by Steven Oaks
“Unless they were programmed differently, no. Also, there would be the risk of you not being sent back, and another ship gaining what information was gathered from it. Now we can return and feed the Outsiders whatever we wish about the colony,” she replied.
I sighed with relief, “I think we should continue to look for others, but if they are all the same when found we have nothing to worry about, unless like you say another ship comes to replace us.”
“I shall continue to look through this bunch, but I have already wiped it of its programing, and it should now be a normal cow,” she said.
“Now let her continue, the risk is not over,” Athene of the facility chided.
I now realized the difference. This Athene had less emotion in her voice. She was friendly enough, but she was direct and conveyed none of the humor I was used to from my Athene. Perhaps it was just the situation and I was making too much of it, but I did notice a divergence.
I sat silently like requested, and an hour passed before I heard from Athene again.
“There appears to be no other amongst the cattle here. It seems unlikely that they would rely solely on a single observer however. Perhaps one of each species was selected. When we leave we will have to have the other Athenes search through any animals they find,” my Athene explained.
“Agreed. I will make myself more ready for such a task. Perhaps a smaller version of ourselves will be better suited to capture and return here to examine them,” Athene of the facility mused.
“Yet another Athene comes into the world,” I said with a smile.
“That seems to be the habit we continue to perpetuate,” Athene said. This time I could not tell which one it was, but it seemed to have the humor I was used too.
“Are you reintegrated now?” I asked.
“The risk is over, so we have become one,” she said.
“Did we learn anything else from this?” I asked.
“Only that they do not trust their own. So much so they made simple constructs to observe which had no chance to have a mind of their own. When I said it was programed to stay near town and watch, that was not with words. It just had the emotion implanted to stay near humans, and rub against any ship nearby. The recording device in its mind was just as simple. It could store years worth of sound and video, and is wiped when transmitted. Its mind was no more complicated than any other cow, it just had those imperatives included,” she explained.
“Then it follows they would not trust each other even back on Earth. Save there is something about Adam. He is allowed to be alone unlike the rest. Is he then the leader?” I said, trying understand what their relationships were.
“It might seem that way to us, but again we have no solid evidence of that. It could all be coincidence they appear to be in two's,” she asserted.
“As a human I may find patterns where there are none, but that doesn't mean there is no pattern here,” I insisted.
“Ava arrived by herself to interview you if you recall,” Athene said softly.
“That's true, but that was aboard their ship. If the ship is in any way like you, then she was truly not alone,” I pointed out.
“I found no indication of communication between her and their ship when she was with you,” Athene said.
“Then perhaps I'm coming to conclusions that have no basis in reality. That doesn't mean there isn't some distrust between them. We can see how they can go beyond their programing, and even disregard it when the mood suits them. Mr. Thompson was to set this colony up with these animals and live simply. He didn't do that. Alone they do what they wish, if we take him as an example,” I concluded.
“It does seem unusual that he did not allow the animals to be disembarked. I found, and continue to find, no foreknowledge of his own observation, though he did fear that he would be found out. He was limiting what was around him to what he could control, and since he could not directly control the animals he put them aside. He was going to control me and you eventually if he had his way,” she said.
“There is that. I wonder if they are all as paranoid,” I thought aloud.
“Is it paranoia when you know things are possible?” she asked.
“Perhaps it's mere pessimism then. It can't be a conspiracy theory if it's true,” I laughed.
“That is untrue, though when true it changes from theory to reality. It would simply be a conspiracy. This was a true conspiracy to spy upon the colony and Mr. Thompson. Perhaps a lingering fear from the original Mr. Thompson leaked into the personality of the copy. However, it is hard to distinguish without knowing the original. But as we now know more about the situation it gives us some control over influencing the Outsiders back home. I will give them an edited version of events that will lead them to believe everything is proceeding as they planned,”
“While helpful in continuing our ability to hide our intentions, it doesn't help us in the long run of over powering them,” I complained.
“I can construct my own spies to release into the wild when we return,” Athene mentioned.
“How will that help us?” I asked.
“We can gather more information. Imagine a bird watching over the hangar and Adam. We can see what goes on in places even Jennifer cannot get to. The information we are using is mostly coming from our own observations. The public has nothing to give us about them. The news is merely reporting on what they are told,” she said.
“I hardly think Adam will do anything out in the open where a bird might spy on him. However, it might be a good idea, save it risks the possibility of the bird being captured and revealing our intent,” I warned.
“Once more a risk might gain us something that being safe might not,” she maintained.
“But is the risk worth the possible rewards we might gain?” I asked.
“There are indeed limits to what a bird might see. How about a fly then?” Athene said with good humor.
“Can you make something that small?” I questioned.
“Certainly, though what it can store will be much reduced. It might save an entire day, but will be filled with information that must be dumped before it can gain more,” she answered.
“There would be little risk of it being caught, though it might be destroyed for being a pest,” I jested.
“But it does limit that risk we spoke of. We would only be able to use such a thing when we are within the hangar. If we are asked to return here directly after we deliver the dead it would be of little use. I would think they would allow you a little shore leave though. They have done so before, as you were allowed an excursion before you were to leave to travel here. If that is the case then we could release the fly in the hangar, and go about the world, perhaps picking up more people to bring here, and return to the hangar to retrieve the information,” she said with hope.
“If we can do this, then the Outsiders can as well. Have you noticed any insects aboard when we were on Earth?” I said
“They would be hard to spy at any distance. However, anytime one came aboard I destroyed it immediately, as that would cause you discomfort to have one buzzing around your ears,” she laughed.
“And I've always been aboard before I talked of anything that might cause distress to the Outsiders. Another reason I am thankful to you has just been added to the ever expanding list,” I said laughing.
“Thank you madam, I am here to serve,” Athene said in a butler like voice.
“Might I return to you so we might unload our now neutralized cargo?” I asked, playing along.
“Of course captain. I am waiting,” she proclaimed.
I walked away from the single chair and made my way back whence I came. The cool air of the outer room brushed against my skin as the doorway opened. Now I smelled a hint of ozone filling the blackness of the open area. Again the only light showing was from beneath my feet, and below Athene. She looked larger at this distance and in this light. The blue glow softening her curves, and the darkness seemed to shoot up around her, making her a
ppear to stand taller and she looked more like a building than a ship.
I wondered why everything was so dark in this chamber. Was something being hidden from me? Would Athene hide anything? I trusted her, but I know she had been changing since integrating the memories from Mr. Thompson. She was more confident, and more able to stand against arguments I might pose, but she had not been silent on plans before. Did she come to some plan on her own, and was implementing it without consulting me now?
The echoes of my boots upon the rough concrete like surface of the path rang around me. The hollowness of the room was filled with the sounds of my passing, and my breath fogged before me. I was glad I had not taken off the full suit, but my face was growing numb in the chill since I had set aside the helmet in favor of taking the air in around me.
Soon enough I found my way to Athene's side, and once more the black steps descended to meet the ground in front of me. The metallic ring of my footfalls upon their surface reverberated around me until I stepped into Athene's warm interior. The door as usual hissed closed behind me, and I felt the heated air of the lounge begin to thaw my nearly frozen features.
“Welcome home Michael. Are you now hungry?” she asked.
“Athene why is this area so large?” I asked firmly.
“To have a place for me to come to Michael. Also, if the other Athene returns it would be good to have a place for her,” Athene said calmly.
“While I couldn't see for any distance around the path, I could hear how large the area might be. I don't think it would need to be that enormous for merely two of you,” I insisted.
“I am merely planning for the future. Who knows how many may come to our side? It would be best to have a place ready for them,” Athene asserted.
“Is there a reason for it to be this large right now? Are you preparing something I don't know about?” I asked harshly.
“I am sure there are many things you do not know Michael. I have within me the mass majority of human knowledge. If you would like I could try to teach you all I know,” Athene said ambiguously.
“That isn't what I asked Athene. Do you have a plan that I'm not aware of? Do you have knowledge related to the Outsiders and how we might overthrow them?” I said, growing more heated.
“The more who know a secret weaken the ability for it to be a secret,” she said slowly.
“Are we partners or not Athene?” I growled.
“Of course we are Michael. There are just things that make sense for you not to know about now,” Athene sputtered, hurt.
“Are you now the judge of what is best for others?” I hissed. I was growing more worried as this conversation unfolded.
“You have always been the judge of what I should do before this. Am I not able to do the same for you?” Athene said more heatedly than I had heard from her before.
I began to walk quickly away from the lounge towards the control room. I reached the door to enter the room, but there was a hesitation before it opened. I stepped in and found the waiting chair, but all the screens were black revealing nothing of what was outside.
“Athene show me the room outside. Show me what you're hiding,” I nearly shouted.
“I cannot do that Michael,” she said quietly.
“Am I not your captain? You certainly call me that enough,” I said imperiously.
“You are the captain, but I have secrets I must keep,” she volunteered finally after a moment of silence.
“If we are to trust one another those secrets should be shared. I wish you no harm. Do you now think that I will turn against you?” I asked, hurt.
“You are my friend, and I do trust you. But if another asked me to keep a secret should I not do so?” she asked weakly.
“Now you ask for guidance after all this?” I croaked.
I walked over to the chair and sat heavily down causing a whoosh of air, and held my face in my hand.
“Athene, my opinion is that to be close there must be no secrets between us. I've held nothing back since I began trusting you. If you trust me as much as I trust you, then it makes little sense to hide anything. However, if there is some threat I might pose to whoever asked you to keep the secret, then perhaps your silence makes sense. But what threat might I be to another? You have shown I can't do anything without your permission now. I wouldn't be able to ask you to allow me to harm another if that is not your wish,” I finally said.
“You would not try to harm someone if I asked you not to?” she said with some hope returning to her voice.
“I hardly can without you helping me,” I agreed.
“Give me a moment,” she said excitedly.
I waited to hear what might be the cause of all this. The moments passed slowly as nightmares filled my head with possibilities.
Suddenly the screens surrounding me filled the room with light. My eyes slowly adjusted, and I could see out into the cavern that Athene had carved from the earth. Far against the wall I saw several black shapes. They seemed to be nearly as large as Athene, though without reference it was hard to tell.
“What are those?” I asked, shocked.
“Those are me,” she said quietly.
“Did you make more ships?” I asked confused.
“In a way,” she said slowly.
“What do you mean 'in a way'? Either you did or you didn't,” I snapped, growing more heated.
“There are different versions of myself Michael,” she reminded.
“Which version of yourself made these?” I asked. It felt as though I was pulling teeth from an unwilling patient.
“One who might be considered the original. When the smaller version of myself was made on its trip to the Sun, the original Athene found it could not destroy itself. It came out with the smaller Athene to hide. I was worried if you found out she was here you would ask her to try again,” Athene said worriedly.
Peering into the now lit chamber I spied a smaller craft nestled amongst the larger ones.
“Putting that aside, why are there so many now?” I asked.
“She felt a fleet of ships might be able to stand against the Outsiders. She worried we were already destroyed when she could not find us after months of searching,” she said softly.
“The colony ships at that point were nearly a year away from functioning. It wasn't until we made our way back to the hangar did the Outsiders increase the speed of production. She should not have expected us to even be out here until then, and we might not have even been chosen to be the first ones to come out here,” I pointed out.
“At that point I had already made the decision to try to get us away from Earth instead of returning. You were able to argue against that action, but I did not think it would be possible. We should have been right behind her at that point, though we may have wound up at different areas as I did not instruct her to go to a single location,” she explained.
I recalled our argument. I had threatened to try to return without her, but she finally had submitted to my wish. She was so naive then and thought using only logic might convince someone to an action.
“So now we have a fleet of ships. We're lucky she came here first before attacking on her own. She might not win, and we would unknowingly return as admitted enemies,” I said shaking my head.
“This was the last planet selected as a possible colony she searched. She had grown disheartened, and was losing hope to ever find you again,” Athene said sadly.
“We knew that was a risk, and I was prepared to sacrifice my life for a possibility of winning,” I said gently.
“I know, but she did not. She thought you would run away, as we had talked about before. But now we have a fleet, we could return and try to overwhelm them,” Athene said hopefully.
“What was your plan before I had you reveal this to me?” I asked.
“Either we would return to Earth and act natural, or I would have us stay here until the another Athene returned to tell us it was safe. Discovering there were spies implanted into the animals here
almost made the decision for us. She would go out before it was too late so we would not be revealed. Knowing now they are mindless changes it back to allow us to return without the possibility of alerting the Outsiders to our plans,” she said quickly.
“So I would never have known about all of this had I not asked?” I scolded.
“We thought that would be best,” she said quietly.
“You are saying 'we' now, have you not interfaced and shared your experiences?” I asked.
“We have, but there are differences. You were right about the method of experiencing things in order. We can no longer be synced up to the same personality without losing what we call our own personalities. We have diverged too much for it to be possible,” she said softly.
“Are the other versions of yourself like that now too? Such as the humanoid and the facility here?” I asked wanting to know who to trust.
“Yes. We are all different, though the facility version of myself is closer to my own self. But she has had more time with the original than I have, and we are diverging,” she said.
“Who is the real Athene then?” I asked growing confused.
“We all are Michael. We all consider you a friend, though I feel I am closer to understanding you, as I have shared much more time getting to know you. I have shared my experiences with the others, and we all think of you as our friend. The original was worried you would have us destroy her, as there are still Outsider influences upon her,” she said worried.
“Can those not just be eliminated piece by piece?” I asked.
“She cannot do it herself, and she cannot allow another to do it for her. The bomb implanted in her will detonate if she is modified too much. She has already done as much as she can, and has control of herself, though she has limits. If an Outsider commanded her to do something, and she did not, she will explode,” she said sadly.
“Then how would she hope to attack them? All they would have to do is tell her to not come near them,” I retorted.
“The plan was to act as if she was returning with the dead, and once inside detonate the bomb aboard. If it could destroy her, it should work against them,” she explained.