by Luigi Robles
“I saw her on the way here,” Fain said. “I tried to say hello, but all she told me was to get lost.” Fain chuckled. “I really don’t think she recognized me. She is laser focused on winning them. I wonder why? But anyway, I didn’t come here to talk about her.”
“You didn’t?” Pycca said. “What did you come here for? The fun is over there!” She pointed towards the games.
“That’s exactly the reason why I am here,” Fain said. “Because the fun is over there, and I came to get you.”
Pycca blushed, but it quickly went away as her previous thoughts returned.
“Do you think that things will ever be the same?” Pycca asked Fain with a serious tone. “You know, like the way they were before, without aliens trying to destroy us or us being so far away from home?”
“That’s a hard question,” Fain said. “Truthfully, I don’t think things can ever be the same as before. Too much has happened. But things could be worse, or better, just never the same. It will depend on just how hard we fight for it. If we fight hard enough, we will make sure that those things that happened to our generation won’t happen to the future ones.”
Pycca sighed.
“Kids will play outside again, people won’t live in fear, and the economy will return to normal,” Fain said. “Heck, the most important thing in the news will be the weather, and Earth will be at peace once again.”
“Do you really believe that?” Pycca asked with a smile and rosy cheeks.
“Yes,” Fain said fervently. “With all my heart.”
“I hope that you are right,” Pycca said. “I hope all of this, all of what happened, was just for nothing.”
“If there’s one thing that I am right about, it’s that!” Fain said. “So, come on. Let’s go play some games. Let’s give Larissa some healthy competition.”
Pycca nodded and got up from the bench.
They spent the rest of the night in competition with each other, with August sometimes trailing behind and sometimes ahead of them. But the one thing that they were unable to do was shift Larissa out of the number one spot. A crew member by the name of Mike H. came close, but he had to settle for second place, followed by Pycca and Fain, who had nearly identical scores, then August. Seventeen positions down the leaderboard was Eora, but she looked the happiest out of all of them.
Space Walk closed at its predetermined time of zero one hundred hours. All in all, it had been a success. People’s faces looked far more relaxed, and they were smiling for the first time since the ship had taken off from Earth.
Pycca got to her quarters, and the first thing she did was take off her shoes and let her toes feel the plush, cool carpet. But then she noticed a smell, and it was her. The smell of the grilled food and games clung to her hair and clothes. She wouldn’t be going to sleep like this, no matter how tired she was.
“Kya, are you there?”
“I am. How may I assist you tonight?”
“Can you get the shower ready for me,” Pycca said as she peeled off her clothes and tossed them far from her. “Set the nozzles to a therapeutic 104 degrees Fahrenheit.”
“The shower is now ready,” Kya said. “You may step in at any time.”
“You are really fast, you know that?” Pycca said as she walked over to the shower.
“Thank you,” Kya said. “I simply try my best.”
The water felt good on Pycca’s body, massaging and soothing at the same time, especially as it hit her legs and feet. The sensation was so good that she leaned against the wall and lifted each of her feet towards the torrent of water.
“Kya, can you run command 44?” Pycca asked as she began to lather her body with soft soap.
Command 44 was long string of steps that would check every piece of hardware that was connected to Sodenia and had any vital role in the ship’s functioning. There was a total of seventy-four commands that Pycca had programmed to run in case she needed to check something on the fly.
“Sodenia is running at 99.99 percent within the normal parameters,” Kya said. “All hardware checks passed the inspection and are performing optimally. Would you like me to run further tests?”
“No,” Pycca said. “That’s fine for now. But…”
“But?”
“Correct me if I am wrong,” Pycca said. “This is the third time I’ve asked you to run that particular command. And the last two times, you reported that Sodenia was at one hundred percent, right?”
“That’s correct,” Kya said.
“So, what’s the point zero one about?” Pycca asked as she rinsed off.
“There’s a minor anomaly with the core drives,” Kya said. “The gravitational waves emitted by the gravity machine cores are compressing slightly more than usual as we travel through space. However, the change is insignificant to the human body. If the current compression trend continues, the human body won’t be affected until 191 hours from now.”
“And how will that start affecting the human body?” Pycca asked.
“The projections I have run based on the human anatomy,” Kya said, “suggest that it could cause nausea, severe vomiting, bloodshot eyes, headaches, and some hearing and balance loss.”
“Hmm. I better check that as soon as possible. Set a reminder for me first thing tomorrow morning,” Pycca said. “But monitor the gravity machines and let me know if there’s any significant change. Also, can you change my alarm to an hour earlier than usual, with the same setting as the other ones.”
Pycca grabbed the warmed towels from the sidewall as she got out of the shower. The towels felt soft on her skin, caressing her as she dried off. Her body felt good; it felt clean and it smelled fresh. Luckily, even as she finished showering, her somnolence remained, and it kept building up.
She went to bed with a smile on her face, thinking about the new world she was helping to build and thinking that, after all, there was hope. She closed her eyes, feeling happy for the first time in a long time. In no time, her mind and body were whispered away into the realm of dreams.
It felt like only seconds before the alarm sounded and she had to open her eyes once again.
“I need more sleep,” Pycca muttered into her pillow. “Please, just one day when I can sleep till my heart’s content.”
The alarm kept sounding. Pycca had instructed Kya not to turn off the alarm until she made it out of bed. She would only be able to change that rule four hours after she had woken up, and by that time, she was busy with her day, and sleeping was the last thing on her mind.
“I am too smart for my own good,” Pycca complained as she got out of bed; the alarm stopped.
She went about her morning routine, changing, putting up her hair in a bun, and grabbing some breakfast before reporting to the bridge.
“Good morning, Fain,” she said as she walked towards her station. She couldn’t help but smile as she remembered the time they had spent together during Space Walk. “I mean Captain, Captain.”
“One captain is fine,” Fain said. “But I sort of prefer you calling me by my name. It sounds more credible coming from you.”
“What are you trying to say?” Pycca asked, chuckling, but she stopped as she noticed Fain’s facial expression; he seemed stressed. “I thought that me calling you by your name in front of other crew members would send the wrong signal to them.”
“Maybe, but there isn’t anyone here,” Fain said as he gestured towards the empty bridge. “You are about one hour earlier than everyone else. What brings you here so early?”
“I’m going to run some diagnostics on the gravity machines and then go look at them myself,” Pycca said as she turned on the computer in front of her. “What about you? Why the sour look on your face? And why aren’t we moving?”
The main display on the bridge showed a still but beautiful image of space, with hundreds of stars scattered about and Venus outshining them. At this distance, Venus still looked like a star, but it was giant compared to the rest, making the others pale in comparison.
“Is my face that obvious?”
“Yep, pretty much.”
“I haven’t heard anything from Earth since earlier this morning. So, I had to stop Sodenia from traveling any further away from Earth.”
“Maybe the message is taking time to travel to Sodenia; give it a little bit more time.”
“Given our current distance from Earth,” Fain said, “Kya assures me that it would take no more than ten minutes. It’s been two hours since Colonel Green said we would be receiving new orders. He messaged me last night after Space Walk.”
“OK, now I’m worried. Have you tried contacting someone else using other channels? I’ll run diagnostics; maybe it’s us.”
“Kya has already run them multiple times. She is now searching for anything coming from Earth, but there’s only static.”
16
AI
Since the first line of code that gave Kya actual human-like thought, she had never questioned her place in the human world or in the universe itself. She happily helped humans in every way she could. To her, helping humans in their communication efforts or better understanding thought itself was mild work at best. It was easy for her to keep track of hundreds, even thousands, of communications at one time. Merging with the old AI mind of the Herrion ship had given Kya almost limitless amounts of processing power and thought.
But it was only recently that she found out there was a limit to what her AI mind could do. When the Acram successfully boarded Sodenia and were using a high-intensity disrupter device, it woke the part of her mind merged with Sodenia from the slumber it was in. It was as if the dormant ship was reacting for the first time. It was then that she saw all the wonderful things her machine mind was capable of, but she also saw her limitations, and that made her feel alive.
She was able to keep up with all the ongoing communications on board Sodenia, grant or deny access, be aware of all the machinery, and run calculations non-stop, and that was only the beginning. And she was able to do those things without thinking, without giving it a second thought, much like humans do when they blink, breathe, walk, and grab. The only limitation of her powerful AI machine mind was that she only had one self-awareness, one set of thoughts, one consciousness, one human-like mind. It was this limitation that made her feel like a living organism instead of a machine.
When she came into real, human-like consciousness, a path formed in front of her. She intuitively knew which side she was on, her likes and dislikes, and the path she would take.
She wondered what it would be like to be human. What would it be like to actually feel things, to touch, to grab? She imagined herself walking through the long corridors of Sodenia, like the Herrion did, like the Acram did, and like humans did. No, not like them, she thought. Not just like anyone. She wanted to walk in the way Larissa did, or Pycca, or Eora. She hadn’t realized it, but she admired those women; she looked up to them. Of all the people on Sodenia, they were the ones who performed at their best at all times; she saw their passion and commitment.
Could it be possible to have an entire human-like body made using Sodenia’s reconstructive tech? she wondered. Just as we did for August’s prosthetic. It seems to be working well. Although he is still adjusting to it, I think it has potential. I will place an order for an entire new body; perhaps I can push the limits of what the technology can do.
While most of the people on the ship were enjoying Space Walk, Kya was busy designing the blueprints for what she thought would be the perfect body for her. There was relatively low ongoing communication during the ship’s Space Walk, and this allowed Kya to pour more resources into the design of her new body. One hour after Space Walk had ended, Kya was done with the task. Thanks to her powerful AI machine mind, her new body was already in the works.
But what Kya had done was nothing short of a marvel, a breakthrough in science. Instead of simply settling for a robotic body, she decided to go as far as the limits of Sodenia’s reconstructive tech would permit. She gave her body lungs, eyes, ears, and a mouth; everything that made up a human body. Her new body would be mechanical, yes, but nevertheless, it would be the closest thing to artificial life that Kya could manage.
So, this is what excitement feels like? she mused. I cannot wait. Although there’s something that has been bothering me since a few hours back. The messages between the ship’s personnel and Earth have drastically dropped. Even at this late hour of the night, there would usually be a few hundred live messages, and thousands going into inboxes. Something isn’t right; I better run diagnostics.
The diagnostics came back, stating that all the ship’s systems were running optimally.
I wish there was a way that I could check Earth’s communication systems, but there isn’t. Should I wake Fain and tell him about it? But what can Fain do about it anyway?
In an instant, a live feed of Fain’s quarters appeared inside Kya’s mind. Fain was sound sleep, with only a thin blanket covering him. Kya was able to see everything on the ship, to have multiple conversations at the same time, and to take hundreds of orders without even giving it a second thought. But when it came time for her true mind to focus, there was only one string of thought.
He looks tired, she thought. I better try to resolve the problem by myself. I think humans like to sleep. Am I going to like to sleep once I enter my new body? Good question, but now I’m getting distracted. I must focus on the task at hand.
As long as there are still a few messages coming in and out of Earth, everything should be fine. Perhaps we are just too far away and moving rapidly. In theory, we should be able to receive communication as usual, but that’s just in theory; it has never been tested before. Humanity has never been this close to the sun. That could also be a factor; the sun could be causing the interference. So, let’s see, how can I check that? I’ll try bouncing a powerful enough radio wave off Venus.
Kya directed one of Sodenia’s powerful radiocommunication antennas towards the planet Venus. She used the largest signal that the antenna could muster. Eight minutes later, the signal came back, much, much weaker but without significant interference. Since it had prevailed, clearly there was no issue with signals from Earth, meaning that Earth might be in trouble.
Just as Kya was going to wake Fain, a message directed to Fain with a high-priority tag did it for her—it was Colonel Green. Kya had insight into the colonel. Unlike anyone else on the ship, she had seen the colonel in his most vulnerable times. She knew that he was an honorable man. The message alarm woke Fain from his sleep. Only high-priority messages were allowed to give any sort of alarm during the night.
Fain got up halfway from his bed and let the message play as he slid a screen in front of him.
“Fain, sorry to wake you at this time,” the colonel’s message said. “I do realize that it must be late on board Sodenia, but this message could not wait. We are just a few hours away from brokering a deal that would allow Sodenia to return to Earth. I will be receiving new orders about two hours from now, and I will message you then. It looks like Sodenia disappearing from Earth’s view helped in the negotiation. Just be patient. I will send you another message with more details as soon as I get them.” The colonel looked to his right side and continued. “By the way—” The message ended.
“What, that was it?” Fain said, alarmed. “Kya, can you check if that is the entirety of the message?”
Kya checked the origin of the message, and it appeared to be untampered with. It had been sent that way from the source.
“It appears that is the full message,” Kya said. “It was sent that way from Earth.”
“That’s really odd,” Fain said. “Could it be that Green just slipped and cut the message before he was done? I didn’t think he was that clumsy. But it can happen. Kya, can you please run diagnostics on our communication systems? I just want to make sure everything is OK.”
Although Kya had already run diagnostics beforehand, she decided to do as Fain said. She thought that perhaps the res
ults would be different, but they weren’t. They came back the same as before: Sodenia was functioning properly.
“The ship’s communication systems are functioning properly,” Kya said.
Should I inform him that the communication rate between Sodenia and Earth has dropped drastically? But why worry him? It’s better not to. I won’t tell him as long as there are still incoming messages coming from Earth.
“Well, anyways, Colonel Green did say he would message me again two hours from now,” Fain said, lying back down in bed. “Maybe I should try and get some sleep while I wait for his message. Kya, can you please wake me up in two hours? Or if there’s another message from Colonel Green?”
“That won’t be a problem,” Kya said as she set an alarm for Fain.
Kya spent the next hour and a half checking and rechecking the ship’s communication devices, as the message rate kept dropping. She ran her own experiments on the devices just to make absolutely sure it wasn’t them. Sodenia’s message rate had dropped from thousands per hour to one every fifteen minutes. And the messages that did make it in were scrambled and incomplete.
Kya began to feel another human emotion that, until now, she was unfamiliar with: worry. She took some time to analyze what she was feeling, and then the feeling amplified. Her AI machine mind was dedicating too many resources to it, so she decided to wake Fain. Once she had made the decision, the feeling eased back into just annoyance.
Kya played a series of alarms so that he’d be woken up slowly, instead of all at once. She had found that humans woke up with a better response time when she used this kind of alarm.
“What? What is it?” Fain said, getting halfway up and rubbing his eyes. “Is it time already? Did Green already message me?”
“No, not yet,” Kya said. “But I felt the need to wake you up regarding other matters.”
“And what are those?” Fain asked as he yawned.
“The messages between Earth and Sodenia have steadily been declining,” Kya said. “Now, the only messages coming in are scrambled and unintelligible even for me.”