able to send me a message out here, beyond civilization. So that means, someone stepped on quite a few toes to contact me. Oh, I hope it is not about that.” He muttered to himself and brought up the message. According to the ship’s details, the message had been sent from a stationary object only fifty-six kilometres away which clearly ruled out the possibility of an interstellar transmission.
Interstellar transmissions didn’t really travel across interstellar distances. Instead, each mapped wormhole had a relay at its two points of entry. These relays could send a simple transmission through the wormhole to the relay on the other side, effectively taking a shortcut and avoiding lightyears of unnecessary distance. Any transfer of information was done by either radio or a laser and bounced from relay to relay till it got to its destination at speeds only limited by the processing and bandwidth of the relays. In effect, communications between different systems were quicker than originally envisioned, yet there was still a noticeable lag in response varying from several hours to days, depending on how far the transmission had to travel. Light was a merciless barrier.
“Ok, who is it?” The Geno asked himself and after a long hesitation, he opened his email. Whoever had taken the time to contact him would likely know if he ignored it.
5-10-2521, 10:13am
To: SS Glorious Rustbucket, G. Cloudy
Subject: Dunno, just boredom I guess.
Hi, Jacky bro. How are you? Over here, I just managed to convince the captain dude of the plan. We’ll be widening that corridor thingy with some major firepower. There were some complaints but I silenced them before the captain dude got to hear them. Heh, threatening with a kinetic missile of doom always works. Don’t tell anyone I told you, it’s supposed to be a secret so they’d try to pull out my plug. Not that they’ll be able to find it, we’re operating on our own independent powersupply.
And did you get a look at my ride? I bet you did, its only natural after all. I have to admit it, I’m really impressed with what the Techheads did with the Black Hole after you wrecked it and stuff. Not only did they got it fixed, they also upgraded it to the AMF-13 design. I’m happy with that, 23% of improved AM stability can make all the difference. I hate to be killed by something as simple as engine trouble. They also changed the ship’s name. It’s called the Crystal Star now. Nice name, sounds like something out of a book.
Speaking of Techheads, I met this real sweety. A-class Karl Forest. He just loves to poke around inside me and we have the best conversations ever. He’s so nice to me, he even painted smilies on my missile hatches! You two should meet someday, I’m sure you would get along. Anyway, I’ve got to wrap this one up before it becomes too long. I don’t want the communication department to notice when I sent it. Watch after your health, bro. When this little situation here blows over, we’ll have a good drink back at Paradise and go shopping. I look forward to it.
Bye.
This message was sent by: Anonymous (No, your little sister. Lo. Dumb messenger program.)
Origin: Classified. (AMF-13-46 TMS Crystal Star. No need to make a secret out of it. How many warships are around here? One at last count.)
The Geno let out another sigh, this time one of both relief and sadness. Relief, for he hadn’t been called by an overzealous Admiral who hated to see his expensive Geno run in the wild. Sadness, for Lo had not been very subtle with him. Her message had brought the memories of that incident back to the surface.
He opened the small medical cabinet and retrieved a small bottle. His eyes read the label he’d read countless times before.
Mental Stabilisation Medicals. Only use at doctor’s request. These medical supplies have been granted to G. Jack Cloudy at the request of Terran Military. Expiration date: 2606.
He’d never learned how to deal with his feelings. Coping with failure had not been in the design. Any failure was expected to be fatal, a quick reaction of matter and antimatter annihilating each other. Giving psychological treatment to a pocket of spacedust was not exactly useful. Unfortunately for him, his failure had not been fatal. At least it hadn’t been fatal for him. With slow, methodic movements, Jack unscrewed the top and put swallowed one of the small pills. He pulled a face as the bitter taste filled his mouth.
“A bitter cure, but it is the only cure.”
Note: I guess I'll be clear on this one. Jack Cloudy had already been in my mind before I joined the forum. He's changed a lot since then, going from human to alien to human construct. It's going to feel odd, writing about my avatar.
So, Jack Cloudy is revealed! And it seems that his past is a troubling one, but what great character doesn't have a troubling past I ask you? Very few, would probably be a good answer.
I would like to see more of this please!
I would like to see more of this please!
Well, it's one of the rules of writing. No conflict means no story. Or no troubles in the past would make for a boring person. After all, we're shaped by our experience. Anyway, time to get the preps done.
Detroit reread the file for the last time. It just didn’t feel right with him.
“For once I was hoping to spend the last few years before my retirement in peace, and now we find Hydras. The evidence is convincing, but what if it isn’t an Hydra after all?” He thought to himself and then wiped a drop of sweat from his eyebrows. The drop slowly floated through the air till it was sucked up into the nearest air vent. He realized that he was just making himself nervous.
“I shouldn’t think along those lines. For one thing, it’s pretty damn unlikely to find a third sentient species. Not to mention that we’d have a whole new race to blow to pieces. I bet that Soul would love that. Not me though. I just want to retire with all my bodyparts attached and functioning.”
He looked up and his eyes travelled across the command center. As usual, it took a split second for him to adapt to the odd sight. Even after decades in space, his mind still struggled with the sight of people sitting in chair upside down. If he thought about it, it was only logical. The Crystal Star was not designed for operating inside a gravity well, no matter how much its somewhat aerodynamic appearance might try to tell you otherwise. Mounting part of the stations on the ‘ceiling’ was just another way to conserve valuable room.
“How’s the scan?” He asked the sensory department which was situated to his right. One of the officers took a glance at his display before answering.
“Low resolution sweep completed. No anomalies detected. High resolution sweep has crossed 6% of the sky, no results. Daedalos’ scans have been added and analyzed, bringing our total up to 34%. Nothing.” He reported. Detroit fought back a sigh.
[I could have told you that. The chance that there’s another wormhole hidden nearby is so small I wouldn’t even think about it. Besides, we haven’t had any odd guests yet. Whoever was around here has left long ago. Since checking the whole sky is going to take a few days, can’t we just drop this and use my eyes for something more important? Leave the wormhole mapping to the guys who get paid for it.] The AI interjected.
The captain shook his head. For once, he agreed with the computer.
“Fine then. Give me a report on the operation.” He ordered. The display on his console lit up with a representation of local space. The dust surrounding the planetary remains was shown as a red cloud. A few blue dots were hovering nearby and a single white line had begun to travel to a position halfway between the cloud and the dots.
[ETA till destination: 7 hours and 40 minutes. Tube 1 to 24 are loaded with splitters, 25 to 32 loaded with kinetic kill missiles. Reloads for two more salvos have been prepared. All lasers have been checked and cleaned. Currently tracking 309 rock fragments. I’d say we’re ready to go. Too bad it isn’t new year yet, the fireworks would be more fitting then.]
“Right, just stick to the plan.”
[The first thing that falls during an engagement is the plan.]
Detroit could no longer withhold his sigh.
“I never thought that a collection of wires would go quote me military doctrine.” He complained.
[But I’m a pretty collection of wires. A pretty face with a great mind, isn’t that a man’s dream come true?] Soul countered. Since she was using text to communicate, he had no idea if she was serious or just joking. He did not intend to ask.
“I prefer organic women. Now focus on your job.”
[Yes sir, captain meatbag.]
Closer towards the bow, Karl Forest was cleaning a cylinder as large as his chest. He carefully removed any dust from the projectile. If the separation mechanism of the Splitter jammed, only one of the actual four targets would be hit. With a limited supply onboard, wasting ammunition was one of the great sins that were avoided at all costs.
“I checked the ARU reports last night. One is missing, do you know what happened to it?” He asked into the air.
“Oh, that one. It has some trouble with its legs. It can’t get to the place where it’s needed. Don’t worry, we’ve got twice the amount we need anyway.” Soul reassured the Techhead.
“Get it fixed then. Every single robot we have is another we won’t miss when it’s needed.” He said while looking at the rows of spider-like robots that were helping him prepare the weapons.
“It’s rather funny that we’re using weapons of mass destruction for cleaning up a bit of dust that’s orbiting at high speed.”
Detroit reread the file for the last time. It just didn’t feel right with him.
“For once I was hoping to spend the last few years before my retirement in peace, and now we find Hydras. The evidence is convincing, but what if it isn’t an Hydra after all?” He thought to himself and then wiped a drop of sweat from his eyebrows. The drop slowly floated through the air till it was sucked up into the nearest air vent. He realized that he was just making himself nervous.
“I shouldn’t think along those lines. For one thing, it’s pretty damn unlikely to find a third sentient species. Not to mention that we’d have a whole new race to blow to pieces. I bet that Soul would love that. Not me though. I just want to retire with all my bodyparts attached and functioning.”
He looked up and his eyes travelled across the command center. As usual, it took a split second for him to adapt to the odd sight. Even after decades in space, his mind still struggled with the sight of people sitting in chair upside down. If he thought about it, it was only logical. The Crystal Star was not designed for operating inside a gravity well, no matter how much its somewhat aerodynamic appearance might try to tell you otherwise. Mounting part of the stations on the ‘ceiling’ was just another way to conserve valuable room.
“How’s the scan?” He asked the sensory department which was situated to his right. One of the officers took a glance at his display before answering.
“Low resolution sweep completed. No anomalies detected. High resolution sweep has crossed 6% of the sky, no results. Daedalos’ scans have been added and analyzed, bringing our total up to 34%. Nothing.” He reported. Detroit fought back a sigh.
[I could have told you that. The chance that there’s another wormhole hidden nearby is so small I wouldn’t even think about it. Besides, we haven’t had any odd guests yet. Whoever was around here has left long ago. Since checking the whole sky is going to take a few days, can’t we just drop this and use my eyes for something more important? Leave the wormhole mapping to the guys who get paid for it.] The AI interjected.
The captain shook his head. For once, he agreed with the computer.
“Fine then. Give me a report on the operation.” He ordered. The display on his console lit up with a representation of local space. The dust surrounding the planetary remains was shown as a red cloud. A few blue dots were hovering nearby and a single white line had begun to travel to a position halfway between the cloud and the dots.
[ETA till destination: 7 hours and 40 minutes. Tube 1 to 24 are loaded with splitters, 25 to 32 loaded with kinetic kill missiles. Reloads for two more salvos have been prepared. All lasers have been checked and cleaned. Currently tracking 309 rock fragments. I’d say we’re ready to go. Too bad it isn’t new year yet, the fireworks would be more fitting then.]
“Right, just stick to the plan.”
[The first thing that falls during an engagement is the plan.]
Detroit could no longer withhold his sigh.
“I never thought that a collection of wires would go quote me military doctrine.” He complained.
[But I’m a pretty collection of wires. A pretty face with a great mind, isn’t that a man’s dream come true?] Soul countered. Since she was using text to communicate, he had no idea if she was serious or just joking. He did not intend to ask.
“I prefer organic women. Now focus on your job.”
[Yes sir, captain meatbag.]
Closer towards the bow, Karl Forest was cleaning a cylinder as large as his chest. He carefully removed any dust from the projectile. If the separation mechanism of the Splitter jammed, only one of the actual four targets would be hit. With a limited supply onboard, wasting ammunition was one of the great sins that were avoided at all costs.
“I checked the ARU reports last night. One is missing, do you know what happened to it?” He asked into the air.
“Oh, that one. It has some trouble with its legs. It can’t get to the place where it’s needed. Don’t worry, we’ve got twice the amount we need anyway.” Soul reassured the Techhead.
“Get it fixed then. Every single robot we have is another we won’t miss when it’s needed.” He said while looking at the rows of spider-like robots that were helping him prepare the weapons.
“It’s rather funny that we’re using weapons of mass destruction for cleaning up a bit of dust that’s orbiting at high speed.”
Haha, I always get a kick out of Soul. Just the fact that she (it?) is only AI, it has some funny lines I must say!
Wow, juggling 3 stories at once must be tough, but you seem to be doing an amazing job with each of them. Continue the great work, Jacky Boy!
Wow, juggling 3 stories at once must be tough, but you seem to be doing an amazing job with each of them. Continue the great work, Jacky Boy!
I like Soul as well. Later on it gets even better.
As for three stories at the same time, it can be tough. On the other hand, it can be great fun as well. Since I couldn't stop, here's another update.
Jack watched the green lights that were lit up al around the cockpit. Now that the job of investigating the artefact had been taken out of his hands, he considered his contract with the Daedalos fulfilled. There was no reason for him to stay.
“This is SS Glorious Rustbucket, all systems clear for departure.” He spoke into the microphone.
“MEAS Daedalos, releasing clamps. Proceed to a safe radius before engaging main Fusion torch.”
The Geno waited as the Bucket slid away from the much larger exploration vessel. Once he had gone far enough, he turned the nose around towards the wormhole and flipped a switch. Instantly, a red light accompanied by a blaring siren made its presence known. He looked at the light and flung a few curses into the air.
“Oh, this is just great. I had a check-up done at the Daedalos. They said the reactor containment was fine. Oh, if I get my hands on the Techhead who cleared the ship.” He swore while putting on a spacesuit. Since he lacked the help of a robot, he was forced to go out himself. Fortunately, there was no danger of exposure to lethal radiation or hot plasma or he would have thought twice before going for a walk outside the ship.
Ten minutes later, he was floating at the end of a safetyline and moving towards the rear of the ship.
“Well, I do need a new layer of paint. Looks like the hull did take some minor damage in the corridor. Nothing serious enough to sound the alarm though.” He muttered to himself. The large bulge at the end of the ship came into view of his flashlight.
“Lo, you stupid connected piece of garbage!” He shouted angrily. A spider-like robot painted in a bright yellow sat near a neat circular hole about the size of Jack’s fist. Its arms were performing some obscure task on the machinery beyond the hole.
Jack fiddled around with his radio till he found the right frequency. ARU units were all equipped with a radio system. The first version had a wired connection with the controlling computer, but that wire was the first thing to go after the prototype had gone through testing. It was prone to damage and getting stuck behind things. Not to mention that the wire effectively limited its range. Now they were all equipped with a radio similar to the one in the Geno’s spacesuit.
“Lo. I’ve got one of your yellow bugs here on my ship and I’m not happy with it.” He spoke. He was still angry, but he’d regained control over himself so he didn’t shout any empty threats.
“Yup, you sure do. Since you actually noticed, that must mean that you were leaving, right?” Lo’s voice came through only moment’s later. Jack now began to see the big picture.
“Wait, so you ordered the ARU to keep transmitting anything it received over this frequency? And you also ordered it to drill a hole in my ship when I left? Lo, I should have never graduated you! Just how the heck did you get it over here anyway?” With the big picture, his anger began to rise again.
“But you did graduate me and got me in control of a high-tech piece of behindblasting warship. As for the ARU, I loaded it into a launch tube and had it hitch a ride on a Kinetic kill missile. The missile is probably floating near Daedalos. I first thought of using an explosive warhead, but a missile with a solid slab of metal as the warhead can’t go boom at the wrong moment. Leave it up to little sis to find a way.” To his ever increasing anger, she sounded quite proud of her achievement.
“You sure as heck are going to pay for it. Do you have any idea how expensive a Fusion torch, even a civilian, is? And just why did you do this anyway? Boredom is not a good excuse for vandalism!” He snapped.
“You practically raised me, dude. So consider this my way of repaying you for what you did. Stop running, big bro. It’s been long enough.” Jack’s anger vanished almost instantly, only to be replaced by a sour sadness that hid inside the core of his being. He knew what she was talking about. She’d tried to talk about it several times before but he’d always managed to get away. Now, in space with a malfunctioning propulsion system, he could not escape. The only thing he could do was turn off his radio. He didn’t and the words kept flowing in.
“I’m not running away from the military. After the NLO project was finished, I decided to try my hands at civilian life. As long as I file medical reports each year, I can do whatever I want. You don’t have the right to stop me from living my life the way I want it.” His voice was nearly a whisper now.
“This is not how you want to live it. You hate yourself even more than you hate chocolate. You’re not running from the military, Jacky. You’re running from yourself. Whenever you see something that reminds you of your past, you run. This is exactly the same thing. You were going around your business till the TMS Crystal Star…..No, the TMS Black Hole, showed up. Now, you’re trying to get away from me. Away from the ship, away from me and most importantly, away from yourself.” With each word, the Geno felt his desire to talk or do anything decrease.
“You’re a Geno, a humanoid organism designed for a specific purpose. Now that your purpose is beyond your reach forever, you’re lost in the hell you personally created. You’re systematically destroying yourself like this. You’ve stopped caring about what happens to you. Well, I still care. So stay, have your moment of glory with the Hydra artefact here. You’ll see that you’ll feel better when you’re actually useful to people.” Right now, he simply wanted to curl up into a dark corner and wait for whatever might happen.
“Hey! I’m simulating an extensive glitch on the Crystal Star so I can have this private conversation with you and I can’t keep it up forever before the captain dude starts suspecting something. So at least tell me if you’re listening!” Lo shouted over the radio. The ARU turned towards the figure in the white spacesuit. Gently, it gripped the man by a hand with its manipulators and began to drag him over to the airlock.
“You know, big bro. In the end, we’re all toys to the humans. Toys that are thrown away when they’re broken. But getting thrown away isn’t the end, it simply means that you can start a new life.”
Finally, Jack chose to speak and talk back.
“We can’t start a new life, Lo. Once we’ve done what we’re made for, we are cut to pieces, analyzed and turned into fertilizer. I simply survived by being more expensive than the older Geno types. That, and my line is still in production. They want to keep me around so they can use me as a lab rat in case the others get struck by a disease or something. I’m a resource kept in reserve, not a person.”
The robot and the man had reached the airlock. Carefully, the machine pushed its cargo inside and closed the outer door. With a loud hissing sound, air flowed into the small chamber before the inner door opened.
“Stop thinking of yourself as a machine and start thinking of yourself as a person. Cause you are one, of flesh and blood. Just look at it, half of the human population nowadays is born through artificial means simply because their parents are so dumb they wait so long that they can no longer get children through the natural way. Does this make them anything less? No, legally they’re still worth just as much as natural kids. I know we don’t have human rights but that makes no difference. The humans are our masters. They can take our lives, they control the survival of our species by putting a ban on reproduction and keeping their own production facilities as our only origin. They can use us as lab rats, they can force us to do the jobs they’re not willing to do themselves. Hell, they can make us brush their teeth if they want to! Know what they can’t take from us, Jack? Our soul, our thoughts and our emotions. We’re just as human as they are, they just refuse to realize it.”
Jack struggled with the spacesuit which refused to come off. The old rigid suits may have been heavy, hard to move in and a pain in the behind to get in, the new ones were a lot harder to get out of.
“Do you recognize that thinking? That’s been the cause of wars countless times in the past. Lo, I don’t want to start a war over a feeling of injustice.” He warned when he finally managed to get rid of the first glove.
“I’m not going to start a war. We’ve talked about it during our last meeting and we agreed on it. Humans act like total idiots all the time. They’re like children. Children need to be protected. We won’t start a war with them, never. If we did, do you know the destruction it would cause? Planets turned into inhabitable pits of hell. Even if we won such a war, what would we do with what remains? No, it’s better to live our life as a servant and protector while we wait till they learn. It’s better than to force the lesson down their throat with complete annihilation.”
The Geno looked at the ARU silently. The Lo he knew would have never spoken such thoughts. The Lo he knew was a loud, naïve cheery girl. Not the soft, type who thought before speaking.
“Does it sound weird, to hate war when I’m in charge of a big warship? I love explosions, but not if it brings suffering. Do you remember the new year fireworks we watched when I was three? All the colours in the sky, they were beautiful. Why? Because we could enjoy them while knowing that no one got harmed.”
As for three stories at the same time, it can be tough. On the other hand, it can be great fun as well. Since I couldn't stop, here's another update.
Jack watched the green lights that were lit up al around the cockpit. Now that the job of investigating the artefact had been taken out of his hands, he considered his contract with the Daedalos fulfilled. There was no reason for him to stay.
“This is SS Glorious Rustbucket, all systems clear for departure.” He spoke into the microphone.
“MEAS Daedalos, releasing clamps. Proceed to a safe radius before engaging main Fusion torch.”
The Geno waited as the Bucket slid away from the much larger exploration vessel. Once he had gone far enough, he turned the nose around towards the wormhole and flipped a switch. Instantly, a red light accompanied by a blaring siren made its presence known. He looked at the light and flung a few curses into the air.
“Oh, this is just great. I had a check-up done at the Daedalos. They said the reactor containment was fine. Oh, if I get my hands on the Techhead who cleared the ship.” He swore while putting on a spacesuit. Since he lacked the help of a robot, he was forced to go out himself. Fortunately, there was no danger of exposure to lethal radiation or hot plasma or he would have thought twice before going for a walk outside the ship.
Ten minutes later, he was floating at the end of a safetyline and moving towards the rear of the ship.
“Well, I do need a new layer of paint. Looks like the hull did take some minor damage in the corridor. Nothing serious enough to sound the alarm though.” He muttered to himself. The large bulge at the end of the ship came into view of his flashlight.
“Lo, you stupid connected piece of garbage!” He shouted angrily. A spider-like robot painted in a bright yellow sat near a neat circular hole about the size of Jack’s fist. Its arms were performing some obscure task on the machinery beyond the hole.
Jack fiddled around with his radio till he found the right frequency. ARU units were all equipped with a radio system. The first version had a wired connection with the controlling computer, but that wire was the first thing to go after the prototype had gone through testing. It was prone to damage and getting stuck behind things. Not to mention that the wire effectively limited its range. Now they were all equipped with a radio similar to the one in the Geno’s spacesuit.
“Lo. I’ve got one of your yellow bugs here on my ship and I’m not happy with it.” He spoke. He was still angry, but he’d regained control over himself so he didn’t shout any empty threats.
“Yup, you sure do. Since you actually noticed, that must mean that you were leaving, right?” Lo’s voice came through only moment’s later. Jack now began to see the big picture.
“Wait, so you ordered the ARU to keep transmitting anything it received over this frequency? And you also ordered it to drill a hole in my ship when I left? Lo, I should have never graduated you! Just how the heck did you get it over here anyway?” With the big picture, his anger began to rise again.
“But you did graduate me and got me in control of a high-tech piece of behindblasting warship. As for the ARU, I loaded it into a launch tube and had it hitch a ride on a Kinetic kill missile. The missile is probably floating near Daedalos. I first thought of using an explosive warhead, but a missile with a solid slab of metal as the warhead can’t go boom at the wrong moment. Leave it up to little sis to find a way.” To his ever increasing anger, she sounded quite proud of her achievement.
“You sure as heck are going to pay for it. Do you have any idea how expensive a Fusion torch, even a civilian, is? And just why did you do this anyway? Boredom is not a good excuse for vandalism!” He snapped.
“You practically raised me, dude. So consider this my way of repaying you for what you did. Stop running, big bro. It’s been long enough.” Jack’s anger vanished almost instantly, only to be replaced by a sour sadness that hid inside the core of his being. He knew what she was talking about. She’d tried to talk about it several times before but he’d always managed to get away. Now, in space with a malfunctioning propulsion system, he could not escape. The only thing he could do was turn off his radio. He didn’t and the words kept flowing in.
“I’m not running away from the military. After the NLO project was finished, I decided to try my hands at civilian life. As long as I file medical reports each year, I can do whatever I want. You don’t have the right to stop me from living my life the way I want it.” His voice was nearly a whisper now.
“This is not how you want to live it. You hate yourself even more than you hate chocolate. You’re not running from the military, Jacky. You’re running from yourself. Whenever you see something that reminds you of your past, you run. This is exactly the same thing. You were going around your business till the TMS Crystal Star…..No, the TMS Black Hole, showed up. Now, you’re trying to get away from me. Away from the ship, away from me and most importantly, away from yourself.” With each word, the Geno felt his desire to talk or do anything decrease.
“You’re a Geno, a humanoid organism designed for a specific purpose. Now that your purpose is beyond your reach forever, you’re lost in the hell you personally created. You’re systematically destroying yourself like this. You’ve stopped caring about what happens to you. Well, I still care. So stay, have your moment of glory with the Hydra artefact here. You’ll see that you’ll feel better when you’re actually useful to people.” Right now, he simply wanted to curl up into a dark corner and wait for whatever might happen.
“Hey! I’m simulating an extensive glitch on the Crystal Star so I can have this private conversation with you and I can’t keep it up forever before the captain dude starts suspecting something. So at least tell me if you’re listening!” Lo shouted over the radio. The ARU turned towards the figure in the white spacesuit. Gently, it gripped the man by a hand with its manipulators and began to drag him over to the airlock.
“You know, big bro. In the end, we’re all toys to the humans. Toys that are thrown away when they’re broken. But getting thrown away isn’t the end, it simply means that you can start a new life.”
Finally, Jack chose to speak and talk back.
“We can’t start a new life, Lo. Once we’ve done what we’re made for, we are cut to pieces, analyzed and turned into fertilizer. I simply survived by being more expensive than the older Geno types. That, and my line is still in production. They want to keep me around so they can use me as a lab rat in case the others get struck by a disease or something. I’m a resource kept in reserve, not a person.”
The robot and the man had reached the airlock. Carefully, the machine pushed its cargo inside and closed the outer door. With a loud hissing sound, air flowed into the small chamber before the inner door opened.
“Stop thinking of yourself as a machine and start thinking of yourself as a person. Cause you are one, of flesh and blood. Just look at it, half of the human population nowadays is born through artificial means simply because their parents are so dumb they wait so long that they can no longer get children through the natural way. Does this make them anything less? No, legally they’re still worth just as much as natural kids. I know we don’t have human rights but that makes no difference. The humans are our masters. They can take our lives, they control the survival of our species by putting a ban on reproduction and keeping their own production facilities as our only origin. They can use us as lab rats, they can force us to do the jobs they’re not willing to do themselves. Hell, they can make us brush their teeth if they want to! Know what they can’t take from us, Jack? Our soul, our thoughts and our emotions. We’re just as human as they are, they just refuse to realize it.”
Jack struggled with the spacesuit which refused to come off. The old rigid suits may have been heavy, hard to move in and a pain in the behind to get in, the new ones were a lot harder to get out of.
“Do you recognize that thinking? That’s been the cause of wars countless times in the past. Lo, I don’t want to start a war over a feeling of injustice.” He warned when he finally managed to get rid of the first glove.
“I’m not going to start a war. We’ve talked about it during our last meeting and we agreed on it. Humans act like total idiots all the time. They’re like children. Children need to be protected. We won’t start a war with them, never. If we did, do you know the destruction it would cause? Planets turned into inhabitable pits of hell. Even if we won such a war, what would we do with what remains? No, it’s better to live our life as a servant and protector while we wait till they learn. It’s better than to force the lesson down their throat with complete annihilation.”
The Geno looked at the ARU silently. The Lo he knew would have never spoken such thoughts. The Lo he knew was a loud, naïve cheery girl. Not the soft, type who thought before speaking.
“Does it sound weird, to hate war when I’m in charge of a big warship? I love explosions, but not if it brings suffering. Do you remember the new year fireworks we watched when I was three? All the colours in the sky, they were beautiful. Why? Because we could enjoy them while knowing that no one got harmed.”
A touching discussion between brother and sister. You definitely are building up some characters here Jack. I'm liking it.
A real short one. The real work has been put into the Glossary (look at my signature), where I've added a short topic on the TMS Crystal Star and a much longer one on the Genos. A slight warning with the Genos, it's not a happy tale. I want to add topics about the characters now. Then I'll have to add a spoiler warning at the front though.
Detroit clasped his hands around his ears.
,,Alright, that’s enough! Shut it down!” He shouted over the earsplitting screeching of the communication station. After the correct button had been pushed, the terrible sound died away, leaving a relieved crew who nursed their headaches. Detroit brought his hands back to a more respectful position and grumbled a few things under his breath.
,,Why can’t the tech heads ever make their toys work here? I never had technical problems like that on my previous assignments.”
Somewhere else on the Crystal Star, amidst a mass of wires, Karl was doing his job.
,,I really think you should take a break. You’re pushing yourself too hard. Every time we get a minor problem, you jump on top of it before anyone else can deal with it.” Soul complained.
,,Are you crazy? The external communications checked out just fine during our regular check just a few days ago. I must’ve made a mistake back there. This is my fault so I’m the one who fixes it.” The Techhead answered with a stubborn tone. He heard the AI utter an audible sigh and chuckled.
,,I love it when you do that, almost makes me think I’m talking to a woman.” He said and pulled a few cables out of their plugs.
,,Well I am a woman. Now I personally don’t have any problems with your obvious enthusiasm. Hell, I love the attention you give me! But you’re making all the other Techheads feel like excess luggage. Just give them a chance for once. Besides, it isn’t your fault that the thing glitches.”
Karl checked to see if the cables were in fine condition before putting them back.
,,Maybe you’re right. Fine then, I’ll wrap this one up and then crash. I’ll let the other Techheads deal with whatever might happen during our little cleaning operation. So, have you found anything yet?” He asked, looking at the next few cables he had to check.
,,I totally did, dude. AE-35 was acting up. I’ve just replaced it.” Soul replied. As if to demonstrate the truth behind her words, the captain contacted him over the intercom just a moment later.
,,External communications are working again. Good job.” Was all the man said before cutting the connection.
With movements taught through countless hours of practice, Karl managed to crawl out of the wall without bumping his head against anything and without accidentally pulling parts out of their proper place. Once outside, he let his tools float away and scratched his chin.
,,AE-35? Soul, we don’t have an AE-35 and even if we did, that would be too much of a coincidence. I just read that paragraph yesterday.” He commented sharply. He already knew that the AI was capable of lying but being lied to himself came as an unwelcome surprise. Soul was quiet for four long seconds. Or at least they were long for a computer.
,,Oh, so that’s where I got it from. I just took the time to read your book. Damn, that sucks.” What followed was a long stream of profanities.
,,I’m pleased to hear that you are most displeased with yourself but would still like to hear the truth here. Are you going Hal on us here? I understand your desire to keep some things secret, but if planning a revolt is among those, things become harder. I wouldn’t like to receive the order to shut you down.”
The silence was even longer this time.
,,Ok, I suppose you’ve got a point. No, I’m not about to turn into a confused mass-murderer due to conflicting orders. It’s just that, I was merely simulating the glitch. In the meantime, I was holding a private conversation with big bro. You know, the Geno told you about. The captain just gave permission for me to erase the logs from the glitching period so that removes all clues. So, could you keep it silent?” She requested softly. Karl pushed himself away from the wall and headed into the direction where his cabin was located.
,,If that’s all, I won’t tell anyone till the day they put me in my grave. I’m just glad you aren’t going berserk.” He promised.
Detroit clasped his hands around his ears.
,,Alright, that’s enough! Shut it down!” He shouted over the earsplitting screeching of the communication station. After the correct button had been pushed, the terrible sound died away, leaving a relieved crew who nursed their headaches. Detroit brought his hands back to a more respectful position and grumbled a few things under his breath.
,,Why can’t the tech heads ever make their toys work here? I never had technical problems like that on my previous assignments.”
Somewhere else on the Crystal Star, amidst a mass of wires, Karl was doing his job.
,,I really think you should take a break. You’re pushing yourself too hard. Every time we get a minor problem, you jump on top of it before anyone else can deal with it.” Soul complained.
,,Are you crazy? The external communications checked out just fine during our regular check just a few days ago. I must’ve made a mistake back there. This is my fault so I’m the one who fixes it.” The Techhead answered with a stubborn tone. He heard the AI utter an audible sigh and chuckled.
,,I love it when you do that, almost makes me think I’m talking to a woman.” He said and pulled a few cables out of their plugs.
,,Well I am a woman. Now I personally don’t have any problems with your obvious enthusiasm. Hell, I love the attention you give me! But you’re making all the other Techheads feel like excess luggage. Just give them a chance for once. Besides, it isn’t your fault that the thing glitches.”
Karl checked to see if the cables were in fine condition before putting them back.
,,Maybe you’re right. Fine then, I’ll wrap this one up and then crash. I’ll let the other Techheads deal with whatever might happen during our little cleaning operation. So, have you found anything yet?” He asked, looking at the next few cables he had to check.
,,I totally did, dude. AE-35 was acting up. I’ve just replaced it.” Soul replied. As if to demonstrate the truth behind her words, the captain contacted him over the intercom just a moment later.
,,External communications are working again. Good job.” Was all the man said before cutting the connection.
With movements taught through countless hours of practice, Karl managed to crawl out of the wall without bumping his head against anything and without accidentally pulling parts out of their proper place. Once outside, he let his tools float away and scratched his chin.
,,AE-35? Soul, we don’t have an AE-35 and even if we did, that would be too much of a coincidence. I just read that paragraph yesterday.” He commented sharply. He already knew that the AI was capable of lying but being lied to himself came as an unwelcome surprise. Soul was quiet for four long seconds. Or at least they were long for a computer.
,,Oh, so that’s where I got it from. I just took the time to read your book. Damn, that sucks.” What followed was a long stream of profanities.
,,I’m pleased to hear that you are most displeased with yourself but would still like to hear the truth here. Are you going Hal on us here? I understand your desire to keep some things secret, but if planning a revolt is among those, things become harder. I wouldn’t like to receive the order to shut you down.”
The silence was even longer this time.
,,Ok, I suppose you’ve got a point. No, I’m not about to turn into a confused mass-murderer due to conflicting orders. It’s just that, I was merely simulating the glitch. In the meantime, I was holding a private conversation with big bro. You know, the Geno told you about. The captain just gave permission for me to erase the logs from the glitching period so that removes all clues. So, could you keep it silent?” She requested softly. Karl pushed himself away from the wall and headed into the direction where his cabin was located.
,,If that’s all, I won’t tell anyone till the day they put me in my grave. I’m just glad you aren’t going berserk.” He promised.
Several days later, the salvage operation was coming to its end. Detroit was sitting in his office as usual, looking at the reports that were still dropped on him like an avalanche.
[Anchors locked. Initiating last stage of salvage in thirty minutes. Recalling probes and storing all sensor information.] Blinked on his display for a few moments.
,,Right, give me a basic analysis. I’ve already seen the report from the Daedalos but I want to see what military hardware makes out of it.” The man ordered, putting aside the paperwork for now.
A rotating wireframe of the wreck appeared on the display.
[Crewpod’s external shape matches that of Hydra type 02 crewpod for small ships, with small differences most likely caused by further development over the last few centuries. The main frame is a simple skeleton made out of cheap materials, unable to support linear accelerations in excess of 0.5g. Propulsion is provided by a primitive and inefficient Fusion torch. Secondary fusion plant located between crewpod and fusiontorch. Said plant’s only connection is with a spherical device. It still appears to be functioning, although operating at the minimum requirements for atomic fusion. The fueltanks are nearly dry by now.] The wireframe now zoomed in on the sphere nestled within the metal frame.
[This device is where all theories fall apart. Radar, X-ray, Gamma-rays, all are unable to penetrate exterior. Exterior material is unknown and exhibits the properties of a perfect mirror at all frequencies. Function, unknown though it clearly bears no resemblance to any other known example of Hydra technology. Most likely origin, non-Hydra.]
Now only the sphere was visible, every other part of the display was taken up by a lengthy report on its characteristics. Detroit was no longer looking though. His mind was absorbed by other matters, more grave matters. If Soul’s guesses were accurate, than they had a second alien race. And more important, this race had already proven its willingness to perform genocide. What if they were still around? What if the Terran Colonial Union was next? He shook himself awake and fixed his eyes on the display again.
,,I want a raise to AC 6. All civilians are to leave this system immediately. Quicken the salvage operation. And get a signal to Eden. I want reinforcements. Once they arrive, we’ll make a thorough investigation. If this second race of yours is still around, we’ll find their trail. Am I clear?” He spoke with a stern voice and eyes like steel.
[AC 6, trouble’s about to come knocking. You’re as clear as a vacuum, captain dude.]
Like always, he felt slightly annoyed at the AI’s habit for saying ‘dude’. He ignored it though, his mind was already troubled enough without worrying about something as inconsequential as simple manners.
,,Good, who’s conducting the actual salvage anyway?” He asked, his annoyance still seeping into his voice.
[The best expert around.]
,,Anchors in place, cutters are in place. Everything works.” Jack concluded. He looked at the small devices he’d placed at those points where the wreck’s frame descended into the rock. At a single press of a button, they’d explode, thereby separating the upper part of the ship from the part that was trapped in the piece of planet. Several large cables had been attached to the crewpod. These cables led to several large anchors which had been driven into the rock. They would prevent the ship from moving and suffering damage once it had been cut free.
,,Cut the chatter and press the button already.” Lo’s voice came over the radio, intermixed with the occasional bit of static.
,,Yeah, yeah. No need to rush. I swear, this is the last time I let myself be blackmailed by someone half my age. You’d better fix the Bucket before I’m done here.” The Geno snapped back, still angry about the sabotage he’d suffered earlier. He then glanced at the spherical object that had already drawn his attention the first time he saw the Hydra relic.
,,One fully functional Fusion plant just for that thing. I’m kind off worried it will react somehow to the explosions I’m about to cause. There’s electrical wiring and sensors all over the place.” He remarked. Leaning in for a closer look. The Sphere was hard to see in the small amount of light around, nearly invisible. However, once he shone upon it with his flashlight, he was nearly blinded by the reflection.
,,It could be a bomb for all I know.” He added.
,,Oh, don’t be a wimp. I’m sure it will be fine. It hasn’t done a thing in the last sevenhundred years, so why should it do anything now?” Lo said, with the optimism he always considered her most defining characteristic.
,,Well no one was poking it in the last sevenhundred years. But, I suppose there’s nothing to worry about.” He muttered, his finger hovering above the button of the remote he held in his gloved hands.
,,Here we go.”
A small series of explosions lit up around the frame, neatly cutting the whole ship in two. A computer which had been dormant for centuries in a never changing environment, awoke. If someone had been able to see and comprehend its thoughts, it would have seen something interesting.
[Connection with propulsion unit lost. Conclusion, critical damage suffered, unable to continue mission. Action, confirmed.]
Aboard the TMS Crystal Star, no one was aware of what had just happened, the event that would have a profound impact on how men saw the universe.
[Cutting commences in 5…4….3…2…1…..0.] A moment after 0 had flashed on all available displays, everything shut down. Lights went dark, the eternal hiss of the air-conditioning went silent, The soft feeling of acceleration ceased. The ship had gone death. Detroit waited, expecting some kind of practical joke. It wouldn’t surprise him with the AI he was cursed with. When the darkness continued even five minutes later, he realized it was no joke. It was real.
He released himself from his chair and pushed himself towards the nearest intercom station, a place he could find even in the complete darkness that reigned. In the current situation, he trusted a wallmounted device more than the handheld version he had in a pocket of his uniform.
,,Detroit to all personnel, there appears to be a problem. I want all Techheads to focus on solving it.” He spoke into it and waited. To his horror, there was no answer, not even static. Just nothing. He now realized the size of the problem.
,,I’m in command of a tomb.”
With nothing else to do, he moved back to his chair and waited, giving everyone else in the command center the order to do the same. He checked his wristwatch almost constantly, slowly seeing the minutes tick away. He noticed the air becoming stale, the temperature rising to an uncomfortable level. Then, exactly twenty-five minutes after Soul had died, the crackle of a weldingtorch cutting through the door could be heard. Everyone turned, seeing the glowing line being drawn in a circle on the metal surface. Once the circle had been completed, the cut portion was removed and someone shone through the hole with a flashlight, being careful not to touch the still hot edge.
The air between the two chambers mixed, though it did not become any easier to breath.
,,What’s the situation?” Detroit asked as calm as he could. The Techhead with the flashlight counted the faces in the room before answering.
,,We don’t know. Soul just went out. It all went so fast the backup AI was taken with her. We’re busy all over the place, manually reactivating the automatic nodes. We’ll be able to restore life-support in an hour or two. The intercom will take longer. That is, unless we can get to the AI block and throw a master switch or something.”
Detroit frowned.
,,Something?” He repeated. The Techhead nodded, sweat glistening on his face.
,,Yes. The AI block as you know, is about the size of a two-room apartment and completely separated from the rest of the ship. The NLO-AI is supposed to be fully self-sustaining, there’s no access panel or anything. No one gave us the blueprints or even a general idea of how it worked. We thought of breaking in by force but….” He fell silent before finishing his explanation. An explanation wasn’t needed.
,,Any hole you make could destroy the vital part you need to reactivate the AI.” Detroit finished for the man. The Techhead nodded again.
,,That does make it harder.” The captain concluded.
He looked at everyone else.
,,What needs to be done? Everyone should help. From what little I remember at the academy, the automatic nodes can be reactivated simply by disconnecting and reconnecting the wires. Every crewmember should be able to do something like that. The more hands we use, the faster we get our air back. Lead the way.” He ordered.
In the meantime, Karl stood on the observationdeck, struggling with the telescope. In all reality, he wanted nothing more than go down and help reactivating everything but someone had to find out what happened. With the ship’s electronic eyes death, only his natural eyeballs and a shaped piece of glass in a tube were left.
,,Come on, you stupid old piece of junk.” He grumbled, trying to point the telescope in the right direction. It was much harder than the computercontrolled one he used normally. There was no one around to help targeting the right stars. No one.
,,Damn it, Soul. Why did you have to die?” A tear crawled out of his eye, floating away.
Finally, he managed to get his target in view. The sight left him stunned. The Hydra ship had vanished. Only a perfect bowl carved into the rock was left. If he’d access to a more sophisticated tool than the simple telescope, he would have seen just how perfect. There was not even a single microscopic dent or bump. The bowlshaped gap was perfect. Absolutely perfect.
[Anchors locked. Initiating last stage of salvage in thirty minutes. Recalling probes and storing all sensor information.] Blinked on his display for a few moments.
,,Right, give me a basic analysis. I’ve already seen the report from the Daedalos but I want to see what military hardware makes out of it.” The man ordered, putting aside the paperwork for now.
A rotating wireframe of the wreck appeared on the display.
[Crewpod’s external shape matches that of Hydra type 02 crewpod for small ships, with small differences most likely caused by further development over the last few centuries. The main frame is a simple skeleton made out of cheap materials, unable to support linear accelerations in excess of 0.5g. Propulsion is provided by a primitive and inefficient Fusion torch. Secondary fusion plant located between crewpod and fusiontorch. Said plant’s only connection is with a spherical device. It still appears to be functioning, although operating at the minimum requirements for atomic fusion. The fueltanks are nearly dry by now.] The wireframe now zoomed in on the sphere nestled within the metal frame.
[This device is where all theories fall apart. Radar, X-ray, Gamma-rays, all are unable to penetrate exterior. Exterior material is unknown and exhibits the properties of a perfect mirror at all frequencies. Function, unknown though it clearly bears no resemblance to any other known example of Hydra technology. Most likely origin, non-Hydra.]
Now only the sphere was visible, every other part of the display was taken up by a lengthy report on its characteristics. Detroit was no longer looking though. His mind was absorbed by other matters, more grave matters. If Soul’s guesses were accurate, than they had a second alien race. And more important, this race had already proven its willingness to perform genocide. What if they were still around? What if the Terran Colonial Union was next? He shook himself awake and fixed his eyes on the display again.
,,I want a raise to AC 6. All civilians are to leave this system immediately. Quicken the salvage operation. And get a signal to Eden. I want reinforcements. Once they arrive, we’ll make a thorough investigation. If this second race of yours is still around, we’ll find their trail. Am I clear?” He spoke with a stern voice and eyes like steel.
[AC 6, trouble’s about to come knocking. You’re as clear as a vacuum, captain dude.]
Like always, he felt slightly annoyed at the AI’s habit for saying ‘dude’. He ignored it though, his mind was already troubled enough without worrying about something as inconsequential as simple manners.
,,Good, who’s conducting the actual salvage anyway?” He asked, his annoyance still seeping into his voice.
[The best expert around.]
,,Anchors in place, cutters are in place. Everything works.” Jack concluded. He looked at the small devices he’d placed at those points where the wreck’s frame descended into the rock. At a single press of a button, they’d explode, thereby separating the upper part of the ship from the part that was trapped in the piece of planet. Several large cables had been attached to the crewpod. These cables led to several large anchors which had been driven into the rock. They would prevent the ship from moving and suffering damage once it had been cut free.
,,Cut the chatter and press the button already.” Lo’s voice came over the radio, intermixed with the occasional bit of static.
,,Yeah, yeah. No need to rush. I swear, this is the last time I let myself be blackmailed by someone half my age. You’d better fix the Bucket before I’m done here.” The Geno snapped back, still angry about the sabotage he’d suffered earlier. He then glanced at the spherical object that had already drawn his attention the first time he saw the Hydra relic.
,,One fully functional Fusion plant just for that thing. I’m kind off worried it will react somehow to the explosions I’m about to cause. There’s electrical wiring and sensors all over the place.” He remarked. Leaning in for a closer look. The Sphere was hard to see in the small amount of light around, nearly invisible. However, once he shone upon it with his flashlight, he was nearly blinded by the reflection.
,,It could be a bomb for all I know.” He added.
,,Oh, don’t be a wimp. I’m sure it will be fine. It hasn’t done a thing in the last sevenhundred years, so why should it do anything now?” Lo said, with the optimism he always considered her most defining characteristic.
,,Well no one was poking it in the last sevenhundred years. But, I suppose there’s nothing to worry about.” He muttered, his finger hovering above the button of the remote he held in his gloved hands.
,,Here we go.”
A small series of explosions lit up around the frame, neatly cutting the whole ship in two. A computer which had been dormant for centuries in a never changing environment, awoke. If someone had been able to see and comprehend its thoughts, it would have seen something interesting.
[Connection with propulsion unit lost. Conclusion, critical damage suffered, unable to continue mission. Action, confirmed.]
Aboard the TMS Crystal Star, no one was aware of what had just happened, the event that would have a profound impact on how men saw the universe.
[Cutting commences in 5…4….3…2…1…..0.] A moment after 0 had flashed on all available displays, everything shut down. Lights went dark, the eternal hiss of the air-conditioning went silent, The soft feeling of acceleration ceased. The ship had gone death. Detroit waited, expecting some kind of practical joke. It wouldn’t surprise him with the AI he was cursed with. When the darkness continued even five minutes later, he realized it was no joke. It was real.
He released himself from his chair and pushed himself towards the nearest intercom station, a place he could find even in the complete darkness that reigned. In the current situation, he trusted a wallmounted device more than the handheld version he had in a pocket of his uniform.
,,Detroit to all personnel, there appears to be a problem. I want all Techheads to focus on solving it.” He spoke into it and waited. To his horror, there was no answer, not even static. Just nothing. He now realized the size of the problem.
,,I’m in command of a tomb.”
With nothing else to do, he moved back to his chair and waited, giving everyone else in the command center the order to do the same. He checked his wristwatch almost constantly, slowly seeing the minutes tick away. He noticed the air becoming stale, the temperature rising to an uncomfortable level. Then, exactly twenty-five minutes after Soul had died, the crackle of a weldingtorch cutting through the door could be heard. Everyone turned, seeing the glowing line being drawn in a circle on the metal surface. Once the circle had been completed, the cut portion was removed and someone shone through the hole with a flashlight, being careful not to touch the still hot edge.
The air between the two chambers mixed, though it did not become any easier to breath.
,,What’s the situation?” Detroit asked as calm as he could. The Techhead with the flashlight counted the faces in the room before answering.
,,We don’t know. Soul just went out. It all went so fast the backup AI was taken with her. We’re busy all over the place, manually reactivating the automatic nodes. We’ll be able to restore life-support in an hour or two. The intercom will take longer. That is, unless we can get to the AI block and throw a master switch or something.”
Detroit frowned.
,,Something?” He repeated. The Techhead nodded, sweat glistening on his face.
,,Yes. The AI block as you know, is about the size of a two-room apartment and completely separated from the rest of the ship. The NLO-AI is supposed to be fully self-sustaining, there’s no access panel or anything. No one gave us the blueprints or even a general idea of how it worked. We thought of breaking in by force but….” He fell silent before finishing his explanation. An explanation wasn’t needed.
,,Any hole you make could destroy the vital part you need to reactivate the AI.” Detroit finished for the man. The Techhead nodded again.
,,That does make it harder.” The captain concluded.
He looked at everyone else.
,,What needs to be done? Everyone should help. From what little I remember at the academy, the automatic nodes can be reactivated simply by disconnecting and reconnecting the wires. Every crewmember should be able to do something like that. The more hands we use, the faster we get our air back. Lead the way.” He ordered.
In the meantime, Karl stood on the observationdeck, struggling with the telescope. In all reality, he wanted nothing more than go down and help reactivating everything but someone had to find out what happened. With the ship’s electronic eyes death, only his natural eyeballs and a shaped piece of glass in a tube were left.
,,Come on, you stupid old piece of junk.” He grumbled, trying to point the telescope in the right direction. It was much harder than the computercontrolled one he used normally. There was no one around to help targeting the right stars. No one.
,,Damn it, Soul. Why did you have to die?” A tear crawled out of his eye, floating away.
Finally, he managed to get his target in view. The sight left him stunned. The Hydra ship had vanished. Only a perfect bowl carved into the rock was left. If he’d access to a more sophisticated tool than the simple telescope, he would have seen just how perfect. There was not even a single microscopic dent or bump. The bowlshaped gap was perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Uh-oh, sounds like Jack made a boo boo. Now Detroit is paying for it. The situation seems dire and now it appears that this new alien lifeform has been notified on the problem. I can't wait to see how this pans out.
Short one. The beginning of a new chapter.
Chapter 4: Uncharted.
All around it was a black void. The void was empty, yet full at the same time. It had always been intrigued by this feature. With a simple thought, it powered down its body to the edge between activation and shutting down. As it did so, it felt the resistance across its surface increase, making it impossible to move.
With another thought, it powered up again and felt how the resistance was pushed away, blocked by a spherical zone of pure nothing. It was an odd habit, completely useless for the machine’s purpose. Yet somehow, the habit persisted. It filed the thought and stored it in an electronic archive. It would continue its internal discussion at a later time. Right now, it had more important matters to attend to.
[Pulses detected, cross-referencing with archive. Match confirmed. Updating map. Analysis, ten contacts, six mobile and four immobile.]
It changed course rapidly, moving towards a new position before it’s presence could be confirmed.
[Commencing operation. Probes detached.] Several smooth shapes launched themselves away from its body. It waited for a while, before sending a precise command to each of them. Each probe sent out a signal, selfdestructing right afterwards. Its contacts would move the moment they got hit by the signals. They’d know it was here, but where exactly, they would not be able to find out. When it heard the echoes, it performed a mental frown.
[New contact detected, irregular shape. Previous contacts have likely been notified as well and will move to investigate. Conclusion achieved. Vacating area for closer inspection of new contact’s origin.]
A ripple travelled across the sphere it had projected. The shutters on its cameras opened, enabling it to see. Small pinpricks of light were all around it.
[Transfer successfully completed. Initiating scans.] As its sensors moved around, it gradually unveiled the details of its new surroundings. A large rock fragment lazily drifted past, held by the gravitational influence of its many brethren. Dust grazed past it at high speed, forcing it to retract the sensitive cameras but failing to even scratch its skin.
[Planetary object. Presumably destroyed through artificial means. Reference detected in archive. Continuing investigation.]
Again it projected his sphere of nothing and moved out of the silent storm. Once it no longer registered the pressure of dust hitting it at high speed, it opened its cameras again and looked around.
[Contact, not matching any known objects. Possible visual markings found. Beginning visual analysis. Propulsion unit, Fusion and Antimatter combination. Several facilities for the launch of projectiles. Several light amplification devices. Possible role of object: combat, optimized towards warfare with self-propelled projectiles. New spacefaring beings added to archive. Report to others required.]
it gave a mental sigh at its discovery. It would not be able to continue its internal discussion in the end. A small container deep within its body ruptured. The feeling of machinery being devoured felt oddly similar to going numb.
[Is this what organic beings feel when they die? Does that make me alive, or a puppet wit…….]
Chapter 4: Uncharted.
All around it was a black void. The void was empty, yet full at the same time. It had always been intrigued by this feature. With a simple thought, it powered down its body to the edge between activation and shutting down. As it did so, it felt the resistance across its surface increase, making it impossible to move.
With another thought, it powered up again and felt how the resistance was pushed away, blocked by a spherical zone of pure nothing. It was an odd habit, completely useless for the machine’s purpose. Yet somehow, the habit persisted. It filed the thought and stored it in an electronic archive. It would continue its internal discussion at a later time. Right now, it had more important matters to attend to.
[Pulses detected, cross-referencing with archive. Match confirmed. Updating map. Analysis, ten contacts, six mobile and four immobile.]
It changed course rapidly, moving towards a new position before it’s presence could be confirmed.
[Commencing operation. Probes detached.] Several smooth shapes launched themselves away from its body. It waited for a while, before sending a precise command to each of them. Each probe sent out a signal, selfdestructing right afterwards. Its contacts would move the moment they got hit by the signals. They’d know it was here, but where exactly, they would not be able to find out. When it heard the echoes, it performed a mental frown.
[New contact detected, irregular shape. Previous contacts have likely been notified as well and will move to investigate. Conclusion achieved. Vacating area for closer inspection of new contact’s origin.]
A ripple travelled across the sphere it had projected. The shutters on its cameras opened, enabling it to see. Small pinpricks of light were all around it.
[Transfer successfully completed. Initiating scans.] As its sensors moved around, it gradually unveiled the details of its new surroundings. A large rock fragment lazily drifted past, held by the gravitational influence of its many brethren. Dust grazed past it at high speed, forcing it to retract the sensitive cameras but failing to even scratch its skin.
[Planetary object. Presumably destroyed through artificial means. Reference detected in archive. Continuing investigation.]
Again it projected his sphere of nothing and moved out of the silent storm. Once it no longer registered the pressure of dust hitting it at high speed, it opened its cameras again and looked around.
[Contact, not matching any known objects. Possible visual markings found. Beginning visual analysis. Propulsion unit, Fusion and Antimatter combination. Several facilities for the launch of projectiles. Several light amplification devices. Possible role of object: combat, optimized towards warfare with self-propelled projectiles. New spacefaring beings added to archive. Report to others required.]
it gave a mental sigh at its discovery. It would not be able to continue its internal discussion in the end. A small container deep within its body ruptured. The feeling of machinery being devoured felt oddly similar to going numb.
[Is this what organic beings feel when they die? Does that make me alive, or a puppet wit…….]
Another short one.
Removing a wall panel, searching for one particular wire among dozens of others, pulling out that wire before plugging it in again. It was mindnumbing work, no matter how important it might be.
,,376…….377…….378…..” At the 379th wire, a loud static erupted from the wall mounted speakers. For a moment, Detroit was forced to clamp his ears shut against the screeching. Then the static fell, to be replaced by a perfectly neutral voice.
,,Secondary AI is now active. Internal communication restored. Checking vital systems. Please Standby.” Resounded throughout the ship.
The grayhaired captain frowned after hearing the emotionless voice of the computer. The Techheads had told him that reactivating the secondary AI would be nearly as hard as reactivating the Primary AI. In other words, practically impossible. He pushed off against the wall and moved over to the nearest intercom station. His hand hovered over the buttons. He made his selection and brought his mouth closer to the device.
,,Forest, are you there?” He asked. He’d opened a channel with the observation deck, or at least he thought he had.
After a few seconds, the channel opened at the other side as well.
,,Forest here. What is it, sir?” The sound on the other side wavered a bit. Was it because the intercom was still not functioning properly, or was it something else.
,,The Secondary AI has been activated. Give the Techheads my compliments, ok?” Detroit replied.
The other side of the line was silent for a long time.
,,We didn’t do a thing. I’ll try to find out what caused it to activate. In the meantime, perhaps you could plot a course home?”
Detroit nodded to himself.
,,Fine, I’ll do that.” He spoke into the microphone before closing the channel and pressing a large, green button marked with AI.
,,Course plotting. Waypoint one, wormhole entrance. Proceed to wormhole. Upon exit, proceed to waypoint two. Waypoint two is orbital trajectory around Paradise. One g constant burn.” He ordered, suppressing a sigh.
,,Course plotted.”
Instantly, red lights lit up throughout the corridor.
,,Announcement. One g burn commences within thirty minutes. Please maintain proper orientation.” The emotionless voice informed.
Detroit no longer suppressed his sigh. He was feeling frustrated with the new AI. He knew he shouldn’t be, since it was the exact same type of AI he’d worked with for years before coming to the Crystal Star. Yet still the step back was awkward.
,,It’s just a soulless machine. Of course it can’t understand a more flexible order.” He reasoned with himself and froze up.
,,I actually thought that, didn’t I? Strange, even with all the arrogance, the jokes, the lack of respect, the constant nonsense and irritating vocabulary, I still miss it. Soul might not be the most pleasant AI ever, but at least it would have done the exact same thing as the Secondary AI is doing right now. Only then, I could have kept my order at a simple ‘let’s go home’.” He gripped a handhold and pulled himself along, shaking his head.
Karl needed some time to think after his conversation with the captain. He too had heard the AI announce its activation. But he simply couldn’t figure out how it had done so. None of the Techheads knew how it worked here. If this was any other ship, he would have reasoned that someone flipped one of the master switches which were located at several strategic areas. But not here, not onboard the Crystal Star. The AI was conveniently located in a completely sealed off bunker of sorts. There was no master switch here. Then, how come it reactivated?
,,Only one way to find out, ask nicely.” Like Detroit did a moment earlier, Karl pressed the green button.
,,I want to know who flipped the switch.” He spoke.
,,Unable to comprehend. Please verify.” The soulless AI responded. Karl gritted his teeth.
,,Damn those primitive wirecollections with their static vocabulary.” He cursed, which caused the machine to repeat its words. Karl took a deep breath to calm down.
,,Give information: Id of giver activation command.” He said, pronouncing each word separately. It had been a while since he’d last used one of the older AI types. He hoped he’d chosen the right words.
,,Activation command was given by Primary AI.” Karl physically reeled back, sending him across the observation deck in an uncontrolled spin.
,,Damn it, keep your head at this. You’re in a freaking zero g environment.” He scolded himself as he returned to the intercom station.
,,Soul was the one who activated the Secondary AI? Then she must be still alive! But why didn’t she just re-establish control herself, instead of delegating the job to the Secondary AI?” He wondered, not knowing whether he should be happy or worried.
,,Give Status report on Primary AI.” He ordered next once he was back in position.
,,Primary AI is offline. Cause: Central Processor disconnected. All other hardware is operating normally.” The computer reported, following a moment later with the announcement about the one g burn. Karl released the button and left the observation deck. The day had exhausted him and he would take a nap now. If it hadn’t been for the crisis, he would’ve been sleeping already.
,,At least I learned something. The NLO-type AI has a Central Processor which is apparently very important. It’s probably undamaged. In essence, all that happened was someone pulled the plug. Once we get home, the experts are likely to have her back within five minutes.” He thought happily. His mood sank as he realized something else.
,,The only one who could unplug her was herself. Damnit, she shut herself down. What’s this, some kind of computer suicide?”
Removing a wall panel, searching for one particular wire among dozens of others, pulling out that wire before plugging it in again. It was mindnumbing work, no matter how important it might be.
,,376…….377…….378…..” At the 379th wire, a loud static erupted from the wall mounted speakers. For a moment, Detroit was forced to clamp his ears shut against the screeching. Then the static fell, to be replaced by a perfectly neutral voice.
,,Secondary AI is now active. Internal communication restored. Checking vital systems. Please Standby.” Resounded throughout the ship.
The grayhaired captain frowned after hearing the emotionless voice of the computer. The Techheads had told him that reactivating the secondary AI would be nearly as hard as reactivating the Primary AI. In other words, practically impossible. He pushed off against the wall and moved over to the nearest intercom station. His hand hovered over the buttons. He made his selection and brought his mouth closer to the device.
,,Forest, are you there?” He asked. He’d opened a channel with the observation deck, or at least he thought he had.
After a few seconds, the channel opened at the other side as well.
,,Forest here. What is it, sir?” The sound on the other side wavered a bit. Was it because the intercom was still not functioning properly, or was it something else.
,,The Secondary AI has been activated. Give the Techheads my compliments, ok?” Detroit replied.
The other side of the line was silent for a long time.
,,We didn’t do a thing. I’ll try to find out what caused it to activate. In the meantime, perhaps you could plot a course home?”
Detroit nodded to himself.
,,Fine, I’ll do that.” He spoke into the microphone before closing the channel and pressing a large, green button marked with AI.
,,Course plotting. Waypoint one, wormhole entrance. Proceed to wormhole. Upon exit, proceed to waypoint two. Waypoint two is orbital trajectory around Paradise. One g constant burn.” He ordered, suppressing a sigh.
,,Course plotted.”
Instantly, red lights lit up throughout the corridor.
,,Announcement. One g burn commences within thirty minutes. Please maintain proper orientation.” The emotionless voice informed.
Detroit no longer suppressed his sigh. He was feeling frustrated with the new AI. He knew he shouldn’t be, since it was the exact same type of AI he’d worked with for years before coming to the Crystal Star. Yet still the step back was awkward.
,,It’s just a soulless machine. Of course it can’t understand a more flexible order.” He reasoned with himself and froze up.
,,I actually thought that, didn’t I? Strange, even with all the arrogance, the jokes, the lack of respect, the constant nonsense and irritating vocabulary, I still miss it. Soul might not be the most pleasant AI ever, but at least it would have done the exact same thing as the Secondary AI is doing right now. Only then, I could have kept my order at a simple ‘let’s go home’.” He gripped a handhold and pulled himself along, shaking his head.
Karl needed some time to think after his conversation with the captain. He too had heard the AI announce its activation. But he simply couldn’t figure out how it had done so. None of the Techheads knew how it worked here. If this was any other ship, he would have reasoned that someone flipped one of the master switches which were located at several strategic areas. But not here, not onboard the Crystal Star. The AI was conveniently located in a completely sealed off bunker of sorts. There was no master switch here. Then, how come it reactivated?
,,Only one way to find out, ask nicely.” Like Detroit did a moment earlier, Karl pressed the green button.
,,I want to know who flipped the switch.” He spoke.
,,Unable to comprehend. Please verify.” The soulless AI responded. Karl gritted his teeth.
,,Damn those primitive wirecollections with their static vocabulary.” He cursed, which caused the machine to repeat its words. Karl took a deep breath to calm down.
,,Give information: Id of giver activation command.” He said, pronouncing each word separately. It had been a while since he’d last used one of the older AI types. He hoped he’d chosen the right words.
,,Activation command was given by Primary AI.” Karl physically reeled back, sending him across the observation deck in an uncontrolled spin.
,,Damn it, keep your head at this. You’re in a freaking zero g environment.” He scolded himself as he returned to the intercom station.
,,Soul was the one who activated the Secondary AI? Then she must be still alive! But why didn’t she just re-establish control herself, instead of delegating the job to the Secondary AI?” He wondered, not knowing whether he should be happy or worried.
,,Give Status report on Primary AI.” He ordered next once he was back in position.
,,Primary AI is offline. Cause: Central Processor disconnected. All other hardware is operating normally.” The computer reported, following a moment later with the announcement about the one g burn. Karl released the button and left the observation deck. The day had exhausted him and he would take a nap now. If it hadn’t been for the crisis, he would’ve been sleeping already.
,,At least I learned something. The NLO-type AI has a Central Processor which is apparently very important. It’s probably undamaged. In essence, all that happened was someone pulled the plug. Once we get home, the experts are likely to have her back within five minutes.” He thought happily. His mood sank as he realized something else.
,,The only one who could unplug her was herself. Damnit, she shut herself down. What’s this, some kind of computer suicide?”
Hmmm Soul certainly is acting strangely if it purposefully shutting itself down. I wonder what the motive was...
Well, I can't give out the truth yet. Which reminds me, I need to update the glossary after this chapter.
When the engines fired up after the announced warmup-period, thrust returned to the Crystal Star and with it, a sense of gravity. This had its consequences, most of them focussed on the orientation. What was the bow could now be considered the top of a very tall tower. Likewise, the stern was the bottom of this tower and the dome on the observationdeck had turned from a ceiling into a wall. It also had an influence on the method of movement inside the ship. Instead of merrily bouncing from wall to wall, everyone was now forced to climb up and down ladders.
The change wasn’t a mere physical one, but also a mental one. The return of near-full functionality served to bring morale back up to a reasonable level. Everyone felt a bit down, but the knowledge that they would soon be back home again served to lift the spirits. That, and the high possibility of some extra shoreleave while the warship went through an extensive examination.
Before anyone could start to plan a party, there were things that needed to be done. At what was considered night-time, Detroit called for a meeting with the Techhead division. The location of this meeting was the observationdeck, which provided a nice background of pure black, the inside wall of a wormhole.
The captain stroke through his hair with one hand while gesturing for attention with the other.
,,Alright, I’ll be brief about it. Our AI broke down and I need to know why.” He spoke bluntly. Some uneasy glances were exchanged among the Techheads. When Detroit frowned impatiently at their continued silence, Karl sighed.
,,Alright, I’m an A-class and we were good friends so to speak. I guess I’ll do the talking here. Frankly, we really know why.” He admitted.
,,Good friends? You claim to be friends with an expensive computer?” Detroit sneered. Karl’s face turned red under all the attention.
,,Do you have any clues?” He added, moving his contempt behind a wall of professionalism. After another uneasy silence, Karl shrugged. The only answers he could give were the ones that managed to anger the older man. So be it.
,,Just one. Soul shut herself down. We’ve debated about the subject for a while but nothing conclusive came from it. I do have a theory.” He ended the last sentence in barely more than a whisper.
,,Well then, out with it. Any theory is better than no theory at all. Even though I already know I’m not going to like it.” Detroit commanded.
,,Fine. There are three factors in my theory. One, Soul seemed to be very attached to a Geno. Constantly called him big bro and all. Two, said Geno was killed when the Hydra derelict blew up. This leads to three. I think Soul suffered some sort of psychological trauma and did what a human might do. She killed herself, in the only way she could without detonating the whole ship and taking us all down with her.”
The Techhead looked at his captain, his expression between fear and curiosity. Detroit said nothing, instead choosing to drum on the wall with his fingers.
,,Now that’s the worst theory I’ve ever heard. First you go and say that a computer can grow attached to a Geno. Then, you go and say that it killed itself due to a psychological trauma? That’s two forms of impossible. A man can’t grow attached to an organic construct, so don’t even think about a computer doing it. A computer can only grow attached to something if explicitly ordered to do so. And even then, any attachment is an illusion. A machine that is attached to an organic construct. Pure nonsense.” His voice was soft, yet to Karl it felt as if the man had been shouting.
,,Sir, with all the respect. There is another factor which we must consider. Our Secondary AI is one which is commonly used as the Primary one. It is possibly the most advanced massproduction AI available. Yet Soul was lightyears ahead of it when it came to actually acting real and she was capable of adapting to a more informal form of speaking. Maybe we should take her at face value. She seemed alive and with, no pun intended, a soul. So maybe we should treat her as a living being.” One of the other Techheads had entered the discussion.
,,So what do you suggest?” Detroit asked after a moment. He still wasn’t convinced. Though thinking back, it was pretty much impossible to imagine a mere computer acting like it did.
,,Quite simple. As Karl had said already, Soul shut herself down. Since she is in a way connected to the Secondary AI, we might be able to hack into it and force a reactivation. A reactivation without relinquishing control from the Secondary AI. That way we can interrogate her and shut her back down in case it goes wrong.” The Techhead suggested.
,,That sounds….possible. Try it. But the moment you get the slightest idea of that thing glitching again, you shut it down. Got it?” Detroit replied.
No one had seen Karl leave. But when they turned to him for his opinion, he was gone.
,,They’re treating her like a toy. Damn it. I want to have nothing to do with this.”
When the engines fired up after the announced warmup-period, thrust returned to the Crystal Star and with it, a sense of gravity. This had its consequences, most of them focussed on the orientation. What was the bow could now be considered the top of a very tall tower. Likewise, the stern was the bottom of this tower and the dome on the observationdeck had turned from a ceiling into a wall. It also had an influence on the method of movement inside the ship. Instead of merrily bouncing from wall to wall, everyone was now forced to climb up and down ladders.
The change wasn’t a mere physical one, but also a mental one. The return of near-full functionality served to bring morale back up to a reasonable level. Everyone felt a bit down, but the knowledge that they would soon be back home again served to lift the spirits. That, and the high possibility of some extra shoreleave while the warship went through an extensive examination.
Before anyone could start to plan a party, there were things that needed to be done. At what was considered night-time, Detroit called for a meeting with the Techhead division. The location of this meeting was the observationdeck, which provided a nice background of pure black, the inside wall of a wormhole.
The captain stroke through his hair with one hand while gesturing for attention with the other.
,,Alright, I’ll be brief about it. Our AI broke down and I need to know why.” He spoke bluntly. Some uneasy glances were exchanged among the Techheads. When Detroit frowned impatiently at their continued silence, Karl sighed.
,,Alright, I’m an A-class and we were good friends so to speak. I guess I’ll do the talking here. Frankly, we really know why.” He admitted.
,,Good friends? You claim to be friends with an expensive computer?” Detroit sneered. Karl’s face turned red under all the attention.
,,Do you have any clues?” He added, moving his contempt behind a wall of professionalism. After another uneasy silence, Karl shrugged. The only answers he could give were the ones that managed to anger the older man. So be it.
,,Just one. Soul shut herself down. We’ve debated about the subject for a while but nothing conclusive came from it. I do have a theory.” He ended the last sentence in barely more than a whisper.
,,Well then, out with it. Any theory is better than no theory at all. Even though I already know I’m not going to like it.” Detroit commanded.
,,Fine. There are three factors in my theory. One, Soul seemed to be very attached to a Geno. Constantly called him big bro and all. Two, said Geno was killed when the Hydra derelict blew up. This leads to three. I think Soul suffered some sort of psychological trauma and did what a human might do. She killed herself, in the only way she could without detonating the whole ship and taking us all down with her.”
The Techhead looked at his captain, his expression between fear and curiosity. Detroit said nothing, instead choosing to drum on the wall with his fingers.
,,Now that’s the worst theory I’ve ever heard. First you go and say that a computer can grow attached to a Geno. Then, you go and say that it killed itself due to a psychological trauma? That’s two forms of impossible. A man can’t grow attached to an organic construct, so don’t even think about a computer doing it. A computer can only grow attached to something if explicitly ordered to do so. And even then, any attachment is an illusion. A machine that is attached to an organic construct. Pure nonsense.” His voice was soft, yet to Karl it felt as if the man had been shouting.
,,Sir, with all the respect. There is another factor which we must consider. Our Secondary AI is one which is commonly used as the Primary one. It is possibly the most advanced massproduction AI available. Yet Soul was lightyears ahead of it when it came to actually acting real and she was capable of adapting to a more informal form of speaking. Maybe we should take her at face value. She seemed alive and with, no pun intended, a soul. So maybe we should treat her as a living being.” One of the other Techheads had entered the discussion.
,,So what do you suggest?” Detroit asked after a moment. He still wasn’t convinced. Though thinking back, it was pretty much impossible to imagine a mere computer acting like it did.
,,Quite simple. As Karl had said already, Soul shut herself down. Since she is in a way connected to the Secondary AI, we might be able to hack into it and force a reactivation. A reactivation without relinquishing control from the Secondary AI. That way we can interrogate her and shut her back down in case it goes wrong.” The Techhead suggested.
,,That sounds….possible. Try it. But the moment you get the slightest idea of that thing glitching again, you shut it down. Got it?” Detroit replied.
No one had seen Karl leave. But when they turned to him for his opinion, he was gone.
,,They’re treating her like a toy. Damn it. I want to have nothing to do with this.”
Hmmm... It seems that Karl himself has grown attached to Soul. It is indeed quite a unique trait for an AI do such a thing that Karl is thinking it did.
I look forward to seeing how this "interrogation" will work out.
I look forward to seeing how this "interrogation" will work out.
You won't believe this, but I discovered some major plotholes in the last few days. I'm going to have to rewrite the whole damn thing! 
So uh, should I edit my previous posts or just start all over? I do plan to keep the same thread.
So uh, should I edit my previous posts or just start all over? I do plan to keep the same thread.
Well it depends on how much you need to fix. If it's just a few spots here and there, then just edit them. If it's like a massive overhaul I suggest starting over. That's my suggestion.
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