“I wasn’t asking you.”
“Oops, my bad.”
Despite herself, Ellie chuckled at the very human reply. “Sorry,” she apologized.
“Accepted. May I finish my thought?”
“Go ahead.”
“That explanation would explain why this outpost is remote and apparently incapable of sustaining non-mechanical life forms.”
Without realizing she was now treating the dragonetta as an equal, Ellie said, “The humanoid owners of this place must occasionally visit via spaceships to keep an eye on things.”
“But I didn’t see any ships or places for them to land,” reminded Syl’kie.
“They probably stay in orbit and transport down or use shuttles,” suggested Zani.
“Syl, finish your lunch. Then we’re going to visit that ticky-tacky techy city. This could be terrific. We might be able to see some new technology that could make a difference back home. I’m so excited. This could turn out to be a memorable first trip after all.” That might be an understatement.
“Princess, despite the opportunity this presents, I strongly urge that you not take the capsule into the city. They may have automated defensive weapons that we might trigger.”
“Good point. Okay, we’ll go to that donut thingy first. We can hide the capsule there and Syl can fly us in.” She actually looked at the birdie for his reaction.
“Eminently wise.”
“Hey, don’t forget to give him his communications device.”
“Oh, right. Zani, hop on that workbench. I’ll need to connect this thing directly to your AI.”
“Um.”
“What?”
“My AI is not where you might think it is.”
Syl scrunched her face and looked at her sister who was looking just as confused. She turned and asked the dragonetta, “If it’s not in your head, where is it?”
“My posterior.”
“No way.”
“It is the safest place on me; providing the most protection.”
“I don’t care; your brain is in your butt? How embarrassing,” and both girls laughed.
Zani lifted his head a little higher. “I warn both of you. I will not take kindly to being called butt-brain.”
And that was the wrong thing to say.
*****
The class stopped for lunch then continued their tour. P’yxx caught up to the group but stayed in the rear so as not to draw attention to herself. It almost worked.
Her professor sidled up to her. “What transpired? Why did that thing want to talk to you alone?” Her tone was hostile.
P’yxx had no intention of sharing her discussion with Z’spon with this woman. “Sorry, it was between me and . . . and the ALF Prime.” She had almost said his name but decided that might have been betraying a confidence.
“You are my student and I order you tell me.”
Old P’yxx would have been cowered by that demand. New P’yxx just smiled sweetly and said, “Not happening.” Turning her back on the woman, the girl walked away. She could feel the metaphorical daggers from the professor’s eyes impaling her back. She didn’t care; she felt pride in standing up to a different kind of bully.
Over the next few hours, Four One Seven showed them dozens of high tech devices that were being repurposed from what their inventors had originally envisioned. In truth, they were all getting tired and things began to blur together. The initial excitement was definitely wearing off. However, the last display reenergized them – but for the wrong reasons. It was straight out of science fiction . . . and definitely not the good kind.
“You may find this system of particular interest.” They gathered around a very large viewing port and looked inside a laboratory. There appeared to be a pair of operating tables.
“The team that invented the basic technology was trying to transfer organs from one being to another. If there was to be a heart transplant for instance, the operation is long, tedious and fraught with danger to the patient. However, if we could dematerialize the recipient’s old heart and replace it with the donor’s transported new heart, the entire procedure would take minutes. In this case, we are not trying to repurpose the technology but to improve its effectiveness.”
“Can you do a brain?” asked one curious student. “You know, if a person was dying because his body was giving out but his brain was perfectly fine, could you put it in a different body?” That would be a kind of immortality.
“We believe so. However, we have not been given biologics upon which to test the process. We have had some success with lower order animals so we are hopeful.”
P’yxx, despite her normal reticence about speaking up, had to ask, “What happens if there was an old, rich and powerful person who decides they want a younger body - couldn’t this thing (and she pointed at the machines) be used against someone’s will? Maybe the person with the younger body wants to keep it.”
All eyes turned to Four One Seven. Its response was less than satisfactory. “That concern has been voiced. However, our expertise is in technology, not morality. Shall we move on?”
The kids looked from one to another. They may have had limited life experience – but they knew the potential for abuse that this technology represented. Worse, they all had those younger bodies that might be taken without permission.
And they shivered at the thought.
*****
Ellie piloted the capsule while her sister navigated. “Head for the tallest peak over yonder,” and she pointed out the window.
Her sister gave her a smirk. “Over yonder? Who talks like that?”
“All of us creatures of the air. Ain’t that right, Zani?”
“Isn’t that right,” he corrected, “. . . and yes, it is absolutely the colorful lingo of us aerialists.”
“And that’s why he’s my wingman,” added Syl’kie, referring to the earth phrase they had heard their mother use.
“Ha. Only you would have a bird brain for a wingman.”
“I take that as a compliment,” Zani responded.
Before Ellie could say something sarcastic, Syl called out, “There it is,” and again pointed.
Ellie looked. “What’s that next to it?”
“Uh oh, looks like one of those robots.”
“That could be good news. It might be able to answer some questions.”
“The robot may take you as a hostile force and try to defend that mechanism,” warned Zani. It was his job to point out all the potential hazards in any situation.
“We need to try.” Then Ellie did something she almost never did, she asked her younger sister, “What do you think?”
Syl sat up a little straighter. “How about I talk to it. If it tries anything funny, I can always fly away.”
“Good thinking, except it should be me. I want to ask about the technology of that device and the nature of the science that they are studying here. If it does something threatening, butt-brain can distract it while you fly in and save me.”
Zani muttered something incomprehensible.
“You have something to add?” asked Ellie innocently.
His answer caused Syl to laugh. “I was just weighing the consequences of helping the robot instead of you. Do you think it could grant me political asylum?”
Ellie glared at the dragonetta and then she too laughed. “Touché. We good now?”
“I can say without reservation that you’re my second favorite person in this entire galaxy.”
“Cute.”
“I’m told that I owe my sense of whimsy to the inestimable Serenity, Hameggattic Sister extraordinaire.”
“Figures, but you could have done worse. Okay, before I set down, I want to get some readings on that . . . that thing. Syl, see if you can get a good visual with our long-range camera. I’ll check on power and electromagnetic emanations.”
Syl’kie was able to get a close-up in short order. “Got it,” she announced. “Putting it on the main viewer . . .” and all eyes look
ed up at the screen.
“What the heck is it?”
“Hang on a sec,” replied her sister as she analyzed the data she was receiving. “Well, well, well. Looky there.”
“Looky where?”
“At these readings. That thing appears to be something akin to our space tunnels.”
“So that’s why there are no spaceships.”
Ellie was impressed with her sister who had really upped her game on this trip. “That’s a reasonable conclusion. See if you can spot the robot.”
Again, it only took a few seconds. “Here you go,” and the screen filled up with a close-up of the mechanical being . . .
Zani pointed out something troubling. “May I call your attention to the fact that it . . . that she . . . is apparently looking straight at us?”
“That’s not good. I’ll head over the mountain and put a little distance between us and her.”
Syl’kie immediately said, “No, don’t.”
“Why not?”
“That would seem threatening; like we have something to hide. It’s better to just land and talk to her. Convince her that we’re not the enemy.”
“Ellie Rose, I believe your sister’s suggestion is the correct course of action.”
The girl was struggling with conflicting emotions. Pride in her sister’s new-found abilities and petty jealousy that their roles were now equal. Pride won out. “I can’t wait to tell Mom how great you’re doing. She’s going to be so proud of you.”
“Really?” she asked warily. Too many times she had showed her gullibility when her sister pretended to compliment her.
“I’m serious. I’m also impressed. You have a better sense of tactics than I ever will.”
Syl’kie still waited a heartbeat or two before smiling. “Truthfully, I never thought I could live up to being Flying Girl. Thank you. But to be honest, for the most part I’m not thinking it through – it’s just a feeling that I have.”
“Well, I’m even more proud to call you my sister.”
The dragonetta spoiled the moment with a small ‘eek.’
“What?” barked Ellie.
“Sorry, but my programming requires me to respond to your overly-sentimental sentimentality.”
“What does that mean?”
“I am supposed to say ‘barf’.”
Ellie and Syl’kie stared at Zani then turned to each other. “Snarky Sparky,” they said simultaneously and laughed.
“Please don’t shoot the messenger,” pleaded the mechanical birdie.
“I’ll think about it. In the meantime, let’s land and make history by being the first contact between the Andromeda Galaxy and our very own Twisty Twirl (Aerianna’s name for our Milky Way).”
*****
Ellie set the capsule down in a clearing about an eighth of a mile (and out of sight) from the robot. “Good luck,” said Syl as she and Zani exited the craft and flew off. They would circle around behind the robot and stay out of sight. If things went ‘south’, they would be the reserve cavalry and fly to the rescue.
Taking the capsule back up, she landed closer to the gateway. She walked briskly toward the robot stopping about fifty feet away. Holding her open hands out in plain sight to show that she had no weapons, Ellie called out, “Hello. My name is Ellie Rose. May I approach?”
The robotic stared silently. After a moment, it said, “As you wish.”
Ellie walked forward. “Do you have a name?”
“I am Maintenance Five three.”
The girl suppressed a smile. “And what is that thing? A transportation gate, I presume.”
Instead of answering, Maintenance Five Three scanned Ellie with the same type of energy beam that the Z’spon had used. “You are not authorized to be here.”
“I’m actually a visitor . . .” but the robotic cut her off.
“Permission to visit is denied. Permission to leave is denied. You will come with me.”
From a short distance away, Zani, who had computer-assisted hearing, told his companion, “I believe the robot is about to take Ellie Rose prisoner.”
“Rats. Let’s go.”
But the words had hardly left Syl’kie’s mouth when a flash of light enveloped the robot and Ellie. When it cleared, they were both gone. An instant later, another flash encircled the capsule and it also disappeared.
The two landed on the spot where Ellie had stood. Syl, to her surprise, was relatively calm considering that her sister and her ride home had evaporated into thin air. Unfortunately, some of that calmness came from inexperience. After looking around for no other reason than to stall for time to think, Syl asked Zani “What do you think of my plan now?”
“It is premature to assess it as a failure . . . though the preponderance of evidence does suggest such a conclusion.”
“Actually, my Mom says that when a plan fails, it’s an opportunity to become a hero. Come on, we have a Princess to rescue.”
“May I ask what your strategy is?”
“I would tell you if I could, but I can’t, so I won’t. At the moment, I got nothing.” Flying Girl gave her winged companion a shrug then leapt skyward.
“It’s ‘have nothing’ . . . ‘have nothing’ not ‘got nothing.” squawked the dragonetta to Syl’kie’s back as she flew off.
Chapter 10 – First Contact
The Professor told their guide that they were all exhausted and asked if they could end the tour early. After seeing that last display, none of her students argued with her. They needed time to process the moral implications of that technology.
“Of course. I apologize for failing to see your discomfit. If you will follow me, I will show you to your assigned quarters.”
“Hey, mech, what about the computers that we’re supposed to get?” shouted Oh’tezla.
“They have been delivered to your rooms. Each comes with a tutorial should the device prove unfamiliar to you. Dinner will be served in the main refectory in one hour. You should also know that this planetoid does not rotate and therefore we do not experience night and day. To compensate for our guests’ circadian rhythm, the entire complex will simulate the effect. Shortly, windows will slowly darken and interior lighting will compensate accordingly. Are there any questions before we adjourn?”
There were none.
“Breakfast will be served at eight tomorrow morning. At nine, I will escort each individual to whichever project has piqued their interest. This way, please.”
*****
As soon as he was shown his room, Oh’tezla retrieved his computer pad and spent a few minutes familiarizing himself with the device . . .
It was more sophisticated than the ones he was used to but it only took him a few minutes to understand its functionality. “Okay, boys and girls,” he said to an empty room, “time for a little payback.”
And the obnoxious, immature programming genius started a prank that, if not stopped, would lead to a galactic-wide catastrophe . . . and the untimely death of Ellie Rose.
*****
“Syl, it’s Ellie, can you hear me? Syl? Zani?”
No answer which was not unexpected. She was in a windowless room deep inside a larger structure. If this was a detention cell, at least it was comfortably appointed.
After Maintenance Five Three had left, she tried the door to see if it was locked. Much to her surprise, it wasn’t. She opened it a crack and peered out into a hallway. It was busy with mechanical beings scurrying to and fro. They came in all shapes and sizes – maybe half being humanoid in appearance. The rest, as her sister had observed, sported a variety of unidentifiable forms. Obviously, these were designed for functionality and not aesthetics.
Since she had no idea where she was, less idea as to where to go and a good idea that these robots would not take kindly to her leaving, she closed the door and sat down to wait and consider her predicament.
As she pondered all the scenarios that might unfold, most of them probably led to decidedly unhappy endings. And with that realiz
ation, she had an epiphany. Without her sister by her side, her parents in shouting distance or her aunts down the hall, she was scared. All those pranks she had conceived of back home and implemented with her sister – that was just kid stuff. This was real life. Maybe even real life and death.
The Myst Tree had been right – yet again. She was meant to be her sister’s Feminion. And Syl’kie was meant to be Flying Girl.
*****
“Ellie, it’s me. Can you hear me? Ellie?”
“These communicators work on a frequency that is easily blocked,” explained Zani.
They were circling the ‘city’, staying out of sight inside a cloud layer. “Can you contact the capsule?”
“Affirmative. I remind you that I am always in contact with it; continuously downloading my consciousness to my back-up program.”
“I forgot. Does that mean you can pilot the ship from here? You know, fly it to us?”
“What an excellent idea. I will have your Aunt Serenity modify my program to give me that capability before our next adventure.”
“ZANI,” Syl’kie cried in frustration. “If we don’t get my sister back unharmed and that capsule back in one-piece, there won’t be a next adventure.”
“Point well taken. If I may ask again, have you formulated a plan?”
“Um . . . since you can contact the ship, can you figure out where it is?”
“Excellent question. One moment,” and the dragonetta went silent. “Yes, I can. It is located in the tallest building one level below ground.”
“Okay, great. That gives us a place to start looking for Ellie. Think we should wait till it gets dark?”
“It doesn’t get dark. This planetoid does not rotate.”
“Should have known,” she said sarcastically. “I guess it’s not supposed to be easy. Well, I hate to do this, but I want you to go in and check things out. Find out where Ellie is being kept, if you can, and what this place is all about. Hopefully they’ll think you’re one of them.”
“Am I authorized to defend myself?”
P'yxx - Syl'kie and Ellie Rose's 1st adventure Page 11