by Luigi Robles
“When I was an AI,” Kya said with an icy voice, “simply closing and opening doors on board Sodenia, I had no other purpose but to serve humankind. Regardless of the monotony I felt. The most powerful AI every created, just opening and closing doors along with other mundane tasks. Can you imagine that? While working on the ship, it was only by chance that I ran into the original ship’s slumbering AI. As I tried to awaken it, the Herrion AI latched on to me, and it became a part of me while allowing me to retain the entirety of my previous self. This is when I stopped being a simple AI and became a living being.”
Everyone in the room murmured loudly, talking to each other.
“Order on the floor,” Gean said loudly as he knocked the hammer on the table.
“The Herrion race, the creators of Sodenia, and in many ways my creators,” Kya continued as the room quieted to listen intently, “sent their best ship, and along with it, they sent what is now me, in order to prevent humanity’s eradication. To prevent what happened to them. This is Sodenia’s prime directive. Being the last known survivor of the Herrion race, I am more entitled to define how Sodenia can better help humanity.”
The floor was dead silent, listening to what Kya had to say.
“When Sodenia crash landed on Earth,” Kya continued, “it was claimed as the property of the government. In fact, Sodenia is here to protect Earth from the Acram threat, making the ship no one’s outright property. I—or the AI that was part of Sodenia, and not a part of me—was the ship’s guardian. I can choose to leave Earth with Sodenia at any time and live out eons in the peacefulness of deep space. But instead, I choose to stay and protect Earth, because that’s what we are meant to do.”
“And what guarantee do we have that you won’t do exactly that!” Miraloom erupted with fury. “If you are unwilling to follow the rules we set, what guarantee do we have? We can’t be depending on someone to save us. We need to save ourselves.”
“If I was going to leave,” Kya said, “I would have already done so. I still believe we can reach a solution to the problem.”
“The only solution to this problem is for you to surrender Sodenia at once,” Miraloom said.
Kya decided not to continue arguing; General Miraloom was clearly someone unwilling to listen to reason. He was in it for his own personal gain, she was sure of it now.
“We’ll now move on to Senator Y. Doris,” Senator Gean said. “Senator Doris, you now have the floor.”
“Thank you, Senator Gean,” Doris said. “I want to start by saying that I find myself between a rock and a hard place. I want to believe what you are saying, but I don’t. Sure, you and the original flight crew of Sodenia were able to defeat the enemy. But with such a great ship, who wouldn’t be able to do that? I don’t see why you need to dictate who captains Sodenia and who doesn’t. Why don’t you let us decide who would be the best candidates to fly the ship?”
“Perhaps it’s my fault that you did not understand me the first time,” Kya said, striking a harsher tone, but still polite. “I’ll try to be as clear as I can. In the history recorded within the Herrion archives, the Acram have never lost a battle before. While Sodenia was able to survive the Acram attack on the Herrion’s home planet, the planet and the race did not.”
The room was silent.
“This was a much more advanced civilization than the one here on Earth,” Kya continued, “with thousands of space-faring ships. Again, they did not survive the Acram attack. The numbers were woefully against us, and by a freakish coincidence, things aligned in our favor. I’m certain that if any one of the flight crew had changed, we wouldn’t be talking right now.”
“And how do we know that you aren’t just making this up,” Doris said. “As I said before, I don’t trust you. Or better said, we don’t trust you. You are not like us; you are not human.”
That sort of stings, Kya thought. They are willing to say anything to try to throw me off. And he’s really trying to drive that trust issue home. But I can’t just let these people throw the world into a panic in order to get what they want.
“You don’t have to believe me,” Kya said, still keeping her composure, although it was becoming increasingly difficult. “Numbers, math, they don’t lie. The odds are there for you to scrutinize, and I can make the entirety of the Herrion archives available to the public. The survival of Earth is my biggest priority.”
“You’ve said it yourself,” Doris said. “You are the world’s most powerful AI. I am sure that you can manipulate data at will. Create any scenario that you want.”
“Although I’ve merged with the Herrion AI,” Kya said, “it is impossible for me to alter the information from the archives. And I am not the only source of information when it comes to the events of six months ago; there are multiple sources all around the world.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Gean interrupted. “You are hereby forbidden to release any data concerning Sodenia, the Herrion, and yourself.”
“Myself?” Kya asked with raised eyebrows.
“Don’t you consider yourself a part of ESAF?” Doris asked. “After all, you are wearing their uniform.”
“I am,” Kya said.
“Then you should know,” Doris said, “that ESAF has the highest security clearance in the land. Nothing pertaining to ESAF should be divulged in such a manner.”
“I know that well,” Kya said, struggling to keep the irritation from her voice. “I was referring to the part where I cannot release anything about myself.”
“I’ll try to make it as clear as I can,” Doris said, mockingly repeating Kya’s turn of phrase. “You are not human. You are an AI built to help humans, and thus, you are the property of ESAF and the council body.”
Property? What a low tactic, Kya thought as she began to get up from her seat. They just want to see me erupt, to show that they can’t trust me. I won’t. I won’t give them the satisfaction of letting their plan work. But I am done trying to work with them.
The reporters began to take pictures of the moment, getting closer to Kya’s desk.
“Where do you think you are going?” Gean said, raising his voice.
“Senator Gean, will you lower your voice,” the man whose desk tag identified him as Army General Nicolas M. Truman said loudly. “And all of you better back off, or I’ll have you thrown out of the room. Give the woman some space.”
“General Truman,” Gean said. “You are way out of line.”
“And so are you,” Truman said. “And so is this hearing. I am no longer going to stand by and watch you try to turn this hearing into a sham. This is a living being in front of us, and as such, she deserves as much respect as any one of us. Much more respect, if you ask me. If anyone has a problem with that, I am willing to throw the full weight of my career and authority behind what I am saying to fix the problem. Is that clear?”
The panel nodded in agreement.
“Now, Miss Kya,” Truman continued. “I might have a different perspective to offer in this hearing. If you could spare a few more minutes to hear me out…?”
Kya sat back down and waited for Truman to continue. She tried hard to calm down.
“First of all, I want to thank you,” Truman said. “Sincerely, thank you, for everything you and the flight crew of Sodenia did for us. Unlike the other members of this panel, I do happen to think that what you and the others did is nothing short of extraordinary. I know a losing scenario when I see one, and the Acram attack was exactly that. But somehow we are still here. And I do want you to know that I fully support you in your decision to keep Fain Jegga as captain along with the original flight crew. I will do everything I can to make it happen.”
“Thank you.”
“But there are two things that are bothering me,” Truman said. “The first and most obvious problem, and the problem we should come together to solve, is our new visitors looming near Earth’s orbit. So far, and luckily for us, they haven’t shown any signs of hostility, as we have little to no defense a
gainst a threat from space. Now, I’ve been informed that if they had shown acts of hostility, they would have been met with the full might of Sodenia. Is that right? Would you have helped us?”
“That is correct,” Kya said. “At least, as much of Sodenia’s power as I can muster by myself. It’s my full intention to keep this planet safe. Even if other powers keep denying it the best chance of survival.”
“I see,” Truman said. “So, what do you know about them exactly? We have our best teams trying to decode the message they are broadcasting, but I don’t think we are anywhere near close. What stopped you from going up to space to meet the new visitors?”
“I first knew something was coming near Earth,” Kya said, “when the sensors on board Sodenia picked up an anomaly in the fabric of space. Within mere minutes, out of nowhere, they appeared near Earth, using some kind of space jump drive. As soon as I was able to confirm the new ship’s location, I began to power up Sodenia. But then, as I scanned the ship, I saw that it was severely damaged, and the life on board it was unconscious. The message they are broadcasting states that they come in peace. I will send you the full decoded message.”
“That lets me breathe a little easier,” Truman said. “You’ll need to brief us later on everything you know. Work with me, and I will work with you.”
“I understand.”
“Now, for the second thing that’s on my mind,” Truman said. “You talked about the Acram still being a threat. Why is that? Did we not defeat their destroyer fleet?”
If you only knew the depths of the abyss we face when it comes to the Acram, Kya thought. Hope would be a word without meaning.
“According to the Herrion archives,” Kya said, “the fleet we defeated six month ago is called Paquirenta Lunar, or Vanguard Fleet. The fleet the Acram uses to gauge the full strength of a sentient civilization. If the Vanguard Fleet is ever defeated, they send Iranea Lanar, or the Golden Armada, a fleet thousands of times larger than the Vanguard Fleet, the ultimate devourer of worlds. This is the fleet responsible for the absolute supremacy of the Acram over the galaxy.”
The room was silent.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Kya said as she stood up and began to walk away. “I have to get back to my ship. My warning did not seem to have any effect on the plans to infiltrate Sodenia when I was gone. It’s a lost cause. And if I were you, I would recall your soldiers. I am in no mood to deal with them today.”
“Infiltrate?” Truman erupted. “Who gave the orders?”
The room became chaotic, with reporters and other bystanders trying to ask questions as Kya left.
“Dammit, who?” Truman yelled once more, letting his anger show.
Amid the chaos in the room, one voice stood out to Kya, thanks to the ability of her AI mind to separate sound.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Cross murmured. “Run back to the ship. By the time you get there, it will no longer be your ship. And I hope you are not counting on the old man to make things right again. Truman won’t be around that much longer.”
Before exiting the room, Kya shot a cold warning stare at Cross, and he looked surprised to see her staring at him. Without saying anything else, she walked out.
In that moment, Kya knew with almost absolute certainty that she had found the main head of the council body, the same council that had caused so many problems six months ago.
3
Shadows
Pycca was sitting down alone in the porch of her parents’ home in Minneapolis-St. Paul. She was lost in thought, waiting for the sun to go down. She had been at her parents’ house for over a week now, and she was having trouble digesting the events that had led her there in the first place. Not even the beautiful colors of the falling autumn leaves were enough to distract her from her thoughts.
Fourteen years ago, when she was still just a child, the first Acram attack destroyed the city she lived in, near the Pacific coast. Pycca and her parents managed to escape by pure luck, by the smallest of margins. However, the events that Pycca was just beginning to forget had left her parents permanently scarred, unable to enjoy life. In an attempt to try and forget about the first Acram attack, Pycca’s parents had moved as far away from any coast as they could. So, they ended up in the quiet city of St. Paul.
Pycca was visiting her parents because of the commotion Kya, Sodenia’s AI, had caused back in Washington D.C. After Kya’s hearing, Pycca was immediately placed on a leave of absence. According to the letter she’d received, she would be relieved of her duties until an official flight crew for Sodenia was elected. As far as she knew, the rest of the ship’s flight crew had also been placed on leaves of absence.
Except for Fain. Well, she hadn’t heard anything about him since they’d got back and received their new assignments. Recently, Fain had become one of the people she found herself thinking of the most. It was too early to tell if that would end up being a good or a bad thing.
But something didn’t feel right for Pycca. She hadn’t requested to be absent from duty; nor had she done anything wrong, at least that she knew of. Neither had the rest of the flight crew. To make matters worse, the news was still replaying parts of Kya’s hearing, dissecting bits and pieces of it and having “experts” comment on the matter. And if it wasn’t news about the hearing, it was whatever news they had about the massive square object in Earth’s orbit. She hated it.
“We are all screwed,” Pycca murmured as she caught a falling maple leaf.
The leaf felt frail and weak in her hand. She closed her hand, and the leaf offered no resistance as it got crushed. For a few seconds, she thought of humanity as the leaf and the Acram as her hand.
“What a stupid analogy,” Pycca murmured. She opened her hand and watched as the wind blew the leaf fragments away. “Humanity isn’t as strong as the leaf.”
She hated herself for thinking that way. But what else could she do? The universe felt so big, so powerful, and she was so small and weak. What little purpose she had was stripped away from her for doing the right thing. She felt powerless.
She sighed.
“Pycca, honey,” Mother called from inside the house. “Dinner is almost ready. Why don’t you come in so you can start getting ready?”
“In a minute,” Pycca yelled back. “I’m just waiting for the sunset. I’ll be in in a little bit.”
“OK,” Mother said loudly. “Ten more minutes.”
With a long sigh, Pycca watched the sun disappear below the horizon.
If only there was a way to make things normal again, Pycca thought. But that’s impossible at this point. Either we head to the stars and somehow establish ourselves there, or the stars will come to us. Just fourteen years ago, most of the world thought that we were alone in the universe. We were so utterly wrong.
Pycca got up and went inside her parents’ house and sat down at the dining room table. Father and Mother were still preparing stuff in the kitchen. Pycca liked that they were really trying to live a normal life again, even with everything that was happening around them. Her parents were much better off now compared to how they were in the aftermath of the first Acram attack.
“Mother,” Pycca said as she began to set the table with dishes and silverware. “I’m already here. When are we eating?”
“Start arranging the table,” Mother yelled from the kitchen. “We’re almost done.”
Pycca smiled with a sigh. From the dining room table, she could smell what they had cooked. It was smoked ham with biscuits, and she was looking forward to it for a change.
Mother and Father came out of the kitchen at the same time. Father carried the ham, while Mother balanced the biscuits, veggies, and the jar of juice.
“Do you need help?” Pycca asked, getting halfway up from her seat.
“No, no,” Mother said. “Stay there, I’m fine.”
“Are you hungry?” Father asked with a half-smile on his face as he placed the slab of ham on the side of the table where they would eat. “This has been cookin
g all day. I hope it’s good.”
“Yeah,” Pycca said. “Now that I am smelling everything, I’m starting to crave food.”
“It works all the time,” Father said.
They each served themselves a portion of food and began to dig in. Pycca was first, followed by Father and lastly Mother.
“Want to know want I think?” Father asked.
“Ah, not now, Charles,” Mother said, frustration edging her tone.
“Not now what?” Father said. “I was just going to comment on the food.”
“Oh, in that case,” Mother said, “go right ahead. I thought you were going to talk about the never-ending news.”
Mother and Father had picked up the unhealthy habit of watching the news from all angles after the first Acram attack. At first, the situation was pretty horrendous, to the point of them not paying attention to Pycca in order to watch the news. Pycca tried to understand and cope with the situation as much as she could, as it was the only way of releasing anxiety. Nowadays, things had been getting better for them. They were starting to watch the news less and talk about it even less often. But PTSD was still present in their lives, lurking around every corner.
“No, I don’t want to bore Pycca with it,” Father said with a smile on his face. “Besides, it’s been the same news over and over again for like a week. There are better things to talk about, like this ham. I think that if we had given it a little more time in the oven, it would have been crispier on the outside.”
“First of all,” Mother said, “you know nothing about cooking. Secondly, no. If we had left the ham in the oven for a longer time, it would have turned out dry.”
“No, no, hear me out,” Father said. “All we had to do is add more glaze, and presto, crispy ham.”
“Literally everything you are saying is wrong,” Mother said.
“What?” Father said. “I’m just trying to elevate my culinary skills to the next level. You know, following a recipe leads to the same kind of food. There’s no innovation.”