1 Ceres

by Takemoto, D. J.

  “Yes, thank you. But the other two citizens don’t know that. They’ll keep trying to get in,” Eve explained.

  Normal procedures will apply. The humans in question will not be given access to this vessel or to any protocol-sealed areas because entry is now restricted to the Lightfighters. We have maintained the Lightfighter codes in this regard. Are you satisfied with my work?

  “Yes of course, but why was I allowed access to this room, Gerta?” Eve asked.

  You have the correct genetics, of course. The prior named citizens do not possess a genetically legitimate identity. Furthermore, and as you are aware, access to this room is restricted to the Lightfighters or those with the ΩD stone.

  Gerta pointed to a sign that showed a red circle with a picture of a tiny man inside, and a diagonal line passing through him and then the ΩD symbol and the word, required. Eve knew it meant restricted area and the need for that stone. Somehow, the door thought she or Dirk had the stone, or maybe that strand of hair had allowed them full access. Eve turned to leave, hoping Gerta would follow her so Dirk could escape undetected, but then she just had to ask one last question.

  “Gerta, how did I get inside this room?”

  You have the appropriate access, of course. Are you testing me again? Is this another humanoid game? My files indicate there is such a game, named, Truth or Dare.

  Eve thought it best to go along for now, so she said, “Yes, it’s a game. Gerta, are you really the only awake AI on this vessel? Who do you play games with?”

  I am currently the only remaining functional on-mode AI on IGS Vessel 22876. However, though I was designed as a housekeeping and tour guide AI, I am able to accomplish all tasks and maintain the necessary security, alone, and when merged with the vessel’s mainframe. I am also fully functional as a security AI. I do not play games but am excited at the prospect of this novel learning experience.

  “I’m sure you can do all those wonderful things Gerta, including playing games. You are amazing. But since you are also a tour guide, can you show me around?” Eve thought her request was at least worth a try. It would be a diversion, so that Dirk could escape with the copied note.

  I assume that by, ‘show you around’, you are referring to my giving you an official and legal tour of all unrestricted areas. I also assume you mean both you and the individual who now remains in hiding between stasis pods 36 and 37…correct? I found him in his hiding place. Do I win the game?

  “Well, yes…you win. I thought you couldn’t see him. Right…you win. Is it alright if he also comes along? He won’t be a bother. And you won the game, Gerta,” Eve repeated. She had no idea how Gerta knew Dirk was hiding, unless she had eyes in the back of her…head…or whatever it was. As Gerta walked by, Eve checked, but did not see additional eyes in the back.

  Yes, Dirk Heatherfield, Lower Level Supply Assessor may join us in a tour of the vessel. Please follow me and stay within the yellow lines. Do not touch anything unless told to do so. I will begin your tour…oh, what is my prize for winning the game of Hide and Seek?

  Eve looked over at Dirk, who still remained standing, not moving, near his former hiding place. He’d stuffed the cloth with its note translation into his jacket pocket. “How about a fine hat?” he finally blurted out, removing a hand from his pocket. He then took off his pack and pulled out his winter-brown, goat wool student hat, handing it to Gerta. She took the hat in her right hand, examined it with wonder…what looked like wonder for an AI…spoke something in math with an awe tone…and she plopped it on her head. Dirk and Eve smiled, because it actually fit the little AI quite nicely.

  They then followed Gerta through an official two-hour tour of the space vessel; it included the eating area, called the mess hall, the Captain’s outer office quarters, the common sleeping areas, the library, and even a recreation area. Gerta recited her tour like it had been memorized, though by now they knew Gerta was not human, so most likely had some type of device to recall what was to be spoken.

  They were not shown the restricted areas, like the engine rooms, any of the ship’s storage or weapons areas, or communication rooms. But when they had finished, Dirk and Eve knew mostly what was in the Boardroom Building, and that it was not a building at all. It was a space ship used for travel to places other than their home. Gerta even showed them a star map outlining where the ship had previously traveled.

  While they continued on the tour, Eve took the opportunity to ask Gerta the many questions she had on her mind. Dirk remained silent, but his eyes took in everything. “Gerta, is it illegal to keep the bunker food supplies from others? What are the rules regarding supplies of food for the humans?” Eve asked, while touring the mess hall, and while trying to remember that asking Gerta questions had to be done in a specific manner.

  In response to your next test question, confiscating or requisitioning of food from the vessel storage bunkers for personal use is illegal. All supplies must be distributed equally, or as needed, among the humanoids of the settlement.

  “And who wrote this law?” Eve probed.

  It was the law of Commander Robin Lightfighter. Your questions are quite simple, Eve Overhearder. I am capable of a higher test level.

  “There is a logical reason for my questions, Gerta. I believe there has been a rule break,” Eve replied, trying to sound firm.

  Are you aware of anyone who has disregarded this ruling? If you know of anyone who has committed a rule infraction it is your duty to inform the current Commander in charge. This rule has not changed.

  “Well yes…I mean maybe…no. Well, let me explain. First, we don’t have a commander anymore; we have a ruling group called The Committee,” Eve began. “Anyway, when I went to work on my first day Mr. Wormwood, my superintendent, had me crawl through a pipe down under the Steam Machine Works Department. There was a big store room at the end, containing food and some engine repair supplies…well, and one entire brand-new steam engine.” She remembered to leave out the part about her and her fellow workers hoarding that food.

  I see. You wish to confirm the rules for supply distributions from those bunkers. That is logical. In answer to your test question, the Lightfighterrules require that any supplies taken from the bunkers… in this case, bunkers F and G under Steam Works…must be properly inventoried and distributed as needed, among the citizens. My files show the steam engine supplies are inventoried to the Steam Engine Works Department and can, therefore, remain onsite and used as needed by that department. Do you have additional test questions?

  “Yes, what if someone is taking the food supplies from bunkers F and G for themselves? What if someone is hoarding the food?” Eve asked.

  Any humans involved in a food hoarding incident should be reported to your commander…to The Committee. They must be confined to the brig, and all supplies returned to their proper storage bunkers for future distributions as needed.

  “And what happens if food supplies are short?”

  Are your food supplies currently adequate? Are the citizens experiencing a shortage?

  “No, I mean yes, our food supplies are inadequate. Yes, we’re almost out of everything. Can you help us find the rest of the bunkers?” Dirk blurted out his first question. He knew it was getting late, and that they might not get another chance to ask the AI for help.

  Shortages must be dealt with as soon as possible. The survival of humans is the prime directive. The locations of all bunkers, A through Z, are shown on the map. Please consult the map for coordinates. I am not permitted to inform individual citizens of their locations. Please consult the map, Dirk Heatherfield.

  “I think we lost the map, Gerta. Or at least a part of it,” Eve replied. She motioned for Dirk to show Gerta the torn map now in his pack. Dirk opened his pack, took out the map, and handed it, with some apprehension, to Gerta, who accepted it with her metal hand. Dirk was afraid Gerta would tear the map apart at first touch with those metal hands, but was surprised at how carefully and gently she held it. She spread it out on o
ne of the long mess hall tables, examining it in silence for an entire minute. One minute was eons for an AI of her class. She then spoke some mathematical commands to someone or thing, seeming to agree with its answer, though Eve and Dirk did not hear the other person or AI answer. Gerta finally spoke.

  Yes, I understand. The map has been damaged. It appears the inner circle has been removed; the section detailing the location of the main bunker access tunnel and the vault has been deleted. I now understand your conundrum. And you have not yet been informed of the whereabouts of the tunnel entrances because your time has not arrived. This is a critical issue.

  “Who damaged it? Do you know who tore the map?” Eve asked. She did not ask what the last sentence meant regarding their time.

  My genetic analyses of the biodata left remaining on this map are confusing. I read the DNA of you and Dirk, and then the DNA from Commander Lightfighter, and finally from a human who lived in the city one hundred and fifteen years ago. The DNA sequence indicates it is from a former mayor, Mayor Harmsworthy.

  Gerta refolded the map, handed it back to Dirk, and walked on to another room to continue the official tour. “How do you know that? I mean, how did you do that DNA sequence thing so quickly?” Eve asked, astounded. They followed Gerta to the recreation hall. She had just described what billiards was to them while she ran further DNA analyses.

  Would you like to play a game of billiards? It can be played with multiple participants. Oh, and as you are already aware, I maintain a link to the mainframe to complete a faster sequence analysis.

  “Yes, of course. But you have not answered my test question regarding the speed of the analysis,” Eve persisted. She looked over at Dirk, who was motioning that they were running out of time and needed to get back to the town before light time.

  I apologize. I was overstimulated at the prospect of another game. I did not analyze the DNA sequences. The data was analyzed by the mainframe, hence the speed. Please select your cue stick from the rack on the wall. I will set up the balls.

  Gerta then set up for the game, allowing Dirk first shot. The little AI explained the billiards scoring system to them while some ticking in her head continued the further genetic analyses of any other humans who had touched the map. She finally told them several other mayors had left their DNA on the map, but that Mayor Harmsworthy was the most recent. Eve said that must have been the individual who tore it. And Gerta won the billiards match, of course.

  I won the match. My mainframe informs me a prize is not necessary in this case. I cannot verify Mayor Harmsworthy as the individual who tore the map because I was not present.

  “Um, who is the mainframe? Is it an AI like you?” Eve asked. She thought maybe they were going to meet up with a scarier version of the things.

  The mainframe is not an AI. The mainframe is a Unilux™ 8500. It is the most advanced mainframe operating intergalactic computer in our galaxy. That was another rather simple test question, Eve.

  “Oh, right, sorry. I forgot you wanted harder test questions,” Eve stammered. It was obvious that she was supposed to already know these things, and that the little AI was being tested for common maintenance updates. Gerta smiled, nodded, and held out her arm to indicate the tour would continue. The AI appeared to be enjoying giving them a tour…and taking her maintenance test in person from a real human. She explained she had not given a civilian tour in approximately 427 years. That was how Eve and Dirk discovered how old their city was…and approximately what year it was in home world units. “And if the supplies were only supposed to last three-hundred years, no wonder we are running out of everything,” Eve thought.

  Meanwhile Gerta moved on in her chronologically-stored sequence of answers, expanding on Eve’s previous DNA sequencing question.

  My AI programs include some onsite DNA analyses capabilities…and we do perform genetic analyses on all the citizens at twelve years of age for mating compatibility and to determine the percentage of reversions.

  “Why do you do the DNA analyses?” Eve asked.

  The Commander initiated such a requirement because the city was originally populated by only one hundred organic units. Hence there was a need to ensure genetic diversity and an appropriate level of genetic drift. You and Dirk, for example, are a 98% superior mating match, but you, of course, have a null genetic drift. I am aware you already know this, but have included this in my test answer.

  “Right, null genetic drift; I knew that. Will I be included in the evacuation group?” Eve asked. She was beginning to be concerned. Something clicked from one of her dreams.

  Of course you will be in the target date evacuation group, Eve. You and Dirk must accompany the others; but you may choose to produce offspring and then leave.

  The comment about offspring caused Eve and Dirk to blush. Mating compatibility and offspring were not subjects they had often discussed…not yet. They had not even submitted a permit request for offspring because they were only eighteen. But the other parts about reversions and null genetic drift were gibberish to both of them. Eve made a mental note to look up genetic drift and reversion in the city archives, while Dirk asked more questions concerning the map.

  “So are you saying that someone named Mayor Harmsworthy tore a large piece out of the map 115 years ago?”

  I am sorry, Dirk Heatherfield. I can only provide you with the identity of the individual whose DNA is on the map. I cannot confirm he was the individual who damaged the map because I was not there to witness such an event.

  “But if the map is mostly missing, how are we supposed to find the rest of the bunkers?” Dirk asked.

  The bunkers that Eve has already accessed beneath the Steam Engine Works Department, Bunkers F, and G, link to the main tunnel entry access point, although it is only through a small pipe.

  “I didn’t see two bunkers…did you say bunkers F and G?” Eve asked.

  Yes, the other bunker, G, can be accessed through the tunnel. In your case it may be quicker to access it through the pipe, using the left turn. Once you have reached the empty bunker, bunker G, you will find the information inside the safe in the office. You may use the same codes and password to open the safe, as long as you do this before the end of the month. The codes and passwords will change in three days. Then, the ΩD stone will provide access to all the tunnels and bunkers.

  Eve only nodded. She knew she didn’t have the stone, but she did not want Gerta to know. And now she knew she would be crawling through the left pipe tomorrow morning anyway, as soon as she got to work. “Maybe the piece of hair will work again as a biosample,” Eve thought.

  Later, they toured the library, noting the books were not books at all, but tiny devices with codes etched into them. Gerta explained they were inserted into data pads like the one she was carrying. She removed a disc from the shelf, inserted it into the side of her data pad, and the pages and written words from a book entitled, The Extinction Prime Asteroid: History of the Nanovirus Invasions of Earth showed in front of them like a real book…Gerta called it a holographic image, and the images were terrifying. They watched, as images of cities were engulfed by strange grey clouds of flying tiny mechanical insects, leaving nothing in their path. They saw masses of humans being eaten by these clouds, with those few remaining humans first appearing disoriented, and then deranged, and finally they turned on those few remaining humans and ate them.

  After Eve squeezed her eyes shut, so Gerta removed the disc and said they were welcome to return and read from the library at any time in the future. She showed them where they could check out a data pad, and even gave them the universal code for access to the library. But Eve thought it would do no good once they ran out of that strand of auburn hair. Then they would not be able to get back inside the space vessel. And besides, she was not sure she wanted to see more of what had become of their home world. If what she’d seen was true, there was no place to evacuate to.

  Towards the second half of their tour, Gerta had to stop along the way to tidy up
anything out of place (she was, after all, also a housekeeping AI). In one hallway they stopped near a circular window overlooking the void. While Gerta dusted the frame around the window, she spoke something in mathematics, probably to the mainframe, Eve thought, and a thick covering moved up from the window, revealing a panorama of the light-time void. Eve and Dirk had never looked into the void except through those holes in the dome. It had been deep-dark black; now it was different.

  “Why isn’t it dark out there? I thought the void was always dark,” Dirk commented, as Gerta sent some mathematical code, whispering softy to the window. It started to slide shut, but Eve asked to be able to look for longer. She asked Gerta why it was called the void.

  As you already know, the void is the name given to the area not protected by the plasmon shield. It is the remaining uninhabited region. At present, we face the sun for seven sols, but then do not for the next thirteen sols. You are fortunate to view 1-Ceres during a sun-sol cycle. It is beautiful when in the light…don’t you agree?

  That comment caused Eve to pause. She’d had no idea the dome was called a plasmon shield, that sometimes the void was light and not dark, or, most importantly, that Gerta could think of something as beautiful. “I wonder what she thinks of humans. Are we beautiful or ugly to her?” Eve thought, as they continued to look out over the vast and flat rocky surface. It appeared somewhat reddish, and Gerta explained it was the result of the sun reflecting off the iron-containing rocks on the surface. Then she realized Gerta had given her home a name…1-Ceres.

  “What else is 1-Ceres made of…besides iron?” Dirk asked this time. He did not seem surprised that their home had that name. Eve thought he may have already found that information in the archives and neglected to tell her.

  That is a more advanced test question. Ceres, or rather 1-Ceres, was the first asteroid discovered and then colonized by our explorers for mining purposes and later as a space surveillance station. It is round and approximately 590 miles wide. Its gravity is approximately 3-5% that of the home world. The bright spots on Ceres may be related to a type of salt, particularly a form of brine containing magnesium sulfate hexahydrite (MgSO4·6H2O); the spots are also found to be associated with ammonia-rich clays. The components, dolomite and siderite, which are common minerals in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, are also found.