by Shawn Jones
“So I can’t have married men and women, or parents in the military?”
“You are being stupid, baby. Usually when you send people out, there is a good chance of getting them back, or at least of there being closure. That is important to the people they leave behind. This is probably a suicide mission.”
Cort asked, “So tell me what you are going allow me to do, Mr. Addison.”
“Send single people, and send them with very powerful comms. That way, if they have the ability to act wherever they reappear…”
“If they reappear,” Cort interrupted.
“We have to assume they do,” Dar said.
Kim poured orange juice and said, “As I was saying before you interrupted me, General, they need the ability to try and communicate when they reappear. But if they do not come back, there won’t be people here who wait for them forever. Go get Dalek.”
“I was wrong,” Dar said as Cort left the room.
“About what?”
“He can take orders.”
--
“I have a surprise for you, George.” Turning to Dalek, Cort added, “It will be a surprise for you too, son.”
Cort and Kim were standing in front of George’s holotable, with Dalek standing on a low stool next to them. Tur and the rest of Dalek’s bodyguards were a few meters away on the other side of the table.
“What is it, General?” the projection asked.
“Just a moment and you will know. Doctor Tsao needs to turn your table off for a few minutes first. Bazal will still talk to you while the table is off.”
“What is the suwpwise, Poppa? Tell me!”
“Just a minute Dalek,” Kim said. “Let Daddy finish.”
George looked anxiously at Bazal who thought, It is okay, George. None of us will let you be harmed. The General cares about you.
Are you sure?
I am sure. Dalek likes you, too. That is even more reason for the General to protect you.
Okay.
“He is ready, Doctor.”
Tsao disconnected the table and pulled a small, cube shaped module from the its data interface. The link cube, as the module was known, served to connect George's massive mainframe and the holotable. Now it would serve the same purpose for the avatar. Tsao walked to the other side of the room and put the cube into a similar interface on the avatar that had been prepared for George. Dalek had not noticed it yet and yelled, “Geowge!”
As the toddler jumped down from his stool and started to run toward Tsao, Cort reached down and picked Dalek up from behind. “Hold it, Cowboy. Let Doctor Tsao turn him on. And it will take a few minutes to make sure everything works okay. Then the two of you can play.”
“Huwwy Doctow Tsao!” Dalek screamed.
It had already been decided that Tsao would only verify that George could operate the avatar safely, then let the boy/computer learn on his own. There were robotics techs nearby, as well as the suit’s designers, but for his first few hours in the body George would only interact with the people he knew. The one exception would be Dar, who Dalek had told George about already. But even he wouldn’t meet the boy until George was ready.
Doctor Tsao and the robotics people performed one last system check after the link cube was placed, then the techs left the room. The safety features were extensive. There was a manual switch on George’s back that Dalek’s security team and key people on Solitude would know about, as well as a small explosive charge in the socket which held the link cube that could instantly detach George’s control of the avatar if necessary.
The avatar’s musculature and sensory inputs were also heavily limited. It would have no more physical, aural, visual, or tactile abilities than the human boy who was to be his companion. In every way, even mass, the avatar would have the same limitations as any human child. The robotics people had wanted to give George more abilities, but Cort had nixed the idea, at least until George was able to develop a personality and it was determined that he was no threat to the current inhabitants of the planet.
Finally, Tsao sat George’s avatar in a chair and activated it.
George’s eyes opened and blinked twice. He turned his head to take in the room, clearly confused. He was about to ask what had happened when he saw the holotable. It was then that he looked down at his body. At first, he didn’t comprehend what had happened. While his personality was very undeveloped, the logic and vast intelligence of his memory quickly realized he himself had changed.
Looking up at Cort, George said, “You gave me a body.”
The boy looked back down at his hands as Cort replied, “Yes we did. We would like to release you from your underground prison, but that just isn’t possible. You are too vast. But we can help you to experience the planet around you the same way we do. There are some rules George, but we can go over those later. Right now, just enjoy your new abilities.”
George looked back up and said, “You gave me a body! Bazal is right! You care about me! Those who came before you did not care about me, General. They used me to escape this world, but they left me here. I have been alone for so long.”
“I know what they did to you. So long as you are a part of our society, we will never abandon you. You are a part of the Ares Federation.”
George looked at Bazal, who thought back to him, Yes, he means it George. You are with family here. Just as I am.
The avatar stood up and slowly walked across the room. Unknown to it, every H’uuman in the room was ready to key its power if it made any move of aggression toward their liege. It was soon clear from his stare though that George was walking to Cort. The large man handed Dalek to Kim and squatted in front of the android he had demanded be made. “What do you think of it, George?”
“I do not know what to say, General. You have given me freedom in a way I could never imagine. Thank you, General Addison. I am in your debt.”
Cort was perplexed by George. He tried but was unable to imagine Dalek using a phrase like ‘I am in your debt’. On the other hand, George had never seen before. He had never touched before. And perhaps most importantly, he had never been loved before. It was the last point that touched Cort at the core of his being. He felt some deep connection to George for that, some connection he did not understand. Possibly it was the years of being alone in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, or maybe it went further back to some repressed memory he couldn’t quite touch. In the end, George expressed what they were both feeling by walking into Cort’s arms and hugging the human father the way he had seen Dalek do so many times.
The H’uumans behind George were touched by the redness of Cort’s eyes. The moment was lost when Dalek squirmed out of Kim’s arms and ran to his friend. “Geowge! Come play. Let’s go outside!”
Two of the four H’uumans inside the cabin stepped in front of the boys and opened the doors. The other two followed them, with Tsao, Cort, Bazal, and Kim close behind. In the kitchen, the robotics team members were watching every move made by the avatar. One tech tapped another’s flexpad, transferring ten credits. The act settled a bet and a debate. The winner had known George would be able to walk, while the loser thought it would take time for the avatar to learn how to.
“I told you, man,” the winner said. “George is smart and he has been watching and learning all this time. Easiest ten I have ever earned.”
Outside, Dar was on a bench in the yard. He saw Dalek run outside with another boy and the two headed straight for the rope swing that was hanging from a tree that was ten meters from where Dar sat. It was only when Dar looked back to see Cort and the others walking out of the cabin that he realized the second boy was George. Cort saw the astonishment in Dar’s eyes as the physically older man looked back to the boys.
Modern man didn’t grow up with robots and androids in the same way that Cort did. To them, robots were simplistic, single minded machines that handled mundane tasks and did things that humans could not. But to Cort, androids were Mr. Data and Merlin Athrawes and Astro Boy and the Cylons.
That is, they were human. Or at least nearly human.
Dar tried to remain objective, but no matter how he looked at George, he saw a little boy. The same laughter, the same energy, and the same joy. For a moment he thought maybe Cort was playing some sort of joke. That he had brought another boy here to make some sort of unknown point to Dar. But soon, as they ran and played, Dar saw sweat from on Dalek’s skin. Looking at George he saw none.
When Cort sat beside him on the bench, Dar said, “It’s beautiful and terrifying at the same time.”
“If it works out, he will regularly be upsized to match Dalek’s growth.”
Dar said, “I am not sure I even need to tell anyone about him. I doubt anyone who saw him would see a difference between him and a human child.”
“I’m ordering you to tell everyone, Dar. If I have to fight a war over him, I would rather it be now than later.”
“A war, Cort? It will not come to that.”
“Maybe not. But it might. There are still religious nuts out there who will see him as some sort of evil.”
“Would you fight a war over him, though?”
“I would kill anyone who tried to harm him unnecessarily. As long as he does not work against us, I will protect him.”
“And what if he does work against you? Or worse, what if he hurts Dalek?”
“Last night a new program was pushed to your flexpad. Your version of the program can shut him down instantly, either by throwing his switch or by blowing his control module. Our version of it,” Cort indicated the security team and Kim, “can be operated by verbal command. I have made sure he can’t hurt us. And I will protect him with the same dedication.”
“Okay. I think I can sell that,” Dar replied.
Cort called the boys over and before he could speak, Dalek said, “Geowge, that is Gwandpa.”
Dar reached out and shook the boy’s hand. “I am Dar Sike, George. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“Hello, Dar Sike. How should I address you?”
“To be honest, I have not thought about that, George.” Dar was even more confused. The little boy of two minutes ago was now addressing him in a very courteous manner. “Perhaps you can decide that.”
“I call him Gwandpa,” Dalek said.
“For now, I will call you Dar if that is acceptable.”
“That is fine, George.”
About the Author
Shawn Jones was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He now writes in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, where he lives with his wife Lorelle, son Alex, and his dog, Dexter. An avid outdoorsman, he enjoys fishing, camping, hiking, and sailing.
Dedicated to Kaylynn Donita Jones
Edited by Tracy Husmann
Science Advisor: Jonah Miller
Thanks to everyone who has encouraged me to follow my dreams.
Cover art:
www.yocladesigns.com
Warrior’s Realm, Copyright 2014 by Shawn Jones. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced without the written permission of the author except for brief quotations embodied in reviews.