Across the Galactic Pond - Box Set: The Complete FAR BEYOND Space Opera Series

by Kallias, Christian

  “It’s from one of my favorite Babylon 5 episodes, so, in fact, you dug out the term from my memories!”

  “Oh—maybe it is. Then why did you ask me?”

  Kevin sighed. “Because I felt like talking, I guess.”

  “She will talk with you if you ask her nicely.”

  “I feel like I disappointed her.”

  “You can never disappoint me,” Mira’s sweet voice interrupted the conversation. “I’m just worried about you. I wish there were something I could do to make you feel better.”

  Kevin smiled. “You just did.”

  “You can do it, Kevin. I know it with every electron of my being. You need to stop being so damn hard on yourself. If you put the bar too high, of course, you’ll fail. Just take it one step at a time.”

  “Kalliopy’s fate is in my hands if I don’t set the bar too high, what chances do I have to rescue her?”

  “Well, more chances than letting you hack at your psyche by expecting the impossible out of yourself.”

  “I always play video games on their hardest level. And I always managed.”

  “Except this is not your human-based video game. What your world defines as AI and what this simulation can provide are two different things; they are so far apart from one another, just like the distance between our worlds. The rules aren’t the same here. You can’t possibly compare this AI to your benchmark, Doom in Ultra Nightmare level, Kevin. Have you stopped for just a second to consider this?”

  Perhaps he was looking at it the wrong way. Mira, on her own, was so advanced and felt so human in her interactions with him. As a matter of fact, he was pretty sure she could pass the Turing test without breaking a digital sweat. What did humans have that even compared to her? Siri? Bixby? These were barely apt at being smart virtual assistants as they were.

  In a world where technology was incredibly advanced, was it really failure to expect himself to win on maximum difficulty? Mira was on to something.

  “Let me ask you this, Mira. Do you think you can program the simulation to act as realistically as possible?”

  “Of course I can.”

  “And how much easier would it make the building simulation?”

  “By my estimate, a good five-hundred and twenty-seven times easier, give or take point one percent.”

  “You’re shitting me? Why didn’t you say so in the first place?”

  “Oh, Kevin…Believe me, I’ve been trying.”

  Kevin smiled. “Right. . .Perhaps I should try it on a realistic level then.”

  “That sounds like the right course of action, Kevin. Level has been adjusted. What about the pain receptors? Should I dampen them to say twenty percent?”

  “Sure, I think I got a taste of what real death would feel like. No need to go overboard.”

  “Shall we try again?”

  Kevin turned back and accelerated his pace. Soon a booth on the left side of the street flashed three times on his HUD overlay.

  “Why not take a shortcut?” asked Mira.

  Kevin stepped into the booth and was teleported back to the beginning.

  * * *

  “Mind if I give you the couple of pointers I wanted to give you earlier? I’ll also be with you when you’re really on Omicron, so it’s not exactly a cheat.”

  She knows me pretty well.

  “Sure thing, girl, give me your pearls of wisdom.”

  Kevin heard Mira chuckle like when his sister and her friends got together, and he found it as endearing as it was surprising.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You called me girl, that’s the first time.”

  Kevin’s face turned red. “I—I’m sorry, I hope I haven’t offended you.”

  “Relax, Kevin. I’m not easily offended.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. So you wanted to give me a couple of pointers?”

  “Yes. You see you can invoke a fighting pet to accompany you during your mission. Think of an animal you’d like to go into battle with, and it shall appear.”

  “Isn’t that a cheat? Plus, in the real world, I doubt my armor can do that.”

  “That’s correct. But we could equip Boomer with similar armor, you’d just be in command of the shape it takes.”

  “No! There’s no way I’m putting Boomer in danger.”

  “I respect that, but maybe you should reconsider. Right now it’s not important, just think of a fighting pet, and it will appear. You can then decide if it’s helpful or not. You know, one step at a time.”

  Kevin knew very well which animal he would want to go into battle with and the thought just made him smile like a little kid that found the key to the candy store and had free reign after hours.

  Kevin glanced one last time at the massive building and took a deep breath.

  Let’s do this.

  Things changed when he entered the atrium. This time around not all the people turned into killing machines, only a few did. The first wave of enemies resembling the human-rhino hybrid and two cybernetic life forms were much easier to dispatch. Which bolstered his confidence.

  For the first time since he attempted the virtual mission, he actually made it to the elevator controls and entered the elevator cage.

  “Floor?” asked a feminine voice.

  “Seven hundredth.”

  “That floor is restricted to citizen category twenty-four and above.”

  “What’s my level?”

  “Five.”

  “And how high will that get me?”

  “Two hundredth floor is your maximum. Should I take you there?”

  We’ll see about that.

  “By all means.”

  The elevator accelerated at an incredible speed, and before Kevin realized it, the elevator dinged, and the doors began slowly splitting open.

  “There’s a high level of violence on this level. Have a nice day,” said the elevator voice as blaster bolts streaks screamed uncomfortably close to Kevin’s ears.

  “Thanks for the head’s up,” he said as he jumped forward and rolled on the floor to avoid more incoming fire. He quickly scanned the area and found cover behind a metallic statue depicting an alien he hadn’t yet encountered in the simulation. One that had huge wings that provided a greater surface cover.

  Apparently he arrived at crossfire between two factions trying to kill each other. He wasn’t exactly a direct target. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Being on the side of the hallway with the elevator, he automatically belonged to the humanoid side that was battling cybernetic enemies.

  He activated his EMP pulse cannon and started thinning the herd.

  “Who are you?” asked a female fighter who was taking cover under a similar statue on the other side of the wall. “And, more importantly, where can I get that gun?”

  “Nowhere, I made it with my mind,” said Kevin, displaying a proud smirk.

  “That makes no sense whatsoever. But thanks for the assist, stranger.”

  “You’re welcome,” said Kevin as an energy bolt streaked so near his eyes that he could feel the heat practically burning his retinas. “Why are you fighting?”

  “We want to go higher and since the elevator doesn’t let us we have to foray our way upward.”

  “Why do you want to get higher?”

  “Are you a newbie or what? All the riches lie at the top. We’ve had it with this crap, we want better food, better accommodations, better everything really.”

  “And you can take that by force?”

  “What other way is there when the government is totalitarian like here on Omicron. You’re obviously not from here; where are you from?”

  “It’s a little complicated, and I have to get to the seven-hundredth floor, so, unfortunately, I need to keep moving.”

  The girl laughed out loud.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “The fact that you think you can climb five hundred plus floors let alone the next ten. I don’t care what weaponry you hold, it will never w
ork. The seven-hundredth floor is so high you could almost touch the stars. You’ll never get there, but I appreciate your enthusiasm. Was nice knowing you, newbie.”

  Kevin wanted to argue but what was the point? This person was a virtual NPC, she didn’t exist beyond the walls of the simulator. Or did she? In any case, even if her non-player character was based on a realistic simulation of her brainwaves, that version wasn’t real.

  As for the impossibility of getting all the way to the top, he wouldn’t fail this challenge.

  Kevin gave her a two-finger salute and ran toward the enemy with renewed motivation. Into the fire he ran, fearless, with more courage than even he thought possible.

  10

  Kevin stepped out of the VR simulation after ten straight hours of fighting. He was panting and had sweated so much he couldn’t bear his own smell anymore.

  “That was mighty impressive,” said Mira.

  “Thank you. I sure had my doubts a couple of times along the way. But determination is key. And thank you for making it realistic. I clearly went overboard with my initial approach.”

  “I’m glad to serve you, Kevin. You have a beautiful mind, always coming up with unpredictable solutions to the problems you encounter. Some of them defied logic, and I questioned if they would work, but you did make it work. Congratulations. I think you’re ready for the real thing. That’s why it’s so important for you to be the one helping us on this mission.”

  Finally, someone recognized his abilities. It felt good not being the family loser for a change.

  “Thank you, Mira. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  “Not true, but thank you. I just provided the right advice at the right time. I must admit that flying creature you used was a stroke of genius. It allowed you to climb to higher levels much easier. What is it called again?”

  Kevin smiled. “A dragon.”

  “Right. You’ll need one of those when we get to Omicron, you know that, right?”

  Kevin knew where the AI was going with this. His first reaction was outrage, but he managed not to vocalize it. There was no way he was turning his best friend in the whole world into a dragon to be shot down by a legion of crazy Omicronians.

  “I can’t let you do that. Boomer is just a pet. All he wants is some food, love, and to play. He doesn’t understand anything beyond that.”

  “You’d be surprised.”

  Kevin was about to argue with the AI about how canines worked when he felt a deep sense of dread fill his soul.

  “What the hell did you do?”

  “I haven’t done anything. Ziron, however…”

  “Son of a bi—”

  Kevin sprinted toward the bridge. Swearing continuously through gritted teeth. Now he understood why Ziron had kept quiet for most of the time Kevin trained inside the VR simulation.

  If he’s laid a finger on Boomer or hurt him in any way, I’m going to kill him!

  * * *

  “That’s a pretty rude thing to say,” complained Ziron. “I can’t believe you’re not more grateful.”

  “Grateful for what?” howled Boomer. “I’ve gotten used to not being understood my entire life except by other dogs. Plus, we have other ways of communicating with our masters you twit.”

  “What other ways? Wagging your tiny tail? That’s a very advanced way of communicating.”

  “Well, it works!”

  “On Earth, maybe. Here,” Ziron swatted his paw in the air, “out there in the cold of deep space, you need to be able to talk.”

  “Yes, and that’s why I told you before. ‘Up yours’.”

  “Why did I even bother?”

  Boomer’s ears shot up. “You hear that sound? That’s the sound of Kevin on his way to rip you a new one.”

  “Maybe I should retire to my quarters.”

  Boomer tripled in size and morphed into a Doberman Pinscher thanks to his nano-armor and growled at Ziron.

  Every hair on the Sphynx’s fur stood straight up as if they were magnetized.

  “Easy there, I was just kidding. Though, I’m not sorry I gave you a voice and all the extra abilities that the armor will grant you.”

  “Say that to him. You’re about two seconds away from finding out you don’t mess with Kevin’s canine friend.”

  “I’m his friend too.”

  Boomer laughed-barked-howled out loud and morphed back into his Beagle shape while remaining triple his size. “Sure you are. Let’s test that funky theory of yours, shall we?”

  * * *

  The bridge’s doors slid open with their usual whooshing sound, and Kevin burst in with a vengeance. It didn’t take a genius to see that he was mad.

  Ziron raised a timid paw. “Hello, Kevin, my—my friend.”

  “Hi, Kev,” said Boomer casually.

  Kevin skid to a stop and his eyes grew so big that it looked like they were trying to escape their sockets.

  “Boomer? Is—is that you?”

  “Right, my size.”

  Boomer let his body return to his natural size and started wagging his tail for good measure. “Sorry, that must have been a shock for you. Better?”

  Boomer could tell from the dumbfounded look on Kevin’s face that this had probably been a rhetorical question. “No?”

  “You—you—you’re talking.”

  “Yeah, aaaaaah…Right. If it makes it any better, I’ve always talked, you just couldn’t understand me. But now that you understand every word of it, I guess I kinda like it. At first, I wanted to make myself a Sphynx sandwich, but now I’m getting used to my own voice.”

  Ziron hissed at Boomer.

  But Kevin pointed an accusing finger right in front of his nose, putting an end to the empty threat.

  “You!” screamed Kevin. “You did this! Without my consent.”

  “Well, you’ll need backup, we both know that.”

  “I’m not putting Boomer in danger this way. That’s not happening.”

  “Uh—not to be bitchy or anything,” said Boomer. “After all, you have the blue cat for that, but you may not want to talk about me as if I wasn’t here or pretend you can make all my decisions for me. That’s the one thing that I’ve always found baffling about humans. While you guys may think you know better than us what we need, when we need to eat, when it’s the best time for our bodily functions. I mean the list goes on and on, but you often miss our cues. Why can’t we have our say in these matters?”

  Kevin blinked multiple times, opened his mouth, but then stayed silent. Finally, he commented, “I—I hadn’t thought about that. I’m sorry, pal.”

  “That’s okay, buddy,” said Boomer accompanied by a happy half-bark, half-yowl.

  “So, are you saying you’d want to come with me under fire?”

  “The under fire part doesn’t exactly thrill me. I’m still squishy-pooping since our encounter with the Kregan assassin, but I like the thought of you running alone into danger even less. At least I could try to help if I can.”

  “That’s just gross,” complained Ziron.

  “Shut up,” Boomer barked sharply, then smirked.

  “What he said,” added Kevin with a chuckle.

  “Great, I’m giving these two powers beyond their imagination, and I’m being treated this way. Next, you’ll have Mira turning against me.”

  Kevin smiled as he probably sensed what was coming next.

  “Well…” said Mira. “I told you this wouldn’t go well. And I’m forced to side with Kevin on this one. Before you did anything to Boomer, you should have asked for his permission.”

  “There,” said Ziron, throwing both paws up in frustration. “I knew it. Everyone hates me.”

  Kevin looked at Boomer with a huge grin. “This is kinda cool though, that we can talk like this.”

  “Yeah, now I won’t have to paw you repeatedly or pee on the carpet for you to realize I need a pole or a tree STAT.”

  Kevin laughed until his eyes burned with tears.

  “I’m glad yo
u find it funny,” added Boomer. “But yes, it’s pretty cool.”

  “Still, I couldn’t ask you to come with me on the mission,” said Kevin. “It’s too dangerous.”

  “See,” barked Boomer. “You’re doing it again. I do have a say in this.”

  Kevin thought about it, even though his mind was still trying to grapple with the fact that he was talking to his pet and they were arguing about stuff. So many times when Kevin was down, he had hoped that his best friend could answer with words, and now that he could, Kevin had a hard time thinking that this was all but a weird dream.

  He pinched himself. “Nope, I guess it’s real. Okay, Boomer, so what is it you want to do?”

  “That’s a very existential question when you think about it. But if you mean about the mission, it’s pretty simple. You’re my master, but you’re also my best friend. So I can’t let you risk your life without trying to help if I can. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you.”

  Kevin smiled. “That’s the exact same reason why I don’t think you should come along.”

  “And yet you’ve decided thousands of times for me before now, so I think this time we’ll agree to disagree, and hopefully you can respect my wishes and abide by my decision.”

  Boomer frantically wagged his tail to help sweeten the deal.

  As much as Kevin wanted to try and convince his cute little Beagle friend against risking his life by helping him, part of him felt overjoyed that they could not only speak now but also perhaps share much more. Something Kevin always wished ever since he got Boomer.

  “Fair enough. Do you know what a dragon is?”

  Boomer started growing, morphing into a beautiful and scary black-scaled creature. The Boomer-dragon was relatively small in size, but he couldn’t expand all the way due to the limited size of the Osiris’ bridge. Ziron screeched in fear and went to hide under his consoles.

  “None of that on my ship!” he complained, his voice trembling and interspersed with hissing sounds.

  “Nice!” exclaimed Kevin, ignoring Ziron’s complaints altogether. “I guess that’s settled then. We’re going to kick ass together.”